Getting Rid of Musty Smell: Cooler

No Febreeze! It can break down those coolers.

Once you wash it and dry it, open a box of Baking soda and put the box in there and close the top
Or

Once you wash it and dry it. Place some dry newspaper in there and let it just sit

Or also sometimes use a cup of coffee grounds, it absorbs odors

FYI, All of these are also how you store a refrigerator. You clean it out really well. Once it is all dried, with no moisture. Place newspaper in it with coffee grounds. or Baking soda. It will be ready to use when you take it out of storage,

What is a soft sided cooler bag? Is it an ice chest with a cloth other shell? I wash that stuff with dish soap and water, then rinse. Do you have a porch you can set it out on or a garage? If it is warm enough put it in the garage to dry. Hang it upside down to drain the water.

Wash it in the washing machine with bleach in the water. Put it in the bathtub or kitchen sink in water with bleach in it.

If it's soft sided it's washable. I wash mine all the time.

Front loader washers have little drawers, add a little bleach in that container.

Top loader washer, start the water, add detergent, add a couple of table spoons of bleach to the water and swish it around. When it gets half full add the cooler and get it started agitating quickly. It only needs a couple of minutes of agitation. That will get the cracks and crevices wet and stuff will come loose.

Let it air dry or put it in the dryer on very low heat for about 10 minutes then hang it to dry.

Scented stuff will ONLY make your food taste nasty.

My suggestion is making soda, charcoal or damp rid

Good luck

My husband left a cooler in the car with water inside. It got really nasty and the whole thing smelled. I washed it with dish soap and then sprayed with vinegar--twice. It did not smell like vinegar. I use it all the time and have never had a vinegar after effect.

Vinegar doesn't leave a smell after it dries, but extensive sunshine will eventually break down the plastic. We have a soft cooler bag that also gets musty. I dissolve some borax in water to spray it inside and out (cleans and sweetens), rub it around, and rinse.

The I spray it heavily with vinegar, followed by a strong solution of dissolved baking soda (or washing soda) in water before the vinegar dries. (You can reverse these and do the soda solution first).

The baking soda foams up when it connects with the vinegar. While this is actually the cleaning action of the two solutions neutralizing each other (so it's not usually too helpful to mix these in advance), that foaming action does help clean tight corners and creases. Air drying should then be enough.

Hope you get a satisfactory green solution!

Febreze and things like that just mask the smell, and you're right that they can cause other problems.

Use dish soap just to get rid of any food residue or visible dirt. If there needs to be any scrubbing involved, you can also use baking soda, then rinse clean. White vinegar is also terrific, and if you rinse it, it won't smell afterwards. If there's a smell inside the pockets, dip the whole thing in a bucket of vinegar & water (about 1 cup vinegar to a gallon of water, or more if you think you need a little extra power). Then stuff some newspaper in the pockets to let some air in there, so things dry without creating more smell.

Even if the "finished product" smelled a little vinegar-y, the vinegar is better for your friend than the musty and mildew-y smell!) And yes, let it sit in the sun when you are done, but only when it's good and clean.

I only use baking soda or vinegar for cleaning pretty much anything - plus a basic dish soap for something oily. You don't need any of those other high priced cleaners which are just chemicals or a version of what you would make yourself with the basics.