Reader Marisa asks
I need help, I had raw fish in my fridge and the liquid of the fish leaked onto the fridge, I didn’t realise for two days, I’ve tried everything even Shannon lush’s suggestion rub normal bathroom soap onto a pantyhose and rub the inside of the fridge! My fridge smells really bad and it’s a new fridge!
Any suggestions.
Regards
Marisa
Soap will be no good to you in this application as the fish smell is not a fat or oil, it is an amine. Also, panty hose is simply an open weave light nylon cloth that has no special cleaning properties whatever.
Amines belong to the same class of chemical as urine and sweat, and they of course stink. In this case, the chemical is trimethylamine, and the way to remove it is with an acid. Since the fridge is a food area, a good place to start is with vinegar. That should protonate the tertiary amine group, remove the smell and make it water soluble so it wipes up with a sponge.
If that doesn’t work try lactic acid (Ajax Spray and Wipe), Citric acid (Shower Power) or sulphamic acid (BAM Easy Off Power Cleaner).
If they don’t work, try Harpic Toilet Cleaner – it’s a weakly acidic powder (bisulfite) that should do the job.
If they don’t work, next is Ajax Powder Cleanser (an oxidiser) and last resort is an oven cleaner (BAM or Woolworths caustic cleaners). But I doubt you’ll need to go that far. Let me know how you get on.
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