We all want our home to smell fresh and inviting, but stale or foul odors in the kitchen from cooking, spoiled food and stinky trash cans can be a challenge to eliminate. Even people who are dedicated to cleaning their kitchen regularly can struggle to keep smells at bay —and that’s where kitchen odor eliminators come in handy.
With the help of three experts — Kelsey Hei, a filtration and indoor air quality specialist at 3M, Odile Liu, the chief product officer at Blueair and Dr. Julie McKinney, the global director of microbiology and virology at Reckitt (the maker of Lysol) — we rounded up the best odor eliminators for the kitchen, including air fresheners, scented candles and air purifiers.
Best air fresheners for the kitchen
Air fresheners impart fragrance to make the air in a room smell clean or fresh, but they’re limited in what they can do to eliminate odors at their source. “While candles and other substances that create a more pleasant smell can help mask whatever is causing the odor,” Hei says, “the better solution to control odors in the kitchen is to use an air purifier and upgrade your HVAC filter to help improve the indoor air quality.It’s also helpful to keep your HVAC fan on at all times to continue to circulate and clean the air.”
Air circulation is crucial to household odor management, and sometimes the best air freshener to use in the kitchen is fresh air. “Opening a window or door to let outdoor air in is a great place to start reducing odors within the kitchen,” Hei says. “Outdoor air can help reduce the concentration of the indoor air filled with pollutants.”
Air fresheners do have their place in the kitchen, both to mask cooking odors and simply to make the room smell nice. And some air fresheners, especially gel formulas, do contain odor-eliminating agents that can absorb and remove unwanted smells.
OdoBan's odor-eliminating canisters use gel crystals to pull smells out of the air, and impart a subtle fragrance that masks cooking smells.
Fresh Wave's odor-eliminating gel canister, which comes in lavender, lemon or original scents, is EPA Safer Choice certified and has a 200-square-foot range.
While scented candles won't neutralize odor molecules, Mrs. Meyer's candles do get high marks for their effectiveness at masking odors in the kitchen. In addition to lemon verbena, you can also get the candle in fun scents like basil and honeysuckle. Our editors even think Mrs. Meyer's makes some of the best cleaning products you can buy on Amazon.
If you're looking for a giftable kitchen candle, Made In's new line makes a great present for the home chef in your life. They're formulated specifically for use in the kitchen and are available in three scents: Zest of Lemon, Tear of Basil and Pinch of Salt.
Best spray odor eliminators for the kitchen
Air freshening and disinfecting sprays are the best choice for quick odor elimination — when you need to mask a smell fast, reach for a spray. Additionally, many sprays designed for odor removal contain disinfectants that target odor molecules and eliminate odor-causing bacteria. “A DIY solution like boiling citrus may mask odors in the kitchen,” McKinney says, adding, “scent can’t sanitize,” so it’s important to understand the difference between sprays that impart fragrance and ones formulated to address malodor at its root.
Ozium is one of the best odor-eliminating sprays I've tried. It works quickly to neutralize smells, and is particularly effective on smoke smells —so if you're prone to burning your toast, Ozium is for you.
You can’t go wrong with Lysol’s Disinfectant Spray either. It’s an excellent odor eliminator that gets to the root of smells by killing odor-causing bacteria.
If you'd prefer a non-aerosol spray odor eliminator, Fresh Wave's mist spray uses bag-on-valve technology for a more environmentally friendly alternative to aerosol delivery systems.
Best odor eliminators for trash cans
Taking out the trash regularly is only one way to prevent garbage from stinking up your kitchen. When you’re taking out the trash, McKinney recommends spraying a disinfectant spray inside the garbage can before putting a new bag in.
A peel-and-stick trash can deodorizer and filter will help to control odors in between emptying and cleaning the garbage receptacle.
Use a strong trash bag to prevent leaks that can leave odor-causing bacteria in a trash can. Opting for a trash bag designed to reduce smells can also help keep odors at bay.
Stick one of these odor-absorbing pods onto the lid of your trash can to reduce smells for up to 45 days. It uses natural plant oils to neutralize odors, and it can be easily replaced once it’s empty (refills are available in packs of four and eight).
Best odor eliminators for garbage disposals
Garbage disposals are a hidden hotspot for food smells, odor molecules and odor-causing bacteria. Because food can build up in a garbage disposal, it does need regular cleaning — use baking soda and vinegar (or a garbage disposal cleaning tablet) for the job.
Garbage disposal cleaning tablets are a quick and easy way to clean and sanitize garbage disposals, helping to keep odors and insects at bay — after the disposal is one of those places most people forget to clean in their homes.
Lemons have odor-eliminating properties thanks to their acidity —tossing one into the disposal after squeezing it will clean and deodorize the garbage disposal. You can also opt for Bastion’s tablets: They combine the odor-eliminating power of lemon with the convenience of drop-in garbage disposal cleaning tablets for a no-fuss solution to a smelly problem.
Best odor eliminators for refrigerators
Keeping odors at bay in the refrigerator starts with proper food storage, and regularly purging old, expired or unused foods. But even the best food storage containers can leave a fridge smelling not-so-hot. “Foods such as garlic, onions, pungent spices, seafood and some cheeses are known to emit strong smells due to varying, hard-to-break-down compounds,” Liu says. Of course, the best way to reduce or eliminate odors in a refrigerator is to clean it regularly.
Move over baking soda, there's a new fridge deodorizer in town! Active charcoal (which also goes by the name activated charcoal, active carbon and activated carbon) is a fantastic alternative to baking soda that actually works and will keep strong food smells from overtaking your fridge.
Distilled white vinegar, because of its acidity, can neutralize the pH levels in the air. It's a great natural deodorizer that can be used to clean the interior of a smelly fridge; place a small bowl or cup of it in the refrigerator overnight to reduce smells.
Best air purifiers and dehumidifiers for the kitchen
“Limited indoor air circulation is a main contributor to lingering odors in your kitchen from cooking,” Hei says. “Having ventilation in your kitchen while cooking is key to helping reduce remaining leftover odors,” Hei says. “Whether that be using or investing in a quality vented range hood above your stove, changing your home HVAC with an air filter designed to eliminate odors, or using an air purifier.”
In addition to upgrading HVAC and vent hood filters and using an air purifier, “Kitchen odors can be influenced not only by the foods you eat and cook,” Liu says, “but also by the elements of your space itself. Ventilation and humidity levels in low ventilation and high moisture spaces can absorb more particles and play a crucial role in whether your food and cooking odors linger.”
Hei recommends replacing the existing filter in your home's HVAC with one designed to eliminate odors, like 3M's Filtrete odor-reducing air filters.
This bestselling air purifier is great for small spaces, like a kitchen. It has multiple speed settings and a three-stage filtration system that includes an activated carbon filter (great for smoke and odors!) and a HEPA filter.
If high humidity is a problem in your home, it could be contributing to lingering odors in the kitchen. A dehumidifier like this Frigidaire model, our choice for best dehumidifier, can help control moisture levels, reducing the presence of odors.
