Home

[StraytoStay]

When I lived with my parents, they had a couple of charcoal brickettes in their fridge. I don't remember it ever smelling so it must have worked.

[SahmIam]

Hey Everyone;thanks for the tips!

What' I've done up till now:

* Place the Arm and Hammer box of baking soda in fridge  (one meant for fridge) every 30 days. Placed a new one 2 weeks ago.

* Removed ALL food (shopping is this weekend, so it's not super full).

*No spilled food, no spoiled/old food.

*Removed all shelves and drawers, washed them. Washed inside of fridge. 

*Placed a new box of baking soda in.

*Did the same thing with freezer.

Aired out fridge for 5 hours. Freezer for an hour. Still stinks when you open it up; mainly in fridge.

Tonight we'll pull it away from wall and see what we see. If we can't figure it out, I'm calling the repair guy. I HATE things that smell off/odd. 

[shaggygirl]

Hubby when he was alive went crabbing a lot. He'd clean them and store them in upright freezer in the basement. Freezer smelled after crabs were long gone. Washed out with lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda.....nada. Got a plastic container with charcoal in it from Amazon. VOILA! About once every couple of months I put it outside in sunshine for a couple of hours, that recharges the charcoal action.

[Elri]

@SahmIam

You can soak a sponge in lemon juice and then put it in refrigerator, also.

I have one of those microfiber cleaning cloths that fit on a plastic handle (like a paint stirrer, but longer) that really gets underneath the frig . Maybe you can rig something up to fit underneath.....

[homedecor1]

@SahmIam

about 30 years ago I was visiting my in-laws in FL.  Omg I opened the fridge thought I'd die...of course, they and my spouse didn't smell a thing!!!!  I am like you I have a very sensitive nose & cause me asthma or choking spells. 

I cleared it out (freezer & Fridge) wiped down with a mild vinegar/water solution...nothing killed the smell.

After much complaining I called a repairman because my husband moved it out nothing visible.

He (repairman)found a dead mouse in the hose (cooling system). Not to mention food under there in the pan area. Yikes!!!

Of course, eventhough the inside was clean the odor continued once the compressor came on -- we ended up airing out fridge for days BUT sadly, the odor was embedded in the cooling system.  We went out & had to buy a new fridge.

This maybe where the odor is coming from mold or something infiltrating the compressor unit.  I wonder if it is something under or in the cooling unit.

Good luck!

[SahmIam]

---

@homedecor1wrote:

@SahmIam

about 30 years ago I was visiting my in-laws in FL.  Omg I opened the fridge thought I'd die...of course, they and my spouse didn't smell a thing!!!!  I cleared it out (freezer & Fridge) wiped down with a mild vinegar/water solution...nothing killed the smell.

After much complaining I called a repairman because my husband moved it out nothing visible.

He (repairman)found a dead mouse in the hose (cooling system). Not to mention food under there in the pan area. Yikes!!!

Of course, eventhough the inside was clean the odor continued once the compressor came on -- we ended up airing out fridge for days BUT sadly, the odor was embedded in the cooling system.  We went out & had to buy a new fridge.

This maybe where the odor is coming from mold or something infiltrating the compressor unit.  I wonder if it is something under or in the cooling unit.

Good luck!

---

You have just posted my worst fear:  the smell is in the system and will always be there due to a dead creature/something else and we'll have to buy a new one. I NEVER remember my parents having these issues with their appliances.

[queendiva]

In my experience the water line to the ice maker had a slow leak. It went under the tile floor and rotted a section of the plywood sub-floor. What the whole kitchen smelled like? mold. No mice, but carpenter ants!

Good luck and keep us posted. Time to call in professional help.