Get Rid of Garlic Smell

Do you want to get rid of garlic smell? Everyone has to deal with unpleasant mouth and body odors like garlic smell at some point in their life. Either on yourself after a kebab shortly before a job interview or with a close relative (Hello, Aunt Rosie!).

One of the worst odors of this kind is garlic. Garlic smell is probably the most well-known alongside onions and sweat. Not eating garlic is the simplest solution - but by far not the easiest.

The tricky thing about it is that you don’t really notice the garlic smell yourself.

In addition to the most common methods, we also have a few very special approaches that are missing in most articles on the internet. Have you already searched elsewhere? Then you might finally find a suitable solution here. By the way, these methods work just as well for onion smell and almost all other types of bad breath. Garlic is simply one of the worst.

The article is divided into three main areas:

• Causes of garlic smell

• Reducing garlic smell in advance

• Removing garlic smell

→ Problems with other odors in the household, office or workshop? We have the right solution for every odor.

Causes of Garlic Smell

Garlic is a little miracle cure for health. The reason for this is Allicin, an ingredient in garlic. This has an antibacterial effect in the stomach even at 100,000-fold dilution. This is the active ingredient to which the health-promoting properties are attributed.

Allicin is formed by destroying the cell structure of, for example, garlic. In the process, alliin comes into contact with an alliinase, so that allicin is finally formed.

- Allicin, Wikipedia

Allicin itself is odorless. However, it dissolves through oil and water into other substances, which in turn are responsible for odor formation.

This knowledge is important to understand how to reduce garlic smell at the expense of health-promoting properties. More on this later.

Reducing Garlic Smell in Advance

To limit garlic smell from the outset, there are a few practical methods. Unfortunately, these only work if the garlic is prepared yourself. Getting rid of garlic smell is explained further below.

Pre-cook Garlic

As mentioned above, allicin is indirectly responsible for garlic smell. Allicin is formed from two basic substances that are released when the cell walls of garlic are destroyed.

If you heat the garlic cloves before use by briefly boiling them or pouring hot water over them and letting them steep for a few minutes, the formation of allicin is limited. However, this also destroys the healthy properties of garlic. Therefore, you should only do this if you really need to avoid the smell.

For Health, It’s Better to Endure the Smell

Alternatively, you can let garlic rest after crushing or cutting (about 10 minutes). This creates more of the important substance allicin, which is then not destroyed by heat. This approach causes more smell, but is also better for health.

Avoid Raw Garlic

Raw garlic should definitely be avoided if you want to prevent garlic smell. Raw garlic creates large amounts of odor-forming substances when cut or chewed. If a recipe requires raw garlic, it can be briefly pre-cooked as mentioned above. This also makes the taste milder and less sharp.

Remove the Core

The odor-forming substances are present in high concentration in the core of the garlic. This part is often also green when the garlic has been sitting for a while. Simply cut the garlic in half and remove and discard the core. This prevents a large part of the odor problem. This is also the bitterest part of the garlic and removing it mellows the taste.

Removing Garlic Smell

Removing garlic smell is not always completely possible depending on the circumstances. The smell doesn’t just come from the stomach and thus from the mouth, but is also released through the skin. As a result, we smell like garlic “everywhere” and just brushing your teeth is often not enough.

Classic Methods

The classic methods are almost unnecessary to mention. For the sake of completeness, however, they are still listed. Getting rid of garlic smell is easy with these tips.

Brush Your Teeth

Brushing your teeth is the first step to removing garlic smell. If you haven’t thought of this idea yourself at this point, you should buckle up well for the rest of the article.

Mouthwash

Sounds simple, it is. However, in addition to mouthwash from the supermarket, there are a few home remedies.

Mouthwash with Baking Soda

Baking soda is one of those remedies that appears everywhere and seems to be good for everything. So also here. Baking soda mixed with water makes an effective mouthwash that also prevents all kinds of dental problems. Simply put 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a cup (approx. 200-250ml) and rinse and gargle well with it. Don’t swallow.

Mouthwash with Vinegar

You can also use vinegar as a mouthwash. Add 1-3 tablespoons of vinegar to a glass of water and rinse and gargle as described above. Vinegar leaves its own odor which is not necessarily more advantageous than that of garlic, but dissipates faster.

Chew Gum

Chewing gum often contains menthol and mint, which suppress mouth odors. It also helps remove food residue from between the teeth. In an emergency, the mint smell can at least provide temporary relief.

Clean the Tongue

A good tongue cleaner can help greatly reduce the smell in combination with the previous steps. Many particles of food residue collect on the tongue surface, where they remain for a long time in the normal way.

Tongue cleaners made of stainless steel are super good, as stainless steel is known to stop odors. More on this further below.

Dental Floss

Dental floss, the most ignored recommendation of every dentist. With dental floss, the most stubborn residue between the teeth can be removed. These are sometimes the worst sources of odor and also cause invisible damage between the teeth.

Just buy dental floss.

Drinks Against Garlic Smell

It’s best to choose the right drinks while eating to keep the garlic smell under control.

Milk

The substances in milk help suppress and absorb the odor-giving substances in garlic. This applies to dairy products in general. If it fits, you can also add them directly to the meal.

However, milk works best if you drink it before and during the meal. The emulsion of water and fat effectively helps wash away the substances in garlic and reduce settling in the mouth.

Green Tea

If milk simply doesn’t fit with the dish at all, you can fall back on green tea. The components in tea reduce odor formation and help contain the development of garlic smell. Green tea is also most effective when drunk before and during.

Herbs and Foods Against Garlic Smell

Garlic smell can be reduced or masked with different foods and herbs. Getting rid of garlic smell is easy with the right means.

Rosmarinic Acid

According to an article in the Journal of Food Science, rosmarinic acid helps most effectively against the smell of garlic. It has antiviral, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Rosmarinic acid was most effective in deodorization [of garlic breath].

Rita Mirondo, Sheryl Barringer - Journal of Food Science Volume 81, Issue 10

Rosmarinic acid is found, as the name suggests, in rosemary. It was first isolated from it in 1958. However, it is also abundantly present in many other culinary herbs. These include:

• Rosemary

• Mint, peppermint

• Basil

• Lemon balm

• Marjoram

• Sage

• Thyme

Culinary Herbs and Spices Against Garlic Smell

Although not proven with scientific study, some other herbs and spices are nevertheless very effective against garlic smell.

This includes chewing cardamom. This is often used in Indian cultures as a remedy for garlic smell.

Parsley and raw lettuce are also popular as remedies for garlic breath.

Often mentioned in this context are also cinnamon, coffee beans and ginger.

Coffee is generally popular as an odor-absorbing home remedy.

Other Foods Against Garlic Smell

Raw Apple

Eating an apple helps against bad breath. The acid in the apple breaks down odor-forming substances. Cooked apples or apple juice, however, do not help.

Spinach, Raw or Cooked

Spinach can be used both raw and cooked against garlic smell.

Getting Rid of Garlic Smell on the Body

As already mentioned, garlic smell doesn’t just come from the mouth and stomach, but also from the skin. The skin releases the absorbed substances through the pores to the outside, where they evaporate and enter the air.

But direct body contact with the garlic clove also causes a long-lasting unpleasant smell.

Removing Garlic Smell from Hands

If you’ve just been working with garlic in the kitchen, you can quickly remove the smell from your hands with a few tricks.

Rinse Under Running Water

Sounds simple, but is quickly done wrong. The trick is to just hold your hands under running water and not rub. When you rub your hands, the particles are just pushed deeper into the pores, where they are harder to remove.

Wash with Lemon Juice

Best after the first rinse under running water. Lemon juice dissolves the remaining garlic particles and neutralizes the smell.

Coffee grounds should also help at this point, by the way.

Stainless Steel Soap

Stainless steel soaps are very effective against odors on the hands. These are available in many stores that sell kitchen utensils.

Of course, other objects made of stainless steel such as stainless steel cutlery, sinks, fittings, etc. also help.

Physical Activity

Jogging or other physical activities help drive the odors of garlic out of the pores faster. Therefore, literally sweating them out. In combination with a subsequent shower, highly recommended.

Shower

Taking a hot shower helps open the pores and remove the smell sitting on the skin surface. In combination with a round of jogging, this reduces the remaining garlic smell to a minimum. Getting rid of garlic smell through simple washing. Don’t forget that part of the garlic smell comes directly from the pores.

→ Problems with other odors in the household, office or workshop? We have the right solution for every odor.

Final Words

With that, we’ve reached the end of our list. There are of course hundreds of other methods that help against mouth and body odors. However, these here are in our opinion the most effective and most easily available.

Body odors are not normally our topic area. We made an exception for this article because we received a lot of inquiries about it.

We would be very happy if you forward the article to your friends and acquaintances. This helps us determine which articles are well received to write more articles of this kind.

Updated on 27.02.2023