How to get rid of those lingering odours in your home
By Jeanne Huber
Have you ever opened the door to a house for sale and been overpowered by the scent of an air freshener? It’s a sure sign that there’s something else going on, like damp or lingering mould.
For truly fresh air, skip air fresheners that add scents and get rid of what’s causing the bad odours, to the extent that’s possible. Then let in fresh, outdoor air. And when that’s not enough, introduce absorbent materials that capture any remaining odours.
For truly fresh air, skip air fresheners that add scents and get rid of what’s causing the bad odours.Credit: iStock
Unpleasant odours from “just living” usually have a specific cause: food scraps left for several days in a wastebasket, food that’s gone bad in the refrigerator, a washing machine or pile of laundry that smells like mildew or a gym, a bathroom that smells like a public latrine.
There are solutions for each of these.
Garbage smells
To tame the stench from a bin, you can, of course, empty it more often. Or if that’s a pain, try rinsing especially smelly things, such as wrappers from a package of fish, or enclosing them in a plastic bag that once held bread or vegetables. Don’t buy plastic bags just for this, though; most households accumulate plenty of plastic wrapping that can corral smelly kitchen discards.
Refrigerator smells
If you open the refrigerator and wince at the smell, it’s time to clean it.
- Take out the food and give it a sniff test, or check for visible mould or other signs that it’s too old to eat.
- Clear one shelf at a time, starting at the top.
- Rinse off containers with gummy residue from food that spilled on a refrigerator shelf, and clean the shelf before you restock.
- Add lids or another covering to any food that isn’t enclosed to help new bad odours from developing.
- Remove the drawers for vegetables and fruit so you can clean inside and under them because old spills can make a refrigerator smell bad even when the food inside it is fine.
- Baking soda is very effective at absorbing odours, so once you’ve cleaned and restocked, leave an opened box in the refrigerator to keep off-putting smells from accumulating.
Laundry smells
Laundry smells can come from the laundry itself or from a washing machine.
To keep laundry sweet-smelling, avoid tossing damp items in a pile or basket unless you plan to do laundry within a day or two. Instead, hang the items or even drape them over a hamper – whatever it takes to get them dry.
Unpleasant odours from “just living” usually have a specific cause.Credit: Stocksy
- The sooner you tackle stains, the easier they are to remove. So rinse stains or even scrub them with a little soap and water as soon as you notice them; then let the item dry rather than adding it immediately to the laundry pile.
- Many washing machines do not drain completely at the end of a cycle. If you do laundry only once a week, you’re likely to smell a foul odour from that leftover water from a week earlier. Manufacturers suggest wiping down the basket and rim after the last load of a day, running a cleaning cycle periodically and cleaning the filter (if the machine has one). It also helps to leave the door ajar, assuming you don’t have young children who might climb into a front-loader.
- If you do multiple loads of laundry each week, try spacing them a couple of days apart. That should flush out the water hidden below the tub before it starts smelling like a swamp.
Bathroom smells
- In the bathroom, a good exhaust fan, used regularly, goes a long way towards eliminating unpleasant smells. To make it most effective, try opening the door a little while the fan is running so it can pull fresh air from your house into the room to replace the steamy air it is sending outdoors.
- Wipe down walls after the last person showers and hang damp towels so they dry quickly.
- Urine smells can develop from splashes into the rim or the back of the toilet seat, or even on nearby walls or the floor. A thorough cleaning is the remedy for that. Put on gloves first.
Cooking smells
Removing cooking odours is a bit more complicated, assuming you don’t want to avoid certain foods just because of their lingering smell.
- In summer, one easy solution if you have access to a deck, balcony or patio, is to cook outdoors on a barbecue.
- For indoor cooking, an exhaust hood with a fan that’s vented to the outdoors works better than one that just pulls air through a filter. Upgrading to a vented fan isn’t always possible, so you’ll probably need to work with the set-up you have.
- Vented hoods have stainless-steel baffles or a metal mesh screen to capture grease particles in the air. Over time, the screens can get so clogged with grease that the fan can’t pull through much air, leaving your kitchen smellier. Clean the screen, or stainless baffles, by submerging the piece in a sink filled with hot water and hand dishwashing soap. You might want to add some baking soda to help break up grease. Soak about 10 minutes, then scrub with a gentle brush, rinse and leave it on a towel or rack to dry. Some screens are safe to pop into a dishwasher.
- Unvented range hoods have metal mesh filters to capture grease, and charcoal filters to trap odours. If the mesh is a separate piece, you can wash that in a similar way. Charcoal filters and combo mesh-and-charcoal filters can’t be cleaned because there is no way to rinse the odour-causing particles out of the charcoal. Bosch, an appliance manufacturer, recommends replacing charcoal filters every three to four months, but the frequency can vary depending on how often you cook and whether you do a lot of frying. Go by what your nose is telling you.
- Covering frying pans with an anti-splatter screen can reduce the amount of grease that gets into kitchen air and thus make a filter last longer.
General odour-removal tips
Opening doors or windows is a time-honoured way to get rid of odours and let in fresh air, although it can undercut the effectiveness of heating and cooling systems if those are running. Add window screens if you’re in an area where flies, mosquitoes or other flying insects are an issue.
What if you do all these things and find your home still plagued by foul air? Consider adding a charcoal filter to your heating and air-conditioning system, or buy an air purifier sized for a smelly room. To eliminate odours, you need an air purifier that has a charcoal filter (or a combination of a mechanical filter and a charcoal filter). To be effective, the charcoal filter needs to be replaced regularly.
Washington Post
Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.