You can make your house smell good with baking soda by using it as a passive deodorizer in open containers or by creating scented sprays and carpet fresheners with essential oils, letting it absorb bad smells and release pleasant aromas in carpets, closets, fridges, or sprayed on fabrics. Key methods include sprinkling scented powder on carpets for vacuuming, placing jars with scented baking soda in rooms, or mixing into a spray bottle with water and essential oils.
For a good-smelling house, three simple ingredients often used are water, baking soda, and essential oils for an all-natural air freshener spray, or for simmering potpourri, you can combine citrus (like orange/lemon), cinnamon sticks, and cloves/vanilla extract to create a warm, inviting aroma, with baking soda tackling bad odors.
How Long Does it Take for Baking Soda to Remove Odors? Adding one box of Fridge-n-Freezer™ or regular baking soda should help remove odors from the fridge within as few as two days, depending on the severity of the odors you've left behind.
Whether you're doing maintenance or deep cleaning, you'll find a trusted helper in baking soda.
Use Baking Soda in Air Vents
Baking soda naturally absorbs odors, just like it does in your refrigerator. Leave it in the duct for several hours or overnight, then remove it. You can repeat this process as needed to help neutralize mild smells.
Home Uses
If you're wondering what absorbs smells in a room, baking soda, white vinegar, activated charcoal, and coffee grounds are some of the most effective natural odor eliminators. These substances don't just mask bad smells—they neutralize them by absorbing particles from the air and surfaces.
How to make an odor removal solution: Mix equal parts of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. Use this solution to wipe down surfaces or spray into the air to neutralize odors. The vinegar smell dissipates quickly, taking unwanted odors with it.
Food waste, garbage, or even dead pests left undiscovered in your home can decompose, producing unpleasant odors that permeate the air. Regular cleaning and proper waste disposal are essential to prevent the buildup of decomposing organic matter.
House cleaners use a mix of odor elimination (like baking soda, vinegar, ventilation) and pleasant scent addition (essential oils, room/linen sprays, simmer pots, scented cleaners) to make homes smell good, often customizing based on client preference, focusing first on deep cleaning and odor removal, then adding subtle, fresh fragrances like citrus, lavender, or eucalyptus.
What Are the Best Ways To Make Your House Smell Good?
The homes that smell the most luxurious are not using strong fragrances. They rely on subtlety, clarity, and consistency. Clean citrus, soft florals, woods, and airy musk work together because they support the natural movement of air instead of fighting against it.
Key Points. Baking soda absorbs odors by reacting with acidic compounds and neutralizing them. It typically takes at least 24 hours for baking soda to absorb odors. For enclosed spaces like a refrigerator, keep baking soda in a vented jar and refresh the powder every month.
Baking soda makes our cakes rise, neutralizes fridge odors, softens the laundry, and scrubs out stains. You may have used it to freshen your plumbing, clean your appliances, and bring back the shine on your silver. These and so many more uses make the pantry staple a real jack-of-all-trades around the house.
The strongest smell eliminators often use powerful enzymes, proactive bacteria, or advanced chemical technology to destroy odor molecules at the source, with professional-grade options like XO2's Odour Kill/Oradicator, PuroClenz Ultra, and Odorcide being highly effective for tough organic smells, smoke, and pet odors, while DIY solutions like a hydrogen peroxide/baking soda spray offer strong neutralization for fabrics. For laundry, Zero Odor Laundry is noted for bonding with and eliminating smells that survive washing.
HVAC Scent Systems
HVAC scent diffusers integrate directly with a hotel's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC systems) to distribute scents uniformly across extensive areas. These systems can efficiently blanket large spaces with a signature fragrance, creating a cohesive scent experience.
CONVENIENT & PORTABLE: StinkBalm is compact, fitting snugly in most pockets. It is excellent for use in various settings, including homes, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and medical offices. With its portability and incospicuous application, it can be used anywhere.
You should not clean delicate surfaces like glass, aluminum, wood, marble, quartz, stainless steel, or painted items with baking soda, as its mild abrasiveness can cause scratches, dullness, or strip protective finishes. Also avoid using it on electronics, antiques (like silverware or gold-plated items), copper, and fiberglass, as it can damage components, remove patina, or react with the metal.
Baking Soda
There's no better or more powerful, natural odor absorber than baking soda. Due to its alkaline properties, baking soda reacts with, traps, and neutralizes acidic odor particles. That's why baking soda is especially useful on carpets, rugs, and inside refrigerators.
However, it may take 1-3 days to fully neutralize noticeable smells. For severe odors, you may need to use multiple boxes worth of baking soda. Always combine this method with additional cleaning techniques. It's always best to start by removing the source of the bad smell, if possible.
Putting baking soda in your toilet tank helps keep it clean and stops bad smells. This simple trick fights stains and fungal growth without harming the toilet parts or pipes.
Baking Soda for Short-Term Relief
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is an alkaline chemical compound. 1 Because it's alkaline, baking soda can be used to relieve heartburn by neutralizing excess stomach acid in the same way antacids do. Relief can occur anywhere from minutes to hours after taking baking soda.