I have a serious problem with a smell in my fridge that has now moved into my freezer as well. It is a side by side type and I cannot for the life of me see why it is in both of them. I have thrown away everything almost, in both and emptied my ice maker. Even with the new ice that has formed back, I still have the smell and taste of whatever it is causing the odor. I have tried baking soda, even two boxes in both sides and that seems to be of no good! Does anyone have some suggestions? I'm getting desperate!
Check the pan that slides out from under the bottom of the refrigerator. It's purpose is to catch water that drains out while defrosting, etc. and any thing else that might drain out. I'm sure this is where your problem is. (06/17/2002)
By edham60
Try vanilla, wipe fridge and freezer down with straight vanilla, then wipe with plain water. Then put a couple of cotton balls soaked in vanilla on each shelf of fridge and freezer. This should work. We went "crabbing" and brought the catch home and put in the fridge, The smell was "nasty", cotton balls and vanilla did the trick. Hope this works for you. Check under the veggie drawers too, and the drip pan under the fridge. Rose (06/25/2002)
By hiprosa
You can also try charcoal bricketts in an open plate for a few days, changing every day. But the culprit is sure to be under the appliance, smells travel up and into the fridge and stay and stay and stay. (06/25/2002)
By pennie
Take everything out and clean even under the drawers with vinegar. Something could be under them like molded water or worse. It works wonders. Joyce (06/25/2002)
By ThriftyFun
I agree look under the refrigerator. You might also want to see if the drain is clogged. It is usually to the back of the fridge. (07/02/2002)
By lrjk4
We had a bad odor in our refrigerator after it had been in storage and we were told to crumple up newspapers and leave them in there for a few days. Don't ask me how, but it worked. The odor all went into the newspaper! Good luck. (10/02/2005)
By lillseester
Anytime a smell can't be removed from the refrigerator, make sure that you are cleaning any drains or tubes. There is usually a tube that comes out of the back of the refrigerator to goes to the drip pan. Look for the source of the tube up in the refrigerator. Usually it is up somewhere higher and takes any extra water out to send it to the drip pan. Make sure to clean that area and send some water and cleaner down through the tube. On some models it may be removable.
If you no longer have a manual for your refrigerator, look online at the manufacturers website. They may have cleaning instructions for your model that will help you find places that are hard to clean that you haven't found.
Best of luck to all of you with hurricane refrigerator problems. Our hearts go out to you.
Susan from ThriftyFun (10/03/2005)
By ThriftyFun
For those of you hurricane stricken, I had the same problem. Food sat in my fridge for over a week with no power. The smell was so bad, we could smell it before we even walked in the house. I scrubbed my fridge down really good, with bleach and with an anti-bacterial dish soap to kill the bacteria.
Then I took a white onion, cut in in half, put one part in the fridge, the other part in the freezer and left it for 2 days. It killed the rotten animal smell. I then used my Lysol and wiped the fridge out and got rid of the onion smell. Works great and was cheap to fix. Better than tossing a brand new fridge for FEMA to reimburse me less than half what its worth. (10/12/2005)
By Kimberly
Refrigerators are breeding grounds for bacteria. One mishap and it stinks. This bacteria grows in the cold. You must turn off the fridge. All removable parts are best washed with 1 cup bleach/10 cups water mixture.
The real secret is the freezer. Disassemble, inside freezer, rear panel that covers copper cooling coils. This is the primary breeding grounds. Rinse coils with bleach water which will then run down drain hose to bottom drip pan. If you use too much bleach water, at one time, drip pan will overflow. Clean drip pan and repeat process. Clean all surfaces that have that black residue. Let fridge stand open for a day because this bacteria will not live in the warm air.
Good luck, smell ya later. (04/05/2006)
By Roger Rabbit
I called a Fridge repair man and he said use Lemon-Ammonia. Put some on a rag just the lemon-ammonia and put it in the freezer and when it is frozen take it out and let it defrost and then put it back in. Keep doing it a few times. (11/06/2006)
By Michelle
You may have mold growing on the insulation in the refrigerator walls. If that is the case, the insulation has to be replaced. I had that problem following a fire years ago. The insurance company found it was cheaper to replace the fridge than to change out the insulation. (01/02/2007)
I had a smell that I thought was refrigerant. I called a repairman and he said the Starter Switch had gone bad. He said that what I smelled was a bakelite smell. He replaced the switch and now the smell has left the freezer, (it is a side-by-side), but I still smell a little in the fridge. He said the crumbled up newspaper will take it right out. (01/11/2007)
By Shirley
If it smells like rotting food/old bins/fish and sewerage all rolled in one, its more than likely your fridge gases. Take the tray on top of the compressor out first to make sure its not full of stagnant water that's causing a smell. If that's clean, your fridge gases are leaking into your fridge. There's no repair - you need a new one (01/18/2007)
By Sheila
I moved into an apartment recently and the people before me had left the refrigerator closed. Apparently the maid service did not want to deal with it, so it smelled horrible and had fruit flies in it. I cleaned it out with bleach three times over the course of two days, but the smell kept coming back. I then cleaned out the drip pan with ammonia, and then left bowls of ammonia in the refrigerator and the freezer overnight. The next morning I cleaned out the whole thing with vinegar, and now it does not smell at all. (PS never mix vinegar and bleach.) (01/31/2007)
By Tim
Personally, I don't really think baking soda works very well. I've tried lots of different things for fridge odors and I finally found a product that I've stuck with for years now. It's really great. It is called "Fridge It Odor Absorbers", and it's a little purple cube with activated carbon filter inside. Works fantastic. I keep one in my fridge and also freezer. I also use these things all around including under sink and near my trash. I've even used it around diaper pail. It is fragrance free and just eliminates the odors and works for a long time. I love these things. You can buy it in kitchen sections of stores like Walmart. Also, I believe there is a web site? Really worth trying. So much better than all these other products.
(02/02/2007)
By Jen
We had a side by side refrigerator that had an awful smell after we had inadvertently left some deer meat in the freezer and unplugged the refrigerator. I tried cleaning it with bleach water, letting it stand open and using the baking soda routine. Then a person who works on refrigerators told me his trick. Unplug refrigerator and remove everything; let it stand open for a couple of days; spray peroxide inside the refrigerator (and I mean give it a good soaking); close up the refrigerator for a couple of days. Finally, go back and wash out the inside with mild soapy water and plug back in. It worked for me and I had almost given up. (02/15/2007)
By Mary
Contacted a friend of mine who works on cars and repairs appliances. This is his feedback on the freon smell in the frig. Freon they use today has very little smell to it. Frost free units have heaters and fans in them to keep them frost free. It could be that a fan quit and the heater overheated something around it. (12/30/2007)
By Debbie
Check drain line in back of refrigerator. Pour 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar into drain. Vinegar odor will dissipate in a day or two. More than likely this will resolve the odor. It certainly worked well for me and alleviated the cost of purchasing a new unit. (01/09/2009)
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