Keep Your Kitchen Sink Odor-Free While Traveling With This Easy Trick

Vacation is about kicking back, enjoying the snow or sun, and relaxing, but before you pack your bags and head out the door to embrace that R&R mode, there's one thing you should do in your kitchen to ensure your house doesn't take on a stale smell while you are away: Prep your kitchen drain. If you've ever returned home after a week or longer and thought your house smelled a little funky, the source is likely in your sink. However, with just a glass of water and a paper towel, you can eliminate the problem before it happens, and it's one of the many ways to clean your kitchen.

During your hiatus from your home, a lack of moisture and humidity can be bad for your plumbing. The p-trap, a curved pipe that forms a U-shape or a P, depending on your vantage point, is designed to hold a small amount of standing water that helps to block decomposing waste and sewer gases from traveling up the pipes and into your home. This is why you need this hack. Turn on some cold water and let it run for about 10 seconds in your kitchen sink, and then pour an 8-ounce glass of water right into the basin. Moisten a paper towel so it is wet, but not saturated, and place this right over the drain. This will decrease the rate of evaporation as well as keep bugs at bay. When you return home, no foul smells.

This trick, which is perfect to use on all of your kitchen drains, will keep your house odor-free if you are gone for one to two weeks; however, if you are going to be gone longer, touring someplace like Europe or Asia for three to six weeks, pour a teaspoon or so of food-grade mineral oil down your drain after you pour the glass of water. The type of oil you use matters. Cooking oils can go rancid, so skip these. Why does it work? Water and oil don't mix, so the oil will float, creating an evaporation-resistant barrier that lasts a little longer.  

Before you use this trick, it helps if you prep your kitchen sink and drain by cleaning it with baking soda. First, pour one part baking soda and two parts vinegar down the drain and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then wash it down with hot water. Next, scrub your sink basin with this powdery ingredient along with a few drops of hydrogen peroxide. Spray all of this DIY cleaner away and dry it. If you have a garbage disposal, try the ice and lemon half trick to keep it smelling its best.