How can we eliminate oder from a refrigerator/freezer?
Posted on December, 6 at 12:00 am |
We lost power and our refrigerator and freezer items all melted 
…now a slight smell still remains. Any ideas? We already tried baking powder
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Tagged with: baking powder * freezer * refrigerator
Filed Under: household odor removal
15 Responses to “How can we eliminate oder from a refrigerator/freezer?”
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…now a slight smell still remains. Any ideas? We already tried baking powder
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
Wash out the entire inside (including racks) with hot water with vinegar. Then put a couple of boxes of baking powder in overnight. This should do the trick.
Good luck
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
baking soda
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
ARM & HAMMER BAKING SODA.. it’s like 3$ att the store.
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
half an onion or potato placed at the back of the freezer
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
try some lysol disenfectant spray w/clorox. let it set overnight and thereafter do a through cleaning. hopes this helps
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
wipe it down good with a citrus based detergent and place not baking powder but baking soda in there but the baking soda takes a little while to absorb the odor
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
It can’t be done. Most people after Katrina in New Orleans had to throw them away and get a new one. We did. No matter how much you wash it, it will still be there.
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
baking soda
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
This is a good question!
You probably mean that you’ve tried baking SODA, not powder.
Before you try to eliminate the smell, you need to make sure you’ve eliminated all the sources. So spray all over the inside of your fridge and freezer with a 10% bleach solution. Let sit 10 minutes to kill any bacteria that may be hiding, and then wipe it clean.
Here are other options:
1. Vinegar. Set a bowl of vinegar in the fridge over night to absorb the smell. Yes, you will smell vinegar in the morning — but it will dissipate.
2. Newspaper. Dampen newspaper and lay on the shelves overnight. (This is a good way to absorb cigarette smoke odors in rooms, too).
Your best bet is to combine these two methods — dampen your newsprint with vinegar. Every couple hours, pull the newspaper out and put in some fresh.
3. Charcoal. This is the higher cost method. Use "activated charcoal" (not just some barbeque bricks!), which you can find in the fish aquarium section of the pet store. Put in a bowl overnight. (We had a similar fridge incident in our travel trailer, and I went around a campground collecting charcoal-y used firewood. It worked great.)
These things actually absorb the odor. If you just can’t get the smell out, you can cover it up a few ways. One of the best ways is to use plain vanilla extract. Dab some cotton balls with the extract and place in the fridge. You’ll be replacing one smell with another, but it will be more pleasant. In the long run, though, the best idea is to try to absorb the odor.
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
I know you don’t want to hear it but sometimes it cant be done. The smell gets in the insulation surrounding the unit. Its impossible to get that out.
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
wash with lysol and water, air out and rinse well….
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
cut a lemon in half and leave it in their until the odour dissapppears
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
You have to wipe everything down with bleach and water then leave a few boxes of baking powder open in the back of the fridge.
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
use baking soda that stuffis good for everything
HOPE I HELPED ALITTLE BIT!!
Jennifer B
December 6th, 2011 at 12:00 am
I saw once on the tv show "How clean is your house" they used a lemon cut in half, all the insides removed, and they put some baking soda inside.
The lemon and baking soda release a great smell and absorb odour at the same time.