How to Eliminate Commercial Refrigerator Odor

There are a lot of commercial refrigerators that are in different commercial areas. These commercial refrigerators always need to be cleaned but most people forget about cleaning their refrigerators because they are too busy focusing on other aspects of your commercial building.

There will be moments when some of the food that you have in your commercial fridge will not be removed for a long period of time. You could have forgotten that it is there or you have assumed that it was already removed when it was not. This is okay to a certain extent but if it has been there for quite a while, expect that a foul odor is going to start coming from your refrigerator. Even if you have already removed the item that caused the odor in the first place, the odor will stay for a long period of time. It can be enough to drive you nuts especially if you have tried to do everything to get rid of the odor.

Get Rid of the Source of the Odor

It is important that you get rid of the main source of the odor first. There are some food products that tend to smell days before it expires. You should be aware of these things so you know when you should properly remove an item from your refrigerator. Sniff the various items inside the commercial refrigerator. If it smells bad, remove it. You do not want the smell to stay even longer.

There are some food products that will smell more than others:

Check if you have rotten fruits and vegetables underneath all the fresh ones you just purchased.
There may be pungent liquids that will be formed. Make sure that this liquid will not reach the other food you have stored in your Foster refrigeration unit otherwise the other food may be more prone to getting spoiled and will start to smell too.
Meat may spoil especially if you have had a power outage for hours. You may have to throw them out if they do not smell fresh anymore.

Now that you know the possible sources of odor, you need to know the various things you can do to get rid of the odor coming from your refrigerator.

1. Take time to clean and sanitize your refrigerator.

You have already found the source. Now is the time for you to make an effort to eliminate the odor. The smell of the food can reach various areas of your whole Williams refrigeration unit so it is best that you sanitize the whole area. You need to find a proper place for the food that may spoil before you start cleaning.

If you do not have an extra refrigerator, you can also use a cooler filled with ice. You can place all of the food that may spoil there. It will allow your food to be preserved better.

To properly clean the refrigerator, these are a few things you can do:

Remove all of the shelves or the partitions of the commercial refrigerator if any.
Scrub all of the walls of the refrigerator with your chosen cleaner.
If your refrigerator has a drip tray, clean that up as well as some of the smell may linger there.
Allow the refrigerator to dry on its own for a while.
Dry the fridge with a clean towel.
Allow it to dry further before placing back all of the items.

There are some commercial refrigerators that come with deodorizers. It will be up to you to decide if you would like that version or not. If in case there are some cases or shelves that still smell bad after you have cleaned them, you may need to soak them in water to get rid of the smell.

2. Allow the refrigerator to be exposed to air for a few days.

If the smell is really too bad and it is starting to affect all of the food that you place in your refrigerator, you may have to stop using it for a few days. This is a bit hard to do if you only have one commercial refrigerator but if you have some extra refrigerators, allow the refrigerator to be exposed to natural air. It will help get rid of the smell effectively.
3. Place natural odor absorbers.

There are chemically made odor absorbers that are meant to remove the bad smell from your refrigerator but you may contaminate the food that you place in your refrigerator this way. The best thing to do is to use baking soda or activated charcoal inside your refrigerator to get rid of the smell. Other people may also use a small amount of cat litter to be placed on the spot where the foul odor used to come from. If you do not have any of the products mentioned above, you can also use oats. They can absorb unwanted odor easily and effectively.

4. Ask if it is under warranty.

There are some companies that can honor their warranty based on what has caused the odor to occur in the first place. Your unit may be thoroughly cleaned in order to get rid of the smell and the best thing is that you do not have to pay for this service at all. If the main reason why your food has spoiled is a defective unit,, contact the company so your refrigerator can get proper commercial refrigeration repair soon. It will make a lot of difference.

5. Clean the whole unit.

While you are at it, it is best that you start cleaning the whole unit. It will make a lot of difference in how effective and efficient your unit is going to be. You can vacuum the back of the refrigerator to get rid of dust and other particles that may hinder your refrigerator from working well. You can also clean the coils so that your compressor will not work as hard as before. Cleaning the whole unit will allow you to have a highly functional refrigerator that can do its best to keep your food fresh.

You have now learned the various things you can do to keep your refrigerator clean and odor-free. Can you still think of other methods that will help get rid of stubborn smells inside your refrigerator? Feel free to share your thoughts.