Why does the refrigerator smell bad? How to remove an unpleasant smell from the refrigerator at home? How to prevent bad smell in the refrigerator

An unpleasant amber inside the main food storage in the kitchen is a serious and annoying problem, and it will spoil your mood and beat off your appetite. With NameWoman you will learn how to get rid of the smell in the refrigerator. We offer almost two dozen proven methods and tools.

An unpleasant smell can be present inside not only the old, but also the new refrigerator. That is why your useful acquisition should be thoroughly washed with detergents before use, wiped dry and allowed to air out for several hours before being turned on.

How to get rid of the smell in the refrigerator: step by step

1 . The first action of the hostess to get rid of the smell in the refrigerator is to defrost it and wash it thoroughly, then wipe it off and let it “rest” like a new refrigerator for several hours. NameWoman recalls that the refrigerator is often, no matter how incredible and terrible it may sound, the dirtiest place in your apartment, successfully competing with the toilet and computer keyboard. Arrange in the fridge general cleaning recommended once every six months. Every month, or even once every two weeks, it is advisable to wash all the shelves and cells, wipe the door and the rubber put on it.

2 . In a clean refrigerator, carefully wipe the walls, shelves, drawers with moistened soda powder, wipe again with a dry cloth.

3 . An alternative remedy is ammonia (especially recommended for a new refrigerator), after which the open refrigerator should be ventilated for at least a day.

4 . Examine your refrigerator carefully for the source of the smell. A very common problem is clogging of the pipes for automatic defrosting, as well as holes for draining water during forced defrosting. They must be thoroughly rinsed with clean melt water; at the entrance for cleaning, you can use cotton swabs.

Unfortunately, it also happens, especially if the unit is not new, that musty amber remains even after defrosting and washing. In this case, we proceed to the subsequent tips of our article on how to get rid of the smell in the refrigerator.

5 . A modern approach to getting rid of the smell in the refrigerator involves the purchase special means anti-odor for the refrigerator. These can be freshener ionizers or, for example, small boxes with unwanted odor absorbers. They are also bought as a preventive measure. You can buy such a device in almost any hardware store or hypermarket, as well as order it via the Internet. For example, , you will be redirected to an online store offering a set of 3x Fridge Balls for only 204 rubles. One such ball retains freshness and effectively eliminates unwanted odors in the refrigerator for 2-4 months (depending on the presence and degree of the problem of unpleasant amber).

Folk remedies for getting rid of unpleasant odors in the refrigerator

6 . Try wiping the walls and shelves of the refrigerator with vinegar. The ratio is 1:1 - vinegar and water. After such wiping, use an additional measure to eliminate bad smell. For 4-6 hours, put in the refrigerator a saucer or bowl with a large piece of cotton wool soaked in table vinegar.

7 . Instead of acetic solution, you can use fresh lemon juice diluted with water in a ratio of 2:1.

8 . Classic recipe our grandmothers and great-grandmothers: half a raw onion, peeled, is placed on the refrigerator door or on one of the shelves. You need to replace the bulb about once a week.

9 . You can also get rid of the smell in the refrigerator with the help of half an apple (we place the cut up) or raw potatoes. It is better to replace such a natural odor neutralizer every 3-5 days.

10 . Similarly to the two previous points, you can use a piece charcoal.

11 . A piece of charcoal can be replaced with ordinary activated carbon in tablets. Previously, it is desirable to crush it and put a saucer with powder from about six to ten tablets in the refrigerator for a day.

12 . Another option for an odor absorber is a couple of handfuls of dry grains of rice.

13 . Another old folk remedy for the smell in the refrigerator is pieces of black bread laid out on the shelves for a day or two.

14 . Dry aromatic spices and spices can remove minor bad smell in the refrigerator, and also be used as a preventive measure. Suitable: cinnamon, cloves, the contents of a vanilla pod, turmeric, thyme, basil, tarragon. Place 1 or 2-3 absorbers in an open salt shaker on 1-2 refrigerator shelves for 2-4 days.

15 . Good odor neutralizers are coffee beans and dried orange and pomegranate peels.

16 . Let's move on to life-saving fluids. To get rid of the smell in the refrigerator, place a bowl or glass with lemon juice or lemon water in the refrigerator, you can also spread lemon slices on the shelves for 1-3 days.

17 . Similarly, a small open container with water and baking soda helps (the mixture can be made relatively thick, for this, add only a little water to a glass of soda to moisturize). By the way, to prevent the occurrence of an unpleasant odor in the refrigerator, you can prescribe a container with holes in the lid with dry soda for 2-3 months, then replace the soda.

18 . Instead of soda, sugar or salt can also act as odor absorbers.

Prevention of unpleasant odors in the refrigerator

Of course, it would be better not to set yourself the task of how to get rid of the smell in the refrigerator, but for this you should be careful.

19 . All prepared foods and dishes, especially fragrant ones, should be kept covered or wrapped. Use containers with lids, bowls covered with saucers, containers, special bags, cling film and foil. Raw meat, fish, poultry should be wrapped especially securely. The contents of the boxes for vegetables and fruits must be dry, wipe the fruits with a napkin or toilet paper before placing in the refrigerator.

20 . Keep an eye on the humidity in the refrigerator. Excess condensate (water on the walls) promotes mold growth and the development of microorganisms that provoke an unpleasant odor.

And, of course, follow the shelf life and shelf life of products and do not forget about regular washing and defrosting of the refrigerator, do not wait for a musty smell to appear.

Anna Arkhipova

Perhaps some of you will say that they do not know what a bad smell in the refrigerator is. In fact, any smell is alien to the refrigerator. How many times have you removed a salad smelling of foreign smells? You don't even want to eat this dish! The reason is simple - the refrigerator was saturated with the smell of the products that were stored in it. Sometimes even in a contented clean refrigerator, which is regularly defrosted and washed, a musty smell reigns. However, not many housewives know that this trouble can be successfully dealt with!

As a rule, the cause of unpleasant odors in the refrigerator is careless operation and improper care. Many years ago, when refrigerators automatic systems thawing, the housewives defrosted the device about once every 2-3 months. Of course, after defrosting, the refrigerator was washed, wiped, dried. Modern refrigerators and they can work for a year without such care, but not many people think that this is at least unhygienic and even harmful! And in the instructions, by the way, it is clearly written what to defrost and wash this household appliance need at least 2-3 times a year.

Checking the refrigerator for odors

To do this, take a small piece of butter and put it on a saucer. We carefully wrap the second piece in parchment or in a package and put everything in the refrigerator for a day or two. Then we extract the oil and taste it. If a piece that lay without packaging “gained” a smell, then you urgently need to start putting things in order. Similarly, you can test using ordinary distilled water.

revision

Most often, the cause of the smell is a slice of old cheese, a rotten egg, a piece of sausage. To prevent this from happening, check the contents of the refrigerator more often. It is best to do this 2-3 times a week. If it doesn’t work out, then determine for yourself a day, for example, Saturday, when you will shift the contents of the refrigerator and throw out everything that has gone bad. Do not leave food that you will no longer eat. Often in the refrigerator there are halves of cheese curds, unfinished milk bags, expired vegetables or cut onions. As a rule, all this is forgotten, and in the refrigerator it turns into a realm of smells.

If you store a jar of pickled cucumbers, then it must be covered, otherwise all products will smell of marinade. Including those that you were not going to throw away.

remember, that new refrigerator it will take a long time to exhaust the smell of plastic, so you have to be patient for a while. Well, if you have the opportunity to simply plug the device into the network and let it work for a month without food. A solution of baking soda will somewhat alleviate the chemical smell, with which you need to wash all the details.

Eliminate odors

To get rid of the unpleasant smell that "settled" in your refrigerator, you need to use one of the tips that we will offer you.

Before cleaning the refrigerator, remove everything that was stored there. Now carefully clean all surfaces, corners, elastic bands - it is there that food residues often accumulate, which then give an unpleasant odor. Now you have to wash all the trays and limiters. If there is a smell in the refrigerator, then it is not easy to wash all the elements and parts. soapy water, and add to it citric acid or soda. Never use shampoo, powder or other household chemicals that are not intended for washing items related to products. The reason is that the chemical smell will remain and the food will absorb it.

Did the sealant lose its qualities? Then pour boiling water over it - the rubber will return its qualities.

Often the cause of a musty smell is water, in which bacteria multiply. That is, try to make sure that water does not stagnate in your refrigerator.

With an unpleasant smell without defrosting and washing, ordinary coal will help to cope. If you put it in the refrigerator for several hours, extraneous odors will be absorbed.

Soda can also serve as an absorbent: pour it into a container with holes and leave it in the refrigerator. You will have to fill up a new portion about once every two weeks.

Sliced ​​bread and rice grains will fulfill the same goals.

You should not heed the advice that the walls of the refrigerator should be rubbed with garlic or onions - nothing good will come of it!

And if you are too lazy to deal with the refrigerator and put things in order in it, then buy yourself special blisters to eliminate the smell in the refrigerator!

Important!

Be sure to ventilate the refrigerator after you've washed it. If this is not done, then unpleasant odors will return very quickly.

Like these ones simple tips will help your refrigerator to always be clean and not absorb extraneous odors!

Before you start fighting unpleasant odors in your refrigerator, you need to find out their origin.

Most often, the cause of odors is products that have begun to deteriorate or are already spoiled. Even though low temperatures, microbes get into food, and with their active reproduction, the product begins to disappear and exude stench. Sometimes such a product may not be noticeable, for example, a rotten egg among other eggs.

Food packaging, plastic containers for meat, milk bags, poorly wiped drops of fat, brine, milk - all this begins to smell and change the smell of other products. Therefore, it is recommended to immediately shift / pour everything into clean bags and containers.

The water that stagnates inside the refrigeration equipment also plays a significant role. It can accumulate in drains, vegetable boxes, under the seal - you must definitely look there and check everything.

Another reason is the refrigerator itself. It may be faulty and not produce enough cold, so food loses its freshness very quickly.

There are also extreme situations, for example, when the owners of the apartment left, and traffic jams were knocked out in the house, and the refrigerator long time did not work. Naturally, everything inside him begins to disappear, and upon returning, the owners simply do not know what to do next and how to get rid of all these "incense".

How to get rid of the smell in the refrigerator

There are 2 methods in total, both of them are quite effective and have not changed for decades:

Thorough washing of the entire unit with special solutions

Getting rid of the smell with the help of folk remedies

How to clean the refrigerator so that there is no smell

Sometimes, even after thorough washing of shelves and drawers, refrigeration equipment still continues to exude an unpleasant odor. What's the matter? Perhaps everything was not carried out according to the rules, and some sections were skipped.

In order for the smell to go away, you need to follow a special procedure:

Disconnect the equipment from the mains

Get all the products and review

spoiled - throw away

Remove all shelves and containers from the refrigerator

Wash everything from the inside soda solution or regular detergent

Wipe dry and let dry completely

Put all the shelves back and place the products

Run refrigerator

Soda solution is made very simply - 2 teaspoons of soda per 1 liter hot water. Can you substitute soda? ammonia or vinegar, this will also be quite effective.

Advice! Before you start washing shelves and drawers, they need to be left in the room for a while so that they warm up. This will protect them from cracks that appear due to temperature differences.

Many use conventional detergents, but not all products are suitable for this purpose. It is better if they have almost no smell, so that it is not transferred to the products that will be stored. It is also undesirable to choose powdered products that can violate the integrity of the surface of the refrigerator.

Important! After everything has been thoroughly washed, be sure to let the refrigerator dry. naturally and ventilate well. This will protect it from the appearance of mold and will certainly eliminate all odors.

Folk methods for eliminating odor in the refrigerator

In order to no longer have extra flavors in the refrigerator, you can use a variety of methods. There are products that were used by our grandmothers, and there are those that the modern chemical industry offers us.

To create one of the most popular and effective remedies, you need to take a small plate, pour soda into it and put it somewhere on a shelf in the refrigerator.

Well absorbs extraneous aromas and vinegar. It must be diluted with water (1: 1) and washed inside the refrigerator without missing a single detail. The same solution can be poured into a glass and put on any shelf for a couple of hours.

Important! When washing the unit with a solution of vinegar, it should be taken into account that this method was good for refrigerators manufactured back in the USSR. Now, all models are made of plastic, which perfectly absorbs such a pungent odor, so it’s better to first test the method in some area so that later you don’t have to ventilate the equipment already from the smell of vinegar.

Activated carbon is one of the best odor absorbers. It is inexpensive, sold in any pharmacy, and only 10 tablets are required. They need to be crushed in a cup and put in the refrigerator. It will need to be changed every month, or you can just bake the coal in the oven for a while and reuse it.

Citrus fruits, namely oranges and lemons, can be attributed to products that will help eliminate the smell from the refrigerator. Slices or peels of these fruits should be decomposed in the refrigerator, and with them a pleasant aroma will settle in it, overlapping all the others.

Lemon is useful for creating an excellent detergent. To do this, mix vodka and lemon juice in proportions of 10 to 1, respectively.

Effectively masks the smell of ground and grain coffee. It is enough to pour it into a small glass or glass and put it on the shelf, and it will do all the work.

Every housewife will surely have slightly stale bread. Small pieces of black bread will do - they need to be laid out on the shelves.

If you want to quickly get rid of a strong smell in the refrigerator, some people resort to extreme methods and rub the refrigerator walls with garlic. Yes, indeed, any unpleasant smell will hide behind a dense wall of garlic aroma, which, by the way, will also have to be disposed of later.

Special devices and means

For those who don't really trust folk methods, the market offers many modern means, which will certainly help to remove the unpleasant smell from the refrigerator.

These include an odor absorber that works in the same way as a conventional carbon filter. It purifies the air and kills bacteria that are the main cause of food spoilage.

There is such a thing as an air ionizer. This is a small device that hides on the shelves of the refrigerator and ionizes the air, killing all microorganisms. Such devices run on batteries that need to be changed every 2 months.

For quick cleaning of refrigeration equipment, there is an excellent tool - Odor Gone. It is produced specifically for meat processing plants, so it is quite powerful and removes strong odors completely in 12 hours.

There are also special wet wipes and air fresheners that help to remove the smell from the refrigerator.

How to store products?

by the most best method wrestling is proper storage products:

All chilled products should be stored under the freezer, wrapped in polyethylene or a sheet of foil.

Pickles and sour foods are stored on the lower shelves.

Before storage, raw meat must be freed from the packaging or paper in which it was wrapped upon purchase, and transferred to an enameled or ceramic plate. From above it should be covered with gauze or paper.

Best for storing vegetables plastic bags. The vegetables are chilled before they are packed and placed in the crate to prevent condensation, the main culprit in mold and rot.

If the product has a specific aroma, it is better to hide it in a bag or wrap it in foil and place it away from dairy products, which perfectly absorb odors.

Do not put food in aluminum containers or open cans in the refrigerator. Canned food should be poured into separate containers and closed.

In Milan, at the EXPO 2015 exhibition, the kitchen of the future was presented, which can appear in almost every modern house already by 2025. She does not have a refrigerator as such, but has special shelves with a built-in induction cooling system and containers in which food is stored. All this allows you to store each product separately and set an individual temperature.

This is how it all looks:

But so far it's fiction and the person continues to use various means and devices that help to cope with a specific smell.

Getting rid of an unpleasant smell in the refrigerator is quite easy if you treat the matter with all care and diligence. And using all the above tips, you can not only eliminate unnecessary aromas, but also avoid their appearance in the future.

How to eliminate the smell in the refrigerator - video

Useful video on how to remove the smell from the refrigerator at home:

How to remove the smell from the refrigerator, if the equipment has ceased to please you with freshness, the question is quite acute. The refrigerator is perhaps the most indispensable thing in the kitchen, and with proper care, he will take care of the proper preservation of food. long years. Today we’ll talk about what to do if unpleasant foreign odors appear inside. To your attention, effective and safe recipes for detergents that help get rid of stink.

What causes odor in the refrigerator

Before you eliminate extraneous odors, you need to understand the root causes of their appearance. The culprits of the stench can be:

• Incorrect storage. If you put food inside without proper packaging. For example, dishes with garlic, onions or various smoked meats that are stored in the open can become sources.

• Delay. If food or goods have expired and have not been removed from refrigerator compartment in time. Most often, unpleasant "surprises" are presented with cottage cheese, eggs, raw meat.

• Dirty container. It often happens that the packaging material is damaged in the trading floors of the store. Workers remove unusable goods, and its remains are not always carefully wiped off from the goods lying nearby. Often this is manifested in packages made of foam and film. This can cause a musty smell of meat and bruising.
• Dirty shelves and drawers, as well as other parts of the device. Spilled and dried droplets of milk or meat broth can exude an unpleasant odor, although at first glance they are invisible. Keep an eye on the condition of the rubber bands in the door, which accumulate bacteria and mold.

• New unit. Amber from the factory occurs when the parts are initially heated. Within a month, the unpleasant smell in the refrigerator disappears.
• Disconnection from the network. During power outages or holidays in the most hard-to-reach places refrigeration equipment, mold can form.
• Medications that are not tightly covered with caps. In combination with other flavors of products, an unpleasant cocktail can turn out.
• Sometimes it stinks in the refrigerator and due to malfunctions or problems with the defrost and drip system. In this case, you need to contact the service center.

Odor elimination methods

Today we will tell you how to remove the smell from the refrigerator easily, simply and permanently. Which methods to choose depends only on your personal preferences and the tools at hand that you have available. So, to fight for freshness at home, use:

• Specialized detergents. It is imperative to follow the instructions for use and not exceed the norm. Make sure that there is no contact with food.
• Industrial odor absorbers get rid of the nasty odor. The absorber is made in the form of a ball or egg, inside of which is placed a sachet with the active substance. It is very convenient to put the absorber in the egg storage compartment. The odor absorber needs to be changed periodically, so even the stink from rotten fish will not be scary to you.

• folk methods. If you make an odor remover, you will get fragrant freshness for a penny.
• Ozonators. The ozone supplied to the chamber allows you to prolong the freshness of food, stops the spread of pathogens.

• If the stench comes from freezer, then be sure to remove all the products from there and check each for delay. Some types of fish are not intended for long storage. Remove the smell of mold by thoroughly washing all rubber bands and corners.

Important! Before you start washing, be sure to unplug it, remove food and all drawers with shelves.

Chemicals and absorbents

Using household chemicals you need to be extremely careful, be sure to study the instructions for use in detail. Remember that some drugs leave behind a pungent "chemical" smell, which is removed only with time. Consider those drugs that do not leave behind a specific trace.

• feedback. Of the benefits: it is safe even in the presence of small children, pets, pregnant women, the product is hypoallergenic.

• Oro Fix 02012. Pros: perfectly copes with stagnant odors.
• TOP HOUSE. Pros: does not need additional rinsing with water, reliably kill germs and bacteria, prevents their appearance.

Combined funds

• Method 1. Cut a small lime or lemon into two halves with a knife, remove the pulp. Pour soda into each of the cups, then put these stuffed halves on the shelves. Remove the lemon after 7 days and discard. Instead of soda, use activated or charcoal.

• Method 2. Mix a couple of spoons of Epsom soda (sold in a pharmacy under the name "magnesium sulfate") in equal proportions with soda. Add 50 ml of water and 10 drops of aromatic essential oil. Transfer the composition to a small jar and place in the apparatus.

Folk methods of dealing with stink in the refrigerator

If you want to remove the stench inside the refrigerator in a simple, effective and affordable way, then you should use folk remedies, which are tested by the experience of grandmothers and mothers. Eliminating stench, which can render stored food unusable, involves the use of the following recipes.

• Combine vinegar and water in equal proportions, pour a spoon into the solution sea ​​salt. Wipe all the walls and shelves of the apparatus with a cloth moistened with acetic liquid.

• Inside the chambers, lay out the crusts of rye bread, tea bags, a cut onion or half an apple - they successfully absorb the fetid odor.
• Prepare a cocktail of vodka and lemon juice in a ratio of 10/1. This will help kill the rotten smell that can be left behind from fish or meat. Wipe the interior of the unit with a cloth in the solution.

• Leave a saucer with fine salt or sugar inside - these are excellent “extracts”.
• Pour some filler into a small container to cat litter. The tool perfectly "pulls out" the unpleasant amber.
• If you have purchased a new unit, then you can eliminate the unpleasant technical smell by combining 2 tablespoons of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and 0.5 liters of hot water.
• Put in the refrigerator to remove the smell, you can also jars with fragrant herbs - basil, tarragon, thyme or cloves.

Keeping clean with coffee

There are many recipes for how to eliminate stink from refrigeration equipment with coffee.

• Place a container with ground grains inside.
• Brew a fragrant drink, put the cup on the shelf to cool. Do the procedure several times.
• Fry the grains in a pan, then let them cool in the machine.

How to prevent stink

To your attention, simple rules, following which you will exclude the appearance of an unpleasant fragrance. If these recommendations become a habit, then your refrigerator will become a model of cleanliness.

• Ventilate regularly - turn off, and leave the doors open.
• If you spill something, wipe down the shelves immediately.

• Check the condition of the products at least once a week.
• Cover food containers tightly with lids or cling film.

• When defrosting foods, place them in a deep bowl.
• Put only clean containers inside.
• Leave a jar of crushed activated charcoal or soda in a corner. These are excellent sorbents.

You can eliminate the stink in the cells both chemically and folk ways. Proper Care behind household appliances allows you to keep the freshness of products and extend its life.

Video: Life or not life? Refrigerator without smell

Not so long ago, I was faced with the fact that unpleasant odors come from my refrigerator. To put it mildly, this did not please me at all. Not only did this terrifying amber spread throughout the kitchen every time I opened the refrigerator door, but also all the products acquired an absolutely nauseating aroma that completely discouraged my appetite.

There could be several reasons. First of all, I did a complete revision of the refrigerator for spoiled or stale food, since sour milk or thawed meat usually smells completely different from Chanel. When all sources of "fragrance" were eliminated, I thawed the refrigerator, washed it completely with a disinfectant to prevent bacteria and mold from growing.

Unfortunately, this didn't work for long. From this I drew some conclusions. The problem, it turns out, is that the smells of all products are mixed and this is what gives such a terrible effect. Of course, it was impossible to leave everything like that, therefore, armed with an arsenal of experienced housewives, I went to storm the refrigerator. So, let's talk about products that will reliably eliminate unwanted odors.

These products really help to get rid of the unpleasant smell in the refrigerator.

Chemicals

• Weak vinegar solution(dilute 1:1 with water). Soak a cloth in the solution and wipe the refrigerator walls.
• Ammonia would be a good alternative to vinegar. It is used in the same way, only it is not necessary to dilute with water.

The disadvantage of these two methods is that both vinegar and ammonia themselves have a very specific smell, so you can overdo it, and then you have to ventilate the refrigerator for a very long time. Therefore, I will tell you about less radical methods for solving this problem.

Folk remedies

As you can see, there are enough ways to deal with this trouble, but, in my opinion, it is easier to try to prevent it.

How to prevent the appearance and spread of odors

How I Got the Bad Smell out of the Fridge by Trying Everything!

Activated charcoal has become a godsend for me! It perfectly absorbs all odors without any side effects such as stains on the walls and additional aromas. Now an open box of charcoal has settled in my refrigerator for a long time.

And if some products spoil and I still do not have time to remove them in time, then pieces of black bread come to the rescue.

So the problem of an unpleasant smell in the refrigerator is no longer in front of me in the same way as it is. I hope that some of the suggested tips will help.