No matter how often you clean your home, there are some area around the house that always seem to omit unpleasant odors. Whether that be the garbage disposal in your sink or the musty smell of your mattress, it can be tough to eliminate these odors.
But fear not, because there are numerous simple tips that can help get your house smelling fresh and clean once again. What’s even better is that these cleaning tips will use basic items that you likely already have within your kitchen cabinet already. Here are some DIY solutions to the most stinky household odors.
Teabags Can Absorb Odors
Did you know that teabags can absorb odors? If you’ve got a box of teabags you’re not using, here are a few ways you can make use of them. One way to use them is to hang them up in your closet, which can mask the smell of old sneakers or clothes. Better yet, just put them right inside your shoes.
Another way to use teabags is to put them in a small dish in your fridge to get rid of any unwanted food smells. Voila!
Make Your Dishwasher Fresh Again
Dishwashers can start getting quite smelly after multiple repeated uses. One neat trick to get rid of these odors is to use a common household item, white vinegar.
First, completely empty all the racks. Next, fill up a dishwasher-safe dish with white vinegar and then place it on the top rack. Run through a full wash cycle without placing any other dishes or utensils inside. The end result will be an odor-free dishwasher!
Refresh Your Smelly Garbage Disposal
The kitchen is an exciting place with many different yummy smells. However, what remains true is that with food preparation comes food waste, and with food waste comes not so great smells. Keep your garbage disposal smelling fresh with this easy tip.
Lemons bring a fresh scent that can mask the smell of last night’s scrumptious dinner. Simply cut up a few slices and then run it through the garbage disposal with water.
Trash Your Coffee Grounds
Coffee beans have so many uses other than just giving you a nice caffeine kick in the morning. They are also great at eliminating unwanted scents!
If your trashcan is smelling a little bit off, simply place a few coffee beans or even leftover coffee grounds at the bottom of your trash can. The scent of coffee will absorb the nasty odors and leave your trashcan smelling like your cup of morning coffee.
Keep Your Toilet Smelling Clean
We all need to do our business, and it’s not fun to come home to an off-smelling toilet. When you come home, your bathroom should feel and smell like a sanctuary, not a public restroom.
To keep your toilet smelling fresh, clean your toilet bowl with a toilet bowl cleaner and a toilet brush when it starts to smell a little bit off. For some extra strength clean, add 1/2 cup of bleach into the toilet bowl after using the cleaner. After letting it soak for 15 minutes, flush the toilet. It should now smell like a clean bowl. Make sure to sanitize the toilet seat too using a disinfecting spray. Your future self will thank you for having a clean bathroom to come home to.
Eliminate Musty Mattress Smell
Where you sleep is an important place in your home. Along with making sure you feel cozy and secure, you also want your bed to smell good. If you have a newer mattress, put a mattress protector on it before putting your bedsheets. If you have an older mattress, here’s how you can eliminate bad, musty smells.
First, take off all your sheets so it’s just the mattress. Then, sprinkle some baking soda all over the mattress surface and leave on for a few hours to absorb any musty odors. Use a vacuum to remove the baking soda, then put your sheets back on. It should smell much better!
Get Rid of Microwave Odors
Are you a busy person who uses their microwave often? While it’s convenient to heat up food at any hour of the day, the trade off is that sometimes the microwave can pick up smells and stains from different foods you’ve heated up. Here’s how you can get rid of those lingering unwanted scents.
Place a microwave-safe cup of water with cut up lemons inside the microwave and heat it up for a few minutes. Once it’s heated, open the microwave door to let the steam out.
Freshen Up Your Cutting Board
Your kitchen cutting board touches all kinds of smelly food items: meat, vegetables, garlic, onions, etc. Those scents can linger on a little longer than we like and affect the future meals we create when using them. Here’s how you can freshen up your cutting board so that your next use tastes fresh.
If you have plastic cutting boards, throw them in the dishwasher. For wooden cutting boards, sprinkle some salt over the wood then rub with a lemon.
Air Out Your Closet
Not many people are aware that if a closet is kept closed all the time, it can accumulate smells and unwanted odors. An easy solve for this is to open up your closet a crack from time to time. Allow the air to pass through and keep it from becoming moldy or building up mildew.
If that’s not enough, you can also place a dehumidifier in the closet as well. This should keep your belongings clean and aired out!
Double Use For Lightbulbs
Along with lighting up your beautiful home, lightbulbs can be used to make your home smell good, too! Choose a lightbulb you’d want to use. When the bulb is safely off and cool to the touch, rub a little bit of vanilla from the kitchen onto it.
When you turn it on, the heat from the bulb will release a pleasant aroma into the area. Now your place can smell good while looking bright!
