Natural Ways to Get Rid Of Nasty Smells In Your House

“I’m looking for an easy, fragrance-free fix I can use everywhere.”

Bring baking soda into your house immediately. Baking soda is an inexpensive, versatile product that can freshen up many rooms in your home. In the kitchen, it’s a great way to deodorize your drains and garbage disposal. Just pour it down the drain while running warm tap water to neutralize odors quickly. You can also use baking soda on upholstery and carpet--simply sprinkle and wait 15 minutes before vacuuming, recommends Beth Greer, of Veria Living. (You’ll need several pounds for a 9” by 12” room.) In the bathroom, sprinkle baking soda on shower curtains and trashcans to inoculate odor. And for stinky sneakers, just sprinkle a small amount and leave it overnight -- it’ll absorb funky smells and extend the life of your shoes.

“My kitchen smells like the food I made last night.”

As talented as you are in the kitchen, you may not want to smell last night’s seafood paella in the morning. When this happens, simply mix a bottle of lavender with water and heat it on the stove. The calming, clean fragrance will waft around the kitchen, and spread though the home. Greer suggests doing the same with cinnamon sticks instead of lavender to create a cozy, homey experience for the senses.

“I want to clean the air without a specific fragrance.”

Once you’ve removed the sources of an odor, you can purify air using an all-natural remedy: placing more plants throughout your house. Some plants known to help ‘clean’ the air include Chinese evergreen, peace lily, English ivy, Bamboo palm, and Boston fern.




“My trashcan smells bad.”

This problem has an obvious source. Luckily, the solution is apparent, too. Sometimes the trashcan isn’t full enough to take out. Throw a few citrus peels in there for a fresh scent. Bonus: You can also do this in your garbage disposal, too.



“I’m worried about allergies and want a natural way to freshen the air.”
First, start by removing your home fragrance and air freshener products. “This is a much bigger problem than people realize,” said Dr. Stanley Fineman, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. “About 20 percent of the population and 34 percent of people with asthma report health problems from air fresheners. We know air freshener fragrances can trigger allergy symptoms, aggravate existing allergies and worsen asthma.” Home fragrances may smell fresh, but many products contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and merely cover up odors. Why not open the windows and let the natural breeze refresh your room?





“I need to deal with a nasty spill.”
Here’s an insider tip house-care experts have been sharing for years: coffee grounds and dryer sheets. For a spill that is particularly smelly -- think vomit, soured milk, urine -- she wipes up the spill, then places three layers of dryer sheets on top of the spot. Above the sheets, she sprinkles coffee grounds evenly on the surface. Overnight the area will be totally deodorized. The coffee grounds are an absorbent and many aromatic molecules cling to them.