We swore that there was a dead body buried inside this fridge: maybe the former tenants packed it with sardines. It defied every chemical compound in my arsenal! The former tenants had been evicted: owed lots of rent, stole electricity (see Slickster: Evicted at Last & Slickster: Electric Thieves), so spiting us was a possibility, their destructive housekeeping another.
Now I do a thorough, deep cleaning of every unit, it doesn’t matter how wonderful tenants clean when they move out, everything is washed down with a disinfectant or sprayed with my Shark Steam Cleaner. And the first things that I clean are the kitchens and bathrooms, so at least when prospective tenant walk in, they can overlook things that have yet to be done, ex.: rugs, paint, or some old furniture left behind.
However, this fridge did scare off one or two very prissy prospects.
I scrubbed the insides and the drip pan with Clorox Cleanup.
Tried Professional Strength 409.
I hit it with steam . . . every seam, every crevice!
I wiped it AGAIN with vinegar and water.
Bacteria could not possibly be living in that thing!
I tried leaving the fridge and windows opened for several days at a time.
A box of baking soda was left inside.
Coffee grinds were placed in a paper cup: They will absorb odors as strong as leftover melon and garlic.
Charcoal briquettes (the non-chemical soaked kind) were tried.
Finally, I bought vanilla, poured it on cotton balls and placed them in a paper cup. Yeah, it masked the odor, but I choked on the vanilla.
It was disinfected repeatedly, and finally baking soda, coffee grinds, charcoal and vanilla were placed inside, at the same time!
This literally went on for 2–3 weeks; it became a regular topic of conversation. We considered replacing the fridge, the smell was so vile and tenacious!
Then I remembered Hurricane Sandy a few months back, when we all lost power, and the possibility that whatever meat was in the freezer, thawed out and ran down the drain pipe to the drip pan. So, I boiled a pot of water, and very carefully, poured it down the vents, and used a sponge to squeegee it down. When I checked the drip pan, I gagged at what poured out!
I used a cup to bail out the drip pan and repeated the boiling water, MANY times.
Hallelujah!
OSHA would be proud of me!
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