Smelly Fridge, Smelly Fridge...

April 6, 2007 10:27 AM

Our refridgerator stinks... why?

This is a new refridgerator, the model is a Sunbeam Innovation, and it's stinky.

We're the first users of this unit, since January. I've gone through the whole thing smelling all the items individually (nothing smelled too bad), checking expiration dates, and throwing out anything questionable. It still smells! We have two of those fridge boxes of baking soda, and they're not helping. We don't eat or store a lot of meat, some cheese, but we eat it quick enough to prevent it from smelling up the fridge.

It seems like this particular refridgerator keeps smells in it or something, since one time we had blueberries in there for a few days, and they made everything smell, and even taste like blueberries, including the water.

Every time this thing is opened, a gross garbagy smell wafts through the first floor of the house. Does anyone have any experience with keeping a fridge fresh smelling?

posted by splatta to home & garden (19 comments total)

Move the fridge and check under/behind it. Maybe opening the door sets up air currents that are wafting a smell from elsewhere.
posted by DU at 10:37 AM on April 6, 2007

Try changing your garbage can. When I had a mysterious stink coming out of my fridge, the can (nothing in it, just the can itself) was the culprit.
posted by BackwardsCity at 10:37 AM on April 6, 2007

(No, the can wasn't in the refrigerator. But somehow a very slightly bad smell at the bottom of an old plastic garbage can was getting sucked into the fridge, where without anywhere to go it became an extremely nasty smell. Getting rid of the can fixed the problem very quickly.)
posted by BackwardsCity at 10:39 AM on April 6, 2007

The garbage can is across the room, and rarely smells anyway.
posted by splatta at 10:42 AM on April 6, 2007

Oh, and nothing under the fridge. This is quite the mystery.
posted by splatta at 10:42 AM on April 6, 2007

OdorMagic works really well in both the fridge and freezer (my freezer often gets strange smells in it for whatever reason...). They are carbon filters, which often work well at combating odors. I put mine near where the air circulates into the fridge. It works on a general day-to-day level, meaning that when there's produce rotting in a crisper, it will overpower the filter and still smell awful.

If you are not sensitive to bleach, perhaps you can empty everything out and wipe every last surface down with a bleach/water solution. Perhaps there is a residue of something left behind.
posted by kuppajava at 10:45 AM on April 6, 2007

Another thing to try is the drain hole. It's down at the bottom (of the inside), under the drawers and everything, possibly even with a cover. My father-in-law once found a dead mouse in there, though the worst I've found is just a bunch of gross junk.
posted by DU at 10:47 AM on April 6, 2007

It sounds like the interior plastic itself is absorbing smells. I wonder if anyone else has complained about your particular model? I googled Sunbeam Innovation and there were hardly any hits. Is that the full name?

Could it be coming from a fitting, a fan, a water line, a dead animal rotting away somewhere (lovely thought, no?), or maybe the rubber gaskets/seals? Do you have an ice cube maker that might have something stuck in the line somewhere? Have you checked for drainage?

There's no d in refrigerator.
posted by iconomy at 10:47 AM on April 6, 2007

I asked this a couple of years ago and got good advice, and ultimately ended up finding a way to de-stinkify my fridge:

http://ask.metafilter.com/25522/How-can-I-make-my-refrigerator-stop-reeking
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks at 10:51 AM on April 6, 2007

Ah, my girlfriend was right iconomy.

We don't have an ice maker, i'm going to check under the crisper drawer, and in the freezer.
posted by splatta at 10:55 AM on April 6, 2007

the few times i have had this problem it was the pan used to hold the water from the drain. sometimes it's in the back, inside the frame but down near the floor. i'd find the drain, and track it down to where it's discharging. that can smell pretty gross, and have the exact symtoms you describe.
posted by lester's sock puppet at 11:31 AM on April 6, 2007

Was your fridge stored for a while with the door shut before you began using it? I have no idea why it happens, but closed up fridges with no power tend to develop a smell, even new ones.
posted by yohko at 12:14 PM on April 6, 2007

Check for dead mice in the drain pan.
posted by unSane at 12:20 PM on April 6, 2007

You could try putting a box of baking soda in there, they make them with 'screens' on the sides of the box for just that purpose. I'd suggest a full cleaning as stated above, then pop one in there.
posted by Raven13 at 12:42 PM on April 6, 2007

Thirding the drain pan check.

My aunt's OLD (read: 1960s-era) fridge died recently. Although it didn't stink, the drain pan was filled with some unholy gelantinized black gunk (probably water, dust, and years of cooking residue) that looked like it should have stunk.

Could be gunk on the coils, if they're inside the fridge (as opposed to behind the fridge, outside of the food compartment area).
posted by CKmtl at 12:44 PM on April 6, 2007

splatta writes "Ah, my girlfriend was right iconomy.

"We don't have an ice maker, i'm going to check under the crisper drawer, and in the freezer."

That's the first thing I thought of. Our fridge stunk for no good reason until we took out the crisper drawers. We discovered that blood from some unknown meat-source had dripped down, coagulated and dried there. After a hot bleaching and cleaning, all was new again.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 12:58 PM on April 6, 2007

Fresh coffee grounds will get rid of the smell in the fridge. See also and also.
posted by cass at 1:22 PM on April 6, 2007

and also. :)
posted by cass at 1:24 PM on April 6, 2007

I had an apartment in college and went away for the summer, leaving the apartment empty. Before I left, I paid my bills and figured, what the hell, I'll come back, I’ll have bills that are one month late, and I'll take care of them then. No problem. Well, I returned in September to find my electricity, phone, and bank account all shut off. My checks had bounced.

When I opened the fridge, I was nearly knocked out by the smell. The whole interior was covered in black mold. I had put a few big bowls of water in there before leaving, because I had heard that doing so was more energy efficient than leaving a completely empty fridge running. The surface of the water in these bowls was covered with a black slime.

I scrubbed every inch of the fridge — in several-minute increments because that was all I could take before gagging from the smell, even with a wet towel tied around my face — but the smell remained. I scrubbed it again with 409 with bleach, and twice more with a paste made from baking soda and water. The fridge sparkled. It looked cleaner than new. But I was still gagging from the smell after every few minutes of work, needing to close the door and step outside for several minutes to breath fresh air.

I bought more boxes of baking soda and put them in the fridge overnight. Nothing.

For several days, I left the fridge door open with fans blowing in, opened all my windows, and left the apartment. Nothing.

"I know," I said, "I'll call the manufacturer. They'll know what to do!"

“Did you try baking soda?”

“Yes.”

"Well, there's a product," they said, "made for deodorizing farm buildings. It’s called Smells Begone and you can order it from us.”

So, I ordered two bottles. Several days later, it had not arrived. I called again.

“Did you try baking soda?”

“Yes. And I ordered some Smells Begone, which never arrived.”

“Hmm. I have no record of that order.”

So, I ordered it again. This time, it arrived several days later. I doused the fridge. I scrubbed the fridge with it. Twice.

Nothing. Really, really, nothing. No change. Still as bad as the day-one, covered-in-mold fridge. Still making me gag shortly after opening the door.

Now I’m starting to think, “Crap. So…what? I’m going to have to buy a new refrigerator for a rental apartment?”

I was completely out of ideas, but decided to call the manufacturer one more time, just for the hell of it.

“Did you try baking soda?”

“Yes.”

“Well, there’s a product made for—“

“Smells Begone. Tried it. Nothing.”

“Hmm…Well, go to a pet store and pick up some activated charcoal. It’s made for fish tank filters. Get some of that and put it in the fridge.”

I was very skeptical…and, also, very desperate. I took a drive to Dave’s Soda and Pet City. Bought a giant milk container of activated charcoal. Poured it into a few bowls and put it in the closed fridge overnight.

Bam. The smell was gone. Finally, I could get back to smoking grass and failing out of college.
posted by SampleSize at 8:53 PM on April 6, 2007