Yes, you can! Combine one quart of water, one part vinegar, two tablespoons of baking soda, and your favorite essential oil in a spray bottle. Shake it well, and you've got a DIY freshener that can help get rid of bad smells in the kitchen and other parts of your home.
There's another thing you can do, though: Pull out a bottle of distilled white vinegar. The acetic acid in vinegar neutralizes alkaline odors, which means it can help get rid of cooking smells cheaply and easily.
-Pour a few inches of baking soda into shallow bowls and leave them uncovered around the odorous rooms of the house for a few days. Baking soda is great for absorbing the smells, but it doesn't happen instantly. -Combine with vinegar and use it in lieu of soapy water to scrub down particularly odorous surfaces.
Baking soda, unlike most commercial air fresheners, doesn't mask odors, “it absorbs them," says Mary Marlowe Leverette, a home economist and blogger. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate in a convenient box) neutralizes stubborn acidic odors -- like those from sour milk -- as well as other funky smells lurking in your home.
Febreze Odor-Fighting Air Freshener
This GH Seal-star spray quickly tackles airborne cooking odors, smoke, must and more with its cyclodextrin technology that surrounds odor molecules and pulls them from the air. And all this performance comes at a great price, making it our Best Value pick.
Add about 25 drops of your favorite essential oil to 2 tablespoons of baking soda and stir to combine. Lemon and lavender are great choices, but eucalyptus is my favorite because of the refreshing scent. Pour the baking soda and essential oil mix into the water and stir. Then funnel the water into your spray bottle.
Baking soda absorbs bad smells from old food scraps and other garbage before it reaches your nostrils. If you're all out of baking soda, try using dryer sheets for stinky trash cans. The fabric softener from the sheets will grab smells and replace them with a pleasant laundry scent.
How Long Do You Leave Baking Soda on Carpet? When cleaning your carpet with baking soda, let it sit for at least 15 minutes. The longer the baking soda stays on the rug, the more odor, dirt, and oil it will absorb, for a more thorough clean. Try leaving baking soda on the carpet overnight and vacuuming in the morning.
Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda on the smelly carpet and let it sit as long as possible, ideally overnight, so it can absorb as much of the odor as it can.
Be patient: While baking soda can absorb heavy smells like burnt, fried, and spoiled food, it can take several days to make a noticeable difference.
'Leave a bowl of vinegar out overnight,' advises Saskia Gregson-Williams, cookbook author and founder of Naturally Sassy. 'In the morning, the vinegar will have absorbed all the unsavory smells and your kitchen will be as fresh as a daisy. '
Some of the most effective household cleaners aren't meant to be mixed. You probably already know never to combine harsh chemicals like bleach and ammonia (or really, bleach and anything). But common pantry essentials that are often used for cleaning — like baking soda and vinegar — shouldn't be mixed either.
Deodorize the Room
Unpleasant odors lurk in the carpets, rugs, and upholstery. To remove these musty smells, fill a dish with half an inch of white vinegar and leave it out in the room until the smell dissipates.
Add Citrus or Citrus Essential Oils
Try adding these to your cleaner to cover up the scent of the vinegar. Lemons, limes, and oranges work great as standalone cleaners. Add some lemon juice to your white vinegar cleaning spray to help neutralize some of the tangy, pungent aroma.
You can use lemon—or another kind of citrus—peel, herbs, spices or essential oils. The choice is yours! Note that the longer you allow these aromatics to sit in the vinegar solution before using it, the more effective they will be.
Add 1 tablespoon (14 g) of baking soda to a small bowl or dish. Mix 5 to 6 drops of an essential oil into the baking soda with a spoon until they are well combined. You don't necessarily have to add an essential oil to the air freshener. The baking soda will absorb odors to help freshen the air on its own.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is a fantastic odor-absorber. Carpet and Upholstered Furniture - Sprinkle baking soda on surface, let sit 30 minutes or overnight, then vacuum away to freshen and remove odors. Bedding - Refresh your mattress with baking soda.
To deal with dull chrome fixtures like drains and faucets, mix a paste of baking soda and vinegar on hard water spots and let it sit for 30 minutes.
If you or someone in your home is sensitive to any scents, you can still use baking soda to freshen the air. Simply sprinkle a few tablespoons into small, uncovered bowls and place them around the house where they can't easily be tipped over or attract curious children and pets.
Distilled white vinegar can be used as often as you'd like to help remove odors. It is less expensive than commercial products, environmentally friendly, safe for use around pets, and contains no harsh chemicals.
Use baking soda and white vinegar to get rid of smells
A cup of baking soda is a great way to get rid of odors - in fact, it's one of the best. It absorbs smells by using its porous structure and neutralizing them. Distilled white vinegar is also an excellent substance when it comes to getting rid of nasty smells!
Yet a few inexpensive household essentials you probably have on hand already—vinegar, salt, coffee, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide—will neutralize most noxious odors around your home and in your vehicles.