Bad smells are a fact of life and no one understands it as deeply or in such detail as I do because I’m a cleaning expert and people sing to me about their smell all the time.
I actually love it when people sing about their scents to me because those scents usually come with a wild backstory. (Many of these stories involve vomit.) I also love it because I’ve collected all kinds of knowledge over the past decade or so on how to get rid of almost every smell of anything imaginable, and I can share This knowledge provides knowledge when people need it most.
Ahead, I’ve rounded up my favorite deodorant products for uses ranging from the mundane, like keeping odors out of your fridge, to the esoteric. For example, if you recently spilled oil from a fish can on your favorite sweatshirt, today is your lucky day because I have a solution!
Deodorant sprays are the way to go when you need to get rid of bad odors fast, and Ozium is the best choice for neutralizing rather than masking bad odors. A word of warning about Ozium: it does have its own smell, which can become very strong if the product is sprayed; however, the smell dissipates quickly and does not persist.
When something spills or leaks into the trash can’s lining, creating an unpleasant smell, your best bet is to wash the trash can with hot, soapy water. However, I’m living in the real world with you guys, and when my trash can overflows, after taking out the nasty trash, wiping off the gnarly drips, muttering in heaven, etc., the last thing I want to do You’re washing my trash can. Lysol Spray eliminates these odors instantly, which is what I want when my trash can gets dirty.
DampRid is a desiccant – it absorbs moisture from the air, helping to regulate humidity and moisture levels. Rooms such as basements or attics that are prone to moisture due to environmental or design factors can be unpleasant (think poorly ventilated bathrooms and you’ll get the idea) and difficult to keep clean, as high humidity levels encourage bacterial growth and cause a lingering odor. DampRid solves this problem and helps prevent moisture-borne odors like mold and mildew.
Basements and attics aren’t the only spaces that can have odor problems from excess moisture—closets can also develop musty smells from excess moisture. DampRid manufactures hanging dehumidifiers to solve this particular problem.
There are so many uses for white vinegar in the home that we couldn’t cover them all in an entire day here! As an odor eliminator, white vinegar can be used in laundry to remove odor-causing bacteria from fabrics, or poured into a small bowl to start eliminating odors from the air. It’s worth noting that cleaning vinegar is stronger than regular white vinegar, typically 6% vs. 5% acidity, but white vinegar can also be used as a deodorizer.
If you’re one of those people who hate the smell of white vinegar, you’ll be happy to know that Zero Odor Laundry Deodorant works just as well as vinegar to get rid of lingering laundry odors. For example, if you’re someone who regularly washes workout gear that sweats a lot, Zero Odor would be a great product to add to your laundry arsenal.
Speaking of smelly laundry! Sometimes a very bad smell can hang over an item and no amount of washing with regular detergent will touch it. Enter: Dr. For reasons I can’t explain scientifically, Bronner’s is absolutely incredible at eliminating fabric odors. In the years I’ve written my cleaning advice column, my readers have successfully used Dr. Bronner for eliminating strong odors from clothing, from gasoline to fish can oil.
Lemons, like vinegar, have odor-removing properties due to their acidity. The two ways I think lemons really shine in terms of smell is to remove smells like garlic from your hands, and to remove strong food smells from cutting boards. Rub half a lemon (or even one you’ve already squeezed) into your hands or scrub the surface of your cutting board, then wash as usual with hot, soapy water.
You won’t find a box of baking soda in my freezer – I keep it where it belongs with the baking supplies. Baking soda isn’t the great odor absorber it claims to be, but activated charcoal (also known as activated charcoal, charcoal, and activated charcoal) is a very effective alternative for keeping strong food odors from overrunning your refrigerator.
Activated charcoal deodorants are also available in sachet form to absorb odors everywhere and keep spaces fresh. These are great for use in drawers, storage bins, cars, or anywhere else prone to odors.
Don’t sleep on your vacuum cleaner when dealing with odors! Vacuuming mattresses, headboards, and upholstered furniture is an important part of keeping these pieces clean, and regular vacuuming will help eliminate odors that linger in these fabrics.
In between vacuuming upholstered furniture, use fabric spray to give it a new look. Look for formulas with antimicrobial properties, like Tide’s Fabric Spray, which kills bacteria and helps eliminate odors rather than mask them.
Pot deodorants are the “set and forget” of the deodorization world. They’re a great option for preventing odors in spaces like the bathroom or kitchen because you can turn them off and let them do the work for you without any action on your part. There are a lot of these on the market, but I like the Bad Air Sponge because it works and because it has a hilarious name!
It feels like a million years ago when I wrote a book called “My Boyfriend Spits In My Handbag…and Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha” (That’s about to come out, no? ?). The headline was inspired by a reader question, yes, vomit in a nice leather bag. The problem is not so much the mess as it is the smell, my advice is to get a deodorant spray designed for shoes as it is safe to use on leather. efficient! I hope none of you have ever thrown a tote in a tote bag, but if you did, now you know what to do. (This also applies to other scents.)
Excellent!We finished the vomit part of the program and I promised you some cat pee, so here it comes: Biokleen Bac-Out is matter For cat urine odor remediation. If you have a cat, you know that at some point in its little feline life, it will pee on your stuff to express its displeasure with the choices you have made. Bac-Out is something that holds anything Kitty sprays.
To end it all in a way more elegant than cat pee, here’s one last odor absorber that’s well worth knowing about: plants! Yes, some houseplants have desiccant properties, which means they absorb moisture from the air and its associated odor. Consider plants that help control humidity, like peace lilies, Boston ferns, and spider plants, as nature’s dehumidifiers.