Best Way to Remove Odors from a Refrigerator - With Vinegar

Have you ever opened your refrigerator and been met with a "not so nice" odor?  You are not quite

sure whether it is the leftovers from last night full of garlic, or that box of lettuce you have had a few days or maybe that container at the back of the fridge you can't remember putting there.

All I know is I leave an open box of baking soda in my

refrigerator.... it needs to be fired!

I found vinegar was the absolute best way to remove odors from a refrigerator fast.

WHITE VINEGAR!!

Step 1 - Empty as much as you can from your refrigerator.  I do this in stages as I don't want to unplug mine, so will quickly do a minute at a time then close the doors!

Step 2 - Put all the food on the counter, or in a cooler

Step 3 - Take out the vegetable crisper drawers (they are notorious for rotting foods way at the back) and empty them of produce and debris such as onion peels and what not, and then fill with hot soapy water to soak.

Step 4 - In the kitchen sink or a bucket, create a mixture of half and half white vinegar and warm water.

Step 5 - Quickly wipe down all the surfaces in your refrigerator with this solution and a clean cloth.  No need to rinse, but you may need to do the shelves twice, keep ringing out the cloth to get more mixture.  This disinfects as well as cleans.  Pay special attention to the area under where the crisper drawers live, it gets full of debris and rotting food.

Step 6 - With the refrigerator now closed and clean, go through the food items and begin to return to the refrigerator.

Take a look at boxed salads as rotting bits can be in the bottom and create smells in your fridge. Check the produce and compost anything not edible.  Check dates on salad dressings and toss if too old.

TIP:  If you love old smelly cheeses, get a container from the dollar store to keep them in to reduce smells in the refrigerator.  Nothing like the smell of old socks from chunks of Parmesan to greet you!

Step 7 - Wash and dry the crisper drawers and replace.

Step 8 - Refill your now clean refrigerator with good foods.

✅There are also some cool products on the market now to help you organize your refrigerator in such a way that you can find everything and store more produce, cans, your favourite foods and more..  Check this article on how to organize a refrigerator for tips.

What if you Simply Don't Have Time to Address the Stinky Refrigerator Today?

Take a coffee mug and fill it half full with white vinegar.  Place inside on a main shelf and leave it there until you get a chance to clean it out properly.  This will help to neutralize the odor.

I personally found white vinegar did a better job of this than leaving baking soda open in the fridge. My opinion of course, but I had some rotting lettuce I didn't realize I had and the white vinegar kept the smell away.

You still need to try and find the source of any heavy smells, but usually once you throw out that rotting science project in the back you have found it!

Plus you would be surprised just how bad a rotting lettuce leaf or cabbage leaf or any moldy veggie can smell!  I was amazed that just a handful of lettuce was causing such a stink!

I keep large jugs of white vinegar on hand. 

There are so many uses for it around the house and for personal use and cooking too.  It is affordable, better than chemicals for you and the environment and easy to use.

Plus its there for those french fries too!