How to remove burnt smell from your house (burnt popcorn too)

Step by step

1. 1

   Get the burnt food out

   Take the burnt popcorn bag, pan contents or food straight outside to the trash.

   Why: It keeps smoking and smelling as long as it's in the house.

2. 2

   Ventilate hard, right away

   Run the range hood if it vents outdoors and leave it on. Open windows on opposite sides of the house for a cross-breeze and use exhaust fans or a window fan blowing outward.

   Why: Moving smoke out while it's still in the air means less of it settles on surfaces.

3. 3

   Clean the source

   Clean the microwave, oven, stovetop or pan the burning happened in. For a microwave, see burnt smell in a microwave; for a scorched pan, see cleaning burnt pans.

   Why: Burnt residue left in an appliance releases the smell again every time it heats.

4. 4

   Wipe walls and surfaces near the source

   Wash the kitchen walls, cabinet fronts, backsplash, counters and the range hood's grease filter with mild soap and water. Extend to the next room if the smoke reached it.

   Why: Smoke particles settle on nearby surfaces and keep giving off odor until they're washed off.

5. 5

   Wash the fabrics

   Launder curtains, dish towels, throws, cushion covers and any clothes that smell smoky. Air-dry and check the smell before using the dryer.

   Why: Fabric traps smoke residue, and dryer heat can lock in what's left.

6. 6

   Change the filter and set out adsorbents

   If the heat or AC was running, replace the HVAC filter. Leave open bowls of baking soda or activated charcoal in affected rooms for several days.

   Why: The filter catches smoke and recirculates it. Adsorbents take up odor molecules still in the air.

Why a burnt smell spreads through a house

Burning food makes smoke: fine particles plus gases, including irritants such as acrolein. The smoke drifts through the house on air currents and through the HVAC system, then settles on walls, ceilings, curtains and furniture. Those particles keep releasing odor after the air itself has cleared, which is why a burnt-popcorn smell can greet you the next morning.

The fix is the same as for any burnt smell: get the smoke out fast, then clean off what settled. For bigger smoke events, such as a stovetop fire, the full smoke smell in a house plan applies.

Why candles and sprays don't work

Candles, air fresheners and masking sprays cover the smell briefly while the settled residue keeps off-gassing. Once the scent fades the burnt smell is back. Cleaning the residue and ventilating is what actually removes it.

By situation

Burnt popcorn smell in the house

Popcorn smoke is strong but usually limited to one event. Ventilate, steam-clean the microwave, wipe the kitchen, and wash towels and nearby curtains. It's usually gone within a day.

Burnt food in the oven or on the stove

Let the appliance cool, remove the burnt food and residue, then run the range hood and open windows. Wipe the stovetop, hood filter and nearby cabinets.

The smell spread upstairs or to bedrooms

Smoke travels with warm air and through ducts. Wash bedding and curtains in those rooms, change the HVAC filter and ventilate.

A small kitchen fire

Treat it as smoke damage: wash all hard surfaces in the area, inside cabinets too, launder or dry-clean fabrics, change filters and ventilate. If smoke reached ducts, consider professional duct cleaning.

What not to do

• Don't rely on candles or air freshener. They mask the odor while settled smoke keeps releasing it.
• Don't put smoky clothes or curtains in the dryer before the smell is gone. Heat can lock the smoke odor into the fabric.
• Don't run an air cleaner that produces ozone. EPA recommends portable air cleaners that don't produce ozone.

Other methods that work

Portable air cleaner

A properly sized portable air cleaner that doesn't make ozone helps remove smoke particles while you ventilate.

Caution: It filters particles, not odor gases, so keep cleaning surfaces.

Activated charcoal

An alternative to baking soda for adsorbing lingering odor, especially in a closed room or closet.

Stain still there?

The burnt smell is back the next day

Residue is still somewhere: the microwave ceiling, the hood filter, a cabinet top or a curtain. Clean those and keep ventilating.

The smell comes out of the vents

Replace the HVAC filter. After a larger smoke event, have the ducts checked.

Safety

• Burning food releases irritating smoke. Ventilate, and keep children and people with asthma out of the smoky area.
• If smoke came from an appliance malfunction rather than food, stop using it until it's checked.

Never mix cleaning products; see chemicals you must never combine.

Questions

Burnt smell elsewhere

• Burnt smell: what causes it and how to remove it
• Burnt smell in a microwave

Other smells in the house

• How to remove fish smell from your house
• How to remove musty smell from a house
• How to remove dog smell (and cat smell) from your house
• How to remove skunk smell from your house
• How to remove smoke smell from a house (cigarette or fire)