Refrigerator Odours

Refrigerator Odours...Why, What, How ?

Ever had a bad smell in a refrigerator? It's not pleasant. Nor can it be easy to find the actual source. It may take days to localize whether it was the fruits, vegetables, meats, or fish. All can be the culprit. refrigerator and food Plus the air in a refrigerator can seemingly compound an odour. A simple odour can move throughout the interior, until the whole refrigerator smells bad. In a frost free refrigerator air is constantly circulating and passing over all the other foods. Therefore an odour in one part of the refrigerator can very quickly be picked up and passed to other food.

Most odours inside a refrigerator can be localized using your eyes and nose. It is usually an old piece of forgotten food, or an outdated carton. But, if the source evades you try the following:

Check the food.
It is the primary reason for refrigerator odours. Use your nose as the smell detector. Use your hands to feel for spills.

Check the crisper drawers and shelves.
Although obvious, this is often overlooked. Remove crispers and shelves and wash thoroughly in warm soapy water. Use a soft scrub brush to get into cracks and crevices. Many metal shelves are small enough to be washed in the dishwasher. When replacing shelves don’t forget to clean the plastic supports they snap into.

Check glass shelves.
Small liquid spills here can be transparent. Also glass shelves can be complex – requiring intricate frames. Check the undersides of frames for hidden debris.

Clean the door gaskets.
Start at the bottom. It is a major location where food and mold accumulates. Rap a soft wet rag around a butter knife to get in behind the gasket. Avoid pulling on gasket because it can rip.

5. Clean the freezer section floor.
It too can be an odour producer. If you see loose frozen vegetables on the freezer floor look for the source here. Carefully run your hand around the freezer interior. There may be hidden holes that are not normally visible. Loose foods can be trapped here.

6. If odour persists try using baking soda.
Spread two tablespoons of baking soda onto a saucer, and place into the refrigerator section. If the freezer is under suspicion then also place one there. The baking soda must be thinly spread to be affective – leaving it in the box will do limited work at fighting odours. Check every few days. Once it becomes crusted over replace with fresh baking soda. This works well, but does require patience. Allow two or three weeks for even simple odours to subside.

When all else fails.
Turn off refrigerator, allow it to warm to room temperature, remove all shelves and drawers, and thoroughly wash the interior walls. Use warm, soapy water. Avoid using any cleaning products that have a strong chemical smell or are heavily scented. Dry completely using a clean, dry rag. Be especially aware of crevices near bottom of refrigerator interior. If crevices appear dirty clean with a soft brush.

Avoid any product that is sprayed into the refrigerator. This only results in the odour being masked rather than removed. Only thing you should use to clean the refrigerator inside is light detergent and warm water. Anything else may leave a chemical smell that will not be removable. We once had a customer wash the whole inside of refrigerator with vanilla extract in an attempt to mask an odour. The vanilla quickly impregnated the plastic interior and became overpowering. The smell even got into the food. The following week they had to buy a new refrigerator.

See also Refrigerator Odours...How to Avoid

By Donald Grummett

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