Nothing makes a house feel more like a home than a classic home cooked meal with the family and friends, but it's hard to avoid the unpleasant smells that tend to accumulate, especially when accidents in the kitchen and burned food can strike at any moment.
When there's an incredibly stubborn burnt smell in your home, it tends to linger around the entire house and ruin the homely atmosphere. Instead of breathing in fresh air, all you can smell are burnt food odors and the other stubborn smells that come with it.
But don't let the fear of burnt odors stop you from enjoying time in your kitchen! Here are some quick and easy fixes that can eliminate burnt food odors from your house quickly.
How to Get Rid of That Burnt Food Smell in Your House
Fresh Air
Perhaps the most obvious solution would be to open up some windows or outside doors and get some fresh air to circulate around your house. The moment that you've accidentally burnt something in the kitchen, you should immediately throw back the curtains and open as many windows as you can around the house to waft all the smoke and burnt smells out.
This also includes turning on your exhaust fan to help the air circulate air inside. Apart from exhaust fans, you can also turn on any electric fans that you may have to help the smell disappear much more quickly, especially when the daily breeze is weak or non-existent.
Air Purifier and Air Fresheners
Another way to mask and cover that burnt smell that just won't go away is to pull out your air purifier or an air freshener. Simply place these near the area where the burnt smell is the strongest and let them do their job. Should you have more than one, you may also use them all simultaneously to get rid of the burnt odor faster.
Remove the Burnt Food
Another way to remove the burnt smell is to get rid of the burned food and clean whatever it could have clung onto. This includes the burned food itself and the pot or pan that was used.
Once the burned food has been cooled down, you should scrape and dispose of it in a plastic bag immediately to avoid the smells and smoke from getting worse and spreading to other rooms.
But it's not enough to just dispose of the culprit as you also need to toss it out. Immediate garbage disposal is absolutely important to avoid any unwanted odors from wafting in your home.
After you've gotten rid of the evidence, you also have to clean up after it by properly washing your pots and pans with dish soap. But as integral as it is to wash them right after they've cooled down, make sure that you don't scrub them too aggressively as this may damage your cookware, especially their outermost coating.
Salt
This common household ingredient is also an effective way to fight any burnt odor in your house, especially with any food spills and residue on your oven or stove from the accident.
All you have to do is pour salt over the spill when it's still fresh, and the salt will prevent the food residue from hardening and sticking. After your oven or stove has cooled down, simply wipe or scrape off the spill.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is a very popular household essential as it serves many different purposes. For this particular problem, baking soda is one of the many natural deodorizers that you can use to fight any unpleasant odor, including the stubborn smell of burnt food.
For any burnt odors refusing to waft away, you can place baking soda in a bowl and leave it around where the burned smell is the strongest.
Sprinkling a bit of baking soda onto any residue can also help loosen it for easier cleaning and removal.
Coffee Beans
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Coffee beans are also a very popular deterrent for burnt smells, and they're a household ingredient already available in your kitchen. Similar to baking soda, coffee grounds or coffee beans can be placed in a bowl to absorb the burnt odors as the nitrogen found in the coffee effectively eliminates unpleasant smells.
White Vinegar
White vinegar is one of the most versatile yet common household items that can help you keep your house clean and fresh. But as white vinegar has a strong and distinctive smell of its own, you may avoid this and save it for stubborn lingering odors.
To avoid the strong smell of white vinegar, you can alternatively combine the vinegar with some boiling water before reducing the heat and leaving it on the stove to simmer for around 15 to 30 minutes. Afterwards, you can shut down the fire and let the uncovered vinegar water cool down.
Even when diluted, white vinegar is still a great natural cleaning agent that can neutralize and mask any stubborn burnt smell.
Lemon Juice
Similarly to the vinegar, you can mix the lemon juice with some warm water to create a lemon water that you can then boil to fight away the stench.
You can also gather some boiled lemon extracts and scatter them around the areas where the smoke is the strongest.
Wash Your Linens and Fabrics
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In case you've done everything that you could but find that the burnt smell still won't go away, your fabrics and linens may be guilty of holding onto that nasty smell.
To check, you should walk around your home to check and gather all the fabrics, upholstered items and more that may still be holding onto the smoke and odor. After getting them all, you'll want to wash them with a gentle fabric cleaner and color-safe bleach, along with a fabric softener.
After they've finished washing, make sure to check for any remnants of the burnt odor as they may become even more difficult to remove once the fabrics have dried. Should there still be some smells remaining, you can rewash them before drying.
There's nothing more frightening than when an accident erupts in your kitchen. You're stressed, overwhelmed and don't know what to do or where to even begin with cleaning. Luckily, Luce is here to get rid of your kitchen disasters. Our experienced cleaners can handle any stain and mess so that you won't have to.
Give us a call and schedule your next cleaning appointment today.
