Fridges are those kitchen appliances that are essential, but don’t get the attention they deserve.
For those noticing foul smells coming from their kitchen, a hidden area of the fridge could be in dire need of cleaning.
Taking to the Mrs Hinch Army Facebook page, Angela Dawson shared a discovery that left her horrified.
After moving into a new house, Angela was moving her fridge when she noticed a dirty compartment that looked as though it had never been cleaned.
This compartment is what’s known as the drip tray – it is typically found behind the fridge and catches the defrosted ice from leaking outside.
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Posting a picture of the tray, it appeared to be covered in nasty black and brown stains that seemed to have built up for a while.
The cleaner said: “So I recently moved and is a lovely place, but even though it’s all freshly painted there was a really foul smell in the kitchen area.
“I thought it was the drains as it’s an old cottage so tried cleaning them with bleach and whatever I could put down there.
“Today. I was horrified. I wanted to change the fridge door the other way as it’s behind a door. Anyway, long story short, there is a bit behind the fridge like a little container that holds all the liquid from inside the fridge. Now forgive me I don’t know what it’s called. But I almost threw up.
“Never seen anything like that before. I noticed it was leaking as I briefly put the fridge down on its side. So I unscrewed and pulled out that cup and this is what I saw. Obviously, no one ever cleaned this bit.
“I used bleach on it and it was a lifesaver. Finally kitchen smells of just bleach.”
Bleach is a staple in most cleaning cupboards and it is also cheap to pick up from local supermarkets. Express.co.uk found that it retails for just 55p at Tesco.
Group members took to the comments sharing their similar experiences. Kimberly Ann said: “I found mine a few years ago after searching the kitchen and pulling every cupboard out looking for a dead animal lol. Hubby had meat in the fridge too and not plated it so all bloody too, lord it was bad.”
Heather Meakin wrote: “We didn’t know either, I have no sense of smell and my daughters kept saying the kitchen smelt. We bleached and scrubbed to no avail.
“One day my husband pulled the fridge and freezer out. It was gross. It shouldn’t happen if you keep the little hole at the back of the inside of the fridge clear as any water should go through this onto the tray and evaporate. This was a few years ago and its never happened again. Clean the inside of my fridge every month now.”
Dani Caton commented: “Yep, had the same thing with the fridge that came with our house. Kept saying the kitchen stinks I was searching high and low for some gone-off food, repeatedly cleaning the kitchen. No joy. Then I isolated the smell to the fridge area so I pulled it out and was met with exactly that.”