You open your fridge to grab some food and a gross smell hits your nose. You start rifling through the fridge trying to find the source. Well, there are probably a bunch of reasons why your fridge is emitting a foul smell. The first and most obvious things to look for are leftovers that have gone bad. But rotten food isn’t the only culprit, the fridge itself could be smelly (we will look at this later).
The first step in dealing with a smelly fridge is to give it a thorough cleaning. No other intervention will work if you had some spoiled food in the fridge. First, turn off the appliance and remove everything from the shelves. Then, go through the food and get rid of any spoiled food. You can store the rest of the food in a cooler while you clean. Now onto the appliance: since cleaning an empty fridge is much easier, remove the shelves and drawers. In a basin of warm water and dishwashing soap, soak these parts before rinsing them. To sanitize the interior surfaces, you can dip the cloth in a solution of chlorine bleach and water, then wipe thoroughly. For any stubborn stains on the shelves or in the appliance, apply a paste of baking soda on the stain and let it sit for an hour before wiping it away.
While cleaning the appliance is an important first step in getting rid of odours, your fridge could still smell foul even after a thorough cleaning. Why? The inside of your fridge is primarily made out of plastics, and plastics absorb odours. So beyond the cleaning, there are some other things you can do to completely get rid of a nasty smell.
Baking soda does more than just remove stubborn stains. Place a glass filled with baking soda at a corner in your fridge and let it sit there for about three days. The powder will absorb the odours and leave your fridge smelling fresh and clean.
Another natural odour-fighting solution is lemons. The citric acid in lemons is known for its excellent ability to clear bad odours. Cut a few pieces of lemon and place them in the fridge or soak a few cotton balls in lemon juice and use them to wipe the interior parts. You don’t have to wait till your fridge smells bad to intervene; every so often, place a few slices of lemon on a plate and leave them to sit inside your fridge. This trick will keep your fridge deodorized.
Leaving some freshly ground coffee on a plate in the fridge for 24 hours will get rid of nasty smells in the fridge, as well. The caffeine in coffee has been proven to fight smells through a process called adsorption. If you don’t like the smell of coffee, a bowl of dry oats or activated charcoal will work in the same way to remove odours.
The plastic interiors may have absorbed some foul smells but a faulty refrigerator could also be causing the bad smells. If you’ve tried all the above interventions but the smell still lingers, it’s time to talk to our technicians specialized in appliance repair in Winnipeg. They will inspect the fridge and deal with the underlying cause of the odours.