5 things making your kitchen smell bad – and how to fix them

If you spend hours in the kitchen preparing meals for friends and family, you don't want unpleasant or awful smells competing with your culinary creations. Even if you clean a kitchen after every use – food residue, smoke, scraps and more can linger around for a while, lurking in places you wouldn't think to look – or clean. 

We're here to help you solve the problem and eliminate those stubborn, off-putting smells for good by sourcing the best cleaning tips and home fragrance tricks to help banish bad kitchen smells for good. But first, we must find out what is causing them.

Follow these five steps to clean your kitchen right after you cook and keep those bad smells from escaping and traveling throughout the rest of your home.

1. The oven

Often neglected on the weekly clean, the oven is subject to daily spillages and prone to baked-on grime and stubborn fat. It is usually the main culprit for bad kitchen smells. These fatty deposits create grease that can spread throughout the oven – and while grease build-up is not always visible – if you don't clean an oven enough, the smell will linger and permeate your entire kitchen.

It might be tempting to use the self-cleaning mode on your oven, but more often than not, this won't give it the deep clean that you desire. Instead, our cleaning expert, Chiana Dickson recommends using The Pink Stuff, available at Amazon. 

'The internet cannot get enough of this miracle home cleaning brand,' says Dickson. ‘The inside of oven doors is a particularly challenging place to clean, even with the most robust oven cleaners. However, a small amount of The Pink Stuff will clean oven doors in an instant. Same with gas stove tops and grills.’ 

2. The dishwasher

You might think this hard-working appliance is self-cleaning, but it will collect food debris and soap residue over time. If you've noticed that your dishes and cutlery have been smelling bad lately, a dirty dishwasher may be the reason why.

Cleaning a dishwasher is no one's favorite task, but regular deep cleans are essential if you want to make your kitchen smell nice and ensure your dishes are left gleaming after every cycle.  

'If you want to prevent odors or stop them from getting worse, you can start by scraping excess food from plates before you load them into the dishwasher,' explains Chiana Dickson. 'This limits how much food ends up in the filter, preventing it from becoming clogged – one of the most mains causes of bad dishwasher smells,' she says. 

Cleaning with vinegar is an obvious go-to whenever you need to tackle lingering odors, but for good reason. There is nothing like it for combatting even the worst of bad home smells, agrees Daniel Vivanco, cleaning expert and owner of Ace of Maids. ‘Cleaning a dishwasher with vinegar monthly can work wonders in eliminating odors and mineral deposits. Running a hot water cycle with a cup of white vinegar on the top rack helps break down grease and remove lingering odors.'

3. The kitchen sink

Walking into a kitchen that proudly boasts a spotless sink, gleaming taps and a fresh, welcoming scent will instantly lift your mood, even if the rest of your room isn't quite up to scratch. However, while your sink surface might appear clean, your garbage disposal could be letting it down.

The chamber inside the garbage disposal is reasonably good at self-cleaning, but smells and food waste can build up in the areas the chamber doesn't scrub. To keep foul smells from building up, try to find a consistent cleaning schedule that works best for your lifestyle and volume of dishes; once a week is a good idea.

It's also important to avoid putting certain foods down the garbage disposal, including pasta, potatoes, rice, beans, fibrous foods like celery, and bones, which can all block the disposal and cause bad smells.

When you are cleaning your kitchen sink, and before a deep clean may be needed, try cleaning the garbage disposal's splash guard, which is often where bad smells originate due to a buildup of food particles.

If that doesn't work, or a deeper clean is needed, baking soda, lemons, vinegar and ice are all ideal for cleaning the garbage disposal without harsh chemicals. Alternatively, these Bastion Garbage Disposal Cleaner and Deodorizer Drops, available at Amazon have numerous five-star reviews, with one reviewer describing the scent as 'fantastic'.

4. The refrigerator

Subject to spills and odors, this workhorse of an appliance never gets a rest. Spend 30 minutes giving it some attention – a clean fridge will keep your food and drink fresher for longer and eliminate bad smells in the kitchen.

'It’s a good idea to clean your refrigerator regularly,' says Vijay Bhardwaj, director at Beko, director at Beko. 'This will help to prevent the build-up of those unwanted smells.' 

To get rid of smells and grime quickly in your fridge, you can clean the insides with baking soda or vinegar to sanitize it quickly and efficiently. Do not use cleaning products that may release harmful substances or odors on the food and always rinse the cloth once you have finished with it for the interior of the fridge.

5. Nooks and crannies

Cleaning unseen, hidden spots in your kitchen is vital to ensuring your kitchen looks and smells good. Think of the space between your oven, stovetop, and countertop as spaces that harbor dirt and debris. These nooks and crannies are often breeding grounds for food remnants. If left to rot, foul smells will fester. 

If the gap is wide enough, use a vacuum attachment to suck up any crumbs and or grime. Alternatively, try a yardstick, long-handled duster, or broom handle to clean those hard areas and dislodge any grime and gunk. Or, purchase kitchen counter gap covers to help prevent the problem before it even begins.

Finally, and most importantly, clean immediately after cooking. While it may be tempting to let the dishes, dirty glasses, and used baking foil sit until the next morning, this will inevitably cause bad smells to stick around your kitchen and carry through your entire home.