11 Ways To Get Rid of Smells In Your Kitchen After Cooking

If you often prepare meals for a large family or host gatherings, lingering food smells can be hard to avoid—especially if your kitchen lacks good ventilation.

To remove stubborn odors like fish or smoke, try these simple methods. Here are 11 effective ways to get rid of smells in your kitchen after cooking, as recommended by our top house cleaning Los Angeles.

Open your window

The easiest way to avoid cooking odors is to let them escape outdoors. Turn on your range hood or vent over the stove to direct smoke and scents outside.

You can also use your air conditioner to help remove odors. However, be cautious — constant exposure to steam and grease can lead to mold buildup in your AC filters and coils.

This may cause the unit to clog or degrade faster. The best option is to open a window before cooking to improve air circulation. If you forget, open it while cooking and place a fan near the window to push air out.

Use Coffee Ground

Did you know that the aroma of freshly brewed coffee can also assist? Coffee includes nitrogen, which helps to eliminate smells. Place your wet coffee grinds on a baking pan to dry and leave them there overnight. Coffee grinds may also be used to treat smelly hands that are caused by touching raw fish or garlic, simply rub your hands with coffee grinds to freshen them up.

Soaking the Chopping boards

If cooking odors linger, remember they might come from kitchenware, not just the air. Wooden chopping boards are a common culprit.

Meat and vegetable juices can seep into the ridges, making them hard to clean. Soak wooden boards overnight in hot water with a drop of bleach. This sanitizes and removes deep-seated smells. You can also do this as part of your regular kitchen cleaning routine.

Wash towels and linens

Cooking scents cling to towels, dishcloths, and even the clothes you wear. Grilling can also cause smoke to stick to fabric after just an hour or two.

Toss any linens or clothing that smell into the laundry right away to keep your home smelling fresh.

Boil Cinnamon

Sweet-smelling ingredients like cinnamon can be used in different ways beyond baked goods and desserts. Sweet smells, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, have strong capabilities and create a warm atmosphere and good smell in the house. This method is quite effective in removing fried food odors. To eliminate smells, simply boil a few cinnamon sticks in water for 30 to 40 minutes and the smell will spread throughout your room.

Use a Baking Soda in the Fridge

Here comes the #1 kitchen cleaning superhero. To prevent awful smells in the fridge, you may use baking soda. Even if you clean spills and remove leftover food before it spoils, a fridge may hold a variety of unpleasant odors. Keep a basin of baking soda in the back corner to neutralize offensive scents.

Vinegar

Vinegar is a powerful cleaning and deodorizing agent. White vinegar neutralizes even the strongest kitchen odors with little effort.

To use it, boil a cup of vinegar for about 15 minutes to eliminate lingering smells.

Use Air Purifier

While you’re cooking, use a tiny, portable air purifier. It’s not only a quick way to deodorize your kitchen before scents spread, especially smoke-related aromas, but it also removes germs, viruses, mildew, and debris from the air. An air filter will also assist deodorize existing stinky rooms. You can use this also if you’re doing a home cleaning.

Activated Charcoal

Activated charcoal has long been proven to remove stubborn odors, especially in refrigerators. It absorbs a wide range of smells and moisture.

You can place charcoal briquettes not only in your fridge but also around your home to freshen the air.

Unlike sprays that mask smells, charcoal permanently eliminates them by trapping odor molecules.

Boil a Refresh Citrus

Cooking scents can be eliminated by boiling orange or lemon peels, cloves, and cinnamon sticks in water. The steam will absorb odors you don’t want to spread, and at the same time, it will bring a pleasant good smell. When possible, use citrus components because lemon is known to cut through unpleasant odors.

Use your Exhaust Fan

Turn on your exhaust fan whenever you cook to keep your kitchen fresh. A range hood draws stinky air out before it spreads through your home.

If your kitchen doesn’t have one, consider installing a vented fan to help remove both heat and odor from cooking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do air purifiers remove cooking smells?
Air purifiers are not only a quick way to deodorize your kitchen before scents spread, especially smoke-related aromas, but it also removes germs, They can remove also stinky odors in your kitchen.
Activated charcoal absorbs a wide range of odors. Charcoal does not just mask them or remove them temporarily. Other odor control techniques just cover up the smells, activated charcoal actually eliminates them permanently.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee will assist in eliminating bad odors. Place your wet coffee grinds on a baking pan to dry and leave them there overnight. You may also store these used and dry grinds in a dish in the fridge to remove smells.
It’s because vinegar is excellent for neutralizing odors in the home, particularly the strongest odors in the kitchen. As with all of our vinegar hacks, you don’t need to put in much effort to have a significant result.

Conclusion

No one wants a smelly kitchen. Lingering odors can affect your cooking flow and even spread to clothes or furniture.

Luckily, proper ventilation and the right cleaning methods can eliminate them easily. Open windows, use your exhaust fan, and apply simple odor-removing tricks to keep your space fresh.

Need professional help to deep-clean your kitchen? Call (888) 624-4962 for a free quote today!

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