I fried chicken twice in one week last summer and my kitchen cabinets smelled like a diner for a month. Every time I opened the door to grab a plate, the grease hit me in the face. The worst part was that I could not figure out where it was coming from. I washed the walls, I washed the stovetop, nothing helped.

The smell was living inside the cabinet doors and the shelves, baked on in a thin film you cannot see.

Wipe Down Every Surface

Mix one part white vinegar with two parts warm water and wipe down the inside of every cabinet, the doors, the edges, the hinges, everything. Vinegar cuts grease better than most all-purpose cleaners and it does not leave a chemical film.

I used a microfiber cloth and changed it twice because the first cloth came away visibly greasy.

Let Baking Soda Do the Rest

Place open boxes or small bowls of baking soda in the cabinets and leave them for a few days. It pulls odors out of the wood instead of just covering them up. I swapped the boxes out after a week.

Add a Coffee Grounds Bowl

A small bowl of dry coffee grounds in the cabinet works fast if the smell is stubborn. It has its own strong scent, so I only use this in the cabinet farthest from the food.

What also helped:

• Running the vent fan or opening a window while frying
• Wiping down the cabinet fronts after heavy cooking
• Leaving the cabinet doors open for an hour after a fry session

The vinegar wipe did most of the work for me. The baking soda finished it off. My cabinets smell like nothing now, which is exactly what I wanted.