Home Improvement : Vinegar and Soda May Sweeten Refrigerator

QUESTION: For more than a month our refrigerator has produced a very offensive odor. We have checked the drain from the back and underneath, both are open. We have removed the freezer bottom and back, and found nothing. We washed the inside of the refrigerator with hot, soapy water to no avail. Please help.

ANSWER: Unplug the refrigerator and remove the food, shelves, ice cube trays and ice maker bin. Discard the ice. Place the food in an insulated chest. Wash the inside of the refrigerator and all interior parts with a solution of two tablespoons of baking soda per quart of warm water. Clean everything again with a mix of dishwashing detergent and warm water. Rinse and dry all surfaces.

Next, pour a solution of vinegar and warm water through the defrost drain system. Remove and clean the water collection pan located underneath the refrigerator.

Reassemble the refrigerator. Leave an open box of baking soda in both the refrigerator and freezer. Add the food, but throw away anything that’s stale.

Plug in the refrigerator and check it after three or four days. If the odor persists, spread activated charcoal (available from pet stores) on a cookie sheet in the refrigerator and another in the freezer.

If the odor is still there, this remedy is more involved: Remove the food again, tightly stuff the refrigerator and freezer with balls of crumpled newspaper. Put two cups of water in the refrigerator door and close it. Let the refrigerator run for three or four days, then clean out the compartments with soap and water. Repeat if necessary.

Eliminate any lingering odors by using Kleen-Air. According to its manufacturer, place the bottle of Kleen-Air, with the flip-top open, next to the refrigerator’s intake air vent. The product eliminates odors in the air, but not smells embedded in the walls of the refrigerator. The product is nontoxic and will not harm foods. One bottle lasts a year, and is sold at appliance parts distributors.

Try Stick Shellac on Chipped Veneer

Q: I recently dropped a heavy object on my coffee table and chipped the veneer. I can’t cover up the marks with a scratch hider. Is there any way to repair this and retain the wood grain look?

A: You can raise the dents in solid wood surfaces by using a clothing iron and a damp cloth or wet paper towel to drive steam into the wood cells and swell them back to their original shape. But if the dents have broken through the wood veneer and colored furniture crayons haven’t repaired the surface to your satisfaction, you might try stick shellac. This product looks and works something like old fashioned sealing wax.

First, clean the area of oil and wax using a few drops of turpentine in a quarter-teaspoon of stain--the color of the table top. Let it dry for at least 12 hours. Heat the stick shellac and allow it to drip into the scratch or dent. Rub the softened end of the stick back and forth across the damaged area. Finish with a matching oil stain applied with a soft brush.

Non-Skid Protective Coating for Brick Steps

Q: I have two brick steps at the side of my house that have become porous. Some time ago, I watched workers applying a non-skid cement coating on subway steps. This would be a perfect material to coat my brick steps.

I’ve checked and learned that the material I saw being used is made exclusively for transit systems by Edison Cement. Is there a similar product I can purchase and use at my home?

A: There are several products that will produce a non-skid protective coating for floors and steps. However, since a section of your steps is presumably on grade level, and subjected to freezing temperatures, it is important that the coating is able to “breathe” and not act as a vapor barrier.

The Sika Corp. has a product called Sikatop 121 Broadcast Overlay that can be applied to steps to produce a slip-resistant coating. It is an acrylic copolymer that allows vapor to pass through and thus will not trap moisture. Write to Sika Corp., 201 Polito Ave., Lyndhurst, N.J. 07071.

Surface preparation is very important for proper bonding. If the bricks are glazed or hard-burned, the surface must be roughened first. A wire brush mounted in an electric drill should do the job.

For further information on any home problem, write to Popular Mechanics, Readers Service Bureau, 224 West 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10019.