Everyone wants their home to smell fresh and pleasant, but bad odors and odors in the kitchen from cooking, rotting food, and stinky garbage cans can be difficult to get rid of. Even people who regularly clean their kitchens can have a hard time preventing odors. This is where kitchen deodorizers come in handy.
Three experts: Kelsey Hay, filtration and indoor air quality expert at 3M, Odile Liu, chief product officer at BlueAir, and microbiology and virology at Reckitt (maker of Lysol). With the help of Dr. Julie McKinney, global director of science, we've rounded up the best odor eliminators for your kitchen, including air fresheners, scented candles, and air purifiers.
Air fresheners add scent to make the air in a room smell clean or fresh, but there is only so much they can do to eliminate the source of the odor. “Candles and other substances that create a more pleasant scent can help mask the source of the odor, but a better solution to controlling kitchen odors is to use an air purifier and upgrade your HVAC filters. It’s about improving the smell,” says Hay. indoor air quality. It also helps to keep your HVAC fan on at all times to keep the air circulating and purified. ”
Air circulation is very important for home odor control, and fresh air may be the best air freshener to use in your kitchen. “Opening windows and doors to let in outside air is a great place to reduce odors in the kitchen,” says Hay. “Outdoor air helps reduce the concentration of indoor air filled with pollutants.”
Air fresheners come in handy in the kitchen, both to mask cooking odors and simply to make the room smell nice. Also, some air fresheners, especially those in gel form, contain deodorants that absorb and eliminate unpleasant odors.
OdoBan's odor eliminator canister uses gel crystals to remove odors from the air, providing a subtle scent that masks cooking odors.
Fresh Wave deodorant gel canisters come in lavender, lemon, or original scents, are EPA Safer Choice certified, and have a 200-square-foot coverage area.
Scented candles do not neutralize odor molecules, but Mrs. Meyer candles are highly regarded for their effectiveness in masking kitchen odors. In addition to lemon verbena, you can also get candles with fun scents like basil and honeysuckle. Our editors even think that Mrs. Meyer's makes some of the best cleaning products you can buy on her Amazon.
If you're looking for the perfect kitchen candle to gift, Made In's new line makes a great present for the home chef. Specially formulated for use in the kitchen, it comes in three of his scents: Lemon Zest, Basil Tears, and Pinch of Salt.
Fragrance and disinfectant sprays are the best way to eliminate odors quickly. If you want to get rid of the smell right away, use a spray. Additionally, many sprays designed for odor removal contain disinfectants that target odor molecules and eliminate odor-causing bacteria. “DIY solutions like boiling citrus can mask odors in your kitchen,” McKinney says, adding that “scents don't disinfect,” so scent sprays and formulated to address the root of the odor can help. He added that it is important to understand the differences between different sprays.
Ozium is one of the best deodorant sprays I've tried. It quickly neutralizes odors and is especially effective against cigarette odors. If you tend to burn your toast, Ozium is the best choice.
You can't go wrong with Lysol disinfectant spray either. This is an excellent deodorizer that kills odor-causing bacteria and gets to the root of the odor.
If you prefer a non-aerosol spray deodorizer, Fresh Wave's Mist Spray uses bag-on-valve technology as a greener alternative to aerosol delivery systems.
Taking out the garbage regularly is the only way to prevent garbage from making your kitchen smelly. When taking out the trash, McKinney recommends spraying the inside of the trash can with disinfectant spray before putting in a new bag.
Peel-and-stick trash can odor eliminators and filters help control odors between emptying and cleaning your trash can.
Use heavy-duty trash bags to prevent leaks that can leave odor-causing bacteria in the trash can. Choosing trash bags designed to reduce odors can also help prevent odors.
Stick these odor-absorbing pods to your trash can lid to reduce odors for up to 45 days. Natural vegetable oils neutralize odors and are easy to replace when empty (refills available in packs of 4 and 8).
Garbage disposals are hidden hotspots for food odors, odor molecules, and odor-causing bacteria. Garbage disposals require regular cleaning as food can accumulate. Use baking soda and vinegar (or garbage disposal cleaning tablets) to get the job done.
Garbage disposal cleaning tablets are a quick and easy way to clean and disinfect your garbage disposal, helping to prevent odors and insects. After the garbage disposal is one area of the house that most people forget to clean.
Lemon has a deodorizing effect thanks to its acidity, and if you squeeze it and throw it into the disposal, it will clean your garbage disposal and deodorize it. You can also choose a Bastion tablet. It combines the odor-eliminating power of lemon with the convenience of a drop-in garbage disposal cleaning tablet to easily solve odor problems.
Preventing odors in your refrigerator starts with storing food properly and regularly disposing of old, expired, or unused food. But even the best food storage containers can leave behind a not-so-hot smell from your refrigerator. “Foods such as garlic, onions, pungent spices, seafood, and some cheeses are known to emit strong odors due to various compounds that are difficult to break down,” Liu said. Of course, the best way to reduce or eliminate odors in your refrigerator is to clean it regularly.
Ditch the baking soda and there's a new refrigerator deodorizer in town! Activated charcoal (also known as activated charcoal, activated charcoal, or activated charcoal) is a great alternative to baking soda that actually works and eliminates strong food odors from your fridge. prevent it from spreading.
Because distilled white vinegar is acidic, it can neutralize pH levels in the air. This is a great natural deodorizer that can be used to clean the inside of your stinky refrigerator. Place it in a small bowl or cup and place it in the refrigerator overnight to reduce the odor.
Best air purifiers and dehumidifiers for the kitchen
“Limited indoor air circulation is the main cause of lingering odors in the kitchen during cooking,” says Hay. “Ventilating the kitchen while cooking is key to reducing lingering odors,” says Hay. “Use or invest in a high-quality vented range hood over your stove, replace your home's HVAC with an air filter designed to eliminate odors, or use an air purifier. It’s what you do.”
In addition to upgrading HVAC and ventilation hood filters and using air purifiers, “Kitchen odors can be influenced not only by the food you eat or prepare, but also by elements of the space itself. Yes,” says Liu. In spaces with low ventilation and high humidity, ventilation and humidity levels play an important role in absorbing more particles and whether food and cooking odors persist. ”
Hei recommends replacing the existing filter in your home's HVAC with a filter designed to eliminate odors, such as 3M's Filtrete Odor Reduction Air Filter.
This is our best-selling air purifier, perfect for small spaces such as kitchens. It has multiple speed settings and a 3-stage filtration system that includes an activated carbon filter (great for smoke and odor!) and a HEPA filter.
If high humidity in your home is an issue, it may be the cause of lingering odors in your kitchen. Dehumidifiers like this Frigidaire model are our choice as the best dehumidifiers to control moisture levels and reduce the presence of odors.
