Fridge smells of rubbing alcohol

November 6, 2020 12:41 PM

How can I get the heady odor of rubbing alcohol out of my fridge. A fuller explanation inside...

I started some physical therapy for my shoulder this week. My PT wants me to ice my shoulder three times a day. They gave me instructions on making a DIY ice pack using water and rubbing alcohol (you get a slush, not hard frozen water.)

I followed the directions, putting the mix in a zip-seal bag, then putting that bag inside a second zip-seal bag. Then, stick that in the freezer. So far, so good.

Apparently, though, that double-sealed bag construction leaked a bit before it froze, and now both my freezer and fridge smell of rubbing alcohol. It’s much stronger in the fridge section, probably because it’s cooled by air blowing in from the freezer section.

I cleaned up what mess I could find, and haven’t tried the DIY slush bag thing again. But, the odor doesn’t seem to be abating. Any ideas on how to get the smell out? Would the old box-of-baking-soda trick work with this? Will the odor ever leave?

Thanks!

posted by Thorzdad to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Activated charcoal works really well for absorbing smells in the fridge. You can buy sachets online and give that a try!
posted by Champagne Supernova at 12:47 PM on November 6, 2020

Definitely try the box of baking soda. It can do wonders and is super cheap and easy to find.
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:03 PM on November 6, 2020

First, make sure you've mopped up all the rubbing alcohol, then is there any chance you can leave the fridge door open for a bit, even five-ten minutes? Rubbing alcohol is very volatile so the smell really ought to just go away (I used to clean fridges, freezers, and incubators with alcohol, and the scent never lingered much, but they were empty when I cleaned them so I was able to mop it all up and then leave the door open).
posted by mskyle at 1:11 PM on November 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

I'd empty it of everything and put everything in a cooler or outside (if it's cold enough), unplug it, clean it and let sit at least at hour with the door open to let the alcohol evaporate. Then plug back in and put everything back in.
posted by ShooBoo at 1:36 PM on November 6, 2020

Open the fridge and put a fan in front of it to boost the action of the wifting volatiles
posted by oceanjesse at 3:59 PM on November 6, 2020

This is a Rube Goldberg-esque suggestion, but I think it would work.

Rubbing alcohol has unlimited solubility in (is miscible with) water, so if you happen to have an aquarium air pump you could put the pump on a lower shelf (because isopropyl alcohol is heavier than air) and run the tube into an open jug 2/3 full of water on the top shelf, and put the air in your fridge through the water, changing the water 2-3 times a day until the odor is gone. If you had one of the activated carbon sachets Champagne Supernova mentions, you could stuff it around the tube in the mouth of the jug.

The problem would be getting power to the pump, but the cord to the pump would be pretty thin -- you could separate the two conductors with a sharp knife without damaging the insulation -- and feed it through the seal on the hinge side without unduly compromising the sealing or damaging the seal itself, I think.
posted by jamjam at 6:49 PM on November 6, 2020 [1 favorite]