Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage

RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage Post By Cassie (Guest Post) (05/10/2008) I am sharing a house with randoms at the moment, and I had been away for a week and got back to find a horrid smell as soon as I walked in the house. They said the smell was the bin then I opened the freezer to get food out and the smell knocked me over. They turned off the freezer at the wall and all my food was brown and soggy. I cleaned out all the food and blood then used hot soapy water. Then drained that out and let it air out for a couple of days outside and it still stinks. So I poured in a bottle of white vinegar and it still smells. How can I get rid of the smell? Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage Post By Shari (Guest Post) (01/16/2008) How do you know if the blood is in the insulation? Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage Post by Walt816 (31) | (12/01/2007) Profile | Contact Eons ago I was a refrigerator/freezer service technician. If liquids like blood leaked into the insulation you have two options: pull the liner out of the freezer and replace the insulation, which takes two people who really know what they are doing, or replace the freezer. If you pay to replace the insulation the cost will equal or exceed the cost of a new freezer. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage Post By Sean (Guest Post) (11/03/2007) I had a similar situation with a chest freezer of mine. I moved out of an apartment that I was sharing with two other guys and I decided to be nice and let them borrow it (since it was full of frozen food that would never fit in their smaller freezer). A fuse went out one day and the freezer lost power. They didn't notice until WAY later. The smell was horrid. I tried using hot water and soap, Comet with Bleach, and a bunch of orange scented surface wipes. The smell seemed to be gone but it quickly returned the next day. So, I had just now tried the following: - One bowl of water and charcoal - One bowl of cat litter - One open box of Arm and Hammer baking soda - One glass full of unused coffee grounds and last but not least... - One peach scented car air freshener I've also heard to use pure vanilla extract but I didn't have any. I will report my results tomorrow. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage Post By DocRuben (Guest Post) (06/26/2007) I made the mistake of plugging my freezer into a GFCI outlet. The outlet tripped and it was about a week before I noticed. Needless to say everything in the freezer had to go. The smell was over-powering. I took everything out of the freezer. There was blood and water at the bottom. I poured baking soda, lots of it and used a scented cat litter. I let it sit for a couple of days. Cleaned it up and it was smelling good too. This did the trick for me. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage Post by Grandma Margie (154) | (03/12/2007) Contact My niece had the same problem. She scrubbed with bleach, aired it out, filled it with newspapers, put pans of baking soda, pans of cat litter. What FINALLY worked for her was to place a large container of fresh ground coffee beans on the bottom, close the door and let it sit for a week, closed up. You need to use fresh, dry, unused coffee grounds, not the wet grounds left after you brew coffee! Report Spam or Abuse Request: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage Post by lewis_admin (1197) | (03/11/2007) Profile | Blog! | Contact We just survived Hurricane Katrina and are now beginning the clean-up. We emptied our chest freezer of all the contents right after the storm hit, but now it smells awful. The power has just now come back on after 10 days. How do I clean it and get rid of the awful smell before I can use it again? Denise from Mississippi Answers: RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage A used appliance store gave me the following advice for a freezer full of spoiled meat: Clean the surfaces first (probably with a diluted bleach solution) then put a large open box of odor-absorbing scented cat litter in the bottom of the freezer and close the door for a couple of days. (Leave the freezer off.) It worked for me. I have also heard that filling the freezer full of crumpled newspaper will help. Can't remember if I tried that as well. Good luck! (09/09/2005) By Rhonda S. RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage Crumpled newspaper will do the job. I once dealt with a full freezer that had been without power for over a week. And the crumpled newspaper removed the stench in quick order. (09/09/2005) RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage A neighbor once had that happen to her freezer above the fridge. The thawed blood had gotten under the plastic you might say, into the ventilation holes and the landlord said that it had to be replaced because of health reasons. I hope this is not your case. (09/10/2005) By Cindy in AL RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage After you have throughly cleaned the freezer you can wipe it down with vanilla extract. After that try crumpled newspapers and that should do the job. (09/10/2005) By mary wallace RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage As a military family when we moved, we always put coffee grounds in a clean sock, one in the freezer and one in the frig. We never had a problem with odor. (09/10/2005) By Memere Coffee Grounds My niece bought a big new deep freeze and quickly filled it with bulk purchases of various meats she found on sale. Unfortunately, it had to be placed in her attached garage and her kids were horsing around and unknowingly knocked the electrical plug out of the outlet. She discovered this WAY too late! She did the clorox bleach, the cat litter, the baking soda, the crumpled newspapers and still had a bad odor. Someone told her to dump about 5 pounds of fresh (unused) coffee grounds in it, close the lid for about a week and then remove the grounds. It worked! I imagine that trying all the other methods first made it more likely that the coffee grounds finally made it stop stinking! I am so sorry for all the loss you have endured. Our whole country is heartsick and working on ways to help. (09/10/2005) By Grandma Margie RE: Cleaning The Freezer After a Power Outage I just had this happen to me with a deep freeze full of beef. And it went past 10 days before we noticed. I had to empty it wet vac up all blood/water mix (yes it was HORRID) I used a dilute of clorox with water and let it sit did I mention it was in a HOT garage...then I wet vac that up and washed wet vac well washed the insides of freezer with soap and bleach mix and bucket rinsed that out with clean rags poured half gallon white vinegar and some water and let it sit in freezer waited all day til next day and wet vac again... I wish you good luck and if I can help anymore let me know. I wish you health, love and joy. Katrina broke many hearts yet makes so many stronger. My mantra has always been; I may fall in the mud but I refuse to roll in it! Prayers and peace to you. (09/15/2005) By meoowmom Report Spam or Abuse