Pro Tips to Remove Bad Smells from Your Refrigerator

Bad smells in your refrigerator are often the result of spills, expired items, or naturally smelly foods. If you’re on a mission to rid your fridge of unpleasant odors, giving your fridge a thorough cleaning and placing some deodorizing household ingredients, like baking soda, lemons, or coffee grounds, in the fridge will help it smell fresh and clean in no time. Read on for a step-by-step guide to cleaning your fridge and deodorizing it. We’ll also give you plenty of tips about things you can do to prevent bad odors from polluting your fridge.

Things You Should Know

• Throw out all spoiled or rotten food, then wipe down the entire interior of your fridge with warm, soapy water or a solution of equal parts white vinegar and warm water.
• Place a natural deodorizer like baking soda, coffee grounds, or slices of lemon in a bowl in your fridge to neutralize any smells.
• Keep your fridge at 40ºF (4.4ºC) or lower to keep food fresher for longer and place food items in airtight containers to prevent any spills or bad smells from escaping.

Cleaning Out Your Fridge

Unplug your refrigerator before you begin cleaning. For safety’s sake, always unplug your fridge before you begin cleaning the inside. Pull the plug out from whatever outlet it’s plugged into. Or, some newer models of refrigerators have an “off” button instead of a plug.[1]

– Leaving your fridge plugged in can end up using a lot of electricity, so unplugging it is the best option if you don’t want to spend extra on your electric bill.
– If you’re conscientious about closing the door between steps in your cleaning, you can leave the fridge plugged in.

Remove all of the food items from your fridge. Go through every storage area within your fridge—shelves, drawers, and door bins—and pull out all food items.[2] Look closely at the food and, if anything is spoiled, rotten, or emitting a bad smell, throw it into the garbage right away.[3] For foods that are still good, place them out on your counter or put them in a cooler to keep them cold.
– Start and finish the entire job within 4 hours. Refrigerated foods left out for over 4 hours may spoil or become unsafe to eat.[4]
Wash all removable shelves, bins, and other parts with soap and water. Remove all of the components of the fridge that aren’t attached to the walls, including pull-out drawers and the shelves themselves. Rinse them with warm or hot water and dishwashing soap.[5]

– Also be sure to look underneath the pull-out drawers. Sometimes bits of food and old water can accumulate beneath the bins and emit a foul smell.
– Use something soft like a microfiber cloth to wash and dry the components. Make sure each part is thoroughly dried after you’re done cleaning them.
– Avoid using the scrubbing side of a sponge on glass or plastic since it may leave scratches.[6]

Scrub the fridge walls and floor with a vinegar-water solution. Combine equal parts white vinegar and warm water in a bowl and mix them together. Then, use a microfiber cloth or sponge and wipe down the entire interior of your fridge. Another option is to put the vinegar solution into a spray bottle and spritz it inside your fridge.
– Vinegar is also an effective deodorizer and will absorb any unpleasant smells.

Keep an open container of baking soda on a back shelf. Baking soda has no smell itself, and it’s great at absorbing and neutralizing other aromas. Keep an open box of baking soda in your fridge for a few days. When you notice any unpleasant smells starting to emerge, toss that baking soda out and replace it with another box.[10]
Place coffee grounds on the shelves. Coffee grounds can also successfully absorb unpleasant odors thanks to the nitrogen in them.

– If you’re using used coffee grounds, spread them out on a baking sheet to dry them out completely before placing them inside your refrigerator.
Use sliced lemons and lemon juice to add a fresh scent. The citric acid in lemons helps get rid of smelly odors while also masking them with a fresh scent. Slice up a lemon and place the pieces on a plate in the fridge