Don’t Try to Boil a Lemon to “neutralize” Odors.

I write a lot about different ways to remove odors from a bunch of different things, from smoke smells in the house to stinky diaper buckets . While different tactics work for different causes of stink, one basic truth remains the same: you must eliminate what is causing the odor, not just cover it up.

However, I cleaned out my little pet cage yesterday. I got rid of the source of the bad smell, but the bad smell still remained. So I decided to test a claim I’ve come across a few times during my life hacking career: boiling lemons on the stove “neutralizes” the smells in the air. That’s what happened.

How should a hack work?

This hack comes up all the time online, and it’s disarmingly simple: you cut a lemon in half. You boil it. You can even just boil old lemon peels if you have them; according to the many sources that recommend this hack, they will do the same thing, which will fill your home with a citrus scent strong enough to mask bad smells. Some sources even claim that lemon actually removes odors from the air. These sources usually don’t include any evidence for this claim, and when they do, they don’t pass the smell test, meaning they look made up. (Heat releases essential oils that move around the room and kill bacteria in the air ? Good.)

However, I poured three glasses of water into the pot, threw in two lemon halves, and boiled them. I was electrified by the opportunity and thrilled to live in a palace that smelled of fruit.

What really happened

Nothing happened. I boiled the lemons for 15 minutes. For context: I live in a small apartment in New York; any wafting scents shouldn’t take long to permeate the place. To feel the effectiveness of the trick, I sat down at the other end of the apartment and waited. I didn’t feel anything.

I went back to the kitchen and cut another lemon. This time I squeezed its juice into boiling water before adding the two halves. I waited another 15 minutes, looking at the steam (which the method’s sources assured me was vital to the process) and feeling my joy dwindle by the second. Except for one moment, when I thought fleetingly, “Wait, is that a citrus scent?” there was nothing noteworthy to report.

What to do instead

This hack was unsuccessful for me. From what I’ve read , this should have worked in about 10 minutes; that he hasn’t created anything resembling a pleasant scent after 30 (and twice as much lemon as recommended) is discouraging.

If you’ve also eliminated the source of the odor (again, a critical first and possibly only step) and the stench still persists, simply use an air freshener that puts a stronger odor on top of the unpleasant one. If you’re going to spend the money, go for Febreze Air, which uses cyclodextrins to trap stinky molecules and is actually pretty good at masking (or helping to eliminate) stubborn odors. Two bottles are $5 on Amazon , and considering how much lemons cost in a New York grocery store, that’s actually kind of theft.