Said It Here

How to get freezer smell out of silicone

Silicone kitchenware and ice cube molds absorb food odors and tastes from the surrounding freezer, transferring unwanted flavors to ice and water. This lingering odor makes items difficult to deodorize, leaving users unsure whether to deep clean or throw them away.

What people tried

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

  1. 1
    Deep soak in hot soapy water
  2. 2
    Submerging in a water and baking soda solution for a day or two
  3. 3
    Boiling the silicone to sterilize and refresh it, sometimes adding baking soda or vinegar
  4. 4
    Baking the item empty at 300 to 350 degrees for about an hour
  5. 5
    Cleaning with vanilla essence and bicarbonate of soda
  6. 6
    Running it through the dishwasher
  7. 7
    Scrubbing with a brush or nail brush
  8. 8
    Cutting a sponge to fit the texture
  9. 9
    Soaking in hot soapy water before brushing and dishwashing
  10. 10
    Throwing it in the washing machine

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/CleaningTips3 people · September 2026

“I recently dug this out of my freezer and it has a distinct odour to it, mainly of bread, which we keep in the freezer too. It’s not disgusting but definitely affects the smell and taste of the ice cube it makes.”source ↗

DrunkAndUnaware · r/CleaningTips · 193 upvotes

“This silicone pot holder and oven mit thingey is a grime magnet and I need to either clean it up or toss it”source ↗

doppleganger1353 · r/CleaningTips · 83 upvotes

“similar question, you know that ice taste/smell from ice inside a freezer, well we bought a new water dispenser (with UV disinfectant) and the cold water somehow taste like that... how do we remove the taste? or smell”source ↗

RadioEnvironmental40 · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised