The Top 13 Best Odor Eliminators For A Fresh-Smelling Home

You can have your floors swept, your counters scrubbed, and your space tidy, but if there are lingering odors, it's a guarantee that your home won't feel anywhere as clean as it actually is. Tackling the source of the odor, of course, is the best way to fully get rid of it, but incorporating an odor eliminator can help absorb and replace anything that's lingering in the air with a more enjoyable and fresh smell.

With that being said, however, not all odor eliminators are created equal. Some claim to completely rid your place of unpleasant smells when all they do is mask them with a cloying odor, while others go with a more subtle approach to removing gross smells and end up accomplishing next to nothing. To prevent this disappointment, we've rounded up 10 of the best odor eliminators to tackle specific issues and keep just about any space in your home smelling fresh, clean, and odor-free.

When looking for an odor eliminator, there is obviously a bit of personal preference that goes into the final decision. With that being said, however, there are also characteristics across the board that make for a more universally well-liked product. Here at House Digest, we take those characteristics, like the strength of the fragrance, price, accessibility, odor-eliminating power, and ease of use into account, and compile information found in user reviews, product listings, and ingredients lists to ensure our readers are getting the full spectrum of available information.

Additionally, when it comes to odor eliminators, it's important that you find something that's designed to tackle the specific source of odor you're dealing with, whether it's a musty gym bag or a stinky bathroom. We're going to share choices that are the perfect fit for most common order-causing issues, as well as some universally helpful items that can help remove unpleasant smells from the air regardless of their source.

Keeping something on hand that helps eliminate odors from multiple sources is one of the easiest ways to ensure your space smells fresh, and the Arm & Hammer Odor Busterz is a solid choice for the job. They contain baking soda to absorb bad smells and release fragrance to immediately freshen up an area, and their small size, fairly low price point, and mess-free design means they're a great option to scatter around the house or use on the go.

Arm & Hammer Odor Busterz Balls are available for purchase from Amazon starting at $5.98 for a pack of three.

If you're working with a stricter budget, there's no reason you have to sacrifice quality to get a good deal. This Up & Up Solid Odor Remover is a great option if you're on the hunt for something that will both trap unwelcome smells and release a burst of a pleasant, just-laundered scent, and it doesn't require any spraying or complex installation. Open the lid to your desired level of fragrance, set it anywhere you want to neutralize odor, and let it get to work.

The Up & Up Solid Odor Neutralizer Air Freshener is available at Target for $3.99.

Most of the time, the culprit behind unpleasant smells is bacteria. Routine cleaning can help to prevent these odors in the first place, but if you need a refresher, Lysol is a great choice. This disinfectant emits a cloud of product to kill 99.9 percent of germs on contact, and it comes in a wide range of scents that make it feel more like a room spray compared to other options. A spritz in the trash can, across a musty couch, or over a sweaty workout bag can stop nasty odors in their tracks and prevent them from worsening.

Lysol Disinfectant Spray is available at Target for $7.29.

If your house smells musty and damp, it's likely the result of excess humidity clinging to soft surfaces like clothes and towels. DampRid Moisture Absorbers, however, soak up this water in the air and keep it trapped. This brand's entire product line is great for tackling issues with humidity, but the hanging moisture absorbers have reviewers particularly impressed. This product has earned 4.7 out of 5 stars across 654 reviews, with many noting how quickly musty smells disappeared from their closets, basements, and bathrooms.

The DampRid Fresh Scent Hanging Moisture absorber is available from Walmart for $11.97 for a three-pack.

Food smells have a tendency to linger in the air, and when they're all together in a small, enclosed space like the refrigerator, they can get even more pungent. Thankfully, this NonScents Refrigerator Deodorizer offers a simple and effective solution. The brand promises both better performance and a longer lifespan than baking soda fridge packs, and reviewers seem to agree. This deodorizer has earned almost 5,000 five-star ratings, and many customers who were dealing with extra powerful smells from rotting food noted that it absorbed all or most of the lingering odor.

NonScents Refrigerator Deodorizer is available on Amazon for $12.67.

We all love our furry friends, but most of us don't love the unpleasant smells that come along with being a pet owner. If your pet is prone to accidents, you know that removing urine odors from the carpet is a nearly impossible task, but this Angry Orange Pet Odor Eliminator promises to neutralize the smell and replace it with a pleasant (and pet-safe) orange scent. Simply clean up the mess, spray on your soft or hard surface, and allow the liquid to dry down and get to work.

Angry Orange Pet Odor Eliminator is available on Amazon from $19.97.

Charcoal frequently appears as a component in odor removers because of its porosity and tendency to absorb smells, but it also has one other ultra-convenient characteristic: it can be refreshed. After a month or so of use, place your bag in the sunlight to bake out trapped smells. After a few hours, you'll be left with a bag that's as good as new. This particular set also includes four bags and removable hooks, so you can place them around your home in different spaces that need more odor-fighting power.

Charcoal Odor Absorber Bags are available for purchase from Amazon starting at $16.54.

When choosing an odor eliminator, the top priority in most cases is functionality. Unfortunately, that often makes for products that are, to put it simply, ugly. This Apraii Charcoal Air Purifier, however, functions as a piece of décor in and of itself, meaning it's a great choice for deodorizing spaces where you want to maintain the overall aesthetic. Simply pop off the top and replace the charcoal bag after a couple of months, and you have an effortless and stylish way to keep negative smells at bay.

The Apraii Charcoal Air Purifier is available on Amazon for $35.00.

If you're truly looking to impress guests — or add a bit of luxe flair to your weekly reset — look no further than Diptyque's Odor-Removing Candle. This candle's formula is specifically designed to absorb and replace unpleasant odors left behind in the kitchen with a refreshing and herbal mix of basil, mint, and tomato leaves. According to the brand's instructions, all you need to do is light the candle 30 minutes before you cook and blow it out 30 minutes after you're done for the best results.

The Diptyque Odor-Removing Candle is available from SSENSE for $70.

Smoke is one of the most stubborn smells to get rid of, and, as a result, many odor eliminators on the market aren't powerful enough to combat it. Zep, however, has been a go-to smoke odor eliminator for years thanks to its specifically designed formula. Simply spray in the affected room or area and, smoke smells from any source will quickly begin to fade and be replaced by a more pleasant, fresh scent. As an added bonus, Zep also recommends using its Smoke Odor Eliminator spray to tackle odors from trash, pets, and bathrooms.

Zep Smoke Odor Eliminator is available at Home Depot for $6.15.

The eco-friendliness of the cleaning products you use is an important consideration. From the EPA, Fresh Wave Odor Removing Sprays earned a Safer Choice label. They contain no harmful chemicals or synthetic fragrances, so they are non-toxic to you, your family, and your pets — not to mention your planet. The plant-based air freshener is available in three scents, including lavender, lemon, and their original lime, cedarwood, and clove formula. 

Fresh Wave Odor Eliminator Spray & Air Freshener is available at Amazon for $14.38.

The line of products from Odoban removes odors from upholstery, diaper pails, car fabrics, kitchen and bathroom surfaces, and more. The multi-purpose spray — a sanitizer, deodorizer, and disinfectant — provides instructions for how to best use its features — and it provides a nice eucalyptus scent during use. Even better, the spray costs less than $5, so it's extremely budget-friendly too.

The OdoBan Original Eucalyptus Scent Disinfectant Fabric & Air Freshener is available at Walmart for $3.28.

When you're busy, lighting a candle, spraying room freshener, or even taking out the trash might slip your mind. With an automatic air freshener, you are constantly protected against negative odors. Available in at least eight different scents, you can choose to make your home smell like a relaxing spa or a fruity paradise retreat. And after 70 consecutive days of automatic air freshening, depending on the setting you choose, replacing the cartridge requires a simple twist.

The Air Wick Automatic Air Freshener Spray is available at Walmart for $15.49.