Really Really Smelly Esky
Submitted: Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 15:08
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Member - Kroozer (WA)
Righto, now im a little annoyed with myself over this. Went bush for couple of days about 2 weeks ago, and instead of taking fridge i took my 80L esky. When i returned i unpacked everything out of th esky, EXCEPT the lettuce and apples i think. I totally forgo about it as it was sitting on the other side of the boat. Yesterday the BIL wanted to borrow an esky, so i told him to grab my blue one. As he went to lift it he said its got something in here, and without thinking opened it up and took a good wiff. By the looks on his face and the way he reacted i dont think it was pleasant.
I am now stuck with the task of cleaning this esky, and i wanted to know what i could use that would get rid of the smell, as i imagine its going to be putrid. I am not looking forward to it thats for sure. Im thinking there is still some
water in it too. I will probably blast the esky with the Karcher and then let it soak with something overnight before giving it a good scrub. Any recomendations or ideas, thinking maybe heaps of vinegar or something.
Reply By: Member - Duncan W (WA) - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 15:20
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 15:20
My sister swears by the humble tea bag. She reakons it is by far better than bi Carb of Soda and less messy.
AnswerID:
387174
Follow Up By: 60series_adventurer - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 15:34
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 15:34
try sprinkling Bi Carb in there and it should soak up some of the smell
FollowupID:
654730
Reply By: 60series_adventurer - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 15:39
Reply By: Member - John and Val - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 15:45
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 15:45
For the most serious cleaning jobs we use White King - it's a powerful bleach, readily available in supermarkets. I'd wash out the esky as
well as you can with
water, then give it at least a good rub over (or better a good long soak) with a fairly strong bleach solution. Then let it rest for an hour or so, then rinse. Don't spill it on you clothes as it also works very
well as a bleach! Since the smell will be due to bacteria, and the bleach is a good disinfectant, it should get rid of most of the smell. And your esky will be whiter than white!
HTH
John
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AnswerID:
387178
Follow Up By: Member - Allan B (QLD) - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 17:22
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 17:22
I agree with John. Good bleach scrub,
well rinsed, then leave it open to sun and wind for a week.
BIL unplugged his chest freezer (yeah, I know!) full of meat then went on holiday for several weeks. Could smell it when they turned into the street! Freezer went to the dump but they sold the house !!!
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Fred G NSW - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 18:30
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 18:30
Go with the bleach mate. It its really bad, fill it up and leave overnight with a very strong concentration. Home brand normal bleach under $2 for 2 lt.
Rinse it
well next morning, even with a fairly warm rinse. No more smell, including the bleach.
PS don't forget the lid as
well.
I flush my caravan
tank this way, and
my home brew keg. No problems.
Fred.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Member - DickyBeach - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 15:54
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 15:54
I agree that some bleach will disinfect it, make it sparkalarkaling and when you've flushed that out give it a wipe over with a bit of vanilla - somehow or other the vanilla will "absorb" any remaining unpleasant odours, fish or bleach included.
AnswerID:
387179
Reply By: Member - steveinoz (NSW) - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 16:25
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 16:25
Hi Koozer. I have experienced the same thing. I found that washing out with a strong detergent in cold
water and rinse
well. Then cut up some lemons 2/3 in quarters. rub all over the inside Leave for a few days with the lenom left inside. Should do the trick. Just don't attempt to eat the lemon afterwards.
Steve. B...
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Kroozer (WA) - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 17:29
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 17:29
Excellent, thanks everybody. I will give a few of these ideas a crack. I reckon i should be able to knock it on the head, although i dont really know what im in for just yet. Fingers crossed it doesnt have legs yet...
Cheers again
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Andrew (QLD) - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 17:50
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 17:50
Throw everything in there, bleach, lemon, tea bags etc and hopefully the problem should be fixed. LOL
Had a plastic esky once which a relative left prawns in (without ice) for a week once. Threw it out after trying to remove the smell for 6 months. :(
Andrew
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Smudger - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 19:36
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 19:36
...and afterwards, a shot of rum.
Sounds good to me.
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Reply By: swampy66 - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 18:05
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 18:05
aniseed oil,
when the boat gets really smelly, i add/spray/drip some aniseed oil thru it. then hose it down.
you don't need much, you can get it from chemists.
have fun
AnswerID:
387190
Reply By: Member - Au-2 - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 21:08
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 21:08
As an aside to all the above, I might suggest that you buy the bleach from a swimming pool supplies
shop! The brand I use is HYPO-100 (100g/l) which means it is 20 times stronger than the White King etc., brands. The bonus to this is that you get 5ltrs for $10, as compared to the
supermarket ranges which are only 5g/l sodium chloride @ $3-5 per bottle of 750 mls.
I use this for all disinfecting jobs including the Porta-Potti at the end of each trip, and before leaving on a trip, I pour some down all the drains. You can make it up to any strength you want according to the job required of it.
The last time I bought a bottle I was reluctant to tell the salesman that I didn't have a pool but he told me during conversation that I probably wanted to clean the house down with it, so I guess there are a few others out there that know about it. If you live in a humid area, you can go through gallons of the weak stuff trying to keep the mould at bay during the summer wet.
Sheila.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Peter R (QLD) - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 21:23
Reply By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 21:57
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 21:57
I use home brand Nappy Treatment Plus from Woolies for this. We have a great Technie Ice Esky that we use isn the boat for fishing as
well as our general esky for travel. It needs a good clean from time to time.
Half to one cup of the stuff and fill with
water. Let sit for and hour (or 2 or 3) and tip it out. Job done.
We use the same product in our van
toilet cassette.
Norm C
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Kroozer (WA) - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 22:58
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 22:58
Once again thankyou everyone, the replies just keep coming.
So far i have taken out the putrid contents, pressure washed the inside and filled it to soak with some bleach for the night. In the morning i will give it a scrub, and another blast and then let it dry. Ill assess the odour then and decide on what action to take. If its still bad, i might just do a bit of everything suggested just to make sure.
Whatever works best will be the method i use in the future, so thankyou very much again folks. Much appreciated.
Cheers
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Frank G (WA) - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 23:03
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 23:03
Hi give the Esky a good wash with bleach and warm
water this will remove any mould and any other nasties,then rinse out and dry then give the esky a spray with McLintocs Vanilla fresh fridge wipe and deoderizer available at any
supermarket , this is real amazing stuff makes the Esky smell like Vanilla.
Happy
Trails Frank
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 23:52
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 at 23:52
Hi Kroozer
A good way to rid the esky of the smell is to wipe the esky out with vanilla essence and then place some carb soda in a small container in the bottom
The carb soda will then absorb any odour. Keep the lid off and in time, that smell will go.
Cheers
Stephen
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - Tony S (WA) - Friday, Oct 16, 2009 at 02:45
Friday, Oct 16, 2009 at 02:45
Hey Kroozer you now owe every one who replied a couple kilo of those fish you caught.
Tony
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Member - Kroozer (WA) - Friday, Oct 16, 2009 at 19:36
Friday, Oct 16, 2009 at 19:36
Sad thing is i didnt wet a line this trip mate. And you have just reminded me about the sad fact that my freezer is all out of fish. If i wasnt so busy this weekend i would go out and chase some barra. Next weekend maybe...
FollowupID:
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