Silvar Beitel > wrote:
>So, I've Googled the 'net and absorbed the "wisdom" contained
>therein. Seems like mostly old wives' tales: "I put FOO in my fridge
>to absorb the odors and in a week they were gone!" (Gee, ya think a
>week's worth of opening the doors several times a day might have
>something to do with it?)
>
>Anyway, I'm looking for your opinion. Minimal effort solution
>preferred, of course. My current plan: Heat a plateful of charcoal
>briquettes in the oven to dry them out thoroughly (and drive out any
>aromatics they might have collected while sitting in the garage), then
>put the plate in the fridge. In a week, I hope the odor will be
>gone! :-)

I was in a similar situation several months ago. I first left them
with doors open to air out for several weeks but no difference. Then
I swabbed all surfaces with a bleach solution - several times. It
reduced the smell some what but still not enough. I figured the
interior surfaces of the freezer ducting was coated with "aromatics".
So I poured undiluted bleach in glass trays, placed one each in the
fridge and freezer and closed the doors for several days. Still no
joy.

So I put a layer of charcoal briquettes on some cardboard flats - one
for the fridge and one for the freezer. After about a week there was
a noticeable improvement and after two weeks I was pretty happy.

I was very sceptical about the charcoal method, it being a passive
removal whereas as I thought the bleach vapor attack was an active/
dynamic oxidation. And I didn't "reform" or "activate" my briquettes
before I used them.