Mini USB Fridge Deodorizer - Portable Rechargeable Refrigerator Deodorizer Reusable - Refrigerator Odor Eliminator for Fridge, Car, Closet, Wardrobe, More Effective Than Baking Soda and Charcoal Bags

My mother has had an ozone generator for decades, one she got from Avon, ages ago. It is clunky and takes up as much room as a beer can. Why would someone waste beer space when that space could hold beer? I knew that device kept her fridge smelling nice and the ice was always tasteless. So, I ordered this item that I am reviewing. I was dubious, at best, mostly because of its tiny size. There was no way that this small device could handle my refrigerator, with the broccoli, cauliflower, occasional sliced onion, fresh fruit, and left-over foods. (Hint: It does)While these foodstuffs are in containers, bags, etc., odors will leach out into the refrigerator, regardless. I will clarify that I keep fresh vegetables in ventilated produce bags and leftovers in sealed containers, yet those odors would come together for one powerful chorus of "Who's your daddy?" Once those odors are loose, the ice in the freezer would taste like it was made with swamp water! Now, who has time and money to waste on changing out clunky boxes of baking soda or big pouches of activated charcoal? I don't. Plus, I am forgetful and will not remember to change those items for months on end.I read and distilled reviews on several devices and settled on this one. I am glad I did. When I received it, I charged it fully, then read the instruction booklet. I didn't have to, but I set the device to high-power for an hour, with the blue light blinking every second. I then switched it to "maintenance" low-mode, so the pink light would pulse every few seconds telling me it was in low-mode. I checked the refrigerator and could, at first, smell the ozone doing its job, but after the device went into low mode, there was no smell. None at all. I couldn't smell the green smell of produce nor could I smell the faint aroma of a sliced onion from its container. I opened the freezer and was hit with cold fresh air, but no lingering smell of a refrigerator. It works!Here is what I do: I leave the device in low-mode and place it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, visible when I open the door. This way, I notice it right away, so I am always reminded to observe its operating mode and to check my calendar to see when I should charge it. Besides, the vents for the crispers are right below the bottom shelf and benefit from the ozone generation to combat the ethylene gas that the food produces, which causes ripening (and eventual rot) to occur. In low mode, it will run about 30 days and in high-power mode, about three days. I charge it every three weeks because after I charge it, I put it in high-power mode for an hour, set an alarm, then switch the device back to low mode. I know that once you turn it on, it puts itself into high power mode for half an hour, then switches back to maintenance, unless you intentionally set it to high-mode and leave it there. After turning on, pressing the button alternates between high and low mode. Long press turns it on or off. However, I want to "shock the fridge," and compensate for having it in there for the charging time and the opening of the door to remove and replace the unit.How well does it handle prolonging produce life, in addition to mitigating odors? Well, I notice that the spinach, berries, green onions, grapes last longer. They are in vented produce bags, so their odors didn't mingle too much anyway, but they don't trade flavors, now, as they were prone to do. And the ice. I make it with filtered water anyway, but it tastes like nothing, now. That is a huge benefit. I am happy with this little gem and if you need something like this in your life, then it will likely please you, as well.Do you need this very model? Well, if you follow the written instructions, it will do what it is supposed to. Don't expect it to do what it isn't designed to do, then give it a scathing review because it didn't do something completely out of scope. Read some reviews, read EVERYTHING in the seller or manufacturer's posting, and make up your mind. Will this little darling deodorize your RV or walk-in clothes closet? No. No, it won't. There is too much free air and open space. Will it slow the ripening in a fruit bowl that is out in the open? Probably not, due to air currents and the vastness of an open area. Now, will it deodorize a gym bag or personal locker with your most comfortably worn and smelly shoes and work-out gear? Yes, yes it will. Will it deodorize your car? Maybe. Perhaps. Would it deodorize your refrigerator? Definitely. Oh, yeah, don't put it in the freezer--that is out of scope and freezing the battery will cause it to fail. Don't do that. Using it within the scope of its design, you need this in your life; you really do.

Before I found these I was pretty sure I would have to buy a new fridge, because despite several tries I’d had zero success eliminating a persistent odor that was causing our household to have to throw away lots of food well before expiration or using them up.Within a couple of days of putting these units to work, the problem was 100% solved!Our refrigerator and freezer developed a bad smell that had been persisting for well over two years. I think it was the cumulative result of a series of situations where vegetables had rotted down to liquid in the crisper drawer on multiple occasions when we ended up away longer than expected for nearly two-month periods, and other multiple times when foods tucked away in the back of the fridge had gotten moldy.The smell had gotten so bad that items like stick and whipped butter in the fridge, and frozen pizza, waffles, ice pops, and ice cream regularly had to be thrown away within just a couple of weeks’ storage because they would develop off flavors. Even sealing vulnerable items like tubs of whipped butter in zip-lock bags didn’t do much to add to their usable life.I’d already tried keeping multiple open boxes of baking soda and other specialized baking-soda based fridge deodorizer products in the fridge and freezer, to no avail. I even emptied and scrubbed the whole fridge with a baking soda solution a couple of times, but within a few days the odor was back.I guessed that whatever was causing the smell had gotten into the fridge’s air circulation system or whatever other hidden mechanical parts, perhaps the compressor itself, created the environment inside the fridge and freezer, and waa afraid there might be no way ro fix the problem short of throwing out the unit and buying a new one. Which was a particularly bad solution since we’re renting, the fridge belongs to the landlord, any new fridge we would buy would become his, and we expect to move within the next 12-18 months.Desperate for a solution, I searched the internet for info and suggestions, then looked on Amazon. There were plenty of products made with plant-based materials or other alternatives that claimed to do a better job than baking soda. But even those with the best overall reviews had a sizable share from other people who said they didn’t help at all or the results proved short-lived.Reviews for this Mini USB fridge deodorizer were among the best overall. And I was intrigued by its completely different approach to the problem, and the facts that it was a more active solution and didn’t need to be continually replaced. So I ordered 2 of them.They are quick to charge, easy to operate, and came with simple, clearly written instructions.There are two settings - one that emits ozone more frequently to deal with the probleminitially; another for ongoing “maintenance” that discharges ozone on a less frequent schedule allowing it to run longer between recharging.Given how bad the problem was and how long it had persisted despite all the previous attempts to get rid of the odor, I was hopeful but didn’t expect quick results, if the unit would even work at all.Boy, was I delightedly surprised! Within 24 hours of putting one deodorizer in the fridge and then a few hours later, the other in the freezer, the smell was very noticeably diminished. The day after that, it was completely gone! It’s now been over 5 weeks, I switched both units to the maintenance setting three weeks ago, and the fridge and freezer are still perfectly odorless.My grown son who lives with me has sensory issues, is acutely sensitive smells, and for years has refused to open the fridge or freezer and take out ANYTHING for himself because of odors. This was the case even before the problem “off” smell developed, just because he also couldn’t deal with even the slightest hint of any sealed up leftovers or cheeses in the fridge.Now he has no problems at all with opening the fridge. Even when I had some leftover Chinese food with a pretty overpowering garlic sauce smell, I just switched the USB deodorizer back to the higher setting, and voila! - No more scent of leftovers at all.Needless to say, I’m thoroughly delighted - as well as quite surprised, honestly - at how amazingly effective these little electronic deodorizers are. They’re also very quick to recharge.I heartily recommend them - they are miracle-workers!

I’ve been using this in my refrigerator for just under a month, and so far it seems to be doing what it claims. It’s definitely producing ozone; O3 has a distinctive order, easy to recognize if you’ve smelled it before. Ozone is effective at removing certain odors because the third oxygen atom tends to break off the molecule and bond with other compounds. I’ve used a much larger ozone generator to remove smoke odors from a used car, and it worked very well.My one complaint is that the single indicator light is not terribly useful. The device has three modes (off, normal, and maximum), and I’ve had difficulty verifying which mode is active. Another light or two with good labeling would easily have solved this flaw