Rid Your Home of Odors with these 10 Common Household Products

From dirty socks at the bottom of a clothes hamper to onion peels stuck in the garbage disposal, most homes emit a range of odors. Effectively battle yours with these 10 common household products. They are ones that cost pennies, but serve more than one purpose.

1. Downy Fabric Softner

In a sixteen-ounce trigger spray bottle, add one tablespoon of Downy liquid fabric softener and water. Shake well. Then spray the air. You’ll be surprised at how much better it smells afterwards.

2. Bounce Dryer Sheets

Inside of an air-conditioning vent or on top of a fan, tape a Bounce dryer sheet. It will blow fragrant air throughout the house. You can also place Bounce sheets under mattresses, sofa cushions and carpets to improve their smell. Don’t forget to use them in your hamper and drawers. Be sure to take advantage of the different varieties of this product in order to vary the sweet fragrances floating through your home.

3. Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

In a sixteen-ounce trigger spray bottle, add two teaspoons of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda to two cups of water. Shake Well. Next, spray the air of any room or area to banish bad odors. To deodorize a closet or refrigerator, place an open box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda on a shelf.

4. Heinz White Vinegar

In order to remove stubborn smells lingering in the air from cooking, paint and cigarettes, place a small bowl of Heinz White Vinegar in the room. You can also put it in a spray bottle and spritz it around the room. This solution will act as an odor neutralizing foul smells.

5. Car Freshener Pine Trees

Those strongly scented Car Freshener Pine Trees can be used to improve the odor of other things besides your vehicle. If you hang them on a blind in front of a window or taped against an air conditioner, it will freshen up your home. You can also bring one to work to battle interoffice odors.

6. Kingsford Charcoal Briquettes

If you place a clean, used coffee can filled with charcoal briquettes in a closet or chest, it will absorb odors. (Warning: Make sure the briquettes are unused and fresh also.)

7. Maxwell House Coffee

Using fresh grounds of Maxwell House Coffee, fill a bowl and place it in a room. It will deodorize and freshen that room.

8. McCormick Vanilla Extract

Before vacuuming a room, saturate a cotton ball with vanilla extract and place it in the vacuum bag. Then, as you pick up dirt from the rug, you’ll also be perfuming the air.

9. Men’s Speed Stick

By removing the lid from a Men’s Speed Stick and placing it in an area (i.e. closet drawers, linen closets, cars), you’ll deodorize it. You can also use a knife to slice it and place chunks around the house. (Warning: Because it can leave a stain, be sure to put it in some type of container, like a carefully bent piece of foil.)

10. Nestea, ReaLemon and Mr. Coffee Filter

Make one quart of Nestea according to the directions on the container and add four tablespoons of ReaLemon lemon juice to it. Next, strain this mixture through a paper coffee filter. Pour it into an empty trigger-spray bottle and spritz in the area with the offensive smell. It will neutralize it.

Ready to snuff out that weird odor in your house? Use the above suggestions and take deeper breaths. Bad smells can’t withstand them.

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