TheListeningEars: HOW TO GET RID OF THE SMELL IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR

No matter how clean you are or how much you love a clean and fresh-smelling refrigerator, sometimes you just fall victim of a messy one. You may just be too busy engrossed in other important chores around the house or you have no time at all. It could be that the person helping out with chores around the house has not been doing a thorough job and dirt has been accumulated. Sometimes, forgetting food in the refrigerator with power outage in between the period can also be the cause. (Oh, how bad the smell of rotten meat, but let me not bore you with the cause. I bet the solution is why you are reading this.)

Below are steps that you can take to make your smelly refrigerator become like brand new again;

STEP ONE

Turn off the refrigerator and unplug. You won’t like to play with electricity, will you?

STEP TWO

Remove all the items from your fridge. As you go, discard any expired food that is developing into a science project. You should be left with an empty refrigerator by now.

STEP THREE

Place any food you choose to keep covered in a cooler while you work. Add ice if it will be out for some time for better preservation.

STEP FOUR

Make a mixture of baking soda and warm water. Pour about five litres (5l) of warm water into a large bowl and dissolve 1/2 cup of baking soda into it.

STEP FIVE

Take out all shelves, in short all the removable parts. With the baking powder solution and soap, wash, rinse and wipe all of the parts. Don't forget to wipe as much of the walls and floor of the fridge as you can, even under the crisper drawers.

STEP SIX

Wash, dry and air the drip tray. This is located beneath the refrigerator. It is better to dry and air because it usually collects dirty water in the refrigerator and therefore houses bad odour.

STEP SEVEN

Leave the refrigerator door open for a while to get rid of and diffuse the bad odour naturally.

STEP EIGHT

Now, the refrigerator must be dry. So, spread a box of baking soda across a baking sheet and place in the refrigerator. Keep the door closed until the smell disappears, then discard the baking soda. This may have to stay for up to two hours depending on the degree of bad odour.

STEP NINE

(As if I have to tell you this)Put on your refrigerator. Replace the stuff you kept in your cooler into your fresh-smelling and clean refrigerator. Cheers.

SOME ROUTINE CLEANING TIPS;

1. To try and counteract everyday odors, keep an open box of baking soda in your fridge at all times.

2. Use oats as an odor-absorber. Leave a bowl of dry and uncooked oats out in your fridge and this will suck in the bad smells.

3. Use coffee grounds. Place dry, fresh coffee grounds in a couple of shallow bowls or spread across baking sheets. Keep the bowls or sheets on different levels of your refrigerator. Coffee is an excellent odour neutralizer.

4. Charcoal also helps to keep bad smell away from your fridge if you put it in corners but be sure to reduce the temperature of your fridge. That means your refrigerator must be kept very cold. (I hope you get the logic.)

Charcoal can be refreshed by placing in the oven at 350ºF/180C for 20 minutes. Then, when it cools again, replace in the refrigerator. Don’t keep hot substances in the refrigerator, please.

TAKE NOTE OF THIS

Don’t put the food back into your refrigerator until the stench has cleared.

If you must leave a refrigerator turned off or unplugged for a period of time, clean it thoroughly first and remove all food. Then, leave it propped open a bit. Even when cleaned, a warm and closed fridge is certain to smell bad in time.

To prevent odours in the future, make a point to look in once a week or so and remove expired food. Try looking right before you take out the trash. It's a good reminder and items don't sit around in your kitchen trash smelling bad.

As much as possible, keep your cooked food in airtight container. It will stay fresher longer and the odours will not spread as much if they do spoil.

Cleaning the fridge with vanilla extract also ensures that the odour is eliminated. To make your fridge smell clean, you can add soak up vanilla extract into a cotton ball and then place the ball inside the fridge. Just buy vanilla flavouring and dab it with a big cotton ball. Keep it of the door slab of your refrigerator. You must know that this only maintains a non-smelling fridge; it doesn’t take bad odours away.

Never clean a cold glass shelf with hot water. Either allow it to come to room temperature or use lukewarm water. A sudden temperature change can shatter the glass.

Avoid using abrasive cleaning items––these have the potential for scratching the refrigerator surfaces.

FOR THIS PROJECT, YOU WILL NEED;

Soap