How to get rid of the smell in the refrigerator: popular ways to get rid of the stench

How to get rid of the smell in a new refrigerator

An unpleasant aroma can appear not only in an old refrigerator that has not been cleaned or defrosted for a long time. Sometimes a new refrigerator starts to stink immediately after purchase, you want to wash it, but the reasons for the unpleasant amber remain unclear.

The source of an unpleasant smell in new refrigerators is ordinary mustiness. After being manufactured at the factory, the refrigerator goes a long way to the customer's kitchen, and all this time it is in a closed state.Therefore, an unpleasant odor gradually accumulates inside the device. It still needs to be washed, but it has nothing to do with spoiled products.

To solve the problem, it is necessary to wash a new household appliance and not after some time, but even before the first use.

The refrigerator must be removed from the factory packaging, opened, all drawers and shelves removed, and then the chamber and freezer should be thoroughly washed with any chemical or household solution allowed. The washed refrigerator is once again wiped with a wet sponge and wiped with a dry cloth, and then left for several hours with the door open in a well-ventilated room.

Only after that, the device can be plugged into the mains and loaded with products without fear of a fetid ambre.

What to do if the refrigerator stinks inside

In most cases, an unpleasant odor can arise from the mismatch of food flavors. If this is the reason, it is better to arrange them correctly on the shelves (soups and cereals separately, and not near cheeses and fruits).

The second option is that the equipment is rarely opened or has not been washed for a long time. Then you need a thorough hygienic cleaning. The third, most unpleasant option is the breakdown of parts of the mechanism.

If the stench stretches from the internal cameras of the equipment, this indicates a possible breakdown or non-compliance with the rules of use. To clarify this point, you need to contact the service department.

Causes of odor

In addition to household factors, there are many technical reasons why the refrigerator smells inside.

So, why does the refrigerator smell:

1. Smell of plastic. This is especially true if a new device is purchased. You shouldn't worry about this.The specific plastic aroma will soon disappear, it is enough to leave the doors of the freezer and refrigerator compartment open for the night, without turning on the appliance. In extreme cases, you can rinse the equipment with a solution of citric acid and soda.
2. Clogged drainage system. In this case, the stench comes from the back of the appliance. It is necessary to clean the drainage system, but for this you will need to call a service center employee at home.
3. If the fan breaks, the temperature in the refrigerator compartment rises significantly. As a result, products begin to deteriorate, a systematic stench appears. A master's call is required.
4. Sometimes the refrigerator stinks due to faulty wiring or problems with electrical circuit contacts. There is a smell of burnt plastic, while the unit overheats. Or there may be problems with the electrical cord, outlet. Usually in such situations, a short circuit occurs. It is recommended to contact the service center for help.
5. One of the reasons for the smell in the refrigerator is the accidental defrosting of the freezer with meat products. For example, the owners of the home went on vacation for a week. At this time, a short circuit or a power surge occurred in the apartment, due to which the freezer stopped working. Blood from fish and meat flowed into the insulation and soaked. The result is a lingering, putrid odor that won't be removed by simply cleaning shelves and frozen food storage. Usually this phenomenon is characteristic of Soviet household appliances. To remove the stink, you need thorough disinfection and long ventilation, at least a day.
6. The device was closed for a long time.When leaving home for a long time, it is recommended not to leave perishable food in the refrigerator. At the same time, it is better to defrost it, turn it off from the power supply and leave the doors open.
7. Coolant leak has occurred. In addition to a bad aroma, poor freezing quality is observed, or the device stops completely freezing food. Service center required.

How to remove the "aroma" with improvised means?

To cope with the smell of rotten meat, it is not necessary to go to the store. In every home there are products that can destroy the bacteria that cause persistent unpleasant odors. These include:

1. Soda. To prepare a cleaning solution, you need a liter of hot water and 4 tablespoons of soda. In the resulting composition, moisten a rag and wash the refrigerator. After wiping one area, you need to rinse the rag under running water, and only then dip it again in the soda solution. When the treatment is completed, the refrigerator is wiped with a clean, damp cloth, and then with a dry paper towel.
2. Vinegar. Acid perfectly neutralizes all extraneous odors. To care for the refrigerator, a weakly concentrated solution is suitable (1-2 tablespoons of 9% vinegar are taken for 1 liter of water). Wet a cloth in it and wipe all accessible surfaces with it. Then they are rinsed with clean water.
3. Ammonia. To prepare a detergent, 5 drops of ammonia and 1-2 liters of water are enough. Being a source of a pungent odor, such a solution will interrupt the plume left from rotten meat.

   Wash off with clean water. If, after such treatment, the refrigerator smells of ammonia, you should not worry, after 2-3 days the smell will disappear.

4. Alcohol.It not only neutralizes odors, but also disinfects surfaces. To wash the refrigerator, you can use vodka, diluting it with water in equal proportions. To give the solution a pleasant aroma, you can add the juice of half a lemon or orange to it. All shelves are wiped with the resulting product, left for 15 minutes, after which they are washed with plain water.
5. Potassium permanganate. Based on it, a solution of low concentration is prepared. It should be slightly pinkish. They wipe all the elements, after which they wash off the remnants of the product with water. Potassium permanganate well disinfects surfaces, destroying microbes.
6. Hydrogen peroxide. This is an affordable recipe that will help not only get rid of the smell of rotten meat and bacteria, but also whiten yellowed plastic surfaces. Peroxide 3% is poured into a suitable container, a soft cloth is lowered into it and the shelves and walls of the refrigerator are wiped with it. After 15 minutes, they are treated with clean water.

Using improvised means, you need to take care of your own safety. Wash the refrigerator with disinfectant solutions with gloves, in a well-ventilated area.

If a few days after the procedure, the smell reappears, the treatment is repeated, paying more attention to hard-to-reach places.

Features of disposal in various rooms

Each room in the apartment has its own functional purpose, the aromas in them, the reasons for these aromas can vary greatly.

1. Kitchen. The aroma of specific food, the smell of cigarettes eat into wallpaper, curtains, furniture, and it is difficult to remove them. To prevent stench, it is recommended to regularly turn on the hood during cooking and arrange ventilation.If you happen to burn food, quickly spread wet towels around the perimeter of the room and open the window. After removing the burn, wash the curtains and wipe the table, chairs with a solution of vinegar, salt or lemon.
2. Bathroom. Mold and bacteria are the main cause of mustiness. Regular wet cleaning with chlorinated water or citric acid will prevent their spread. If the stench comes from the sewer pipes, pour boiling water with a few tablespoons of vinegar into the drains and leave for a couple of hours. You can add baking soda first. Treat the tile with a napkin soaked in essential oils. If the stench comes from the toilet, then a urinary stone has accumulated in the knee. The chlorine-based chemistry will dissolve it. Leave for 3 hours minimum.
3. Room. Wet cleaning with vinegar or potassium permanganate will help restore freshness. Wipe cabinet shelves with wet wipes, ventilate things. To preserve the aroma, place dry bergamot, rose petals, coffee beans in cloth bags or tea bags inside.
4. Hallway. Unpleasant odor comes from shoes. Try to dry it in time, treat it with special sprays and deodorants with disinfectant properties. Before long-term storage, put a rolled-up newspaper or absorbent inside the shoes. Wash the floor with antiseptics, dirt and dangerous bacteria are brought in from the street. Dry wet things, umbrellas open to prevent the formation of mold.

You can eliminate an unpleasant smell in a house or apartment on your own, having at hand a minimum set of home remedies and products. Most cost a penny and will not cause a financial collapse in the family budget. A little effort will return a pleasant freshness to the house, and the use of aromatic products will create a cozy atmosphere.Do not forget to regularly maintain cleanliness with wet cleaning, careful processing of hard-to-reach places, washing linen and curtains

To maintain an optimal microclimate in the house, it is important that the plumbing and ventilation system work properly. Check devices, carry out preventive cleaning

Article checked by the editors

Elimination of technical causes

Housewives do not always know what is the reason for the appearance of stench in the refrigerator. Even regular flushing does not bring good results. In this case, it is worth checking whether everything is in order in the operation of household appliances.

Drain cleaning

You can clean the hose with a drip freezing system yourself. To do this, use cotton swabs or a brush

It is important not to pierce the walls of the hose

Seal replacement

Rotting products often get under the seams of the seal on the doors.

Carefully rinse the rubber, dry it. But if the door constantly moves away, then the seal should be replaced

The sealant can stick to the plane of the cabinet, which makes the door hard to open. You can eliminate the trouble by washing the seal with warm water, wiping it dry.

Appeal to the master

In case of serious damage, you need to call a specialist at home. He will identify the cause of the breakdown, fix it. In case of serious failures, you will have to replace the refrigerator with new household appliances.

Reasons for the appearance

All apartments and houses have an individual smell, which forms the characteristics of the life of the inhabitants. Things and linen closed in closets are constantly crowded in a limited space. To know how to effectively eliminate unpleasant smell from things, you need to know why it appears.

Stuffiness

Stuffiness, lack of freshness and oxygen supply lead to air stagnation, accumulation and retention inside the wardrobe of special odors that come from rooms and clothes. Extraneous impurities are locked in the closet and impregnate clothes and linen.

Dust

Small particles of dust, dirt and debris are present on worn clothes placed in the closet, and also penetrate from the premises. They can bring various unpleasant odors to clean linen.

bacteria

The ubiquitous bacteria are everywhere - in dust, dry laundry, washed and worn clothes. Their waste products have various unpleasant odors, which intensify with long-term storage.

Tobacco smoke

Tobacco smoke soaks through clothes and spreads through the closet. The old smell of tobacco can become dominant in the apartment, it is not easy to get rid of it if someone in the apartment constantly smokes.

Old clothes

Old things, stored in closets for a long time, collect all the aromas in the apartment. Large things smell especially strong - old coats with synthetic and natural fur, blankets, fur coats. With long storage, the smell of old age and mustiness appears, even washed things acquire a specific aroma of attics and basements with junk.

ironing

It is very difficult to steam things during ironing until the water is completely out. If piles of laundry are immediately put away for storage, the folded items will dry out for a long time. Washed clothes will smell musty and damp.

If there is mold

Fungal colonies live in the refrigerator when:

• it freezes badly;
• the ventilation system does not work;
• do not wash the unit for a long time;
• products are spoiled.

Most often, mold is found in expired vegetables and fruits.Sour-milk products stored in the chamber for a long time become covered with a layer of yeast fungi. Even after cleaning out the food and cleaning out the refrigerator, it is difficult to get rid of the remaining moldy smell.

"White"

Chlorine-containing liquid is used to disinfect surfaces. "Whiteness" can destroy colonies of pathogenic fungi. You just need to use the right liquid. It must be diluted with water and a cloth to walk in places affected by mold. Hands must be in rubber gloves.

Hydrogen peroxide

This tool fights actively with pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, if the smell of mold appears, it is worth rinsing the refrigerator clean with water to which hydrogen peroxide has been added.

Vinegar

For the best effect of the acid, it is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 1. Rinse the walls, the bottom drawers especially carefully. Instead of table vinegar, apple cider vinegar is used, as it is less aggressive.

Ammonia

Ammonia effectively fights mold in the refrigerator. Wash everything inside and out with a solution of ammonia to remove completely moldy areas.

Soda

After mold, stains remain on the walls of the refrigerator. They are removed with a mixture of bicarbonate of soda and water. The gruel is applied to contaminated areas. After holding for half an hour, rub with a sponge, rinse with clean water.

Laundry soap

An alkaline solution can remove mustiness in a refrigerator that has not been used for a long time. Mold grows inside due to dampness. It is washed off with soapy water. It is prepared on the basis of warm water with shavings of a bar of laundry soap.

Freezer Care

It is not necessary to defrost and clean the freezer frequently. It is enough to do it once a year. But if there was an increase in ice more than 2 centimeters, then it should be washed urgently.Carry out the defrosting procedure, completely freeing the chamber from the products.

Keep the doors open to speed up the process. Store-bought frozen food should be placed in the freezer. It is necessary to leave space between the bags so that air circulates freely.

How to remove the smell from the refrigerator at home: recipes

You can use household chemicals to remove the smell from the refrigerator at home. However, good quality industrial bottles and sprayers are quite expensive and may not be safe. Therefore, resorting to a radical method of washing with their help is still worth it in advanced cases, when "everything has been tried and nothing helps."

Let us turn to the tricks accumulated by housewives and successfully used by them. There are many recipes for dealing with "refrigeration abmre".

The most common is baking soda.

The most effective and safe product that can be used to clean the refrigerator and freezer is regular baking soda. A weak solution will help wipe off odorous stains, destroy the accumulation of bacteria on the walls, shelves and rubber seals, and get rid of the smell. To prepare it, just add a liter of warm water to a tablespoon of the product and mix thoroughly. In addition to the fact that soda does an excellent job with amber, it also disinfects surfaces.

The simplest - table vinegar

Copes well with the smell, especially persistent and old, a solution of table vinegar. Use gloves to avoid burning your skin. The solution is prepared on a one-to-one basis.For example, you can take the same amount of nine percent vinegar (not acid!) for half a glass of water and treat an already washed, clean refrigerator with this liquid.

The most odorous is ammonia

A solution of ammonia helps to get rid of the smell from the refrigerator at home. Just a spoonful of odorous agent, dissolved in a liter of water, will give a good result and will not hit the wallet.

The most expensive and delicious - lemon juice

Modern expensive household chemicals very often include natural citric acid. They are expensive and positioned as biodegradable and completely safe. Why not use lemon juice to combat the dirt and odors of their fridge?

If you can afford to buy lemons or just have a lot of them in the kitchen, you can make a great cleanser and get rid of bad smell. You will need vodka or diluted alcohol (strong flavored and artificially colored drinks will not work). The proportions of the solution are one to ten. That is, a spoonful of freshly squeezed lemon juice will have ten tablespoons of vodka. No vodka - increase the amount of lemon juice five times and dilute it with water.

Instead of lemon, you can take citric acid powder. The proportions of breeding are one to two. That is, for a spoonful of citric acid, you will need two tablespoons of warm water.

As for adsorbents and ionizers of industrial production, it is not necessary to use purchased absorbers and devices. They can be completely replaced with household improvised means. In order to permanently remove the smell from the refrigerator at home, you can use the same products as for washing the appliance, as well as some others.

The effect will be:

• soda;

• vinegar;

• lemon;

• Activated carbon;

• Rye bread;

• salt;

• sugar;

• rice.

All these are excellent natural sorbents that will absorb the smell. How use them correctly?

• Pour baking soda into a deep dish and place it on the central shelf of the appliance. If you don’t feel sorry for the product and there is space, you can place a container of soda on each shelf.

• Vinegar is poured into a glass and used in the same way as a soda adsorbent. Another option is to soak a piece of cotton wool with vinegar and leave for a day.

• Lemon cut into several parts and put in saucers on the shelves of the refrigerator. You need to follow the lemon: after a few days, the product will begin to disappear, and then you need to get rid of it.

• Activated charcoal can be used as a wonderful adsorbent. Crush several packs of tablets into powder, pour into plastic cups and arrange on the shelves. A month later, prepare a new batch of coal.

• Weak odors are eliminated with a few slices of brown bread. The rye product absorbs them very well.

• Salt, sugar, rice also have the ability to absorb flavors. A plate with the product should be left for several days or kept in the refrigerator regularly, to prevent the appearance of amber.

The smell from the refrigerator compartment can be masked with ground coffee, citrus peels, apple, odorous herbs and spices. But we must remember that masking the smell is not the same as getting rid of it. In addition, odorous products will “share” their smell with products stored in the refrigerator.

Ways to remove unpleasant odors from the refrigerator at home

Before starting the procedures to eliminate the stench in the refrigerator, the device is turned off, and all its space is completely freed.

There are two neutralization methods to choose from:

• Folk remedies;
• With the use of household chemicals.

In the first case, improvised means are used, which, if used correctly, will not harm either the health of the consumer or the products in the refrigerator. But household chemicals are not able to boast of safety properties, since they contain substances, albeit in small quantities, that are still hazardous to human health.

However, serial cleaners are divided into several groups. Some include liquids and powders containing potentially hazardous components, while others include products that do not have hazardous impurities. Odor absorbers are just in the safe class of absorbent neutralizers. They are not used to wash the device, and their property is to absorb all persistent odors.

Causes of Bad Smell in the Refrigerator

Even good owners sometimes face the fact that their refrigerator starts to stink. The source of the problem is not always easy to find. The most common causes of smell from the refrigerator are as follows:

• spoiled products;
• poorly washed food containers;
• leftover food on the walls of the refrigerator that got there by accident;
• mold;
• device malfunctions - problems in the ventilation system;
• incorrectly set temperature;
• the refrigerator is new - production standards were not observed, and there was a strong smell of plastic;
• blockage in the hole for draining melt water.

Having found out the cause of the unpleasant odor, we proceed to eliminate it.

Prevention Tips

To prevent the appearance of an unpleasant odor, you must follow these recommendations:

1. Appliances need to be cleaned periodically. Under the condition of careful operation, units with the No Frost system can be defrosted and cleaned several times a year. Refrigerators with a drip system need monthly maintenance.
2. Rotten food should be thrown away immediately. If something spills, the shelf must be wiped and washed with a solution of soda or a special agent.
3. Do not use alkali, abrasives and metal scrapers when cleaning the refrigerator. Otherwise, micro-scratches may form in which bacteria will multiply.
4. It is recommended to keep absorbents in the refrigerator, purchased or made from improvised means - coffee, activated carbon, etc.

Isolate products from each other

Even if the equipment is serviceable and clean, mixing the flavors of different foods can cause discomfort for the owner of the refrigerator. If the products are stored open, they impregnate the walls of the chamber and other objects with their smell. To avoid this, food should be placed in containers with hermetically sealed lids or in plates covered with cling film.

In addition, it is not recommended to store the following products nearby:

• vegetables and fruits with cheeses and smoked meats;
• citrus fruits with tomatoes;
• fruits with potatoes, beets, carrots and cabbage;
• sausages with fruits and vegetables;
• fish with herbs, bread, grapes;
• raw foods already subjected to heat treatment.

Neglecting these rules can accelerate food spoilage and provoke the spread of an unpleasant odor through the chamber, which you will have to get rid of using the methods described above.

If it is necessary to keep fish and meat chilled, the products should be placed in an enamel dish, covered with a towel or gauze, and placed on the coldest shelf located next to the freezer. Eggs and bakery products are well stored at the same level. The middle shelves are suitable for milk and other products that must be stored at a temperature of 0 to +10 C. The warmest compartments of the chamber are usually reserved for fruits and vegetables. However, some of them, for example, bananas, are generally not recommended to be kept in the cold.

A bad smell coming from the refrigerator is not a reason to be upset. Most often, this trouble is associated with a violation of the rules for storing products. But if the stench does not disappear, you need to make sure that the device is working properly and does not need to be repaired.

Top 10 Effective Refrigerator Cleaners

Prevention

You won’t have to get rid of persistent stench if you follow preventive measures:

Separate storage. The most unpleasant smell is formed by mixing different. Therefore, the best option is to store meat, fish, poultry, vegetables and berries on different shelves.

Correct packaging. Sealed packaging will keep the smell, even if the product starts to deteriorate. Tightly sealed plastic containers, plastic bags for freezing are suitable.

Deadlines. No food will keep frozen forever. Everything must be eaten in a timely manner and cleaned after the expiration date.

Technical correctness. Equipment needs to be maintained

The quality of the rubber seals is also important. If they move away from the door, the chamber begins to let warm air out of the room

Because of this, condensation accumulates, which is the cause of the formation of mold and fungus.

The best preventive measure is to defrost and wash the camera once every three months, to revise the products. If you do this regularly, there will never be an unpleasant smell.