How to Get Rid of Kitchen Sink Smell

Many people avoid dealing with a bad smell coming from their kitchen sink. No one likes a smelly kitchen, but the source of the problem often isn’t apparent, so it seems easiest just to hold your nose. By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll know simple methods for how to get rid of kitchen sink smell.

Most sink cleaner ingredients are supplies that you probably already have in your kitchen. Use some of the most versatile and popular natural cleaning products for eliminating kitchen sink smells are dish soap, baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice.

Water, whether boiling or frozen, is another vital ingredient in several of our recipes for eliminating kitchen sink odors. You have several options for cleaning a smelly kitchen sink. Depending on your situation, unclog the drain, use a DIY drain cleaner, or remove odors from the garbage disposal. Whichever strategy you choose is sure to make your stinky sink smell fresh.

Easy Fixes for a Smelly Sink

It’s best to clean your kitchen sink—and garbage disposal if you have one—once a week. However, it’s easy to be lax about these unappealing tasks and end up complaining about the sewage smell coming from your sink. If gunk has started accumulating, it’s never too late to begin deodorizing kitchen sink drain.

Unclog Your Kitchen Drain

If there’s a chance that your kitchen sink odor stems from a piece of debris trapped in the drain, the first thing to do is to remove the obstructing item.

Use either a commercial plumbing snake or a straightened wire coat hanger to knock food particles free. For clogs that you can’t reach, use a store-bought sink plunger or make your own by covering the sink with plastic wrap.

Tape it to the countertop and press down repeatedly to shove air down the drain. One of these methods is sure to clear your smelly kitchen sink drain, without your needing to call a plumber.

How to Get Rid of Kitchen Sink Smell

If you wash your dishes by hand, you probably already have all the supplies for this trick for cleaning sink drain. Wear rubber gloves and clothing that protects your skin. Combine boiling water from a pot or kettle with one teaspoon of liquid dish soap.

Carefully pour the mixture down your smelly drain to let the hot water and soap dissolve the build up of organic elements or grease in the pipes. This simple cleaner also works for a bathroom sink.

Cleaning If Your Kitchen Sink Smells Like Sewage

If no one has used the sink in a while, biofilm may have developed, letting sewer gas into your kitchen. Try soaking sink parts like the stopper and drain trap in warm water mixed with bleach.

After putting everything back together, run boiling water through the sink. Alternatively, use powerful baking soda and vinegar to eliminate the sewer smell from drain, whether it’s the kitchen sink or you need to clean a smelly bathroom sink drain. Your nose will thank you.

Pour a large potful of boiling water and then the baking soda down the drain. Combine the cup of vinegar with the additional half cup of boiling water.

Pour this mixture down the drain and wait for 20 minutes so that the vinegar has time to tackle the sewer smell in the kitchen sink. Finish by briefly running water from the faucet. As an added benefit this drain cleaner will also kill sink gnats if they have made their way into the pipes.

Use this simple recipe to eliminate a nasty sewer smell from a shower drain or the toilet, too. It’s just as effective.

Use Vinegar and Lemon to Clean a Smelly Kitchen Sink Drain

Adding acidic lemon enhances vinegar’s cleaning power, besides masking the foul odor with a more pleasant one. If you have the patience for it, this method is an excellent option for fixing a smelly kitchen sink naturally.

In a Mason jar, soak lemon peels in vinegar for two weeks. Then, pour baking soda and the cleaning solution down the smelly drain. Wait for 30 minutes, allowing the mixture to fizz, before clearing the drain with boiling water.

Get Rid of Sink Smells with Lemon Essential Oil

If you’re wondering how else to use lemon to clean a smelly kitchen sink, lemon essential oil is a good bet. Essential oils attack bacteria, besides bringing an agreeable smell to your kitchen. Use this natural cleaner to remove stains and smells from your kitchen drain.

Whisk the ingredients in a container and pour them down the drain, giving the sink a good wipe. Wait for 30 minutes before flushing the sink with hot water.

Wash the Opening of the Garbage Disposal

If your kitchen sink smells like sewage, and you have a garbage disposal under the sink, you’re unlikely to manage to avoid cleaning the garbage disposal. Thankfully, you can start with the more accessible opening area.

Use either dish soap on a scrub brush or lemon rinds to give the visible portion of the disposal a thorough cleaning. Use the rinds like you would a dish sponge. In either case, make sure to scrub the joint or flaps of the disposal to remove all food particles.

Easy Method to Clean a Smelly Garbage Disposal

Make sure to run hot water through the disposal for one minute after every use. That’s especially easy if you have an under-sink water heater to access instant hot water.

In any case, your garbage disposal may need a more extensive cleaning if your kitchen sink smells like sewage. Use a combination of ice cubes, abrasive salt, and acidic lemon juice as an easy homemade garbage disposal cleaner to fix your smelly kitchen sink drain.

Food particles will snap away from the disposal blades as they freeze. Start by running cold water down the drain. To clean the sink as well, sprinkle a little salt into the basin and rub a large lemon slice around.

Toss the salt and lemon down the disposal with a large cup of ice cubes and let the machine grind itself clean.

Using Lemon to Eliminate a Kitchen Sink Smell

Lemon juice is more acidic than vinegar. It also has a pleasant smell, so it’s an excellent natural option for cleaning a stinky sink. We’ve already shown you several uses of lemon for eliminating that nasty drain smell.

You can mix the peels with vinegar, use slices to wash your garbage disposal, or make an essential oil cleaner. These are only a few of the straightforward options for using lemon to improve your sink’s smell.

It’s also practical to combine two cups of lemon juice with two tablespoons of Borax. Wear gloves as you pour the sanitizing mixture down the drain, then let it sit for several hours and rinse.

Pour one cup of baking soda and then one cup of lemon juice down the drain. Insert the sink plug and wait for 30 minutes. Finish by rinsing the mixture away with hot water.

Have you asked yourself recently, “Why does my kitchen sink smell?” It could be for any number of reasons, such as food clogged in the drain, biofilm in the pipes, or an improperly maintained garbage disposal.

The good news is that you have even more cleaning options. The methods that we cover in this article are just the start of the ways to use natural drain cleaner ingredients like lemon juice, vinegar, and baking soda to eliminate that stinky smell.

Give your nose a break and take advantage of your new knowledge about how to get rid of kitchen sink smell.

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