Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food

RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post By PEGGY IN PLYMOUTH (Guest Post) (07/22/2008) We came home from a fantastic month in Atlantic Canada to the smell of "dead animal" . The fridge had quit and all the beef, pork and shrimp had rotted to a gooey mess. We tossed the spoiled meat and the fridge, cleaned with bleach and then sprayed with Febreeze but still had a lingering odor. Local store said to sprinkle lime on the floor where the fridge had been (luckily in basement) just watch the kids and pets! Within 24 hours the smell was gone. She told us the local undertaker had told her that was the only way to really get out the smell of "dead animal". Guess he should know. Good Luck! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoil Post By ANN (Guest Post) (04/03/2008) I have the same problem, my freezer is full of meats and i plugged it back in to refreeze the meats so that some of the smell might go away, but now I dread opening it and tossing them out. What are the precautions to use when dealing with rotten meat and all those germs? Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From WHOLE Post By Maggie (Guest Post) (10/29/2007) Fridge died while we were gone for 3 months. Came back, had to get rid of fridge. But cannot get the smell out of the house. Foul odor is in every room. Tried washing walls and cabinets, floors, picture frames, etc. Still STINKS! Any suggestions Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoil Post By Shelly (Guest Post) (09/25/2007) Hey! i had the same problem! my husband and i went away for a month and our food got all rotten. We had over 300 dollars worth of meats and fish inside, the smell wouldn't go away. So we called this refrigerator guy and he popped the back of the freezer out and maggots and bacteria were all bunched up in there. You need to clean it out thoroughly cuz bacteria grows in the cold SO i suggest you pop the back of the freezer open... and clean it. After that keep dumping bleach throughout the freezer and the fridge. then let it dry or even wipe it down with a cloth. it should work. Good luck Shelly Report Spam or Abuse broken Post By Chris (Guest Post) (07/29/2007) Sorry, I posted the last post wrong. I meant to say the meats dripped into the FANS not pans..sorry! Will this have potentially ruined the fridge since the liquids possibly dripped into the fans? Editor's Post It's possible unless you can get into the fans to clean them. It seems odd that the drippings could get to the fans. A good site for appliance stuff is: http://www.repairclinic.com/0003.asp Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post by boogieman (10) | (07/28/2007) Contact Plain Bleach in a spray bottle. Its nasty stuff, take the fridge outside if need be. Sometimes you can find cleaner with bleach. Dollar store has a "cleaner with bleach" for real cheap. I had 3 lbs of rotten hamburger in a dorm fridge that they turned the electricity off on Christmas break. Very nasty but bleach did the trick. Like I said, it works perfectly, but very nasty stuff. Wear old clothes, do in a well ventilated place along with taking the appropriate precautions. Report Spam or Abuse broken fridge? Post By Chris (Guest Post) (07/28/2007) Hey I posted this but I guess it didn't go up..i have a similar problem to donnie's and my landlord called and told us that we left food and stuff in the freezer and fridge...she said it possibly dripped into the fans and stuff of the fridge and all over the floor and stuff...do you think this ruined the fridge by it dripping into the pans? I hope not! please give me some good news! Thanks Editor's Note: The drip pans should be able to be cleaned. Report Spam or Abuse Will my fridge work? Post By Donnie (Guest Post) (07/23/2007) Hi! I am a college student and well one of our roommates left and the electricity was turned off! he left all of the food in the freezer and as u could guess..it all rotted and defrosted all over the kitchen floor....we had someone go in and clean it and everything but we don't know if it works...we wont know until we go back to school...do you guys think it will still work? my landlord said she doesn't know if it will be broken or not...i don't see how rotten food will break the fridge... Editor's Note: The rotted food shouldn't break the fridge but you will need to make sure that it is cleaned well of the rotted food smell, the pan underneath, anyplace that water drains out when it defrosts, and wipe it down good with baking soda. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoil Post By Debbie (Guest Post) (09/24/2006) I need help.. My refrigerator and freezer went bad while we were on vacation. We came home the the lovely stench of spoiled chickens and meat. I am trying the baking soda now. Any more suggestions? My newly finished basement stinks! Editor's Note: Buy a bag of plain charcoal briquettes, not the kind with lighter fluid in them. You can even break them up some so more surface is available. It really helps absorb bad odors. Continue with washing it out with baking soda. There may be an odor also in the tubes that take the water to the pan below. Make sure you run clean water through them and wash the pan. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post By Fernando Ferreira (Guest Post) (01/16/2006) Just buy a new one... Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post by arose58 (3) | (01/26/2005) Contact First you should wash the whole inside down with a strong baking soda and water solution. I would make sure to rinse the cloth or sponge separately. Then put a bowl of vinegar (white) in your freezer and box. Leave at least overnight. This works well on kitchen, pet, and closed up smells. We had this problem this past year after several hurricanes in Florida. Hope this helps Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post By justmyimagination2002 (Guest Post) (01/26/2005) my dh is a refrigerator/ac repair man, and he always turns on the appliance and let it run and believe it or not, all smells dissapear. Strange but true! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post by rachndall (3) | (01/25/2005) Contact I just went through this same thing! The person that fixed my fridge told me to not turn it back on until I thouroughly washed the inside, otherwise the smell would be trapped in teh condenser and continue to circulate. If you have a way to turn off the fridge, let it cool, then clean it, you may be successfull. As well as placing a bowl of viniger in the compartment to try and absorb the odors. good luck! Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post By Cheryl from Missouri (Guest Post) (01/25/2005) Check the drip pan. Odors might be coming from that. Also, pull out the freezer and check the floor underneath to make sure nothing got under there. Check the rubber seals, too. They may have absorbed the odor and need a separate wipe down. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post by Jo Bodey (279) | (01/25/2005) Contact I bought a house where the power had been turned off and there was an old fridge/freezer I wanted to use as a standby for cool drinks and snacks while I was renovating, (I lived in my old house while I did this so my own fridge was in use there). It had been dumped outside rotted food inside. I got an extension lead and checked it still worked then cleaned it out and scrubbed/washed with a strong solution of baking soda and water. I left it outside, open, and each day washed it out again taking care to get in all the cracks and crevices. After 3 days it smelled fresh and I tested it turned on for 24 hours. The smell had gone and it gave me good service for 18 months! So I suggest you move it outside and leave it open to the sunlight, (a natural disinfectant), and wash daily with baking soda. Regards Jo Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post by beanygurl (131) | (01/25/2005) Contact My BIL is in the appliance biz. He uses crumpled newspaper to aborb the odor (replace several times) and activated charcoal. Wipe with a citrus cleaner, then put charcoal and newspaper in it. Have you discussed this with your insurance?? It's possible you may be covered for lost food and also the fridge. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post by alleen (6) | (01/25/2005) Contact You could try Odo-ban that I think can be purchased at Wal-Mart. Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post by Rio Lady (6) | (01/25/2005) Profile | Contact Barbara, I feel for you. You might try getting a couple of knee high nylon stockings (2), like long stockings only short. Fill them half way with unused coffee grinds. Hang in the freezer for a week with the door closed....no peeking! Hopefully, when it's time to open the freezer door you should smell the wonderful aroma of coffee! Let us know how you do! Rio Lady Report Spam or Abuse RE: Refrigerator Stopped Working - Removing Odors From Spoiled Food Post by hugmehugs (114) | (01/25/2005) Profile | Contact Lisa, I know what you are going through and I sympathize with you. Several years ago I rented an apartment and the previous tenant had left a package of chicken in the freezer and bologne in the fridge part. Well, the electricity was turned off while the apartment was empty...two weeks!! So you know what I found when I opened the doors on that refrigerator. It took about two weeks to get rid of the smells but what I did was place 2 boxes of baking soda in the freezer and 4 boxes in the fridge. I replaced them every 2-3 days until the smells were gone. Of course I couldn't use it all that time, but the odors did eventually go away. Good luck, Barbara Report Spam or Abuse