# Does Baking Soda actually remove odour from the fridge? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781 "2006-01-26T23:18:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Queuing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/1 "2006-01-26T23:18:24Z")
During my time websurfing I came across this website, [Kitchen Myths](http://www.pgacon.com/KitchenMyths.htm) . In it it says that baking soda in your fridge is nothing but a clever marketing scheme. It uses this as a source, [Ask a Scientist](http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem00/chem00388.htm) which upon first view seems a little suspect but if you delve a little deeper it is from the Argonne National Laboratory- A US Dept. of Energy Lab managed by the University of Chicago. So it seems on the up and up, however does still look a little ‘ghetto’. I did attempt to search for this, but my search-fu is still at the white belt phase. So whats up? Is it just a very clever and highly succesful marketing ploy? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/2 "2006-01-26T23:26:01Z")
The [Mailbag article](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbakings.html) says it does work. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/3 "2006-01-26T23:28:49Z")
Try an experiment some time. Eat some baking soda that has been sitting in a fridge for a while. Compare that to eating fresh baking soda. I can’t comment on the noticeable effectiveness but it definitely soaks up some nastiness in there. Report back from the field. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/4 "2006-01-26T23:40:19Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Try an experiment some time. Eat some baking soda that has been sitting in a fridge for a while. Compare that to eating fresh baking soda. I can’t comment on the noticeable effectiveness but it definitely soaks up some nastiness in there. > > Report back from the field. Just don’t eat the whole box. Remember what happened to Homer? ---
**Author:** ![StewieGriffin420](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@StewieGriffin420](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StewieGriffin420)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/5 "2006-01-27T00:06:12Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Try an experiment some time. Eat some baking soda that has been sitting in a fridge for a while. Compare that to eating fresh baking soda. I can’t comment on the noticeable effectiveness but it definitely soaks up some nastiness in there. > > Report back from the field. what about the freezer? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/6 "2006-01-27T00:20:27Z")
> [@StewieGriffin420](#): > > what about the freezer? I’ve tried them all. I brush my teeth with pure baking soda a lot. I don’t always plan ahead and I don’t have the fresh stuff handy. I have swiped some from many people’s refrigerators over the years. You can just revel in the nastiness sometimes. I don’t know how much odor it picks up as a percentage but it grabs plenty for my sensibilities. Give it a go yourself and you will see what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/7 "2006-01-27T01:37:23Z")
Yeah it works. As someone said it is because of pH. Ammonia, which has a pH of 4 is also used to nullify acidic odors. At the end of the day though coffee grounds are a far more effective deodorizer than either. ---
**Author:** ![tofergregg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tofergregg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofergregg)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/8 "2006-01-27T01:56:57Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Yeah it works. As someone said it is because of pH. Ammonia, which has a pH of 4 is also used to nullify acidic odors. > > At the end of the day though coffee grounds are a far more effective deodorizer than either. When I was growing up in the '80s near Syracuse, NY, there was a big to-do over a manufacturing plant that went out of business (or just left–I don’t remember) after many years of severely polluting Onondaga Lake. They dumped a tremendous amount of pollutants into the lake, one of which was baking soda. When they left town and stopped dumping in the baking soda (and other chemicals…), the lake festered and started to _really_ stink. The general consensus was that the baking soda had been masking the smell all along. -Tofer p.s. My dad remembers racing small sailboats in that lake as a teenager (in the early 60s), and it was so polluted that you couldn’t see the puffs coming across the water. Unseen puffs can cause capsizing… ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/9 "2006-01-27T03:39:22Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Yeah it works. As someone said it is because of pH. Ammonia, which has a pH of 4 is also used to nullify acidic odors. > > At the end of the day though coffee grounds are a far more effective deodorizer than either. No. Ammonia is a base, which means in solution it has a pH higher than seven. It doesn’t make sense to talk about the pH of ammonia anyway, as it depends on its concentration in solution. But an ammonia solution will always have a pH higher than seven. ---
**Author:** ![Queuing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/10 "2006-01-27T04:02:22Z")
> [@](#): > > **From the Ask a Scientist link** > > The popular “open box of Arm & Hammer® in the > refrigerator” simply provides an adsorbent material that can soak up odors – > but not very effectively. For example, if some of the odoriferous materials > floating around in the refrigerator are acidic, the alkaline baking soda can > absorb and neutralize the acid. Even in that regard, it is not all that > effective because, as the powder in the box contacts water vapor, it tends to > crust over an lose a great deal of its already limited surface activity. So these answer is BS? If it does absorb acidic odours (which I think has been established) how many common fridge odours are acidic? Most of them? Are odours generally acidic? Looking at the box of baking soda I have in my fridge, the top is rather hard and crusty which would seem to support the 2nd part of this statement. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/11 "2006-01-27T13:58:08Z")
> [@Queuing](#): > > Looking at the box of baking soda I have in my fridge, the top is rather hard and crusty which would seem to support the 2nd part of this statement. On those occasions when I have employed the “baking soda in the fridge as deodorizer” tactic, I have usually placed it in a dish to increase surface area, and stirred it every couple of weeks. I don’t think the ability of baking soda to absorb odors is in question, since (as \*\*Shagnasty \*\*pointed out) it’s easy to verify that baking soda left open in a fridge does indeed get all stanky. I do wonder if that absorption has a significant effect on the net odor level of the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/12 "2006-01-27T14:01:53Z")
> [@Brainiac4](#): > > I do wonder if that absorption has a significant effect on the net odor level of the fridge. Downunder we throw it out every once in a while and replace it. Same thing with kitty litter. Neither is permanent. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/13 "2006-01-27T14:45:18Z")
Or you can, you know, _clean your fridge._ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-baking-soda-actually-remove-odour-from-the-fridge/341781/14 "2006-01-27T14:47:12Z")
> [@tofergregg](#): > > When I was growing up in the '80s near Syracuse, NY, there was a big to-do over a manufacturing plant that went out of business (or just left–I don’t remember) after many years of severely polluting Onondaga Lake. They dumped a tremendous amount of pollutants into the lake, one of which was baking soda. When they left town and stopped dumping in the baking soda (and other chemicals…), the lake festered and started to _really_ stink. The general consensus was that the baking soda had been masking the smell all along. Ahhh, the only company I’ve ever seen so brazen as to actually dump pollution into the lake _in plain view of the highway_!!! More on topic, I wonder if the baking soda helped to buffer the pH of the lake, as I’ve heard that most polluted lakes are crystal clear since nothing can grow in them due to the acidity.