Said It Here

How long does baking soda take to get rid of fridge smells?

Baking soda typically needs to stay in the refrigerator for about 30 days to absorb moderate odors, but persistent smells can linger for a week or longer. If the baking soda is old or the source of the odor hasn't been cleaned out, the smell will remain despite leaving the box in the fridge.

Overview
People affected15 accounts across 3 forums
Workarounds found40 items attempted
Community agreement33 total upvotes

What the numbers show

Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count

  • The most recent one is from October 2026.
  • This comes up 18.4× more often in r/CleaningTips than across the site as a whole.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

40 items+ Contribute

Found another way around this?

Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.

  1. 1
    Using Odoban charcoal bags
    2 people mentioned
    Did this help you?
  2. 2
    Keeping an open box of baking soda in the fridge full-time and replacing it every 1 to 3 months.
    Did this help you?
  3. 3
    Removing and replacing all food
    Did this help you?
  4. 4
    Thoroughly cleaning the interior
    Did this help you?
  5. 5
    Using fresh baking soda and bowls of vinegar
    Did this help you?
  6. 6
    Cleaning dust from behind and underneath the unit
    Did this help you?
  7. 7
    Checking and adding bleach to the drain pan
    Did this help you?
  8. 8
    leaving an open container of baking soda inside
    Did this help you?
  9. 9
    cleaning the refrigerator with bleach or a favorite cleaner and leaving the door open
    Did this help you?
  10. 10
    discarding current food that has likely absorbed the odor
    Did this help you?
  11. 11
    throwing out suspected items
    Did this help you?
  12. 12
    Wiping down the interior with vinegar and water
    Did this help you?
  13. 13
    Spraying a mixture of white vinegar, warm water, and dish soap, letting it sit, and airing it out
    Did this help you?
  14. 14
    Buying takeout food and DoorDash instead of groceries
    Did this help you?
  15. 15
    Putting an open box of baking soda in the fridge to absorb odors
    Did this help you?
  16. 16
    Using white vinegar and cold water to soak the machine
    Did this help you?
  17. 17
    Leaving the washing machine door and detergent dispenser tray open between washes
    Did this help you?
  18. 18
    Finding and cleaning the appliance filter
    Did this help you?
  19. 19
    Avoiding fabric softener
    Did this help you?
  20. 20
    Running monthly cleaning tablets through a tub clean or regular wash cycle
    Did this help you?
  21. 21
    Physically scrubbing the rubber gasket and seals
    Did this help you?
  22. 22
    Wiping surfaces down with a mixture of water, white vinegar, and vanilla
    Did this help you?
  23. 23
    Leaving the refrigerator door open for an extended period (e.g., 2 weeks) and using a cooler in the meantime
    Did this help you?
  24. 24
    Leaving a bowl of vinegar or coffee inside the fridge
    Did this help you?
  25. 25
    Lining the fridge with newspaper and changing it frequently
    Did this help you?
  26. 26
    Using a cut lemon filled with salt
    Did this help you?
  27. 27
    Placing a UV light inside the fridge to kill bacteria
    Did this help you?
  28. 28
    Cleaning the refrigerator drip tray
    Did this help you?
  29. 29
    Scrubbing shelves, drawers, and insulation with vinegar water, baking soda, and bleach water
    Did this help you?
  30. 30
    Inviting the landlord over to smell the refrigerator in an attempt to get it replaced
    Did this help you?
  31. 31
    Running boiling water down the drain
    Did this help you?
  32. 32
    Cleaning with baking soda, dish soap, and essential oils
    Did this help you?
  33. 33
    Placing plates of charcoal briquettes on each shelf
    Did this help you?
  34. 34
    Pouring bleach inside to sanitize
    Did this help you?
  35. 35
    Using coffee grounds or baking soda to absorb the odors
    Did this help you?
  36. 36
    Washing the interior with soap and hot water
    Did this help you?
  37. 37
    Leaving the appliance open in a well-ventilated area
    Did this help you?
  38. 38
    Switching to a different brand of rinse aid without certain scents
    Did this help you?
  39. 39
    Switching from detergent pods to plain powder or gel detergent
    Did this help you?
  40. 40
    Checking the bottom filter for trapped construction debris
    Did this help you?
Tried another approach not listed above?+ Share your workaround ↑

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/CleaningTips12 people · September 2026 – October 2026

“How get off smell fridge”source ↗

Exootil93200 · r/CleaningTips · 7 upvotes

“I left to go on a trip and when I came back, I found out that the power had gone out.. all of the food (especially meat) in my fridge was rotting.”source ↗

“I've tried cleaning it over and over, but for some reason, the rotting meat smell still lingers and won't go away.”source ↗

“I can't replace the fridge and it doesn't have a water dispenser, so I have no idea what else to do..”source ↗

RepulsiveEnergy2193 · r/CleaningTips · 4 upvotes

“hard to describe - it kinda smells like construction. no mold smell or anything like that. but it almost smells like a pack of fine wood chips r getting mixed in every wash. i’ve ran the finish dishwasher cleaner every month for 5 months and i still can’t get rid of the smell.”source ↗

ActiveLeg4021 · r/CleaningTips · 3 upvotes

“So my landlord lets me rent a room in his house and he’s a 80 y.o man and he likes to keep things past expiration date until it’s like no longer deemed eatable and sometimes it rots in his fridge and makes the fridge smell, I’m stuck buying take out food and DoorDash instead of groceries because it makes all food smell bad through packing and even leftovers smell sometimes and I don’t wanna hurt his feelings because he’s noticed and fixed it before but it’s repetitive and he doesn’t think about it .”source ↗

Sea_You6108 · r/CleaningTips · 2 upvotes

“We recently moved into a new home, and the rotting stench from the refrigerator/freezer makes it unusable.”source ↗

“After the bleach fumes cleared, the smell remains triumphant.”source ↗

Hefty_Jellyfish893 · r/CleaningTips · 2 upvotes

“How long should I leave baking soda in the fridge to get rid of bad smells ?”source ↗

Exootil93200 · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“Now everything in there smells like it and affects the taste. I'v tried backing soda, but it hasn't helped.”source ↗

DFWPunk · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“Stuff it never touched tasted like it enough you noticed.”source ↗

DFWPunk · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“Same happen to me, Mix equal parts white vinegar and warm water in a spray bottle with a drop of dish soap.”source ↗

Some_Caregiver3429 · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“This just happened to me too! I cleaned it with mr clean Then bleach spray several more times... But I had to leave the door open for 2 weeks to get the smell out fully.”source ↗

januaryemberr · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“Spilled citric acid down kitchen sink and it smells like rotten eggs. Help!”source ↗

broadwaybabyto · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“I've tried leaving it in the sun for a few hours, putting plates of baking soda in there to soak up the smell, spraying vinegar in there and spraying regular cleaner in there, nothing has worked.. the moment it opened it just smells terrible”source ↗

Awkward_Profession · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“The freezer still reeks of rotten meat a day later, and I’m a little nervous that the freezer will have serious bacteria that shouldn’t be messed with still inside.”source ↗

“Where do I go from here? (We don’t have a place where it can be open for more than 6 hours or so in a well ventilated area for more than 5-6 hours, it would get stolen) Should I place some coffee grounds/baking soda in it for a few days and let the smell evacuate and then wash out with soap and hot water, then bleach or should we try something else?”source ↗

Empty_Newt2508 · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“We've always had a strange fishy smell in our dishwasher. It didn't matter which brand of detergent I used or whether I used Cascade or finish rinse agent.”source ↗

Petridishmocktail · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes
r/HomeMaintenance2 people · September 2026

“i feel like ive tried everything and my machine still smells off after a wash.”source ↗

“looked it up and theres like a million different methods and products and i genuinely dont know whats worth trying.”source ↗

Hot-Mix-5580 · r/HomeMaintenance · 5 upvotes

“I pulled the gasket/seal thing off my front loaded and soaked it in vinegar, then bleach, then that mold killer stuff in the green bottle that is amazing on showers. Plus physical scrubbing in between. Looked 99% when i was done, but it made it obvious that the idea of running some magical combo of cleaners for a cycle or 3 ain’t gonna do shit for actual buildup.”source ↗

bobua · r/HomeMaintenance · 1 upvotes
r/appliancerepair1 person · September 2026

“I’m at a loss with a persistent smell coming from my refrigerator and hoping someone who knows appliances might have some ideas.”source ↗

“The smell is still there about a week later.”source ↗

mburnwor · r/appliancerepair · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised