Smelly Fridge?

It just LOOKS clean! (Or else it wouldn't smell.)

There's no short cut - elbow grease required.

Give it a thorough scrub; takes out the racks and other removeable bits and clean them separately. Then large bowl of boiling water with a lemon cut in half and squeezed a BIT to loosen up the texture. Leave for an hour with door shut. Then wipe down again.

For future ref, it is best not to keep the door of an unused fridge closed. Our local community hall puts a spongey door-keeper-opener-thingy on the fridge door when not used (like a child safety anti banging door thing).

James

Bicarb of soda. You'll need to clean every centimetre of the fridge.

We used to have a small mtorboat on the Thames, when I was young, my mum always used to leave a couple of teabgs in the fridge (small camping type fridge), the theory wasy that they absorbed any smells that built up during the week, when the fridge was turned off (and empty).

Give it a try (unused teabags) - a good clean would not go amiss either.

Simon

Charcoal in the fridge for a few days gets rid of the smell.

I've heard that lighting a candle and leaving it to burn in there works, but I haven't tried it myself.

The only things that make unpleasant smells are microbes. Some of these are not your "friendly" variety, so I'd use a good powerful suface cleaner containing a nice potent oxidising agent. None of your namby-pamby lemon and bicarb for me.

Fridges just smell, I have cleaned many a fridge in my time. Usually with bleach.

Seriously the best way to lose the smell is turn it on.

Another vote for the Bi-carb of soda, i've cleaned many a smelly Thermos flasks in my time (same sort of stale smells as unused fridges?) and it works very well indeed.

regards, Steve

when you've finished all the super-cleaning, I suggest this.

Cut a large onion (peeled) in half. Place it in the fridge for a day, with the door closed. The onion will absorb the odors.

Works a treat in a room that's freshly painted, too. A change of air will eliminate the residual onion smell.

Hi all,

This thread reminds of one of the childrens book titles that never made it...

"The Magical Kindom Inside the Abandoned Refrigerator"

Best Regards,
Mark Dunn

Isn't that a song from "Friends"?

yeah, that'll be the cranberries. oh, my - that's just what I need at this time of night, something to put me to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

A tray of activated charcoal should do the trick nicely…


Info: Place activated charcoal or activated carbon in a shallow bowl and leave it in the refrigerator while it is running for several days. The charcoal or carbon is available where aquarium and/or plant and garden supplies are sold. It will become saturated but can be reactivated by heating in a 300 degree oven for one hour and then put back into the refrigerator. Try this for about 10 days


Brian

Choosing between activated charcoal and onions from asda, I think I haver more chance of bringing an onion home. Cheers guys.

We had a similar problem when Mrs. LTD switched off our fridge before holidaying.

The following advice was given by an "old-school" spares seller to me.

Wash with bicarbonate of soda.
Wash with Milton Sterilising fluid.
Leave a tray of cat litter inside until the smell disappears.

Worked a treat.

quote:

yeah, that'll be the cranberries. oh, my -

No not that one.