Korean Job Discussion Forums

[billybrobby]

I have a refrigerator that stinks and I suspect the smell is coming from the inner workings of the fridge and not from the something inside the fridge.

When I got my apartment I opened the fridge and it smelled so bad I gagged. It was a weird smell, not like rotten food, but a chemical smell. So I scrubbed it down with soap and bleach and let it stand with the doors open for a day. Then I plugged it back in and was gone for a month. When I came back, the inside of the fridge smelled OK (just a little funky) but I noticed there was a stink in my apartment that I couldn't get rid of. I started to suspect it was coming from the fridge so I unplugged the thing again. Then I opened it today and the thing reeks inside almost as bad as it did the first time. I've never kept anything in the fridge but a bottle of water.

So what's the deal? How does it stink so bad and what can I do?

[JongnoGuru]

Is it at all possible the smell isn't coming from the fridge, but from the sink or cabinetry around it? I'd move the fridge well away from wherever it is for a day or so, use an extension cord if necessary. If the smell moves with the fridge, and if you're absolutely sure it's not coming food inside the fridge, then have it repaired or replaced.

[billybrobby]

I don't know where the smell in my room is coming from and it's driving me crazy. The fridge is on the other side of the room from the sink and stuff like that, but the smell hits you when you walk in the apartment and its hard to track down after that. The stink in the apartment is a weird chemical smell like the fridge smell but i'm not sure if it's the same smell. The smell when you open the fridge is very strong and even stronger in the freezer (who ever heard of a smelly freezer?) I was afraid I used too much bleach on the fridge because the stink in the apartment seemed to appear after I bleached the fridge down, but I could be wrong because I haven't lived in the apartment yet.

[JongnoGuru]

Instead of bleach, you can also use baking soda, white vinegar (yeah, just try finding that at your local mini-supermarket) or fresh lemon. These will eliminate the odours and murder in cold blood the germs that are causing them. It's another top-to-bottom scouring job for you, but at least when it's done you won't be wondering what that funky indescribable stench is. It will be very describable: "Vinegary" or "Lemony".

But it sounds like it's not the fridge at all, if it hits you the moment you enter the apartment. The two commonest, most annoying problems in Korean homes: (1) Leaky construction and (2) dead rotting ass smell. On the bright side, you can pay 9 million won/month for a brand-new luxury villa in UN Village and STILL have these problems.

Whoah... I just read your last line more carefully. So you're not living there yet. All apartments smell odd/funky/chemically when they're empty and especially if they're newly built. Leave a window open. Once you move in, leave all the windows open, the doors, set a fan at "kang poong" and let it run for hours and hours. People should do this in a new home whether it's newly built or not. And set room fresheners out.

[billybrobby]

Well, first I want to tackle the stink in the fridge, and if the stink in the apartment lingers on then I'll have to resign myself to it. What is baking soda called in Korean?

[JongnoGuru]

baking soda 중조(중탄산나트륨); 베이킹 소다

Of course no Korean will understand what that means, so go try blackmarket shops. It's 2006 and we're still depending on the blackmarket for something available in the poorest villages of...

[pegpig]

Maybe you've got a dead rat under/in the fridge. That'd be cool.

[pet lover]

Jongnoguru, baking soda is WIDELY available, even in little mom and pop shops.

billybrobby, move the fridge. I once moved into a very stinky one-room and tried like mad to get rid of the smell. Then I decided to move the fridge to a different location and found a bunch of MOLDING CHEESE under the fridge. The fridge was leaking water on top of the cheese and that couple with the ondol heat (this was winter), created a stink like you wouldn't believe. Now, I ALWAYS move the fridge when I move.

By the way, baking soda is commonly sold in little packets. It's cheap. You can can also buy it in bottles. The rinky dink dirty little mom and pop "sooper" nearr my place (the only one in this area in fact) sells it.

[heydelores]

You can also frequently find baking soda in the cleaning section of Emart and Kim's Club--Arm and Hammer, sold in the same orange boxes as it is at home.

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

Two words: French babies.

_*_

[midgic]

Could it be the stink that comes up from the drainpipes in the kitchen sink periodically?

[JongnoGuru]

[LateBloomer]

JG wrote:

[JongnoGuru]

Coscto doesn't count.

[pet lover]

white vinegar? Dunno...never looked for it. I use apple vinegar as it smells the best.