Cleaning refrigerators after hurricane outage

2 years ago

We just went through Milton—no physical damage thankfully but lost power for over a week and were not home for several days immediately after. Have two fridges that were w/o power and had spoiled food inside, including meats that leaked.
We have cleaned out spoiled food, washed the interiors with soapy water and then Clorox wipes.
One fridge is just 3 wks old—a French door—the other is older 2 door in our garage.
Both fridges really stink of spoiled meat.
I removed the new fridge’s filters in crispers (they smelled bad) and will get new ones. No idea if the older model has filters or where.

The ice in the new fridge smells bad and we have been throwing it out. The water not an issue because it is enclosed.
We kept the garage fridge unplugged and open after cleaning it but are using the newer fridge in house.
Suggestions for helping get rid of those noxious smells as quick as possible? Do we need repairman to replace filter in the older unit?

TIA for any helpful suggestions.

Featured Answer

dadoes

2 years ago

It may be necessary to replace the affected refrigerators. Rancid fluids from spoiled food can leak through grills and slots and seams that aren't sealed where panels meet, soaking into insulation (even styrofoam panels) from which the odor and residue may be impossible to fully remove, even via disassembly to directly reach those areas.

Beyond that, check these tips for methods you may not yet have considered.

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Comments (6)

loves2read
Original Author
2 years ago
That is what I was afraid of
And because of deductable on our insurance, replacement would likely not be covered
Do you think it is worth having repair call? Is there a filter we might not know about to replace? The smell inside new fridge is not as strong today. New filters come tomorrow for water too for new fridge
Dont know if older one had filter.
Prices for new fridges in our area significantly higher now than before Milton. Price for my new Frigidaire model had almost doubled I saw when looking for replacement filters.
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loves2read
Original Author
2 years ago
And new ones elusive to buy
NagyMama
2 years ago
I don’t want to discourage you from trying the great suggestions here. However, I lost power for 9 days after Beryl. My extra fridge was older and I couldn’t remove the smells. My 2 yr old fridge did just fine after a cleaning. Glad you’re ok after Milton.
wdccruise
2 years ago
"Suggestions for helping get rid of those noxious smells as quick as possible?"

Leave the door open.
loves2read
Original Author
last year
OK—to update

Got the new Frigidaire filters for new fridge and replaced all including water filter which probably didn’t need it—also used some loose activated charcoal bags I got from WalMart and the new fridge has no most bad stink—the ice smells ok and has no negative taste.

The garage/older fridge was open for about 4-5 days and the smell had greatly reduced but I really smelled it more OUTSIDE toward the back/behind of fridge—made my husband pull it out from wall and there was no visible runoff from freezer on garage floor—so don’t know if that was just trapped odor or what. But this fridge came to us more than 12 yrs ago when we bought a second home. It was a garage fridge then and ran w.o any problems in hot, FL garage (although it did run a lot)…went through several hurricanes w/lost power. Now it seems to be working find again. We closed it up. Put 1 activated bag of charcoal (about 4/4”) in fridge and 1 in freezer, plugged it in, and put some drinks in it.

Will check it today for smell…my husband was afraid to take off the back of the freezer compartment (where the fan is ) to check for more spoilage because he would break screws and maybe compromise the freezer.
Usually we just keep drinks/water in it…and I occasionally put big containers of spinach/lettuce in fridge part. Now I might need to use it more because inside fridge is counter depth and smaller than one we left in old house.

Would definitely recommend activated charcoal for anyone with future need. You can buy it in large packets for like sneakers and closets—even buy “lava rocks” of it in large bags. Think it is more effective/quicker working than baking soda for big smells.