Keep Your Closet Smelling Fresh With This Onion Hack

If you're trying to eliminate a foul smell, an onion might be the last thing on your list to combat the stench. Yet, believe it or not, it is a great way to curb odors and keep your closet smelling clean.

If you've ever walked back into your home after being out for a while and noticed an unpleasant scent upon re-entering, this may be the hack for you. Simply cut an onion in half and place it on a small plate with the cut side facing up in areas of your home that tend to produce their own stinky smell. Leave it overnight to help absorb the existing odor. Think of a musty closet, laundry room, or basement.

There is no need for extensive prep either, says U.K. TV's Queen of Clean, Lynsey Crombie. "Just cut an onion in half, pop it in the corner of the room, and let it soak up the smell" (via Independent).

Though eating onions can leave you with an unpleasant scent that many people don't enjoy, when you use them in your home to combat lingering odors, it works differently. The smell that emanates from the onion won't have the same unbecoming odor that is produced when you eat them. Furthermore, they also won't leave your whole home smelling like a raw onion, either.

Though it will smell like a raw onion when you first cut it up, by the morning, the onion will have absorbed any odor from the area. It will appear shriveled and the onion smell will have all but disappeared, along with the bad odor you were trying to eliminate.

You can also use a cut-up raw onion to soak up paint smells, whether in your closet or any room in the home. Larger areas may require two onions at opposite sides of the room.