Getting rid of mothball smell

My refrigerator hasn't been cooling properly so I transferred stuff from the freezer to a spare old freezer (which I haven't used in years) I have in the basement until I get the problem fixed.

Several years ago I tried getting rid of the stale odor in the old freezer by using mothballs. Bad idea! Now the "taste" of mothballs has affected the taste of some of the frozen food I put in the old freezer.

Does anyone have any sugggestions about how to get rid of that mothball odor?

Thanks,

Sy

Reply to
<sytech
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I would try several open boxes of baking soda, or activated charcoal.

Nan

Reply to
Nan

Ask the moths to take a shower?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Reply to
Rick

I forget to mention that I've had baking soda in there for the longest time but the problem persists.

I'll try the charcoal.

Reply to
<sytech

Napthalene (primary component in mothballs) is virtually insoluble in water, so simply cleaning the refrigerator with soap and water probably won't do much good. The naptha is most likely being absorbed into the air from the refrigerator walls. If you could leave the fridge (isn't it strange how we write "refriGerator" yet make the short version "friDge?") open for several days and place a fan in front of it to force air to move through it, you may get faster removal of whatever naptha is in the walls. It has a relatively low vapor pressure, so even a tiny amount of it in the air of the fridge will prevent anymore from coming out of the walls, so it is important to try and get the air moving through the unit. Leaving it in the sun while doing this will help, too. Hope this helps (and works, or else I will feel SO stupid......)

Ryan

--If anyone needs a chemical engineer, I'll be mopping the bathrooms--

Reply to
me

I dont know how to get rid of the smell, but I always wondered what kind of moths they cut the balls off of. They must be some huge moths!!!!

Reply to
Who Me?

Reply to
Phisherman

quoting:

If you can unplug it for several days, leave it open and the mothballs should eventully evaporate out.

Reply to
JM

get some bags of charcoal and put in the ref. its an odor absorber and might work....

Reply to
jim

I'd give Arm and Hammer Baking Soda a try...

Wife uses it to remove fish and other odors from refrig.

Reply to
ALWAYS LEARNINGl

I would try Arm and Hammer "Baking Soda"

Wife uses it to rid refrig of fish and other odors

HTH

Resending because original "reply" did not show up in the thread to your post

Reply to
ALWAYS LEARNINGl

we use a bucket of water and some bread in the water with some vanilla extract in the water for paint smells, this might work with the refrig.. and also charcoal in the refrigerator is known for absorbing smells... but first i would take it outside and put a box fan in the thing with the door open and let that fan run for a day or so to get most of the air moving and see if that helps first....

Reply to
jim

Open it up and leave it open and not on for a couple of weeks. Warm is better. A fan might also speed up the process.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Put lots of moths in it.

Reply to
Ron Hardin

Reply to
Phisherman

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