I've really gotten into washing out and reusing jars and containers instead of buying brand plastic products. Sometimes the best jars have really tough odors, like pickle and olive jars. I've used this tip that was taught to me from a lovely lady when I was just a child. Wad up a page of newspaper, put it in the jar, seal it, and let it sit for a few days. When you take the paper out, you won't smell any trace of the previous item!
Also, along the same lines, if your refrigerator needs an air freshener, put a few charcoal briquets in a bowl in the back. Works like a charm!
By Maile from Onalaska, WA
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Cyclists' water bottles often come with a pungent plastic taste/odor. To eliminate this; fill bottle 2/3 with vinegar (clear) and 1/3 water; cover/close and let set for 24 hours. Rinse with clean water.
You will never guess what finally removed the leftover aroma from my plastic bowl. I put it outside in a flower pot (to keep the squirrels from playing with it) in full sunlight for 2 days
Here's something I just learned, if you have plastic that has like an onion smell or something, wad up newspaper and put it into the container. Then close it up for a day and the smell will be gone. Also newspaper is the best way to clean windows and mirrors, streak free.
Do your plastic coffee mugs have a soapy smell to them? Just soak them in vinegar overnight. If there is a leftover smell of vinegar re-soak in a sink full of hot water and baking soda. By Kat
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I make jewelry. While at the craft store the other day I checked out the bead storage section. The bottles, etc. were very expensive. So I decided to improvise. I cleaned out my spice rack of old spices to reuse the plastic clear and semi-clear bottles for bead storage. It works great, except I don't know how to get the smell of some of the spices out of the plastic bottles and how to get the labels off! Any suggestions? Help!
By Maw-Maw from Athens, GA
Hey, I'm a beader too! If you half-fill the bottle with bicarb soda, close the lid and leave for a few days it should absob the odours, simply empty the bottle and rinse. Guaranteed method to remove sticky labels is to soak a cotton ball with Eucalyptus Oil and dab over the label, allow a few minutes for it to soak in and you should be able to gently remove the label.
Soak in a sink of hot bleach water. If stickers dont come all the way off which they should and they do leave a sticky residue use funiture polish believe it or not. The oils from the polish remove the sticky feeling on just about everything non porous that has sticker residue.
I use vinegar for the smell. Just put the vinegar in the bottle, and leave it for the day, and then wash with your dishes. I use a product called "goo gone" for the labels.
Any of those ideas will work for the spice odors. For labels I can usually peel off the top layer of the paper, then I soak it in water until I have only glue.
Goo Gone will remove labels. Fill with vinegar or baking soda until odor is gone
To remove labels, fill with water and microwave until water gets warm-to-hot. The label and residue should peel right off when water is the correct temperature. You might have to microwave it a few times.
To get the glue off the bottle...use peanut butter. Rub it on, let it sit for 15 minutes and rub with a dry paper towel
To get the glue off the bottle...use peanut butter. Rub it on, let it sit for 15 minutes and rub with a dry paper towel
How do you get the smell out of the Gerber baby food plastic food containers (even though you wash them) before doing a project?
By Marilyn
Just let them air out a while, couple of days or weeks.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
How do you get the smell out of plastic containers?
To take nasty odors out of a plastic container just stuff a crumpled piece of newspaper into the container after you have washed it and put the lid on. The next day all you have to do is wash the container again and the nasty odor will be gone! By Robin
