CR's Guide to Eliminating Nasty Household Odors

Whether your kitchen is marinating in the smell of burnt microwave popcorn or spoiled food from the refrigerator, this expert advice can help.

Try this fix: If your fridge is stinky, remove anything that smells like it’s spoiled and toss it into an outdoor trash receptacle (not your kitchen garbage bin). If you’re still sniffing a bad smell, placing an open box of baking soda or a bowl of activated charcoal inside the fridge can absorb milder odors. But if a powerful stench has permeated it—like that of a package of meat forgotten on a back shelf—empty the fridge and freezer for a deep clean.

Litter boxes, pee or poop accidents, the smell of wet fur: You don’t have to endure animal smells. Here’s how to neutralize them.

Try this fix: For a general “a pet lives here” smell, consider an odor-neutralizing spray such as Febreze (Staples, Walmart), which has ingredients that encapsulate the compounds causing the odor, says Bill Wuest, PhD, a chemistry professor at Emory University in Atlanta. "Think of it as a sponge that can absorb odor,” he says.

Sprinkling baking soda on rugs and carpets a half-hour or more before vacuuming (using a vacuum with a HEPA filter) also helps. For more potent and persistent smells—especially cat and dog urine on carpeting or upholstery—acting fast is key. The Carpet and Rug Institute recommends blotting the spot with white rags or washable white cloths, such as Utopia Towels (Amazon), then using a clean towel or cloth to apply a solution of a quarter of a teaspoon of lanolin- and bleach-free liquid dishwashing detergent mixed with a cup of tepid water. Blot, rinse, and repeat until there’s no sign or smell of urine.

An enzymatic laundry product to break down stinky uric acid into gases that evaporate, such as Nature’s Miracle Laundry Boost (Chewy), is another way to banish pet urine odors. Enzymatics may have the word “enzyme” on their label or list the enzymes they contain—look for ingredients that end in “ase.” (A note: Like many similar products, Febreze and Nature’s Miracle don’t specify what’s in their fragrances, and some of the ingredients may cause allergic reactions or other health problems, according to Boring.) Is your cat’s litter box an olfactory assault? Mixing in some activated charcoal with the litter absorbs smells, Boring says. His pick is Coir Wonder Coconut Shell Activated Charcoal (Coir Wonder, Amazon).

Still stinky? A carpet cleaner (often found to rent at hardware and pet supply stores) and an enzymatic cleaner, such as Simple Solution Stain & Odor Remover (Amazon, Chewy), should be able to freshen up most floor coverings. If your rug, carpeting, or upholstered furniture remains pungent, professional cleaning is probably your best bet. If you’d rather take on the task yourself, check out the top-rated carpet cleaners from our tests, both full-sized and portable. (While portable cleaners tend to get lower test scores than full-sized models, they may be all you need if your pet’s messes are confined to one spot.) One thing to consider: When using a carpet cleaner on pet stains, be sure to fill the machine with cold water and turn off any heating element, because heat can set the stain. Below are two highly rated carpet cleaners, one full-sized and one portable, that don’t heat water automatically.

What to avoid: The Humane Society of America advises against using ammonia or vinegar because their strong smells may encourage your pet to mark the area again.

This smell is caused by mold, mildew, potentially harmful black mold, and other related fungi. They all thrive where there’s condensation, leaks, or frequent steam.

Try this fix: In bathrooms, dispatch mildew on hard surfaces with a shower cleaner or an all-purpose cleaner, such as Clorox Free & Clear Multi-Surface Spray Cleaner (Home Depot, Target), and machine-wash discolored shower curtains and liners. Running your bathroom fan for about 20 minutes before and after you shower also subdues fungi growth, says Melissa Dilkes Pateras, author of “A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home: Housekeeping Hacks You Can’t Live Without”(The Dial Press, 2023).

If your washing machine has a mildewy odor—common in front-loaders—clean it well following the manufacturer’s instructions. (GE, for instance, advises wiping down gaskets with a cloth and soapy water or going over them with a toothbrush dipped in white vinegar.) For mildewy or otherwise stinky clothes and towels, Pateras likes laundry boosters. These include EnviroKlenz Liquid Laundry Enhancer (Walmart, Amazon) and Zero Odor Laundry Odor Eliminator (Zero Odor, Target).

As for a musty basement, check for dampness on walls or in soggy carpeting—water leaks you’re not aware of may have caused mold to grow. Start vanquishing it by opening windows and running fans in the area. Sprinkle baking soda on smelly floor coverings and then vacuum it up to help remove moisture and odors, says Brian Sansoni, senior vice president of communications, outreach, and membership at the American Cleaning Institute. Follow that by wiping down basement walls, shelves, and other hard surfaces with a clean cloth and a solution of no more than 1 cup of bleach diluted in a gallon of water. Also, run a dehumidifier, and place several containers of a moisture removal product like DampRid (Home Depot) in the room to absorb airborne water. Don’t have a dehumidifier? See below for a few of the top models from CR’s tests.

Still stinky? In your bathroom, make sure the fan is working well. A square of toilet paper should cling when floated up to a running fan, Pateras says. If it doesn’t, clean the filter with soap and water or with a vacuum attachment. For your washer, CR recommends running a cleaning cycle. If your machine doesn’t have one, run the appliance empty on the hottest water-temperature setting with chlorine bleach. Still sniffing a mildewy odor? Your washer may need a new pump filter. If it’s accessible (check the owner’s manual), you can try cleaning it before buying a replacement. If your basement remains musty, you may need a plumber or contractor to deal with the source of the moisture.

If your home is unrelentingly musty or you have unexplained headaches or respiratory symptoms, see a doctor and call a mold remediation specialist. The Environmental Protection Agency also advises the latter if you find an area of black mold larger than 10 square feet.

A sewage-like odor wafting out of a bathroom sink or shower drain (or basement floor drain) can be icky. But it’s also easy to get rid of.

Try this fix: If the smell seems to be more than simply a toilet that needs freshening, the culprit could be a dried-out P-trap, the U-shaped curve in the pipe under a sink. These generally have some water in them, which stops sewer gas—malodorous fumes from wastewater—from infiltrating your home. But in infrequently used drains, like that of a guest bathroom sink, the water may dry up and allow sewer gas in.

If running the faucet briefly resolves the problem, do this for a minute or two weekly or biweekly to keep the P-trap moist. In a shower or tub, the odor may be from an unseen glob made up of stuff like hair, bacteria, skin cells, and shampoo, gunking up pipes and slowing or clogging the drain. To remove it, Pateras recommends a snakelike DIY tool such as the Drain Weasel (Walmart, Ace Hardware) to yank out the mess. Another option is an enzymatic drain cleaner like Bio-Clean (Amazon). This type of product takes at least several hours to work. For more options, see our article on the best products to eliminate household odors.

Still stinky? If the potty fumes persist, call a plumber. You could have a problem such as a leak in the P-trap.

What to avoid: Caustic drain cleaners like Drano and Thrift may harm very old or rusted pipes or light-gauge plastic under-sink replacement pipes. Anyone who uses these should do so with caution. They can cause chemical burns if they come into contact with skin, and some emit harmful fumes.