This Adorable Kitchen Gadget Will Help Keep Your Fridge Smelling Great for Months

When you open the door to your fridge, the last thing you want is for the smell of last week's fish and chips to hit you like a bag of bricks (or in this case, takeout). While cleaning out your fridge regularly can help prevent this (experts recommend doing it once a season), there's another workaround you might want to consider, and it's known as the Chilly Mama.

Available for $15 on Amazon, this palm-sized kitchen gadget can help tackle some big odor problems you might have lurking within the darkest caverns of your fridge. The way it works is simple, yet based on the sheer number of positive reviews for this 4.6-star-rated pick, remarkably effective. All you need to do is pop Ms. Mama's head and hair off, fill the enclosed canister with baking soda (or activated charcoal) up to the designated line, and then put her back together and slip her in cold storage. From there, the Chilly Mama will work some magic, keeping your fridge delightfully odor-free for up to three months at a time, depending on its size and how much food is crammed in there. When it's time for a refill, you'll know it, as there's a timer built into her hair.

More than 700 Amazon reviewers have given this odor-eating gizmo a try, and many claim it gets the job done. "She is the physical manifestation of how I feel every time I open the fridge," wrote one customer of the Chilly Mama, which is the sister spin-off of the Angry Mama ($9 on Amazon), a popular microwave-cleaning apparatus. "I had found rotten meat and dairy in my fridge, and the smell could knock you out," another shopper wrote of the Chilly Mama. "After cleaning, I put the Chilly Mama in with the activated charcoal and in hours, the smell was gone! Not masked or lightened, but gone!!"

You don't have to confine this item to just a shelf or crisper drawer, either. According to the brand, you can tuck it away safely in a freezer or cooler for similar effect. Sure, technically you could just buy a box of baking soda, wedge it in the back of your icebox, and call it a day. But with the Chilly Mama, you can have some fun along the way, and at $15, it's still a budget-friendly solution to a common household grievance. Grab it now on Amazon, and consider bundling your order up with the Angry Mama for maximum chuckles—and most importantly, results.

Sign Up Today: Get exclusive deals, product news, reviews, and more with the Mental Floss Smart Shopping newsletter!