Sound effects with household items

100+ Free Sound Effects with Household Items

If you need SFX with sounds coming from regular household items, download the free sounds from the list below.

Look at the featured image in this article – it includes the usual boring items that your household may have. We all have fridges, heating systems, A/C units, washing machines, vacuums, and so on. These devices create that buzzing background noise that we stop to notice. To us this background humming has the wallpaper effect – it exists, but we don’t notice.

If your video includes indoor scenes, you need to include household sounds in the final edit. If not, the scene will sound “empty” and sterile. Let’s look at household sounds and talk about them in detail before we move to the free household SFX collections.

What Sounds Can You Hear at Home?

When you plan your edit and you have indoor scenes, think about what sounds you may hear in a household. Let’s focus on a couple of household SFX groups:

Indoor Sounds

These sounds come from the electronic devices that you find in a living place. Here are the ones that come to mind:

  • electric mixer
  • hair dryer
  • ceiling fan
  • hum of a computer
  • hum of a heating or A/C unit
  • electric razor
  • TV, radio
  • smart home assistants
  • clock ticking

Human Sounds

These are related to our reactions, emotions, movements. As we go around, touch things, talk, we create sounds. These sounds are so natural that we don’t pay attention to them. But a good indoor scene should include them too.

  • laughing
  • talking
  • jumping, running, walking
  • sneezing
  • coughing
  • answering the phone

Soft Sounds

These sounds surround us and may be consequences of our other actions.

  • closing a drawer
  • opening a door
  • knocking on a door
  • wiping a surface

The soft sounds also include the noise procuded by:

  • running water
  • flies
  • boiling kettle
  • fridge
  • keys clicking in one’s pocket

What is the Foley Effect?

Let’s also talk about Foley as it’s an important part of the whole SFX field. Foley (named after Jack Foley, inventor of the art) is the art of performing sound effects to match movement for video and film productions. Here are some common examples: footsteps, chewing, drinking, cloth movement, keys jingling, etc.

Modern Foley art exists today like never before. Sounds created by foley artists may not be just recordings of the actual sounds. They can also be reconstructions and reproductions with the purpose of making the respective sound sound richer and more prominent.

Some of the below free household SFX may have been created as foley.

Download Free Household Sound Effects

We have reviewed 3 sources of quality sound effects with household items. You can download these SFX collections without needing to sign up or share your information.

15 Free Household SFX from Shutterstock

Check out this small collection of free sounds of home hums and drums. The pack includes .wav files. You can use these sounds in both personal and commercial projects. Download for free here.

50 Free Cooking SFX from Shutterstock

Cutting, cooking, kitchen cleaning and wiping, and other utensil foley – these are all included in this free cooking SFX pack. WAV files included. You can use these sounds in both personal and commercial projects.

100+ Free Household SFX from FreeSoundEffects.com

Check this household SFX page on this sound effect site. You can browse through their household collection and download your preferred sound as .mp3 or .wav files. These sounds are only for personal, non-commercial use.

How to Make Sound Effects Using Household Items

If you are not happy with the above free collections, you can always create your own DYI sounds. It may be time-consuming, but it will be your own creation. We have 3 solid sources for you to consult before starting your own DYI journey.

Check this tutorial about DYI sound effects at home from PremiumBeat.com.

In addition, here are two solid step-by-step instructions about how to start and what to do before you create your first household sound:


Need more sound effects and music for your video projects? We’ve got you covered with these handpicked collections of audio collections and sites.

Like this piece? Please share:
Scroll to Top