8 Easy and Innovative Ways to Remove Kitchen Odors For Good

Of all the rooms in your home, the kitchen is closely tied to our five senses. The most prominent of these is not necessarily our sense of hunger but rather smell. Yet, any busy kitchen can start to take on some of the more unpleasant odors associated with meal preparation. 

Using the innovative methods in this guide, you can permanently remove kitchen odors for a fresh, clean food preparation workspace. With the help of a few signature Drift home products, infusing your home and kitchen with delectable scents feels effortless. Treat yourself based on a job well done with our luxuriously elegant scent solutions for your home. 

What Causes Unpleasant Cooking Smells?

Odious smells are an integral part of a working kitchen, from food aging naturally to leftovers overstaying their welcome. Despite the delicious flavors of certain cooked foods, some can give off a distinct or off-putting scent that lingers. Crumbs, liquid spills, and overflowing trash cans also contribute to kitchens smelling less than appetizing.

8 Easy and Innovative Ways to Remove Kitchen Odors

Maintaining a clean kitchen can help prevent unwanted odors, but removing stubborn malodors requires more than a generous helping of elbow grease. Even popping a tray full of prepackaged cookies into the oven only temporarily fills your home with a pleasant aroma. Use the following techniques to remove odors from your kitchen and turn those wrinkled noses into mouths that salivate at what you’ve prepared to eat. 

1. Invest in an Air Purifier

Addressing horrible kitchen odors with an air purifier can feel like pulling out all the stops, but the truth is that air purifiers offer several additional benefits beyond odor control. Purifying the air in your kitchen removes odorous particles as they arise, limiting any smells from landing on counters or range hoods and lingering. It’s also much easier to remove and replace air purifier filters than scrub all four corners of your kitchen. 

2. Increase Your Home’s Ventilation 

Increasing the amount of air flowing into your home can also help remove unwanted kitchen odors. If you’ve ever burnt something in the oven or microwaved a material you weren’t supposed to, you already know the value of an open window and a strong cross-breeze. However, cracking a window before you start cooking can help jumpstart the process and provide even greater results. 

If your kitchen doesn’t have any windows—as is the case in many apartments and condos—most come with a range hood fan that pulls air from the kitchen and vents it outside. Again, increasing ventilation before you start preparing a meal can help promote fewer unpleasant kitchen odors. Since most range hoods are located directly above the stove, it’s also a good idea to clean the screens routinely to remove another potential source of bad odors. 

3. Deodorize Your Trash Can 

Get into the habit of taking out the trash before it overflows to remove kitchen odors easily. Deodorizing your trash can with a dash of baking soda and inserting scented trash bags can also ward off unappetizing scents. If you own a cat, sprinkling some fresh litter in the bottom of the garbage can also has a similar deodorizing effect. 

4. Recycle Used Coffee Grounds

As you give yourself five more minutes to enjoy your morning coffee, those cold, clumped coffee grounds are actually doing the hard work for you. Coffee grounds absorb kitchen malodors over time and are easy enough to throw away after a few hours. The next time you prepare a pot of coffee, use this eco-friendly and inexpensive deodorizing method to keep your kitchen smelling fresh. 

5. Knock Out Odors Overnight 

In addition to repurposing the morning’s coffee grounds, you can also rely on baking soda and vinegar to remove kitchen odors overnight. Separate or blended, these two elements perform wonders when left in a bowl on the counter for eight hours. Vinegar also doubles as a potent steam cleanse for your kitchen when boiled with equal parts water and left to sit on the counter for a few hours. 

6. Craft Your Own Potpourri 

Boiling vinegar can prove too strong a solution for some sensitive noses. Creating your own potpourri is the customized alternative that achieves the same goal while replacing distasteful scents with your preferred fragrances. Boiled lemons provide a solid base, but you can add multiple herbs and spices, including cinnamon, clove, and other types of citrus. 

7. Address Hidden Odors

Foul odors can also hide within the dishes that transport your food or the bowels of your sink. Slice a few potatoes into thin, rounded pieces and sprinkle them heavily with salt before placing them on offending dishes like wooden utensils and cutting boards. Cutting a lemon into smaller pieces and running them through your garbage disposal can release lemon oils that tackle hidden grease. 

8. Replace Malodors With Personalized Scents 

Place three or four drops of vanilla on an oven-safe dish in a 300-degree Fahrenheit oven to infuse your home with the smell of sweet baked goods. Lighting a chef’s candle can also help dispel unwanted food odors. Yet, the herbaceous blends of a chef’s candle can simply replace an unpleasant smell with one that’s more tolerable. 

Drift’s Home Scent Diffuser and Scented Candle offer a better scent solution. Designed to effortlessly blend in with your decor while infusing your space with subtle yet distinct fragrances, our Home Scent Diffuser and Scented Candle products are sustainable, clean, and safe for use around pets and children. Best of all, you can choose which scents you prefer or receive expert recommendations through our Home Scent Quiz. 

Infuse Your Kitchen With Pleasant Home Scents From Drift

With the innovative methods contained in this scent-filled guide, offensive kitchen odors don’t stand a chance! Take back your kitchen with richly scented home products available exclusively from Drift. Explore more of our premium products designed specifically for your home, and follow us on social media to stay updated on our newest releases.