UK homeowners urged to leave bowls of vinegar out overnight

Homeowners stuck with stubborn odours in their home can tackle them with various low-cost hacks, including simply leaving a bowl of vinegar out overnight, an expert says. Joyce French, cleaning expert at HomeHow.co.uk, shared a number of environmentally-friendly tips to help banish lingering smells, without resorting to harsh chemical products.

The firm explained that white vinegar solutions, with their natural acidity, are great for taking on alkaline odours and making them much less potent. Vinegar also has antibacterial properties that can help stop odour-causing bacteria in its tracks.

The expert recommends leaving small bowls of vinegar in a room overnight to get rid of persistent cooking odours. You can also try simmering it with water on the stove.

And if you're concerned about the smell of vinegar taking over, don't worry, as it will itself quickly disappear along with the offending smells its tackling.

Apple cider vinegar can also be a trusty tool and has a slightly sweeter underlying scent than white vinegar. Joyce says you can use it on curtains or upholstery by misting them with a solution of apple cider vinegar and water which will combat odours without damaging the colour of delicate fabrics or leaving a chemical residue.

Additionally, fresh herb bundles of things like rosemary, thyme, and mint can help improve smell around the home, as well as help with closes when small bundles are hung in wardrobes or placed in drawers to keep clothes smelling fresh.

Simmering the peels of fruits like and oranges and lemons in a pot on the stove is another great way to get your home smelling its best, and it also leaves a lovely fresh aroma.

You can even combine them with white white vinegar to make your own natural cleaning solution with degreasing and antibacterial properties.

All you need to do is put the peels in a large glass jar and submerge them in the vinegar and let the mixture sit for about two weeks.

This will allow the peels to infuse with the vinegar to produce an effective natural cleaning solution.

Meanwhile, simmering a handful of herbs in water is said to be "ideal" for getting a fresher scent straight away.

A few drops of vanilla extract on cotton woll can also work wonders if you stash them in areas of the room where bad smells accumulate, hide them in the corners of rooms where odours may accumulate. You may also opt to add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to an oven-safe dish and warm it at a low temperature for half an hour to get your home smelling fragrant and fresh.

Joyce recommends various other methods to tackling stenches and improving the smell, including essential oils like lemon, lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus, and cedarwood, among others, and they can be used to refresh carpets and dabircs by adding five to 10 drops to water in a spray bottle.

Baking soda can also be a great tool for seeing off smells as chemicals in the powder counteract the acids that cause bad smells and produce a compound that's less odourous, the expert says.

It can be used in different ways, but on carpets carpets, rugs, and mattresses, for example, all you need to do is sprinkle some on and leave it for an hour, before vaccuuming the power up.

In enclosed spaces like a fridge, you can also simply leave the powder in a vented jar until the smells have reduced or cleared.

Coffee ground can also be used to soak up unpleasant pongs in the fridge by putting some in a bowl and leaving it inside for a few days. You can use them on carpets and upholstered furniture too by sprinkling some on and vacuuming them off after 15 minutes, the expert says.

Joyce says houseplants are another thing to consider with particular types like peace lilies, spider plants, and snake plants known to be particularly effective at removing airborne toxins and improving air quality in room lots of people use.