6 Easy ways to keep your kitchen sink from stinking

With all the food products, dirty dishes, and particles that make their way into your kitchen sink, it's inevitable that sooner or later it's going to start smelling offensive. If food gets logged in the drain and doesn't get removed quickly enough, bacteria will start growing and giving off a nasty scent. Here's how to make sure your kitchen sink smells fresh and how to clean it when things start getting stinky.

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  1. Clean out your kitchen sink every week to make sure any food particles that have gotten stuck in the food processor or drain are removed. (Just make sure to turn off the garbage disposal before you stick your hands in there!) You can also do this by pouring a cup of baking soda and a cup of vinegar into the drain and letting it do it its thing for at least 10 minutes to neutralize the smell.
  2. Start to kill off the bacteria that's started to grow in your drain by running hot water after each use or taking it a step further and pouring a pot of boiling hot water into your sink.
  3. If you need heavy duty deodorizing, try running a cup of vinegar or lemon juice down the drain. You can also carefully pour in a cup of bleach or drain cleaners to really wipe out whatever's been trapped in there.
  4. Give your sink a fresh scent by throwing citrus peels into the garbage disposal. Use rinds from lemons, oranges, grapefruits, or limes for a yummy scent that will mask the foul odor.
  5. Get larger chunks of stinky particles off your disposal's blades by dumping a couple cups of ice and salt into the garbage disposal and running it along with some cold water to scrape the blades.
  6. Don't forget to thoroughly clean the sink stopper as gunk can build up in it and lead to a smelly sink. Sometimes we remember to wash down the sink after doing the dishes and then plop the dirty stopper right back in without bothering to turn it over and pick out foods that have become trapped underneath it.

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