The cooler is a great tool to keep your food fresh longer for picnics and pool parties. But once you’re done with the activities, you are too exhausted to even remember about the cooler. That’s how the poor thing develops an unpleasant smell over time. And one day when you pick the cooler up again, it is already in such a bad condition that you can’t store food inside. So here is how to get smell out of cooler in very easy to use steps you can do right away.
How to remove bad smells from your cooler
Step 1: Let the air out naturally
After throwing out all the rotten things you left forgotten inside the cooler, open the lid to let the air and unpleasant smell come out slowly. Place the cooler in the open air, especially outdoors where there is a lot of air circulation.
You may think the first thing we should do is apply cleaning methods. But the study shows that in the first couple of days those cleaning methods are useless. Also, letting the smell come out naturally for a few days reduces a lot of work afterward.
Step 2: Use a bleach mixture
What people usually do is use straight bleach to clean the cooler. That method works on some level but is not as effective as making a bleach mixture to spray. Mix one part bleach with four parts water and spray it inside the cooler. You should let the bleach mixture stay there for a few days with the cooler’s lid open.
You shouldn’t use heavy bleach to clean the cooler because it can leak out and damage the surface where you put the cooler. And honestly, the results are similar so you only waste more bleach for nothing. The bleach is for killing bacteria that cause smell, not actually removing it so using the right amount of bleach is good enough.
Since we’re using bleach, know that there will be some side effects. If the inside of your cooler is colored then it's going to fade a little. This is an important step in the tutorial of How to get smell out of cooler so there’s no way you can skip it and expect the result to turn out great.
Step 3: Do some scrubbing
Only spraying bleach is not enough to get to every corner. That’s why you have to do some handy work here and get down to scrub your cooler. Use an old toothbrush or any small brush that can get into a tight space to do the job. Here are some areas you should not miss: the hole for the rod of the lid, the hinge inside and outside, the corner between the inner walls. Scrubbing can help you get the stubborn bacterial off for the bleach to work better.
Step 4: Apply the odor absorbers
There are two odor absorbers you may have lying around the house: baking soda and charcoal. Fill your cooler with one of these ingredients and let them stay for about a week to absorb the lingering smell. Remember to close the lid so your odor absorber won’t waste its power elsewhere.
Repeat this step if one time is not enough to get the smell out of your cooler. That situation usually happens when you leave the cooler unclean for too long so the smell gets attached to the walls. Do this step until you can’t smell an unpleasant odor right after you open the cooler or when the smell is almost unnoticeable.
Step 5: Use the soap water
When the smell is not a big problem anymore, you can apply soap water to make the cooler smell fresher. This action will also help you remove the remaining odor if it still survives after the last step. Add one part dish soap with five parts water into a spray bottle, then spray the liquid inside the cooler. Close the lid and let it stay there for one or two days. After that, you can rinse the cooler thoroughly with water.
The reason why we don’t do this step first when we clean the cooler is that dish soap is not strong enough to fight the odor. It can’t kill the bacteria like bleach and can’t absorb the odor like charcoal or baking soda.
Step 6: Add some extra aromatics
You can finish things off by spraying some lemon juice inside the cooler so it smells fresher the next time you use it. Study shows that several months after cleaning the odor that is embedded into the walls can burst out, so the lemon juice can help you cover some of that.
How to keep your cooler smell pleasant all the time
According to William Cawley - the Editor-in-Chief at The King Live - who has lots of knowledge about household appliances and tools, the best way to keep your cooler smell good all the time is to prevent odor from the start.
Use ziplock bags or seal containers to cover the things you want to store in the cooler. That way the smell won’t get out easily, especially when you leave the cooler outside where the heat can make the odor develop faster. Make sure you put everything out of the cooler when you finish the activities to prevent the smell from lingering inside the cooler for too long. Start cleaning the cooler immediately, don’t let it sit there until the next time you want to use it.
You should also check your cooler every once in a while to see if it smells bad, especially when you’re planning to have a picnic, go fishing or throw a pool party in the near future. If you clean the cooler regularly with the tutorial above even when you don’t use it, it won’t suffer from a bad smell anymore.
We hope this post was of assistance to you. Take care of your cooler so that it can take care of your food and your fun summer activities. If you find any other useful tips, don’t hesitate to let us know as well.
