Martha Stewart Eliminates Kitchen Odors With This Bottle Of Booze

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

If you've got a kitchen conundrum, there's one person you can always turn to. From organizing your kitchen to maximise space, to cleaning stubborn grounds out of your coffee grinder, you know Martha Stewart will have a solution to your problem. So, if you need to get rid of unwelcome and unpleasant smells in the kitchen (and the rest of the house, actually), you know where to turn. The nation's favorite home-maker, Martha Stewart, has a solution! And it's one most of us have on hand already, either on our bar cart or in the freezer. Stewart's go-to solution for scents that are less than fresh? Vodka. 

Whether you're dealing with musty tea towels or upholstery that has an unusual smell, or you just want to cover up the fact that you burnt dinner, vodka's your best friend. Which is not something that should be said in many situations, obviously. For cleaning, though, the alcohol in vodka works by enveloping molecules that cause bad smells and evaporating, taking the smelly molecules with it. That means smells aren't just being covered up or temporarily muted; they're actually being removed. So, pour yourself a little martini before the bottle is gone, and get ready to deodorize your home the Martha Stewart way!

To deal with general unwanted smells in the kitchen, bathroom, and the rest of your house, you can make a personalized scented spray by mixing vodka with a few drops of your favorite essential oil or oils. Just pour the vodka straight into a spray bottle, add the essential oil, and give it a good shake. If you choose an attractive amber glass spray bottle, like these from Tecohouse, and leave the spray out and accessible in spots where it might be needed, without ruining the look of your carefully designed home.

If the underlying problem is something like molding food, drain issues, or standing washing-up water, vodka's natural antiseptic properties will help deal with it. In the meantime, your essential oil will mask the smell. Some essential oils, like tea tree and lemon grass, may have antibacterial properties, while eucalyptus is antimicrobial. For an air freshener that helps fight common food-borne illnesses before they get you or your family sick, try these scents. You can combine them with other essential oils you love, too. Experiment with smaller quantities until you find a combination that works. As you only need a few drops of essential oil mixed into your vodka, a set like this one from PURA D'OR should last years, even if you use them for other things, like flavoring homemade ice cream or making DIY bath bombs. 

Vodka does more than just get rid of kitchen smells. In fact, there are not one but two ways to use vodka to deodorise clothes and other fabrics. For stubborn smells in items like musty towels and dishrags or those workout clothes you forgot about and left in a sweaty mess in your gym bag, add some vodka to your laundry just before you wash it. For a full load of laundry, add a cup of vodka to the drum before you add detergent and start your machine's cycle as normal. If you're washing fewer clothes, scale back the vodka.

For quick deodorising on the go, you can also spray vodka on clothes. This is a trick that's long been used by wardrobe departments in TV and theater, where it's not unusual for costumes to be worn many times before there's a chance to wash them. It even works on delicate items that may be dry-clean only, like vintage clothes or intricate evening wear. Martha Stewart recommends mixing your vodka with equal parts water for a clothes spray, but others swear by straight vodka or vodka with essential oils. Just like in your room spray, essential oils will both cover any scents and kill bacteria or fungi. Don't add too much of your chosen oil, as essential oils can stain if they're concentrated. A good rule of thumb is around 25 drops of essential oils in a 10-ounce spray bottle.