Help My Fridge Smells Despite Cleaning
An unpleasant smell in the fridge is a phenomenon that everyone has experienced in one way or another. Often the cause is quickly found and eliminated. Sometimes the smell can persist for a while before gradually dissipating.
However, there are also cases where the fridge continues to smell despite intensive cleaning. Even though you thought you had removed the cause, the odor still hits you every time you open the fridge door. Sometimes the stench even takes over the entire kitchen.
It can be a strong chemical smell, but often also a musty or rotten smell that makes your nose wrinkle. It is very irritating when the kitchen suddenly smells like vomit or manure. But even these penetrating odors can be caused by the fridge. The odor formation is not automatically due to poor hygiene or poses a danger to the family’s health. Often you have already scrubbed and cleaned vigorously, but it hasn’t helped.
How can the fridge smell despite cleaning?
A smelly fridge in the household is unpleasant. Not only when visitors come. The smell also burdens the whole family. If you have thoroughly cleaned your refrigerator and the stench persists anyway, the following five causes are possible:
- An important part was overlooked during cleaning
- Food is not stored properly
- Fridge parts have absorbed odors
- The condensation water cannot drain properly
- Dirt has accumulated in the condensation water collection container
We help you in this article with all the answers you need to check these five causes. We also tell you what you should do if necessary, so that you can breathe fresh and free again in the kitchen.
Hidden dirt in the refrigerator
The fridge smells despite cleaning and desperation is great. A classic for a smelly fridge that has already been cleaned is hidden dirt. Often, for example, people forget to properly clean the fins of the seal. The drain for the condensation water is also easily overlooked. If dirt accumulates in the drain channel, the drain hole becomes clogged.
Solution: How to properly clean your refrigerator has already been explained in detail in another article. The fridge should be cleaned regularly - once a month - in the manner described there.
Extra tip - the following has already happened to customers: They followed the instructions and the fridge still smells to high heaven despite systematic cleaning. Especially with older fridges, it often happens that at some point something has run under the decorative edges on the glass shelf above the vegetable compartments or directly on the vegetable compartments. This dirt then collects under the decorative edges and festers there undetected. This makes you think at first that the decorative edges are firmly attached. But that is not the case. If you pull on the decorative edges, they don’t move because the dirt anchors them firmly.
Solution: Take the fridge part with the decorative edge and let it soak in hot water with dish soap and vinegar. The decorative edges will come loose after some time. Then you can remove the dirt normally and the fridge will smell fresh again.
Store food properly
You must store your food properly so that the smell is not put back into the fridge after cleaning. Strongly smelling foods such as cheese, fish and the like are often quickly identified as culprits, but one does not always immediately conclude the connection between these foods and the current stench in the fridge. After all, the stench in the fridge is more concentrated than in the kitchen - when the food has been removed. The concentrated combination of strongly smelling foods often smells different and stronger than the individual products in a wide area. And there you have the problem: The fridge smells despite cleaning! 
Photo: sablinstanislav / Fotolia
Solution: When storing food, go beyond visual inspection and smell it. Anything that smells stronger should be packaged separately. Use containers with screw caps or sealable storage boxes to store strongly smelling foods in the fridge odor-free.
Smelly fridge parts despite cleaning
This problem often occurs with old refrigerators, as various odors have settled in the plastic parts and plastic lining of the interior over the years. But even newer fridges can be affected if, for example, strongly smelling foods are often stored incorrectly. A musty smell also often remains when you have already removed the mold in the refrigerator.
The fridge smells despite cleaning and proper food storage. That makes you quickly doubt. Because smelly fridge parts are difficult to identify. A single fridge part may carry just weak and individual accents of the scent note, while the smell from the fridge hits you in full force. Why? Inside the fridge, the smells of all fridge parts mix. A foul smell brews together until you open the fridge door and the concentrated stench hits your nose with full force.
Solution: If smelly fridge parts are causing your problem, there is no hygienic need for action. In this case, you can treat the plastic with a professional odor remover - this is often enough. (Important: After odor treatment, the parts treated with microorganisms should be cleaned again and preferably disinfected before being reinstalled.)
If the smell persists, only odor masking or a new fridge will help. Plastic becomes brittle over time. Very old fridges therefore increasingly absorb odors in the interior, which are then almost impossible to remove.
For odor masking or also for absorbing bad odors, there are various home remedies. Coffee powder, baking powder, lemon and baking soda are just a few and very popular against fridge odor. Simply place a bowl, dish or cup with the home remedy of your choice in the middle of your fridge. This masks or absorbs unpleasant odors. You can find exact details in our article: How to remove foul odors from your refrigerator.
The condensation water cannot drain properly
Did you notice during the last cleaning that your fridge was unusually wet? Or that water had accumulated in the bottom area? Is your fridge briefly odor-free after cleaning, but the unpleasant smell returns to the refrigerator after a short time? Then the condensation water is not draining properly.
At the back of the fridge there is a drain for the condensing water. This is a small hole in the back wall of the fridge, to which two drain channels lead. Through this hole, the condensation water, which is transported there via the channels, can flow behind the fridge into a collection container. If this hole is clogged with dirt, the condensation water flows into the fridge instead of flowing out. Often it then collects under the vegetable compartments and remains undetected for the time being.
Solution: Clean the drain hole with a cotton swab or pipe cleaner. There is also special equipment for this cleaning, which is normally supplied with every new fridge. This tool can also be purchased later. However, a cotton swab is usually sufficient.
[caption id=“attachment_524” align=“aligncenter” width=“1000”]
The drain hole is usually located on the back wall in the fridge above the vegetable compartment. It collects all kinds of dirt and mold without regular cleaning.[/caption]
Try to pull the dirt out and not push it backwards. Caution: Hold the cotton swab firmly! Everything that falls backwards lands in the drain hose and in the collection container. These are much more difficult to clean. If the dirt that has slipped back behind the fridge starts to smell, you have to get behind the fridge. Since such a refrigerator is not exactly a lightweight and built-in fridges are well screwed in, you should make sure when cleaning the drain to bring the dirt inward.
It smells like manure - dirt in the collection container
If not only the fridge stinks, but the whole kitchen, dirt has settled in the collection container. It then usually smells like vomit or manure. This is the most unpleasant variant - that can happen to you.
Behind the fridge - usually on the compressor (that’s the big black thing at the bottom of the fridge back) - is a collection container for condensation water. The condensation water flows in here through a drain hose and then evaporates.
If something has spilled in the fridge at some point and found its way here, this dirt starts to smell terribly. Because the heat of the compressor not only evaporates the condensation water, but bacteria feel really comfortable in the warmth and start to multiply. You can clean the fridge until you turn black. You won’t eliminate this smell with that.
Solution: You must clean the collection container of the fridge. For this you have to get behind the fridge. Disconnect the appliance from the power first! It’s best to let it defrost at the same time - a fridge should be defrosted regularly anyway. Our recommendation: Let the fridge defrost completely twice a year - in spring and winter. This also saves you electricity costs.
The collection container is usually a small plastic tray and is attached to or next to the compressor (big black thing). Move the fridge away and clean the collection container thoroughly. Here you should really work with a professional cleaner. After all, it was hard enough to get to the container. For professional and sustainable cleaning, our dipure DLexa odor remover is suitable. Contrary to the actual area of application, DLexa works wonderfully in this case.
In the worst case: Clean the drain hose
If the stench still does not completely disappear, you unfortunately also have to clean the drain hose. The fridge must be defrosted and disconnected from the power beforehand. Here it is advisable to call a specialist. Because to get to the hose, you have to unscrew the existing grilles. You should then at least rinse the hose with hot water.
However, rinsing with hot water is not always sufficient, as the dirt is too firmly seated. In these cases, you should let the hose soak in a solution of water and baking soda (or use an alkaline cleaner) and then rinse again with hot water.
Conclusion
If the fridge smells despite cleaning, you should first reconsider the storage of food and the cleaning process. Store strongly smelling foods in closed containers. The fridge cleaning should be done systematically. Pay particular attention to cleaning seal fins, decorative edges and the drainage system.
If the unpleasant smell spreads throughout the kitchen, the drain container and possibly even the drain hose should be cleaned. In this case, it may be advisable to consult a specialist. In both cases, always disconnect the refrigerator from the power supply!
If you follow all the tips in this article, you will quickly and sustainably get rid of the unpleasant smell.
Good luck and fresh air in the household wishes you the editorial team of spezialreiniger24.de
Updated on 24.02.2023