My apartment smells like there's been a dead body in it.

[Fenris]

I went away for 7 weeks to Seattle and while I was gone I entrusted my brother with checking on my apartment and skimming my mail for bills. Guess which of those two activities he didn't do?

So my electricity was turned off on the 21st of June. My brother didn't go back to check on my apartment until the 30th. When he got up to the door her could smell something weird. He walked into the apartment and noticed there was no air conditioning. And none of the lights worked. And then he opened the refrigerator.

The perishables in the fridge made a foul stench, but that was nothing compared to the awesome funk emanating from the freezer. That's where the frozen chicken breasts were.

:puke:

The chicken, from what I hear, had liquefied. The smell was apparently choking. My brother cleaned the stuff out, scrubbed down the fridge, but the stench of death remained.

The electricity was turned back on yesterday. 2 days of running did not help the smell in the freezer. And I can't seem to get it out.

Ugh.

Any advice on how to get foul odors out of freezers? Other than pointing me to websites for answers (I've read all of those)?

[progmom]

1. put your brother in it

you poor thing. x(

[flamingyouth]

3. ROFL

Hey, you should show him this thread, Fen. :rofl:

[Fenris]

5. I made him come down and clean it with me.

:7

That's a good idea though.:D

[flamingyouth]

2. What about that bleach spray stuff from Lowe's?

It has worked wonders on the cat messes. :puke:

Hey, you'd better get that cleaned up before August 3! You know how I am about foul smells. ;)
:loveya:

[Fenris]

4. You vomit.

:7

[flamingyouth]

6. Can I bring a cat or two with me?

:7

[arwalden]

7. Call the folks at ServiceMaster...

... for a whole house deep cleaning. Get the carpets cleaned, and you may need to repaint... top to bottom.

Also, in many large metro areas there are crime scene cleanup companies who are experts at getting rid of "death" smells.

Good luck.

-- Allen

PS: Wipe down your keyboard and monitor... when I clicked your original post, I think I was smelling a little bit of that odor. :shrug:

:hi:

[flamingyouth]

9. They helped us clean up the store after the accident

They did a really good job getting the ground-in glass out of the carpeting. Good idea. :hi:

[Not_Giving_Up]

8. Baking soda

Sprinkle it on the carpet and vac it up. Open a box and put it in the freezer. Open another box and put it in the fridge. Your smells will disappear.

[progmom]

10. boiling vinegar on the stove helps cut through the smell

at least, it worked when the dog got skunked...

[Sannum]

11. Ewwwww.

You did the right thing with making him clean up the mess. This seems like a job too big for baking soda or socks full of kitty litter:puke:

[Fenris]

17. Yeah, it's too big for that

But it couldn't hurt.

[Kathleen04]

12. I'd use some kind of heavy-duty

cleaner..then maybe spray it down with a cleaner that has a good scent like Simple Green or something. Then I'd put some boxes of baking soda in there, see if you can't absorb some of the stankiness.

[Fenris]

15. Yeah the heavy-duty stuff hasn't helped much

I'm going to buy baking soda tomorrow. Thanks for the advice.

[sasquatch]

13. I'd use ammonia but be careful

not only will you kill every germ in the fridge you'll also kill yourself with the fumes.

[Fenris]

16. I'll have to way the advantages versus the benefits of that

Right now, I'm undecided.

[Kathleen04]

19. Yeah and definately be careful because

you've already cleaned with other products. The chemical reaction could be really dangerous..

[CubsFan1982]

14. Who did you kill?

And do you need help hiding the body? :P

[kenny blankenship]

18. Replace the refridgerator

Get a friend with a truck and haul it off to the dump. That way you only have to explain to your friend what the situation is. Or you can call the city and schedule a special pickup. Maybe they come get it when they promise to, maybe they won't. It could be a week or two even if they show up on time. Meanwhile you'll have this stinking thing out on the sidewalk and the neighbors will be looking at you funny. "No! I didn't keep "heads" in there!"--having to say that over and over can get old real quick. I would just try to make it vanish as fast as possible involving as few others as possible. Otherwise you could end up explaining to an ever widening circle of busybodies, neighborhood watch types and possibly some law enforcement agencies how the stench of death coming from your fridge is a "perfectly innocent" phenomenon.

Buy new or used fridge and bring it home while your friend's truck is still at your disposal, if the new appliance will not be delivered by the store.

What died is your fridge. Give it a proper burial. You will owe your friend bigtime.

[LizW]

22. Sadly true. Get a new fridge.

We stored a freezer full of venison in our basement for some friends who were moving. It was supposed to be for a few days, but they got busy and days turned into months.

In December, in the process of stringing and connecting outdoor Christmas lights, my husband accidently unplugged the freezer. The smell didn't begin for about a week, and even then it was so subtle that we didn't immediately place it. When it got stronger, I thought it was some kind of fertilizer stored down there, or maybe a dead rat.

Then I saw the blood running out of the freezer door. :wow:

We rolled the thing outside without opening it. My husband, gagging, loaded the spoiled stuff into some old garbage cans and sealed the lids on with duct tape. The garbage men don't speak to us to this day.

There was no saving the freezer. We called one of those charitable organizations that takes appliances and they hauled it away.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

20. Just your description makes me want to

:puke:

there is nothing nastier than rotting food.

Vinegar is a pretty potent smell-killer, and bleach may work also. If these steps don't work, you may have to call the crime-scene clean up team someone suggested above.

[gardenista]

21. I would never be able to eat anything from there.

I would be forced to get a new fridge, even if the expense hurt. I'm way to paranoid about microbes.

[uppityperson]

23. Does it have a drip pan?

Some freezers build up frost, some have a drip pan to collect water, some just evaporate it. Sometimes water also collects in the frig under various compartments, like produce compartments. Take out ALL the compartments in the frig, then check for a drip tray too.

My frig got nasty once and I discovered a secret hiding place for slimey water under a compartment drawer I didn't think of removing because "there is no place under there for drippings".

Good luck.

Baking soda and vinegar may work too. Make a paste of baking soda and water, glop on everywhere. Let dry. Chip off, or use wet towels to remove. Rub/spray vinegar all over, let dry. Note aside on vinegar and baking soda- good for experiments and making volcanic eruptions when mixed.

[foreigncorrespondent]

24. Boiling water and vanilla essence!

Or boiling soapy water and lemon juice. Once you scrub it through with either mix open a packet of baking soda and keep it in your fridge/freezer.

[LisaL]

25. Well, has there been a dead body in it?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[autorank]

28. Gone 7 weeks, strange brother, new plaster on large part of wall...

...it all adds up, what's the big question?

[qanda]

26. Borax

Just plain and simple Borax. It will cost you about three or four dollars, but you can use it for everything-- garbage disposals, sinks, the refrigerator, pet stains, laundry odors, trash cans and of course your stinky freezer.

[Twillig]

27. See if theres a store in your area that sells Janitorial supplies

retail.

Look for odor removing supplies that are of the enzyme variety. Better yet ask the guy at the counter or his manager.

[Iris]

29. Simple Green. Or a new refrigerator.

I think I'd go for the latter.

[XemaSab]

30. I'd unplug it

and leave the doors wide open.

The smell should run its course, especially if you keep the humidity high.

[CubsFan1982]

31. You wouldn't be having the problem if you weren't a Neanderthal meat eater

:P

[TheGoodCitizen]

32. Did you look in the atic or under the house??

Maybe there's something else...

[Rabrrrrrr]

33. Oh, so that's where I left it!

Cripes, I was starting to get worried. Couldn't remember where I put it!

Anyway, I'll be over in the morning.

[RebelOne]

34. Fabreeze will work for a while.

[Modem Butterfly]

35. We had a dead rat in an inaccessible part of our kitchen

I was about ready to take a pick-axe to the floor to get it up, but my partner stopped me. We went to a hotel for a few days while a professional cleaned up and did their best with the smell, even so, it was weeks before it went away entirely. If I think about it too long, I can still smell it.

[asthmaticeog]

36. That sucks.

I have no specific stench-removal advice because nothing like that's ever happened to me, I'm sorry. I really hope you can work it out soon. From all I've read above, the new fridge idea seems the most sensible - it's my understanding that death-odor is a tenacious mofo.

[GOPisEvil]

37. You know...I needed this laugh this morning.

Got Hazmat suits? :D

[Mizmoon]

38. Smoker's candles

lots of them ...

[johnnie]

39. Go get some roadkill and lay them around your place

Give it a few days and the smell of liquefied chicken will go away.