Your refrigerator may start stinking after being constantly overloaded with the leftover food. Sometimes, the way you store food or some power outages can also lead to an unclean refrigerator. However, it is very important for you to keep it clean and deodorized at regular intervals to keep the functioning of the refrigerator working well. While some of you may find it deodorizing your refrigerator a daunting task, here are some natural ways to make this task quicker and easier for you.
Remove the cause of bad odors
The most important step is to empty your refrigerator and then remove all the stale and rotten stuff. Check food items that can still be used or cooked. The ones that are not of use anymore, can easily be thrown in a dustbin. Thus, you should remove the root of the problem before you start your cleaning or deodorizing job.
Put usable items in boxes
Use plastic storage boxes when you need to store the leftover food. It will not spoil your refrigerator with bad smells. Your food will also remain fresh this way and will last longer. However, keep away the items for now and add your storage containers when your refrigerator cleaning is done.
Clean up and deodorize
Now, it is time to clean up the shelves and drawers of your refrigerator and to deodorize it. Although there are several cleaning agents available in the market, you can do it at home in an all-natural way. Use any of the following techniques to clean and deodorize your fridge and its removable parts.
- Take some baking soda and add water to make a thick paste. You will get an effective natural cleaner that will not only remove food stains, but will also take away the bad odor. Baking soda also helps you to get rid of moisture in your refrigerator.
- If your fridge is clean but only contains foul smells, then you can place an open container having baking soda inside. Keep it in place for at least a day so it can absorb bad odors.
- You can make use of some vanilla extract. Dip cotton balls in it and dampen them in your favorite essential oil mixed with water. Now, you can place these damp cotton balls on a shelf in your refrigerator. This will help you get rid of the bad odor and replace it with your favorite scent.
- Place a bowl full of oats into your refrigerator. This also helps you in dealing with any foul smell inside.
- Make use of some freshly ground coffee. Spread it evenly on a plate that can be placed inside your refrigerator for around a day. After a day, you will find your refrigerator free of bad odors. Coffee is very effective in handling this task. Another advantage is that you can mix it later in soil for your plants. The used coffee will act as a fertilizer for plants.
- A similar option is to pick up some used tea bags and place them in an open container. Put this container in your refrigerator as long as the smell exists.
- Another option that can be tried is to use a halved onion. You can cut a large onion for and place one-half on your refrigerator’s shelf. You may feel that it will enhance the smell, you will actually be surprised when your find all bad odors removed. Onions are quite effective in absorbing foul smells and extra moisture. In fact, this is an easy way to deodorize your refrigerator anytime you want.
Summary:
Whenever your refrigerator starts stinking because of stale food or leftovers, try to make use of natural techniques to clean and deodorize it. Several natural cleaners and deodorizers can act better as compared to harmful cleaning agents.
