Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Throw out spoiled food and remove bad smells
• Method 2 of 3: Using odor removers
• Method 3 of 3: Prevent bad smells
• Necessities
• Tips
• Warnings

It is normal for most refrigerators to start to smell a little unpleasant after a while. The smell can be unpleasant, but it's not bad for the food you keep in your fridge. If you want to get rid of food smells before they settle permanently in the inside of your refrigerator, start by throwing out spoiled food. You can also place one or two refreshments like ground coffee and activated charcoal on one of the top shelves. To prevent your refrigerator from smelling bad at all, throw away your food immediately when it starts to rot and only store your food in airtight storage boxes and packaging.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Throw out spoiled food and remove bad smells

1. Unplug the refrigerator before cleaning. Follow the power cable from the back of your refrigerator to the outlet it is plugged into and unplug it. If you don't turn the fridge off while cleaning, your next electricity bill will be on the high side.
   • Some newer models have a button that you can use to turn the refrigerator off. If yours has one too, you can just turn the fridge off instead of unplugging it.
2. Remove all food from the refrigerator. Check out all the storage areas in your fridge like shelves, drawers and door pockets and take out all the food. Watch the food carefully and throw it away if it is spoiled, rotting, or smells bad. In most cases, spoiled food is the cause of a smelly refrigerator.
   • Try to complete the whole job within 4 hours. Food left out of the refrigerator for more than 4 hours can spoil or be unsafe to eat.
3. Put all the food you want to keep in a cooler while you get started. Depending on how much food you have in your fridge and how long it takes to clean your fridge, you may have to keep any unspoiled food out of the fridge for quite some time. To keep fresh food from spoiling, put everything in a cooler while cleaning the fridge. If you keep the lid closed, the food will automatically stay cold.
   • If you keep food out of the fridge for more than an hour, put ice or ice packs in the cooler. That way the food stays good and fresh.
4. Scrub the sides and bottom of the refrigerator with a mixture of baking soda and water. Dissolve 125 grams of baking soda in 4 liters of warm water. Dip a regular kitchen sponge in the mixture, wring it out, and scrub the inside of the refrigerator with it. Clean the walls, top and bottom. Take the time to let the mixture soak in any food scraps and then scrub them away.
   • If the mixture weakens or the sink fills up with leftover food, discard the mixture and prepare a new mixture.
5. Remove all shelves, storage compartments and other removable parts from the refrigerator. Remove all components from the refrigerator that are not attached to the walls, including the vegetable drawers and the shelves themselves. Wash and rinse all parts with the baking soda and water mixture, dry thoroughly and return to the refrigerator.
   • Don't forget to look under the vegetable drawers. Sometimes food scraps and puddles of dirty water collect under the drawers, which can cause the refrigerator to smell bad.
   EXPERT TIP

   Remove all food residues from the drip tray under the refrigerator. The drip tray is a thin plastic container that can be clamped to the bottom of the refrigerator. Remove the drip tray from under the doors, slowly pull it off and empty it. Then dip the sponge in the baking soda and water mixture and scrub any food residue from the drip tray before replacing it.

   • Not all refrigerators have a drip tray. You can skip this step if yours doesn't have one. However, take the time to scrub the bottom of the refrigerator.

Method 2 of 3: Using odor removers

1. Place an open container or container of baking soda on the back of a shelf. Baking soda itself has no odor, but it is very good at absorbing and neutralizing other odors. To get bad smells out of your fridge, open a container of baking soda and place it on the back of the top shelf. When you notice that the refrigerator is starting to smell bad, throw away the baking soda and put a new container on the shelf.
   • If your fridge smells particularly bad and you want to get rid of a lot of bad smells in one go, empty an entire container of baking soda onto a baking tray and put it in the fridge overnight. Then throw away the baking soda.
2. Remove bad smells from your freezer with boiling hot apple cider vinegar. Mix 1 part apple cider vinegar with 3 parts water. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and bring it to a boil on the stove. When the mixture begins to boil, remove it from the stove and pour it into a heat-resistant glass or metal bowl. Place the bowl in the freezer, close the door and wait 4-6 hours. This should help get rid of bad smells from your freezer.
   • When 4-6 hours have passed, remove the vinegar mixture from the freezer and throw it down the drain.
   • Cooked apple cider vinegar absorbs unpleasant odors and gives the freezer a pleasant fruit scent.
   EXPERT TIP

   Cover 2 or 3 baking trays with ground coffee if you have a lot of time. Ground coffee can absorb bad smells very well, but it takes a long time to work. If you can go without a refrigerator for several days, try this method. Sprinkle dry, fresh ground coffee on 2 or 3 baking trays. Place each baking tray on a different shelf in the refrigerator. The bad smells should disappear within 3-4 days.

   • During this time, you will need to keep your food in a second refrigerator or in some coolers with ice or ice packs.
   • When 3-4 days have passed, throw the coffee away, wash the baking trays and put the food back in the fridge.
3. Place 2-3 baking trays of unscented cat litter on different shelves. Ground coffee can make your refrigerator smell slightly like coffee. If you want to absorb bad smells without making your fridge smell like coffee, opt for cat litter. Sprinkle a layer of clean cat litter on 2-3 shallow baking trays and place the baking trays on different shelves in your refrigerator. Leave the refrigerator turned on and empty with the litter in it for 2-3 days to absorb any foul odors.
   • Buy unscented cat litter from a pet store or large supermarket. Some hardware stores also sell cat litter.
4. If nothing else works, use activated charcoal to absorb the odors. Fill 3 or 4 small fabric bags with about 130 grams of loose activated carbon. Then place the filled bags on different shelves in your fridge. Set the refrigerator to a low temperature and keep the door closed as much as possible for a few days. The odors in question should be gone within 3-4 days.
   • You can buy activated charcoal at pet stores and drug stores.
   • You can use activated carbon while your food is still in the refrigerator, unlike when you use ground coffee.

Method 3 of 3: Prevent bad smells

1. To avoid bad smells, throw away food that has passed its expiration date once a week. To prevent your fridge from smelling bad again, check the fridge once a week and take out any food that is no longer good. This precaution will prevent your refrigerator from smelling bad at all. It is easier to prevent bad smells in your refrigerator than to remove them.
   • Try to look just before taking out the trash. That way you immediately get rid of spoiled and smelly food and you don't have to keep it in the house.
2. Keep fresh food in a visible place so that it doesn't go bad without you seeing it. Fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables can easily spoil without you noticing if they are tucked away in a vegetable drawer that you don't open much or if you keep them on one of the bottom shelves. Prevent this by storing them in a place where you can see them every day. If you then see that certain fresh foods are no longer quite good, you can throw them away immediately.
   • For example, store meat in front of the top shelf and place fruit and vegetables on one of the bottom shelves where you can see them clearly.
3. Set your fridge to a temperature between 2 and 3 ° C. At these temperatures, the food will not go bad. Because food only starts to smell when it goes bad, your refrigerator will stay smelling fresh and clean if you keep at these temperatures. If the temperature in the refrigerator rises above 4 ° C, bacteria will start to grow and the food will start to smell.
   • If you set the temperature of your refrigerator to 0 ° C or lower, the food would naturally freeze.
4. Keep leftover food in airtight storage boxes to prevent it from smelly. If you keep food uncovered or in a snack bar cardboard packaging, the food will spoil quickly. The faster the food spoils, the faster your refrigerator will start to smell. Keeping leftover food in airtight storage boxes will keep it good for longer and prevent it from smelling.
   • As an extra precaution to prevent food in your refrigerator from spoiling, label leftover food and write the date on it. Tear off a piece of masking tape, tape it to an airtight storage box, and write something like "Chicken and Parmesan, Feb. 14."

Necessities

• Cool box
• Ice
• Baking soda
• Warm tap water
• Sponge
• Ground coffee
• Cat litter
• Apple cider vinegar
• Activated carbon
• 3 or 4 glass or metal bowls
• 2 or 3 baking trays
• Airtight storage boxes
• Pen
• Masking tape

Tips

• Whichever method you choose, don't put the food back in your refrigerator until the smell has gone.
• After cleaning the refrigerator, you should also clean the bottles and food containers before putting them back in the refrigerator. Sometimes there can be foul odors.
• If you switch off the refrigerator for a long time or unplug it, for example because you are going on vacation for several months, clean the refrigerator, take out all the food and leave the door ajar. A warm, closed refrigerator can start to smell bad.
• Do not use charcoal briquettes instead of activated charcoal. You cannot use these two types of charcoal instead of each other.

Warnings

• Never clean a cold glass shelf with hot water. Let it warm to room temperature or use lukewarm water. The sudden temperature difference can cause the glass to crack.
• Do not use abrasive tools such as steel wool to scrub the surfaces in your refrigerator. These tools can scratch the inside of your refrigerator.