It’s easy to stick something quick in the microwave, forget about it, and end up with a burnt mess that ends up stinking up your whole place. Whether your popcorn cooked for a little too long, or you accidentally scorched the leftover Pad Thai from last night, your microwave will end up having a lingering odor of burnt food that doesn’t seem to go away. While you can open up a window, or hit on a fan to air out your kitchen, you can solve your burnt microwave smelling problem with some baking soda and vinegar. Redditor Hecate100 makes the suggestion to:

Microwave a big bowl or container of water with 2-3 tbs. baking soda for 5 minutes, then wipe out [the] inside of microwave. You might need to do this a few times, then microwave a big bowl of water with vinegar added for 5 minutes and wipe down again.

Between the baking soda and vinegar – two powerful deodorizers –this method is an efficient, cheap and natural way to make an improvement on the smells in your microwave from a recently seared meal or snack.

Get Rid of Burnt Smells in Your Microwave with Baking Soda