Help -- mouldy stinky fridge!

gwinnie

I need to clean a fridge that stinks when you open it up and has black mouldy spots all over it. I've got bleach, vinegar, bicarb, washing soda, borax and stardrops in my cleaning arsenal. Will these do the job and most importantly, will they get it smelling fresh again? It won't be used for a few weeks so I'll be turning it off and airing it for the duration. Just worried I won't be able to eradicate the stench...:(

gwinnie

Ok, never mind then, I'll muddle through.

fudgem

It's really hard to get all the black mould off, but something in that arsenal should shift it. Whatever you do, don't shut the door on a fridge which is turned off, or you are guaranteed to get this problem.

When you've got it clean, put a saucerful of bicarbonate of soda in, this takes care of most smells

squeaky

Hi, gizza minute!

Erm, full strength vinegar will take care of light infestations of black mould - but if it's heavy you'll be better off buying a specialist balck mould treatment from somewhere like B&Q.

As for odours - first a wash over with a damp cloth (use a mild solution of washing up liquid), wipe over with just water, and go over it again with a mild solution of bicarbonate of soda.

Also keep a dish of bicard sitting in the fridge because it's very good at soaking up odours.

You'll probably have to do this more than once over time until you clear it all out.

Bogof_Babe

Two posts both suggesting bicarb to absorb the smells. Made me wonder whether those fridge-fresh things shaped like flat-bottomed eggs, that cost about £1, are nothing more than a bit of plastic with a bag of bicarb inside. Anyone know?

kittiwoz

I think they have activated charcoal in which is much better at absorbing odours than bicarb since it has a vastly greater surface area. Also if you use bicarb once it basorbs moisture from the air and crusts over it will stop working so you'll have to stir it up or put a new lot of bicarb in.

Lillibet_2

Bogof_Babe wrote:

Two posts both suggesting bicarb to absorb the smells. Made me wonder whether those fridge-fresh things shaped like flat-bottomed eggs, that cost about £1, are nothing more than a bit of plastic with a bag of bicarb inside. Anyone know?

They used to be, we did a project on this sort of thing in Home Ec (how many years ago:o) and split one open;)

Poppy9

I thought you weren't supposed to use strong cleaners on the inside of a fridge as it removes it anti bacterial coating. I would use boiled hot water with just stardrops or washing up liquid first to see if that shifts it. I also use my wallpaper stripper as a steamer to clean fridge and oven and it works a treat.

gwinnie

Thanks everyone, hopefully that will do it. And sorry for my earlier grumpiness, I'm stressy, sleep-deprived, under huge pressure atm and dreading cleaning that fridge.:o

Smiley_Mum

You should be able to find some tips in this How clean is your house links. In the second link there is a tip to clean fridge seals, toothpaste I think.

http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/clean/video/cleaning_tips.html

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/H/how_clean_is_your_house/tips2.html