Lovely guests, they even washed out the tiny jelly jar, BUT – they left a take out container of roasted brussel sprouts in the dorm fridge for 4 days. Ugh smelly. Turned off, wiped out with baking soda & water, then white vinegar, but plastic innards have absorbed odor. Any additional suggestions? I’ve got some time until check in tomorrow. Crumpled newspaper maybe? Charcoal briquettes? The butter, and even the sealed yogurt containers and cheese sticks in plastic smell bad, etc., so it’s all being tossed or turned into dog snacks.
I’d buy a new dorm fridge and put the old one in my space or sell it on craigslist (after it airs out) before I’d spend all that time. I just spent 10 minutes working on cleaning dog hair off a duvet cover, seemed like I was making no progress then said to myself “my time is worth more than this” and ordered a replacement on amazon.
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baking soda. toss the food out and then scrub the inside of the fridge with baking soda, rinse with vinegar, then water, then put the fridge back on and keep a box of open soda open overnight.
I’d also mention this in review. I had guests who forgot food in the microwave on sun. last night coming from work i was like what’s this smell in the kitchen? Took the trash out but the smell persisted. Only when I wanted to heat up something I discovered a piece of steak on a plate which by now had a cover of white fuzzy mold.
Man, I wont allow these people back!
My wife says, spray the inside of the fridge with Febreze fabric-scent spray. She has done this in the past and claims it works.
I suggest wiping the inside with liquid bleach.
Or do both.
I second Adrienne’s suggestion. If that doesn’t work, you’ll need an old priest and a young priest.
Guests don’t have access to my kitchen or I would blame them for letting a 5lb bag of potatoes go to mush. It took me forever to figure out where that stinky-stank was coming from!
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LOL! …
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You owe me a keyboard…!
JF
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To be more accurate, it’s a 4.5 cu fit Haier, so too expensive to just replace! Thanks for tips, everyone.
Nothing whatsoever to add - I just love the title - Brussel Sprout Emergency. Brilliant 
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Baking Soda… the miracle odor remover after cleaning!
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If baking soda doesn’t work try charcoal,
and/or Nature’s Miracle Enzyme Cleaner (both can be found at pet supply stores).
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Coffee grounds work great too!
Bleach. Works like a charm. Then leave a box of baking soda.
Curious if anything actually worked for the OP. The refrigerator in my listing still smells of garlic from the month-to-month renters that moved out almost 10 months ago (6 months before listing on Airbnb). The refrigerator has been washed with diluted bleach water 4 times and a box of baking soda left in it all the time.
I know that the reason the smell is still there is because there is so much surface area that you can’t access to clean (inside the ducts between the refrigerator and freezer, etc.).
The smell isn’t super strong, but it’s there, and obviously, if it’s there it can get into foods that are not sealed and stored in the refrigerator for a few hours. I haven’t tried the fabreeze spray idea, yet, but I worry the chemical might get on food and be worse than the odor I’m trying to get rid of.
I do have a more sensitive nose that most people I know, and no guests have complained, so I think for now I’m going to just keep replacing the box of baking soda in there every 2 weeks and hope it just continues to dissipate.
baking soda wash, white vinegar, rinse, baking soda bowl overnight worked pretty well. The silicone ice cube trays were stubborn, soaked them in water + lemon juice
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Charcoal.
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