How to (really) prevent nasty smells in your fridge
The average household has so many workhorses that always dutifully do their job, without us stopping to think that every now and then they simply need a little extra lovin’. Take the fridge, for example (or refrigerator, whatever you prefer). Have you ever opened the door and practically been punched in the face by a musty, stale, horrible smell?
That’s its way of grabbing your attention, asking for confirmation that you really do appreciate it and don’t take everything it does for you for granted. You wouldn’t put up with a punch from a person, of course, but with your fridge you’ll first have to eat a little humble pie before everything is all right again… Carbon, even.
Step 1 to prevent nasty smells
First, of course, dutifully throw out all the jars, packets and leftovers that are past their expiration date or rotten in some other way. And rummage through your freezer too, to make absolutely sure it doesn’t contain any puff pastry from 1980, and only contains a good, useful stock of frozen food.
And then
Next, you need to figure out whether your fridge is the type with a removable drip tray. You can do that on the internet, where you are right now, and then download the manual and get to work as described here.
It’s not a toilet
But with a bit of luck, your drip tray isn’t removable at all, so you can happily skip that step. And then, well then, you might be tempted to hang or place some ugly, brightly colored plastic thing in your fridge because it supposedly removes odors. First of all, these things generally look as if they could also hang in the toilet bowl, which is unpleasant enough by association, and secondly, they often work as deodorants too. So they don’t just absorb odors; they also spread their own chemical scent to mask everything. All disgusting. So what do you do?
Tadaa!
Put activated charcoal in your fridge! No, that’s not the go-getting green little brother of that lazy red cabbage, but activated carbon that can bind other substances to itself. This carbon is made from the burned remains of various fibrous materials, such as peanut shells, rice husks, coconuts and fruit stones. It can absorb liquid particles as well as gaseous ones, such as the odor molecules in your fridge.
Black gold in a stocking
There are all kinds of expensive products available that have been put through the marketing machine, but basically the principle simply works the way it works. Adsorption—that’s the magic word. And it works perfectly well with the simplest carbon we found online: a large 5-kilogram bag of granules for around thirty euros. At home, share some with the neighbors, then simply scoop a little into a (clean!) pair of pantyhose, tie a knot in it and hide it at the back of your fridge. Or use a paper tea filter, or tie some up in a piece of cheesecloth. Keep the rest, because this will come in handy more often. Super simple and done in no time. Good luck!
Read also:
- Why you should clean your water bottle much more often than you do
- Hack: cleaning your microwave
- Cleaning tips for your kitchen
