Ice Chest Odor

[SWFLhntr]

Get a new ice chest. That’s been my experience.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Vinegar and bleach. Scrub it. Let it sit open for a long while. Periodically scrubbing it. Wash it out and prop it open and let the sun bake it. When it rains, do the same thing. Throw sone dirt in it and scrub. Just dump it and let it dry. A couple cycles of this and it’ll be funk free. It isn’t a quick process either.



Natural rain and soil has a way of dissolving funk left by minerals broken down. It has a way of dealing with bacteria that causes Odor. I don’t know the science behind it. I just know it works.

 

[Marble]

For a few coffin style freezers, RV water tanks and ice chests, I've put chlorine in them and let them sit for a few days. Worked everytime. Doesn't take much of the powdered stuff.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[Dos Perros]

There is another thread on this.

One cooler I tried everything in this thread and it didn't work. I was about to trash an expensive Yeti. And I decided to throw some charcoal briquettes in it and let it sit with the lid sealed. A week later and it was cured. It's now my go-to solution.

 

[xcutter]

Charcoal briquettes. I always put some in my coolers when not going to be used for a while.

 

[Btaylor]

Charcoal has worked well for me too.

 

[Azone]

Get a new ice chest. That’s been my experience.

I hate spending money, I’ll deal with the smell before I toss a 350 dollar ice chest.
Or I could put it on the classifieds for 2.5 percent off MSRP…. Sorry mods, couldn’t help myself.

 

[Azone]

Someone needs to volunteer to let a few ice chest go sour and see what methods mentioned work the best.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

Oxiclean and dawn dish soap with a little water to make a slurry. Scrub on and let sit.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

I keep a small dorm like sized freezer in my garage that my kids unplugged recently, had wild boar shoulder and ham, several rolls of breakfast sausage, trout that i had caught this year, some cornish hens, etc., etc. anyway we found it after a few days of being unplugged. It was pretty darn bad.

The method i done was washed it out with bleach and dawn dish soap 1st then every day for 3 or 4 days straight, rewashed with bleach. I set the freezer under my carport with the lid propped open so that it would air dry out each time and wouldnt get rained in. After about 2 1/2 weeks final wash with bleach once again (probably didnt need it at this point, but i wanted it cleaned etc. and everything is good to go

 

[CRJR45]

Bleach water with Dawn , then leave it in the back of the truck for a week or two while you drive around . The agitation works wonders .

 

[Boarmaster]

I had a rotomolded cooler that I could not get the rotten deer blood smell out of. Tried all the tricks. Except common sense. Somehow that nastiness got into under the seal on that high dollar cooler.
I may have to eventually remove it but for now I used a spray bottle of vinegar around it and I hope that will clean it up over time. I hate to remove the seal if I don't have to.

 

[Azone]

Bleach water with Dawn , then leave it in the back of the truck for a week or two while you drive around . The agitation works wonders .

I did exactly this last night after work. Gallon of bleach and a healthy shot of Dawn and some Pine sol. Filled it almost all the way up and left it in the back of the truck. Have a couple of rough roads to drive today at work so hopefully this will do the trick.

 

[Laramie]

I take mine to the car wash. Wipe them down with a soapy dish detergent rag and then wash the heck out of them and then let them dry and store with the lid cracked. Has always worked great, even after they get really bad. You do get a little wet trying to wash the inside but it works.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I hate spending money, I’ll deal with the smell before I toss a 350 dollar ice chest.
Or I could put it on the classifieds for 2.5 percent off MSRP…. Sorry mods, couldn’t help myself.

Slightly used!

 

[TrueAt1stLight]

These are all brilliant ideas! Someone mentioned “same solution can be used for skunks spraying dogs:” If anyone needs to REALLY de-skunk a bird dog: I’m your guy!

 

[Theringworm]

Shocked this hasn’t been mentioned before. Newspaper is cheap and the most effective treatment I have used.

I had a breaker flip to my freezer. Didn’t notice it for weeks. Meat was beyond rotten. Freezer smelled……well as bad as you could imagine. I thought for sure it would be beyond salvageable.

Multiple rounds of bleach, rinse with water and then let a couple of open boxes of Arm & Hammer and then stuffed the freezer full with newspaper, & then closed the lid. I did this three times and it smelled brand new by the 3rd time. The newspaper really absorbs the stench quite well. 4 years later and she is still as good as new.

 

[Azone]

Bleach, dish soap and pine sol sloshing around since yesterday for the win! Gonna hose it out again tomorrow to see if that awful smell is gone for good.

 

[Olbadae]

I had this happen to me as well. We thought we were going to have to get rid of it. Nothing was working. I bought a bag a charcoal, placed the individual pieces in the bottom and closed the lid for several weeks. When we opened it back up it was like new again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Usmcsniper101]

Ass water, really???

This gave me a laugh for a little while. But back to the topic, I would have used pine sol. But baking soda, vinegar, dawn are other viable options. Mouthwash?? Hmm.. maybe?