Refrigerator and freezer odors

[LoveWDW]

This may belong in the Community Forum, but since it is Katrina related I put it here for the time being.

My friend in Louisiana just got back to her house after evacuating before Katrina struck. They do have electricity now, but since it was off for so long, everything went bad in her refrigerator (and probably freezer.) She took everything out of the refrigerator yesterday, washed it with hot soapy water, then clorox, then lysol kitchen spray. It still smells awful. I emailed her about whether she had cleaned the drip pan, but I am guessing that she had. She hadn't opened the freezer yet when she emailed this morning, but it will no doubt be in the same condition.

Does anyone here know how to get rid of the smell in the refrigerator and freezer?

They had some structural damage but no flooding. The damage was from winds and trees falling. Her husband (she is late 50's, he is early 60's) was working on sawing up the downed trees and removing brush and debris. (Their son is coming in today from the west to help.) There were a truckload of marines come by to help one of the neighbors. Well here is what happened in her own words:

" Another neighbor said she had signed up for the Marines to come by and it wasn't long before they did- a large jeep full. We were out so as they hopped out I asked it they had any friends and one young man said they could be our friends ."

So half of the marines hopped out and started working on the sawing and clearing. The other half went to the neighbors.

I found this story so touching.

My friends are having some neighbors stay with them for a couple weeks while the neighbors' house is repaired and made livable.

 

[rascalmom]

That is a great story. I'm glad your friends got some help.

 

[CEDmom]

I'm glad your friends made it through ok. I've read in Heloise a few times that filling the frig and freezer with crumbled newspaper and letting it sit closed & empty for a few days (change the newspaper everyday) works. I've also read that activated charcoal works the same way. She might want to try both and give it about a week. If it still smells the foam insulations probably absorbed the odor and there isn't any way to fix that. Good luck to them.

Here's a link to a special page on Heloise.com about clean up after the hurricane: http://www.heloise.com/special_columns.html

 

[snappy]

I'm glad your friends made it through ok. I've read in Heloise a few times that filling the frig and freezer with crumbled newspaper and letting it sit closed & empty for a few days (change the newspaper everyday) works. I've also read that activated charcoal works the same way. She might want to try both and give it about a week. If it still smells the foam insulations probably absorbed the odor and there isn't any way to fix that. Good luck to them.

Here's a link to a special page on Heloise.com about clean up after the hurricane: http://www.heloise.com/special_columns.html

Thanks for the link. I am sending it on to family members. Some may be able to salvage the fridges if the water was not too high.

One other thing they were telling people in Jeff Parish last week, no trash pickup last week so that were telling people to bury the contents of the fridge and freezer in the yard.

 

[Nancy]

I would try the newspaper, that is alos what the one Tupperware saleslady told me about getting orders out of the plastic bowls. She told me to put crumbled newspaper in the bowl, put the lid on and let it sit for a few days, it actually worked...and the bowl did NOT smell like newsprint. (which I thought would happen...exchange one yucky odor for another!)

 

[ducklite]

Activated charcoal is by far the best option.

Anne

 

[LoveWDW]

Thank you for the advice. I called my friend, and she just emailed me that she has put newspaper and charcoal in the refrigerator, but that the freezer is beyond saving.

The marines cleared enough of their driveway so they could get their vehicle into the driveway, there really was no room on the street for it. She says cut-up trees and limbs are piled high along the streets and that no one knows when it will ever be picked up. The neighbors who are staying with them need carpets, furniture and maybe the walls replaced.

 

[skuttle]

My mom was out of power for about a week and her fridge smelled, too. She read somewhere to use vanilla. She did that and now it smells fine.

 

[halestrm]

Go to http://www.88stink.com/

We have an extra fridge in our garage for extra soda, etc. Power went out and we didn't realize the breaker blew until I went to get some frozen meat for dinner. NASTY! This stuff worked.