Hi all, sorry if this isn't the right place to post this!

I bought a new mini-fridge about a month ago to use in my dorm room. One of the problems with it is the terrible new plastic smell that just won't go away. When I first got it my mom washed it with like a baking...soda? solution, but then we figured the smell would go away on its own. A month later...nope. In fact it contaminates everything! We bought one of those Arm and Hammer fridge things to put inside it but it doesn't seem to be doing much. This morning I discovered the smell had gotten into my milk carton and my bread =( It's so disgusting and really pretty expensive/wasteful. (Believe me the food it contaminates cannot be eaten...)

So does anyone have any good tips for getting this stink out of my fridge?

Two things worked for us: 1) wiping down the entire fridge with vanilla essence, and leaving the fridge open to air dry. And 2) keeping a box of bicarb soda in the fridge.

If you're going away for a weekend, or you can do without the fridge for a day, empty it, turn it off, and prop it open (a teatowel wedged in the door works well) until you return. Hopefully by then the worst of the smell has dissipated.

Try wiping it down with vinegar and water. It might smell like vinegar for a little while, but it really gets out other smells.

I second the vanilla wipe-down and letting it air out. I don't understand the chemistry of why it works, but vanilla helps neutralize plastic stink. ( Adding a couple drops also works in perfumes that have gone plastic or develop that oddball gasoline-like wang/funk. )