How do you get the odor of onions out of the AIR?

Merrida · 27-Nov-07, 07:28 PM

I've heard (I believe here on the forum, and I think from Lady C, regarding a post I made years ago when I asked about how to get the smell of onions off of the fingers),....but I think it was recommended that lemon can work.

But what do you do when the smell of onions totally permeates the air inside your home and is creeping into all the rooms, not just the kitchen? The obvious things I've got tackled are making sure to get rid of the trash containers where anything excess was thrown, making sure the counters are cleaned,...

But I think some onion juice may have seeped into some wood (a cutting board), but that's minimal.

I could bombard my home with incense,.....I've got candles lit all over,...but there has got to be something I can do to eliminate this, not just cover it up. The most icky problem with onions, especially as it goes on, is that it makes the house smell like a nasty case of B.O.! I'm wondering if this is going to stick to my clothes. Lord knows I'll end up scrubbing in the shower, but dangit, why did I break my cardinal rule and eat onions? Arghhh!

Help anyone? Ideas anyone?

Oh yeah, and the fridge? That's another story all its own.

You can tell I'm rarely eating onions...

**Gooseneck** · 27-Nov-07, 09:31 PM

Holding a piece of stainless steel for a couple minutes will neutralize the odor on the hands, but I'm not sure how to remove it from the air. Febreeze ??

**.V.** · 28-Nov-07, 09:41 AM

I use pet odor remover carpet fresh stuff and febreeze. Sometimes I get one of the nurses at the hospital to give me a can of odor neutralizer and it gets rid of all smells. But...it's carcinogenic and has been banned now. Supplies are getting limited and they are getting a little greedy with it these days.

28-Nov-07, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merrida

But what do you do when the smell of onions totally permeates the air inside your home and is creeping into all the rooms, not just the kitchen? Help anyone? Ideas anyone?

I don't know if this is a solution for you, but it will work, at least that is what a "friend" told me.

Make a big pot of beans and eat all of them, along with a bunch of brocolli. I mean really eat alot. Turn up your house heater and get if really warm. After you have stuffed yourself to gluttony and feel sick, sit on the couch and rub your belly for a couple of hours, as you try to catch your breath. Allow the power of the beans and brocolli to "do their thing".

Sooner or later, around the time your house temperature is 90F degrees, you'll be ready for the "music" to begin so begin your work. The "music" you will "play" will sound like either a tuba or a machine gun and may last for hours.

My "friend" told me that after you play this music for a couple of hours your onion smell will be long gone.

You may want to wait a couple of days before you invite anyone over to your house that you would like to be intimate with.

Let me know if this works for you.

**LiftGirl** · 28-Nov-07, 04:43 PM

LOL, Mr. P.

Merrida · 01-Dec-07, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by .V.

I use pet odor remover carpet fresh stuff and febreeze. Sometimes I get one of the nurses at the hospital to give me a can of odor neutralizer and it gets rid of all smells. But...it's carcinogenic and has been banned now. Supplies are getting limited and they are getting a little greedy with it these days.

Well I have 100% hardwood floors all over the house, every room except the bathroom which is slate. I just don't have a reason to have (or use?) powdered carpet cleaner.

It's interesting how just rubbing my fingers on one of my stainless steel cooking pans rids the scent, but man it's been days now and I can STILL smell those funky onions. (And hots). But dang, they just tasted so good (even if they totally screwed up my GERD for 3 days, and counting).

In the meantime I'm lighting candles, and avoiding incense because I hate perfume, and perfume-y smells, anything harsh scented (beyond candles).

(sigh)

It's such a good thing there's no company....but I regret & fear that despite showers I go to work smelling like onion-BO.

Ugh.

mangotango · 04-Dec-07, 04:03 PM

I heard the other day that placing a bowl of vinegar in the kitchen helps to get the food smell out of air while it is cooking. Perhaps it would work for onions too?

**Gooseneck** · 04-Dec-07, 05:54 PM

Vinegar is acidic as well and will just make it worse probably. You need something to balance the PH.

The Flash · 04-Dec-07, 10:29 PM

Cook cinnamon sticks.

**LiftGirl** · 05-Dec-07, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gooseneck

Vinegar is acidic as well and will just make it worse probably. You need something to balance the PH.

ammonia?

Merrida · 05-Dec-07, 05:46 PM

But lemon is acid, yes? And yet that seems to work? I think I'm getting confused.

As for ammonia, are you suggesting I leave a bowl of it out in the kitchen?

Thankfully it dissipates but it takes DAYS to do so,...and I still don't know if I spent the next 3 days walking around smelling like an Italian Sub or someone with BO who hasn't showered in 3 days, all because I decided to eat raw onions instead of cooking them. (Double whammy given raw onions don't agree with my stomach as well as cooked).

Am I supposed to put stuff in bowls? Heat them on the stove?

There's some good suggestions,......anyone have any person "for sure" experience?

.

**Gooseneck** · 05-Dec-07, 06:52 PM

Matches.

The Flash · 05-Dec-07, 07:27 PM

ok with my suggestion, you basically cook the cinnamon sticks in boiling water and let the smell of cinnamon work its way through the air. trust me this works and your house will smell great. I picked this tip up from my mom who did this anytime she cooked anything with a strong smell (onions, fish, etc).

**LiftGirl** · 07-Dec-07, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merrida

As for ammonia, are you suggesting I leave a bowl of it out in the kitchen?

I was joking about the ammonia. It smells worse than onion

See, someone said you needed something basic to balance out the pH, so I said ammonia. Yes, I have a strange sense of humor.

Merrida · 07-Dec-07, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Flash

ok with my suggestion, you basically cook the cinnamon sticks in boiling water and let the smell of cinnamon work its way through the air. trust me this works and your house will smell great. I picked this tip up from my mom who did this anytime she cooked anything with a strong smell (onions, fish, etc).

I do that occasionally. Usually to fake the relatives out and make them think I've been baking,....

Oh and PS: That's another reason I hate cooking fish in the house. I skin them, and that helps since it's the oil in the skin that contains that strong fish odor. Removing the skin reduces, but doesn't eliminate, the fishy smell. But it's bad enough going to work smelling like fish from cooking and eating fish (it's in the clothes, in the air, in the house, so showers, shampoos, and Colgate & Listerine only address the immediate receptive location of those odors). But let's face it, and you all know it,....being female, it does carry a slightly more eyebrow raising quality to walk around the gym smelling like fish.....

That's also why I eat fish OUT often, and rarely cook it in the oven.....unless it's a lonnnng weekend and I can open the windows up.

.

.