Remove Odors from Your Smelly Refrigerator

I know all too well the sting of a smelly refrigerator and how tough it can be to remove them. As a matter of fact, the refrigerator I use at work was once used for storing medical supplies including blood and organs. When we first starting using this foul refrigerator our food, especially fruits and vegetables (I stored grapes and apples.) absorbed the odors and rendered our food inedible.

After several experiments and diligent after hours efforts by me and a fellow coworker the odors were removed and our refrigerator was usable once again. Here is the process we followed that worked:

CleaningThis one is a no-brainer. We removed EVERYTHING from abandoned baby food jars to the vegetable crisper drawers. We threw out all the bad food and set the salvageable food aside. Its important to scrub everything outside of your refrigerator, including the racks, ice cube trays, and drawers. If you don’t clean them off thoroughly and let them dry the smell will never go away.

Once all loose articles have been removed scrub your refrigerator with some sort of anti-bacterial soap and water. We scrubbed our fridge several times with 409, waiting for it to dry and returning. Repeat until the smell is removed.

Next, if your refrigerator is really bad, like ours, unplug the fridge and leave the doors open. Let your refrigerator air for at least a day. (We left the refrigerator and freezer doors open from Friday till Tuesday for a total of four days.) After your refrigerator has aired out, scrub and dry it again.

Plug your refrigerator back in and place two to three baking soda boxes in the refrigerator and one to two baking soda boxes in the freezer and let it run for a few days. This will allow you to do two things: 1: Vent the ducts that funnel air into the refrigerator and freezer. 2: Determine if the air ducts are pumping foul air into your refrigerator compartments. (There may be several reasons why your refrigerator could be pumping smelly air into your refrigerator including dirty air vents and dead insects and small animals such as mice stuck in the air vents. This was actually the case for us and we had to remove the poor mouse.)

Now, after you have run the refrigerator for a few days, remove the baking soda boxes and scrub your refrigerator. Put your drawers and racks back in their respective places, and replace your boxes of baking soda. (If your vent is still blowing out bad air I suggest you call a maintenance technician or try airing out the vent a couple more times.) Viola! You’re refrigerator smells as good as new!


Alternative Refrigerator Odor Removing Agents
Bleach: If you’re desperate to remove the odors, try adding a little bleach to plain tap water and running a rag through your refrigerator. (I suggest wearing rubber gloves for this one.) Bleach is very helpful for removing odors embedded deep inside the plastic layering of your refrigerator.

Lemon Juice: Not as powerful as bleach, but great for those who have adverse allergic reactions to bleach.

Baking Soda Odor Removing Solution: Mix 1 cup of baking soda with a large bucket of water. This recipe creates a very effective odor removing solution.

Keeping your Refrigerator Smelling Fresh
Now that you have a clean refrigerator that smells great, you’ll want to keep your refrigerator smelling that way. Few people know this, but there are several alternatives to keeping a box of baking soda in your refrigerator.

Charcoal (My favorite)
This is an excellent method just because of the shock value. Grab a few charcoal briquettes from the charcoal bag in your backyard and crush them up. Now place them in a medium sized bowl and place it in your fridge. Like baking soda, charcoal will absorb the odors that the food in your refrigerator gives off….and its really cool.

Ground Coffee
This one is a little more trendy and a lot less cool than storing charcoal in your refrigerator, but its still effective. Get your favorite coffee roast, French Vanilla, Cinamon Snazzle, or Starbuck’s House Blend and grind them up. Place the ground coffee in a bowl that matches your sense of style and place it in the refrigerator and the coffee grounds will absorb the bad smells and give off the smell of coffee.

Warnings
1: I strongly advise you unplug your refrigerator before you start any major refrigerator cleaning attempt.
2: Don't mix chemicals, its very dangerous. Mixing chemicals can be deadly!