What workarounds did people try for "Why does a spoiled food smell linger even after cleaning?"?

Community members documented 34 workarounds: 1. throwing out contaminated items 2. increasing airflow with windows and fans 3. scrubbing walls and checking the ceiling 4. feeding the same food regularly instead of rotating 5. switching to indoor-specific cat food brands 6. trying different brands and checking ingredients to avoid allergens or intolerances 7. Opening windows in the morning and evening 8. Putting food waste in the fridge or freezer until taking it out of the apartment 9. Using dehumidifiers, air purifiers, baking soda, and odor absorbers 10. Soaking overnight in water and bleach 11. Soaking overnight in undiluted 5% vinegar 12. Leaving the items in a box or container with bicarbonate of soda for a few days 13. Gently washing the wooden lids 14. Leaving the items in the sun 15. Bleached the freezer twice 16. Ran the freezer empty 17. Left the freezer lid open in the sun 18. Used open boxes of baking soda 19. Used commercial sprays 20. Used charcoal bags 21. Professional detailing 22. Using enzyme cleaners 23. Using hot water mixed with biological detergent 24. buying a new or second-hand replacement 25. putting a box of baking soda inside it 26. cleaning and sanitizing it with Odoban 27. Lighting an odour reducing candle 28. Switching to timed feedings instead of free feeding 29. Cleaning the litter tray 30. Switching to a different brand or flavor of food 31. Using an air purifier or opening a window 32. Feeding smaller amounts more often and refrigerating opened food 33. Pulling the food up after the cat walks away 34. Switching to dry food

Why does a spoiled food smell linger even after cleaning?

Spoiled food odors stay trapped in the air and surrounding area even after you clean up the physical spill. This lingering smell makes it feel impossible to clear out the room, leaving the odor hanging around despite your best cleaning efforts.

Overview

Last updated Sep 30, 2026

People affected9 accounts across 2 forums

Workarounds found34 items attempted

Community agreement380 total upvotes

What the numbers show

Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count

This comes up 17.9× more often in r/CleaningTips than across the site as a whole.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

34 items+ Contribute

Found another way around this?

Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.

1
throwing out contaminated items
Did this help you?
2
increasing airflow with windows and fans
Did this help you?
3
scrubbing walls and checking the ceiling
Did this help you?
4
feeding the same food regularly instead of rotating
Did this help you?
5
switching to indoor-specific cat food brands
Did this help you?
6
trying different brands and checking ingredients to avoid allergens or intolerances
Did this help you?
7
Opening windows in the morning and evening
Did this help you?
8
Putting food waste in the fridge or freezer until taking it out of the apartment
Did this help you?
9
Using dehumidifiers, air purifiers, baking soda, and odor absorbers
Did this help you?
10
Soaking overnight in water and bleach
Did this help you?
11
Soaking overnight in undiluted 5% vinegar
Did this help you?
12
Leaving the items in a box or container with bicarbonate of soda for a few days
Did this help you?
13
Gently washing the wooden lids
Did this help you?
14
Leaving the items in the sun
Did this help you?
15
Bleached the freezer twice
Did this help you?
16
Ran the freezer empty
Did this help you?
17
Left the freezer lid open in the sun
Did this help you?
18
Used open boxes of baking soda
Did this help you?
19
Used commercial sprays
Did this help you?
20
Used charcoal bags
Did this help you?
21
Professional detailing
Did this help you?
22
Using enzyme cleaners
Did this help you?
23
Using hot water mixed with biological detergent
Did this help you?
24
buying a new or second-hand replacement
Did this help you?
25
putting a box of baking soda inside it
Did this help you?
26
cleaning and sanitizing it with Odoban
Did this help you?
27
Lighting an odour reducing candle
Did this help you?
28
Switching to timed feedings instead of free feeding
Did this help you?
29
Cleaning the litter tray
Did this help you?
30
Switching to a different brand or flavor of food
Did this help you?
31
Using an air purifier or opening a window
Did this help you?
32
Feeding smaller amounts more often and refrigerating opened food
Did this help you?
33
Pulling the food up after the cat walks away
Did this help you?
34
Switching to dry food
Did this help you?

Tried another approach not listed above?+ Share your workaround ↑

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/cats2 people · September 2026

“anytime we add wet food to his rations he thanks us by tear-gassing the premises.”source ↗

CrystalVision13 · r/cats · 337 upvotes

“My cat is refusing to eat his food in the kitchen (I suspect this is because his dirt tray is nearby, although in a different room). So I've moved his food to the sitting room. But it honks. It hums. It stinks so bad.”source ↗

“He takes a couple of hours to eat his wet food so it's not a case of removing a finished bowl and washing it.”source ↗

Thin_Sheepherder_584 · r/cats · 1 upvotes

r/CleaningTips7 people · September 2026

“still had the smell the second you lifted the lid, that sweet thing that sits at the back of your throat afterwards.”source ↗

returntovoidd · r/CleaningTips · 28 upvotes

“The biggest issue is that smells just seem to linger. Pretty much any food or trash (even if in bag inside a closed trash bin) smell linger and quickly become musty.”source ↗

Inside-Succotash-557 · r/CleaningTips · 6 upvotes

“My gallon of milk broke in the car and my daughter dumped her yogurt out in the SAME DAY. I cleaned out what I could of what spilled but HOW can I get the smell of spoiled milk out now, god it is so gross. Plz help. Lmfao!”source ↗

blackmetalwarlock · r/CleaningTips · 2 upvotes

“I forgot about a tofu pack in my room, it exploded and smells so awful you can smell it down the hall. I genuinely dont know what to do I’ve clean everything in my room and the smell wont leave”source ↗

cherryalmondsoap · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“I feel like every time there is a smell in a room, the smell lingers in the air despite nto being tied to anything anymore. I don’t know how people handle this all the time :(”source ↗

cherryalmondsoap · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“I have been attempting this, but after like 20 minutes my hygrometer reads over 60%”source ↗

Inside-Succotash-557 · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“However they really smell. Like a pungent fishy smell.”source ↗

“the actual wooden lids really do smell bad. I did the same thing of leaving them in a container with some bicarbonate of soda for a few days and then gently washing them but the smell remains.”source ↗

Manchicha · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“Bought a new microwave for our kitchen reno and had it stored in the basement, a mouse got into the box and died and now it smells like death. Any tips for getting rid of the smell?”source ↗

Pzykopatic · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“I blended lemon pepper in here and let it sit for a little bit on accident and now I can’t get the smell out. I tried warm water, vinegar and a drop of soap. Let it sit and then blend it then I also tried with lemon juice. Is it ruined?”source ↗

redstonelines · r/CleaningTips