To make a long story short, due to my insane dietary restrictions I need to eat fish/seafood twice a day, which makes my house smell rather fishy all the time. I've been using Fabreeze to eliminate the odors but need to stop using it, and opening windows will only work when it's nice outside. A friend told me to use an essential oil diffuser, but I'm afraid they'd just add to the smell. I'm not on the essential oil bandwagon so I don't want to invest if it won't eliminate the odors. Any thoughts? I'd appreciate any advice and suggestions you may have! Thanks!
You may already be doing this, but I've found that sealing all of the packaging and remains (skins, etc) into a tied plastic bag helps contain residual odor. A lot of the time it's the stuff in the garbage that smells more than the actual cooking. You can try out a few essential oil diffusers (you can get them in grocery stores for about $5). You could also try candles. Good luck! Hopefully someone else will have better suggestions!
Leave a bowl of vinegar, baking soda, or coffee grounds out. Cinnamon and cloves with a bit of vanilla is a great refresher as well, you can even put vinegar in it. Clean up as soon as you can, remove the garbage, and clean everything down with a vinegar solution.
I agree that containing the throw away bits helps. If I had to have fish daily I’d probably just leave a small bowl of white vinegar out to absorb the odors.
Baking soda in the bottom of your trash can (they make a "fridge and freezer" pack that would probably work) and in your fridge. DH makes some crazy stuff sometimes and the fridge baking soda has really helped with the funky smells lol. Does your stovetop have a fan that vents outdoors? Running it while cooking could help. Our fan just circulates air. It doesn't actually remove air, which is super annoying. Another thought: instead of eating fish 2x a day, could you take an Omega-3 supplement or something instead of eating actual fish? (I have my own dietary restrictions as does DS, sigh, so we’ve also had to go through our own meal re-writes.)
Unfortunately, no, since it's the protein I need from the fish (I need 70 grams protein minimum per day). It is the only major source of protein I can digest (I can't eat gluten, dairy, soy, nuts, eggs, meats; acidic, charred/blackened, fermented or pickled foods). I supplement it with protein shakes and Ripple milk. It's seriously crazy. I've been working with an amazing nutritionist to make sure I'm getting the calcium and protein that I need. It's not been easy!
From an essential oil user, I would highly recommend the non-essential oil recommendations in this thread. I diffuse EO's and they don't usually get rid of the smell but just mask it for awhile until it goes away on its own. What I do when I fix something that leaves a heavy smell is to put it in the garbage can OUTSIDE instead of a waste basket in the kitchen that only gets emptied once a week. Growing up after every meal, all remnants from the meal after eating or cleaning the cookware went onto a newspaper then straight out the door to the garbage can. So this is a habit for me and I don't even think about not doing it. Also, just try the vinegar or baking soda before buying any essential oils. Use what you have. See if it works. If it doesn't, then maybe try Lemon essential oil diffused. That is the one oil that has worked for me to get rid of smells but only if it is diffused before the smell happens. Just my experiences
Unfortunately, it all comes from the cooking. I dispose of the remains ASAP, because you're right - it is so stinky! And I'll check out the diffusers at the grocery store tomorrow. I've a huge list of errands to run, so that will be on top! I'll be sure to try this, Cheryl. I love the vanilla idea. Thanks! Seems like vinegar is the way to go! Thanks! I'm also wondering if simmering some vinegar in a pan while cooking might help, too. I'll have to get one of those baking soda packs for the trash can. It wouldn't hurt to try that! And thankfully our fan vents outdoors, but it isn't very strong.
Thanks for this!!! I do have two oils that I've used for cleaning exercise mats (lavender and eucalyptus), but I'll get some lemon, just because I love the smell! I'll definitely try the baking soda and vinegar tricks. I use them for cleaning so I've a large supply on hand. And I do put the remains out into the trash immediately. If I didn't the entire house would be icky stinky!!
Try Vanilla extract too.. My father was a butcher when he was in college and they would cut up chickens.. the only way they got rid of the smell of the chicken was washing down things with vanilla, so that may help too.
And there goes the southern solution I was gonna give, we actually boil a pot of vinegar water when we cook fish!
I use EO's in a diffuser all the time. I can't say it will the smell away completely but it should help, if you find the vinegar doesn't work. I like to use a few drops of lemon, thieves (from Young Living which is a blend of cinnamon, lemon, cloves, eucalyptus and rosemary) and peppermint.
I'm sincerely going to try boiling vinegar the next time I cook! Vinegar is sure a wonder product, isn't it?
