Getting Rid of Odors in Your Refrigerator

Coming only behind one or two other places in your kitchen, nothing seems to collect odors as easily as the refrigerator. Getting rid of odors in your refrigerator isn't all that difficult as long as you know what you are doing, and use the right tools. In fact, all you really need to do is use one of these effective methods and you will find that the problem isn't as difficult as you may have thought.

• Check the dates on your food. It has long been said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that is especially true when it comes to odors in your refrigerator. The easiest way to prevent any nasty or offensive odors from getting into your refrigerator is to make sure that all the food items that you have stored in there haven't expired. This is a task that should be done at a minimum of once a week. Simply go through your refrigerator and remove any items that you have questions about, or that have clearly expired.
• Completely clean the fridge. If you have been keeping on top of your expiration dates, and still have a pesky odor, you may have to do some deep cleaning. This means that you need to remove any and all items from your fridge so you can clean every square inch. Place any item that you want to keep into a cooler, and then begin washing down the interior of your refrigerator. Wash out the interior using some warm soapy water, and then rinse it out with a wet washcloth. Once you have done that, wipe down the interior of your refrigerator with a 25/75 percent mixture of bleach and warm water. This will help disinfect the interior, while also removing any odor causing bacteria. When you are finished, place everything that you want to keep back into the refrigerator.
• Use baking soda. Another effective method for removing (or preventing) bad odors is to partially open a box of baking soda, and place it into your refrigerator. The baking soda will soak up the bad odors, and leave the air inside the refrigerator nice and clean. Keep in mind that you will want to replace the baking soda on a monthly basis though, since it will eventually lose its potency.
• Keep potential problems separate. Perhaps one of the best possible methods for preventing any really nasty odors from getting into your commonly used refrigerator is to have two refrigerators. One should be for what you use the most often, and the other should be for items that are potentially problematic, and should be kept in the garage or some other part of the home. This way if you do have an odor problem it won't affect the rest of your food.

Keep in mind that if you don't take care of the problem early enough, you may never get rid of the nasty odor in your refrigerator. That means you will only really have two choices at that point. The first is to live with the smell, and make do the best that you can. The second, and both the most expensive and popular, choice is to get rid of your old refrigerator and purchase a new one.