How to get the smell out the fridge and freezer?

After a power outage of more than 2-3 days, you basically have to toss everything that you've been stock piling all season long. The rotting food can leave an odor in the fridge and freezer, which is not only unappetizing, but the smell can seep into new food that you purchase and ice that you make.

How do you get rid of this. First, when you empty out the fridge and freezer, you warm a bleach and soap solution.I use 1 cup of bleach to 1 gallon of water, and 2 hefty squirts of dish soap. Using a scouring sponge I scrub every surface, removing drawers and scrubbing underneath them. Then I use a Q-tip to get the corners and edges, to make sure mold doesn't grow there in the future.  This is good and its disinfected, but now you have a bleachy smell, which is not very appetizing to me.

Traditionally, people use baking soda to remove smells, however I have found that if you leave it in the box it doesn't work very well and you need to replace it frequently to actually get it to absorb strong odors. I prefer to use Activated Carbon/ Charcoal. What is activated charcoal? Wikipedia defines it as a form of carbon processed to be riddled with small, low-volume pores that increase the surface area available for absorption or chemical reactions. Basically, its a very porous form of carbon that is perfect for absorption.  Its used in water filters. People also take carbon tablets for holistic treatments for nausea, gas, poisoning, etc. Its also used in fish tanks to keep the water from smelling.

Where can you get it? I actually go to my local pet store and buy it right in the fish section. its sold in pellets and powder. I prefer the pellets. I use a pie tin and pour a layer of the charcoal in. just enough to cover the bottom and put one in the fridge and one in the freezer. The pet store sells it loose and in mesh bags. I prefer the loos, but you can try either one.

You can buy it other places, online and in natural food stores (ie-whole foods), but I find it so expensive at those places and you are not ingesting it so the activated carbon at the pet store works for me. You can find it for under $10. Activated charcoal works great on a regular basis too, just make sure to put it high enough up that your kids don't try to eat it.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/activated-carbon#ixzz2BjvSAcSv