How to eliminate bad odors from the freezer

The freezer is a fundamental home electrical appliance: it helps us in fact to preserve large quantities of food for a long time, thanks to the low temperatures that preserve food properly. However, opening the door it can happen that disgusting odors come out, so what? How to effectively eliminate bad odors from the freezer? You just have to use some grandma’s simple home remedies, natural and easy-to-use methods valid for both the freezer combined with refrigerators and single freezers, always checking first the instructions of the electrical appliance. So let's see how to defrost and eliminate unpleasant odors from the freezer, to have it always perfumed and sanitized.

Why do bad smells form in the freezer?

The freezer is less susceptible to bad smells than the refrigerator thanks to the low temperatures that prevent the formation and proliferation of bacteria, but it may happen that it has has a bad odor, especially in these cases:

• If we store in the freezer products that are not properly preserved, in unsealed trays, or without using the appropriate bags.
• The formation of bad smells can then be due to the temperature of the freezer: you must use that expressly indicated by the manufacturer.
• It may also happen that the freezer breaks down, turning off, so as to defrost the food inside.
• It is also important to defrost and clean the freezer in a regular way, so as to keep it hygienized.
• Another element that could cause the formation of unpleasant smells is the breaking of the cardboard boxes in which the products we buy at the supermarket are often contained, with the consequent release of the product that will mix with the freezer ice.

Remedies and tips to remove bad odors from the freezer

Now let's see specifically which are the most effective natural remedies to remove the smells that come out from our freezer. You can do it several times, until the bad smell will go away permanently.

You can use newspaper to absorb dirt and unpleasant odors

Newspapers are one of the most used grandma’s home remedies, since they can absorb and eliminate bad smells, even the most persistent, as well as eliminate dirt. Here's how to do it: crumple the sheets of newspaper and coat the entire interior surface of your freezer, then change the sheets of newspaper every day for at least a week, or in any case until the unpleasant smells will go away. Then remove all foods in the freezer and remove also the ice, so as to eliminate any residual newspaper, put ice in a basin and clean the freezer as usual.

You can use baking soda that absorbs and eliminates odors

You can use baking soda in many ways at home, since it is a very versatile tool that can be also useful for removing bad smells from the freezer, having also a strong absorbing power. To use it effectively, remove all the products from the freezer, defrost it, then turn it off and prepare a solution consisting of a liter of warm water and two tablespoons of baking soda: wipe the soaked cloth on the entire inner surface of the freezer, cleaning it carefully. You can also wipe the cloth a second time by adding a few drops of Tea Tree oil that will also help to sanitize as well as to perfume the freezer. In case of persistent bad smells, you can place a small bowl with baking soda on a shelf: leave it overnight with the freezer turned off and with the door closed.

You can use coffee beans or coffee grounds against the bad smells of foods gone bad

In case of bad smells coming from spoiled foods or rotten meat, it could be useful to utilize coffee beans or coffee grounds. Put the coffee beans in small containers and put them in the freezer, in a short time the bad smells will disappear. If you do not have the coffee beans you can also use two small bowls of coffee grounds and place them in the freezer leaving them for one night. Clean also once a week the freezer, especially if the bad smell is persistent.

You can use lemon or vinegar to eliminate the seafood smell

Using lemon and vinegar is another grandma’s home remedy very used and effective even against the bad smells of the freezer, especially useful against the annoying seafood stink, a really unpleasant odor to be eliminated effectively. Mix the juice of a lemon with a liter of water and pass the sponge over the entire internal surface, with the freezer turned off: it will not only eliminate the bad smell of seafood, but it will also perform a disinfectant action. In case of persistent smell, after having cleaned it, pass the lemon directly on the walls of the freezer as if it were a sponge, and then rinse the surface. If necessary, leave the lemon slices to work all night.

Also vinegar must be diluted in warm water, it can effectively degrease and eliminate the annoying smell of rotten fish. Also in this case wipe the soaked cloth on the freezer surface. The advice is to act as soon as possible so as the bad smell does not penetrate too much. In case of persistent seafood smell, leave the freezer doors open for at least two days.

How to prevent the formation of unpleasant odors in the freezer

There are some simple tips to follow that could help us to prevent the bad smells formation in the freezer:

• Put all foods that you freeze in proper food bags and close them well, so that the food does not come in contact with the walls of the freezer.
• Check that the bags are not punctured and that the cardboard boxes, where the frozen food we buy are often contained, are intact.
• Never put food that is not stored well or has gone bad in the freezer, put just freeze fresh or freshly prepared food.