Ditch The Baking Soda: 2 Substitute Kitchen Ingredients To Deodorize Your Fridge

Common knowledge dictates that when something foul is stinking up your fridge, you reach for the baking soda. You also usually keep it on hand to use as a powerhouse ingredient for washing grapes and other types of produce and for cleaning kitchen equipment like aluminum pans a cinch. However, if you find yourself out of baking soda, that smell in the refrigerator isn't going anywhere without some help. You need a substitute, and thankfully, you probably have a couple of ingredients sitting in your pantry that can tackle the stench. 

If you find yourself without baking soda, a combination of coffee and salt can take that repulsive aroma away. Coffee grounds are slightly porous, which enables them to absorb moisture and offensive smells. Salt, which has a neutral pH, works similarly to baking soda (an alkaline substance) when used as a deodorizer because it helps to increase the pH levels of acidic chemical compounds. Those acids are often the culprits behind the obnoxious bouquet. Combined, the two odor-eliminating ingredients trap unwanted scents and prevent them from spreading further into your fridge.

Substituting coffee and salt for baking soda takes a little more effort than tossing a box of the latter into the fridge, but it is well worth it if your refrigerator starts to reek. You don't need to waste any fancy products on this venture — you can use just a tablespoon of each of whichever ground coffee and salt you happen to have on hand. Mix the ingredients together, and enclose them in a little rectangular pouch made out of aluminum foil. Then, poke a few holes in it using a fork. Place the packet of ingredients in an area of the fridge where it won't be in your way so it doesn't get disturbed while it works at eliminating the stench.

This trick isn't just for your refrigerator. If you have potatoes and onions stored together and they start to stink up your pantry, a coffee and salt pouch will give your nostrils some relief from the smell of rotten vegetables. For particularly potent odors, you can make multiple packets and space them out in whichever area the unpleasant smell is emanating from. The ingredients in the pouch should continue to do their job for roughly two months, after which you would want to replace it with another mix of this baking soda substitute.