Four Easy Household Deodorizers

Coffee Grounds. If you haven’t given your refrigerator a lot of love lately, an unpleasant waft of two-week-old Thai may be greeting you every time you open the door. If the smell is really serious, simply tossing your old takeout may not be enough to get rid of the stench.

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Coffee grounds to the rescue! After you’ve cleaned out your fridge and removed the stinky culprits, fill a few bowls with coffee grounds (used or fresh, doesn’t matter). Place them in your fridge overnight, and by morning, the grounds will have absorbed the bad odors! 

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Lemons. Garbage disposals may be the easiest way to clean off your dishes after dinner, but out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind when it comes to smells lingering in your sink drain. If your disposal smells like a dumpster, use a fresh lemon and a bit of baking soda to freshen it up.

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For video instructions, check out Fix a Smelly Garbage Disposal. Optional: If you have extra lemon leftover (or your disposal already smells great), you can clean your microwave, too! 

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Cotton Balls. If you want to keep your carpets from smelling like dirty shoes and pet accidents, vacuuming is the way to go. In fact, we recommend pulling out the vacuum 2-3 times a week (the more you vacuum, the less dirt will sink into your carpet).

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To put a cherry on your vacuuming sundae, saturate a few cotton balls with your favorite cologne or perfume. Drop the sweet-smelling balls into your vacuum bag and go to town on your carpet. As you vacuum, the scent will fill the room and mask foul odors.

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Vinegar. If stinky scents in your kitchen are sticking around longer than your in-laws at Thanksgiving, it’s Vinegar Time. Vinegar is an odor neutralizer, so it won’t just hid the smells – it will get rid of them! Place a shallow bowl about three-quarters full of white vinegar in the smelly room. If the smell is just plain evil, use multiple bowls of vinegar. In less than twenty-four hours, the nasty stench will be nothing more than a memory.

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