The old folks smell is really strong in the house right now. Is there any way to make it better before guests arrive?

Thank you, GA. I wonder if cinnamon & ginger might be worth a try. Coffee grounds probably not so well, since it would be the furniture and floor. That would be a sight. :-)

I baked cookies today. It did help and I had hope. But the smell returned as soon as the cookie smell faded. :(

Another thought: if you have any herbs such as lemon balm, basil or mints growing in your garden, bring them in and put them in vases throughout the house. Before your guests arrive, go through and rub some of the leaves until the fragrance is released. The herbal fragrances aren't that strong but depending on the air flow in the house, if you place them near the air ducts, the fragrances might be carried in different areas of the room.

Then there's always the scented candles.

I would never use Febreeze though; I've read that that stuff has a lot of chemicals.

Jessie, I don't know how this would work on "elder odor" but it worked when I had to bring my parents back from their snowbird home and the RV management ignored the fact that their rent was paid ahead of time and for whatever reasons shut off the electricity in the Texas heat. The frig and freezer both contained meat. After about a month or so, you couldn't even begin to imagine the smell.

Dad and his friend put newspapers, coffee grounds, and baking soda in the appliances after cleaning them out and the odors eventually did vanish. The freezer is now in my basement and there's no residue of odor whatsoever.

Cinnamon and baking cookies help to dispel odors as well.