Household odors are impossible to avoid entirely. Things like cooking smells and pet odor are not what we want our home to smell like when visitors stop by. However, they can be difficult to subdue, especially in the cold months when we ted to keep our windows shut, and thus keep the odors contained within our homes.
In this article, we’ll cover some of the most common household odors and how to manage and eliminate them. We’ll also dispel a few myths about containing odors.
Cooking odors
While the smell of food may seem delicious when you’re hungry, it can be nauseating if it is lingering in your house the next day. Certain smells seem to stick everywhere and are hard to get rid of. Fish, pork, and heavily seasoned dishes can taste great but have a tendency to outstay their welcome in the form of unpleasant smells.
Here are some tips for vanquishing those leftover odors from your kitchen:
Cook with the windows open. Open up the windows and use any ventilation systems that you might have over your home oven.
Have a cookout. For particularly stinky dishes like pork and frozen fish, cook them outside on the grill.
Grease management. If you must cook inside, use a splatter shield over frying pans to limit grease from getting all over your kitchen.
Thoroughly clean up. Wipe down your kitchen surfaces with a vinegar and citrus based cleaner and don’t leave any dishes in the sink.
Pet odors
Everyone loves their pets. The odors that come with them? Not so much. Here are some tips in eliminating pet odors.
Wash the pet’s bedding. If you have a dog or cat who sleeps in the same area every night, be sure to wash their bedding as regularly as your own.
Don’t mask smells, remove them. If a pet has an accident indoors, it’s important to disinfect and thoroughly clean the area. Air fresheners and candles will only mask the odor temporarily.
Carpet cleaning. Your carpets and hardwood floors cover a huge surface area of your home. Chances are your pet frequents those areas even more than you do. Regularly cleaning your carpets and mopping your hardwood floors is an important step to limiting pet odor.
Refrigerator odor
We’ve all heard about the box of baking soda technique for eliminating refrigerator odors. However, unless you dump out the baking soda and scrub the interior of the refrigerator with it, it probably isn’t doing anything to limit odors. Baking soda companies may market their product as a way to reduce odors in the refrigerator, but the reality is that it would take a much larger surface area for it to affect the air in your refrigerator.
Instead, clean the interior of your refrigerator frequently with a vinegar and water-based solution, and make sure you throw out leftovers before the start to smell off.
Shoes and closet
If you’re looking for a new use for that baking soda that was sitting in your refrigerator doing nothing, this is the place for it. Sprinkle baking soda (or Gold Bond) into shoes and on the carpet of the floor before cleaning your closet.
Make sure to wash your seasonal clothes after the season. If you have unwashed sweaters, gloves, or scarves in your closet sitting there all summer they will begin to emit an odor.
