Even chefs sometimes char their foods accidentally, so cut yourself some slack if you’ve recently blackened your food.
Throwing away the charred food is easy; the real challenge is eliminating the burnt smell. Spoiler alert: it’s a pretty big job, so roll up your sleeves!
Here are six effective tips on how to get rid of burnt smell in house. By the way, if you’re concerned about wildfire smoke seeping into your home, check out our article on how to prevent or limit smoke smell from polluting your indoor air.
How To Get Rid Of Burnt Smell In House
1. Remove The Source Of Burnt Smell
First, don’t leave burnt food indoors. Turn off the cooking appliance, toss the burnt food in a grocery bag, throw it in a trash can, and take the can outside as quickly as possible.
The longer the “burnt offerings” remain inside your kitchen or other parts of the house, the further the smell seeps into your home fabrics, such as clothes, carpets, and curtains. We have all been there at one point—that burnt popcorn smell that seems to want to linger.
Although it is important to quickly dispose of the source of burnt smell, be sure to wait until the burnt item is cool enough so you don’t burn yourself. Also, you don’t want hot food to melt your trash bag or plastic materials in your waste container.
2. Air Out Your Home
When trying to eliminate the burnt smell in your house, you want to let fresh air in as much as possible to eliminate those smoke particles. You also want to create outlets for the blackened-food smell to escape, so throw open the windows and pull back the curtains. Turn on the exhaust fan in the kitchen if you have one.
Remember to close the windows in other rooms to prevent the burnt smell from getting into other rooms. To improve air circulation and ventilation and avoid a lingering odor, make sure to switch on the fans. This will blow out the offending smell faster and minimize the chances of a lingering burnt food smell.
3. Clean The Cookware And Kitchen Appliance
Now that you’ve eliminated what’s causing the burnt smell and allowed cross ventilation, it is time to do the hard work. Yes, getting rid of the burnt smell in the house involves a lot of cleaning!
Start with whatever you cooked the food in ― pot, pan, indoor grill, etc. Clean them thoroughly with dish soap and warm water, ensuring to scrape out and properly dispose of the charred particles.
The sooner you clean your cookware, the better your chances of stopping the burnt smell from clinging to the utensils for longer than necessary.
With your cookware all clean and sparkly, it’s time to turn your attention to the cooking appliance.
Inspect your microwave, stovetop, oven, toaster, or cooking appliance. Check for grime, caked-on food, or signs of spills. Make sure to thoroughly clean the appliance because half-hearted cleaning means you’ll continue to get that burnt smell every time you preheat the appliance.
4. Scrub Down Your Kitchen
Empty your cabinets and give every shelf a good rubdown. Clean your countertop and any item to ensure the burnt smell doesn’t linger.
As mentioned, ridding your house of burnt smell is a big job!
5. Neutralize The Burnt Smell
No matter how thoroughly you clean your kitchen and utensil, the burnt smell will likely linger in the air for a while, so your next step is to neutralize the smell.
However, resist the urge to grab the air freshener or light a scented candle. None of these will neutralize the burnt smell. You might mask the burnt smell for a while, but it will eventually return.
Besides, lighting scented candles, using essential oils, or spraying an air freshener when your home already has unwanted smells may make things worse!
Here’s something else you want to be aware of when trying to neutralize the burnt smell in your house. Avoid using home remedies like vinegar to neutralize the unpleasant odor or improve indoor air quality.
While vinegar might neutralize the burnt smell, inhaling the acetic acid vapors in vinegar can hurt your health. This is particularly true if you are exposed to vinegar for several hours.
You might experience irritation in your nose, eyes, and throat, and if exposed to large amounts of the substance, it can lead to skin and lung damage.
Your best bet?
Turn on your air purifier and let it do its job. In addition to capturing and removing particulates and VOCs, top-of-the-line air purifiers like the EnviroKlenz Air System are designed for chemical and odor control. This means they can eliminate cooking odors and smoke smells besides destroying toxins in indoor air.
6. Clean Your Home Fabrics And Soft Furnishings
If there are curtains in the room, remove and clean them. Don’t forget carpets and any pieces of rugs in the room. Make sure they are all thoroughly cleaned and smell fresh.
You’ve probably heard of some home remedies like sprinkling baking soda on carpets before vacuuming to remove the smoke odor or burnt smell. These DIY methods are undoubtedly natural, inexpensive, and can remove odors, but they are not without some not-so-pleasant downsides.
Using baking soda to rid your carpet of burnt smell may damage the floors and underlay.
But that’s not all.
Vacuuming the baking soda from your carpet after letting it sit overnight can be extremely difficult. Besides, you risk blowing tiny baking soda particles into the air, resulting in poor IAQ.
Cleaning with non-toxic odor removal products is your best bet. If cleaning is a chore you’ll rather avoid, send your home fabrics to professional cleaners.
Maintaining Clean Indoor Air Improves Health
The burnt smell in your home may seem harmless, but the unpleasant, choking odor given off as food burns should make you think twice.
Exposure to the smell of burning food means inhaling potentially toxic particles in the air. This can trigger various health problems, especially in people with existing medical conditions. Smoke from burnt food can inflame your airways and lungs, leading to respiratory distress.
For this reason, our best tip on how to get rid of burnt smell in house is to filter your indoor air using a good-quality air purifier. Make sure to remove the source of the burnt smell before running your air purifier to maintain good indoor air quality and eliminate any lingering smell.
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EnviroKlenz®Medical Disclaimer:
“Any information that is provided on this website is not for the use by any commercial or personal entity without expressed written consent of the blog author. The material and statements illustrated within this blog are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases or medical conditions. Nor does the author in any way guarantee or validate the validity, totality, or efficacy of any claims and will therefore not be held responsible for the content of any claims. Always consult your medical physician for any specific medical advice or recommendations.”
