Cleaning a gross cooler?

[Shoemoo]

I had to have some work done on my fridge before leaving on vacation, so I decided to go through the contents of the freezer and throw out all the freezer burned stuff. I put the bags I was going to throw away in a cooler and set it out on the back deck thinking I'd take it out while loading the car. Well, suffice to say I forgot and the cooler has been sitting outside for two weeks in 95+ degree weather.

I had to use tongs to unload it because there was no way I was going to touch what was inside. Sprayed it down with Lysol and rinsed it with near boiling water, and it still smells. Anything I can do to make it so it's usable again?

 

[quivira kid]

Bleach?

 

[Winnebago John]

Fill it up with Bleach and water and let it sit for a week. When we perch fish here in the summer everything goes on ice and the coolers can get gross after weeks of fishing. When I clean them for the season I let them sit full of bleach and water and then a good scrubbing. They turn out nice and white and good enough to serve beer to the relatives on special occasions !

 

[SaltyBuckster]

That's it.BLEACH after a weekend of catching bluefish they can all but ruin a cooler.Bleach and water for a couple days after a good cleaning with soap and water and you will be good again.

 

[JSC]

X2 + on BLEACH

 

[papaperch]

For a quick clean and de-odorizer process. Use equal parts of baking soda and Ajax or other powdered scrubbing agent. Filler cooler about 1/8 up to start after good hard scrubbing add water to about 1/2 way full. Let stand for 30 minutes or so. Then empty water out give one more light scrub with powder mixture then rinse really well. Almost forgot for scrubbing use a good scrub brush.

After this treatment cooler or freezer should smell and look better than new one.

 

[Radtexan]

All good advice.......

 

[Squeakyboatcaptain]

After soaking in bleach.... Scrub it with some orange scented GoJo!!! Use the kind without the grit in it...

 

[flounder pounder]

Inturding ....

 

[Radtexan]

Inturding ....

Que ???

 

[Fatman]

Yep bleach and baking soda (I have left nightcrawlers in one before and forgot about them - Not too bad for me as I'm used to stink bait for catfish) but the family didn't like it!!!!!!!!!

 

[redman]

I am in the camp with the Baking Soda and Bleach. I found another product that works that I pick up at Sam's Club that works good at tackling the odor problem. Odoban (hope I spelled it right) works on about any thing I have tried it on. With two big dogs and a wife that is spill prone it does a very good job. In fact I have sprayed it in my Ice chest and it did take out the smell. Have not tried it on the cat don't want to make her sick. But the dogs beds really freshens them up.

Redman

 

[LedHed]

Bleach soak & baking soda scrub