Our fridge went kaput last week, so our landlord brought over a "new" fridge for us... This fridge is an older, POS fridge that he has had sitting for quite a while. He brought it over, and we set it up and let it run for a couple of days. During that time, I scrubbed the living daylights out of that thing... It had some mold in it, and the shelves are all nasty and corroded looking... now it's as clean as I can possibly get it.It still SMELLS though! It smells like he stored wet towels in it the entire time it was sitting or something. I HATE the idea of putting my food in there! It has been in our house for about 3 days now, and the smell hasn't gotten any better.
Is there anything I can do to get rid of that smell, or should I demand a different fridge? I don't think that decent appliances are too much to ask for. Grrrr.....
I haver always been under the impression if a fridge gets heavily mildewed, especially when sitting in storage, the fridge is not ever going to be of use again. It has to be thrown away.
We had this problem when we moved into our house. I followed these instructions:
http://www.ehow.com/how_###-###-####_rid-mildew-odor-refr...
With that said, I'd demand a new fridge.
Yeah, I say demand a new fridge too. Ridiculous. Plus, if it really does smell that smell will leak into things like eggs and cheese. Ick.
In the meantime try lots of baking soda. I would buy a few boxes and dump them into bowls and put the bowls in your fridge for a little more surface area of soda to smell.
Maybe use Damp-Rid? It does a good job at removing moisture. I keep some in my safe.
However, if the fridge is "as clean as you can get it" and it had mold... I would ask for a better one. Your landlord should not compromise your health or safety.
My father had an appliance store and he put a large bowl of fresh coffee grounds into his used refrigerators. That worked. However, his refrigerators never had mold in them. I"d ask for a different refrigerator. If it had visible mold it probably still has mold in the insulation. Mold is toxic.
"As clean as I can possibly get it" is not clean enough for me. I don't know if you have the option of having a better one, but I certainly would try. I would think that you have the right to store your FOOD away from corrosion. It's not just about the smell (baking soda might help?). Would you put your food next to the kitty litter, just because it smelled fine? At the very least, can the shelving (corroded pieces) be replaced?
Try cleaning it with baking soda and a Magic Eraser.
Maybe let the baking soda paste sit on the shelves and in the bins for a day. (What are you using in the meantime?)
Or you can buy & try O. of those odor absorber things at Bed Bath & Beyond.....
CAN you "demand" another fridge? (Or ask nicely? lol) I'd ask if it's been running for 3 days
If you buy O. you can always take it when you move right?
Ask him nicely to replace this refridge if he doesn't do it in 2-3 days call the health department. Mold + children in a rental unit = big fines for the landlord.
I would do my best to get a new refrigerator....in the meantime, it may help to put open dishes of vinegar inside it for a couple of days. The vinegar smells rapidly dissipates after the vinegar is removed. Good luck!
Have you changed the coils? Sometimes those need to get replaced.
