There's A Smart Reason To Put Kitty Litter In Your Refrigerator

Our refrigerators see a lot of traffic. With all the different kinds of foods coming in and out of there, there are a lot of different smells that go along with them. All those scents mixing together can leave you with a really stinky situation. That's why you should be putting kitty litter in your refrigerator. While it might sound a bit strange, it's a great method for sucking up unwanted odors.

When food gets smeared or spilled in our fridge, it can begin to smell if you don't clean it up right away. It can also get stuck in hard-to-clean places, which can lead to mildew and mold build-up that creates funky scents. If your refrigerator isn't well-ventilated this can also cause an unpleasant smell to accumulate since air circulates through your refrigerator and freezer to cool carrying the stench along with it. You should regularly clean your fridge, clear vents, and change any filters to combat stink. But even well-maintained refrigerators see a lot of smells that might not mix well, so it's important to employ some odor-absorbing tactics — that's where your kitty litter comes in.

For this kitchen hack, you'll need a bag of unscented kitty litter and a small container to place it in. Pour about one cup's worth of litter into the container. You'll want to place this container in the back of your refrigerator. If you prefer to use a closed container, just poke a few holes in it. You can also place it in a sock or stocking. The litter will work to suck up any unwanted scent in your fridge. Make sure that you replace the kitty litter every so often. It is recommended that you toss out the old litter and clean or discard the container about once each month.

You can use this method for various smelly or musty places in your house, such as garbage cans, basements, diaper pails, or attics. If you're using this method in more pungent places, you should be switching out your litter container more frequently, like once a week. Otherwise, it will grow damp and become lumpy, and it can even start to give off a smell of its own.

Kitty litter works in a similar way as baking soda does to deodorize your refrigerator by absorbing the bad smells from the air. This is because cat litter is made from granulated clay which sucks up and traps the moisture that's all around it and causes the stench. After cat litter absorbs the scent it will break down the bacteria causing it.

Pretty Litter reports that it was Edward Lowe who discovered these properties in clay pieces in the 1940s and started marketing it in 5 lb. bags calling it "kitty litter." His formula has pretty much stayed the same over the decades, as most cat litter still contains clay. However, improvements have been made to increase odor control qualities. Today's kitty litter also contains baking soda and even charcoal to tackle the smell of cat waste. If it can overcome those strong smells, then it will surely solve odor problems in your fridge.