10 of the Most Common Household Odours — and How to Eradicate Them

Our pups are like family, but when they traipse through our house after a walk in a rainstorm, and leave that distinct wet dog smell on furniture and rugs, the familial tie feels a touch strained. The best way to eradicate the odour is preventing it in the first place. When bathing your dog, or if they get wet on a walk, make sure to dry them off as quickly as possible with towels, or even a hair dryer!

If the smell has already transferred to areas or furniture within your home, you can deodorize them naturally with a mix of two cups of white vinegar and four tablespoons of baking soda in a spray bottle.

Find more helpful tips on how to deal with common pet odours.

There’s nothing worse than reaching for a towel when you’re freshly showered, only to discover it wreaks of mildew. This sour odour is caused when damp towels aren’t able to dry off fully (for instance, if you hang wet towels on top of one another). It’s crucial to give your towels space to dry, and try not to over fold them if they’re hanging on a towel bar.

Thankfully, you can bring towels back from the brink of stink. When you’re washing the towels, run them through the wash on a regular, hot cycle, with your regular detergent, plus a cup of vinegar, followed by a second cycle with just a half cup of baking soda. Your towels will come out good as new! And you can repeat this process once a month, or as needed.

Related: From Appliances to Fabrics: How Often Should You Clean These Things in Your Home?

If your rugs are taking you on a magic carpet ride of every shoe that’s walked over it, and every food that’s been spilled on it, it’s time to treat the problem. You can sprinkle your rug with baking soda, and use a brush to work it into the rug fibers. Let it sit overnight, and then vacuum up the baking soda the following morning. If the smell persists, spray the rug with a mixture of equal parts warm water and vinegar. After 15 minutes, blot the water and vinegar out, and then spray the rug with just warm water, and allow it to dry fully before placing furniture on it, or walking on it.

Related: The Ultimate Household Maintenance Checklist

With so many foods (of questionable ages) hanging out in your fridge, it’s only natural that odours will develop and mingle. To keep things smelling as fresh as possible, empty and wash your fridge regularly (every two months or so), using a mixture of soapy water and vinegar. Make sure to dry it thoroughly before placing your food back in the fridge.

For a quick fix, open a new box of baking soda and place it in your fridge for 24 hours, and then toss the box once it’s absorbed all odours. And always be quick to wipe up spills!

Is your bedroom wafting a worrisome odour but you can’t quite place where it’s coming from? It could be your laundry basket! It gets piled high with stinky, sweaty clothing, and sure, the clothing gets washed, but the basket? Not so much. Some laundry baskets include insert bags, which you can wash weekly with your laundry, but if you use a basket that can’t go in the wash, brush it with a mixture of warm water and baking soda, and allow the basket to dry thoroughly, preferably in the sun. You can also add a scented dryer sheet to the bottom of the basket each week to keep it smelling spiffy.

There’s nothing like the smell of a delicious meal…until you’re still smelling it days later. To keep these culinary odours in the kitchen, where they belong, trying closing all interiors doors, and ventilate however you can, even if it means opening a window slightly. Be sure to clean up as quickly as possible, avoiding letting food sit out for hours, and once the meal is over, and your kitchen is all cleaned up, place a bowl of baking soda, or even coffee grounds out on your counter for the night. Both will help to deodorize your home!

Related: How to Get Rid of the Smell of Cigarette Smoke in a House

What could smell worse than your actual garbage bin? It’s literally designed to contain bad odours, but if you’re not cleaning yours regularly, it won’t just contain odours, it’ll amplify them! At minimum, you should be washing your garbage and recycling bins with warm, soapy water and allowing it to dry fully before placing a garbage bag back in. You can also give it a sprinkle of baking soda to help neutralize odours each time you change the bag.

Related: The Ultimate Guide to Disinfecting Every Surface of Your House

Is your nose twitching each time you empty the dishwasher? There could be food built up (and rotting!) in your dishwasher, causing unwelcome an odour. Do your best to rinse plates before placing them in the dishwasher, and give your machine a proper cleanse once a month. An easy natural way to do it is by placing one cup of white vinegar in a dishwasher safe mug, on the upper rack, and running it on the hot cycle. The vinegar will help cut through grease, while also neutralizing bad smells.

Related: 12+ Surprising Things You Can and Cannot Wash in Your Dishwasher

You’ve heard the expression out of sight, out of mind, right? You may be able to shut the door and hide the mess in your closet, but you can’t shut your nose! There are so many bad odours mingling in your closet: unwashed clothing, sweaty sneakers, old robes…it’s the perfect storm of atrocious aromas! To prevent these smells, avoid storing your laundry basket in your closet (it should live in a large, well ventilated space) and do your best to clean or refresh items that aren’t easily or often tossed in the washing machine. Runners can be sprinkled with baking soda after a sweaty session and left outside to dry completely before storing, and you can invest in items to scent the small space, like sprays or herbs in satchels. The release of lavender or fresh lemon each time you open your closet will put a spring in your step (and a smile under your nose!).

Through regular use, washing machines can begin to smell from a buildup of leftover soap, and debris from clothing. Add in high heat and a damp environment and it’s the perfect breeding ground for stinky mildew. To rid your machine of built-up grime and odour, add a mixture of a quarter cup of baking soda and a quarter cup of water to your machine’s detergent container. Then add two cups of white vinegar into the machine’s drum, and run it on high heat (without anything else inside). You should also check your machine after each use, poking into any crevices where soap and debris might get caught, and clean out the areas and dry them fully. And always leave the door open to allow it to dry out after each use. This will go a long way in the fight against mildew!