Freshening Your Old Refrigerator

When refrigerators get old or have been in storage for a long time they can take on a stale odor, making it a less than appealing place to store your food. Often what happens is mold grows and creates the bad odors. Use the following recipe to help remove the mold and the odor.

Supplies:

• 1 cup bleach
• 1 cup water
• activated charcoal

Directions:

First remove all of the drawers, shelves, the condensation pan and trays from the fridge. Scrub the inside of the refrigerator and freezer compartment with the bleach solution using a sponge or rag. Wear gloves and make sure you have proper ventilation. Also be careful about getting bleach stains on your clothing. Then clean the drawers, shelves and other components that you removed from the fridge using the same solution. Mix a second batch if you run out.

Once you are done, put the fridge back together and place a shallow pan with 8 ounces of activated charcoal in the refrigerater and freezer compartment. You can buy the charcoal at local pet store in the aquarium supply section. Close the doors and let the charcoal sit for a week. If it still smells, replace the charcoal with fresh and let it sit for another week.