Freezer Down + Chicken + Summer = ????

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud · June 2015

I had a freezer go down while I was out of town. It was down long enough for everything in the fridge to spoil.

I have deconned the entire thing with bleach several times. I have dismantled the entire fridge and scrubbed it down. I cleaned out the dripping pan in the back.

I'm on day two of changing baking soda in and out but I just cannot get the smell out. It no longer permeates throughout the entire house which is great but there is still like a 5 foot radius of eye searing nose burning smell coming from this fridge/freezer unit.

I tried coffee but that just converted the smell into coffee-rot. I'm praying baking soda will work but are there any other suggestions?

I've heard a bowl of vanilla can get it out?

Enc · June 2015

Have you left it open to air out or are you just leaving it closed? It probably will need to air out for a day or two to get the stench out.

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud · June 2015

Enc wrote: »

Have you left it open to air out or are you just leaving it closed? It probably will need to air out for a day or two to get the stench out.

I shut it off, removed all removable plastic and aired it out for several days. There is a residual smell coming from the plastic? It's bizarre.

Enc · June 2015

Its possible. We like to think plastic is this perfect antibiotic surface but in reality it is super porous and can hold smells for a long time.

You may want to use something like Nature's Miracle or another organic matter enzyme disposal cleaner (usually for cleaning up pet messes like urine and barf) in there instead of just bleach. It might do a better job of breaking down whatever the smell is.

If anything leaked it could be in the cracks or even under the unit and in your floors.

bowen · June 2015

Yeah that is bizarre.

Have you tried soaking some of the parts in soapy water?

You could try some onions, they're usually really good at getting funk out, then soak the plastic parts in hot soapy water for a few hours.

bowen · June 2015

Nature's Miracle is god damned amazing.

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud · June 2015

I bleached and scrubbed all removable parts in the bath-tub.
I think I might try activated charcoal and/or enzyme cleaner next.

The enzyme cleaner sounds like a really good idea.

Foomy · June 2015

I had a neighbor run into this exact problem and there was nothing they found that would clean out the smell. They spent a few weeks and tried every possible suggestion of cleaner they could think of/researched off the internet.

The big thing is that the smell seeps into not only the plastics,but also the insulation and you just can't clean that.

Eventually they just had to give up and go get a new fridge.

AspectVoid · June 2015

Use one or two oranges. Take an orange, turn it into slices about a quarter of an inch thick. Lay them flat on one or two plates, put them in the fridge, and close the door. Leave them in there for two days. If the smell isn't gone, throw the first orange out and do it with a second orange. I've never had to take more than two oranges.

Enc · June 2015

I don't know which is more interesting, that the oranges thing seems plausible or that AspectVoid has had multiple occasions from which to try this.

mts · June 2015

Enc wrote: »

I don't know which is more interesting, that the oranges thing seems plausible or that AspectVoid has had multiple occasions from which to try this.

well you gotta get them bodies out in time or else the smell gets going

bowen · June 2015

Oranges, onions, vanilla... all are really potent smellifiers so I'd give them all a shot.

Enc · June 2015

Simultaneously. Cook up some caramelized Orange chicken and just put the whole wok in there.

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Freezer Down + Chicken + Summer = ????

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