We used to keep a big container of fresh garlic in our refrigerator and the freezer picked up the smell. I have tried baking soda, a freezer filter, dumping the ice, replaced the water line, cleaned out the ice tray. Nothing has gotten rid of the yucky taste of garlic in the ice. The water even comes out tasting bad but gets better if you dump the first glass that comes out. Any plastic wrapping absorbs the garlic smell too. I'd really like to be able to use our ice and water dispensers. It's already a miracle that they're still working so I'd like to get some use out of them. Any ideas? Please help or my husband will threaten to get a new refrigerator LOL.
You could try (after you take everything out of the freezer) spraying the walls and shelves and everything with vinegar or a vinegar/water solution. You could probably try bleach instead, but I think the vinegar might do the trick.
Try vinegar and/or lemon juice.
Wipe down all surfaces with it, rinse, repeat a few times.
When I cook fish in my microwave - I use garlic - and the microwave smells of fish/garlic afterward but a lemon juice wipe down takes care of it and the smell is gone.
Tomato juice is the go to for removing the smell after being sprayed by a skunk - but I think anything acidic will help to get rid of lingering odors.
I would probably wiped down the freezer down with bleach water a few times a week until the odor is gone.
A baking soda container left inside the freezer for a month has always worked for me, including when my freezer smelled fishy. Thing is, it's not your freezer than is containing the smell, in my opinion, but something involved in the ice-making process, if the smell is coming down into your ice. Have you cleaned the icemaker dispenser itself? Here is an article that might come handy: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/sanitize-ice-maker-refrigera...
My husband had to fully clean our old water dispenser/ice maker on our old fridge. It was super old, and what had happened was a pea had somehow gotten into one of the tubes. It had clogged it. He was able to dismantle it all and fully clean it. I think he contacted the manufacturer's site and also watched some YouTube videos.
Go to the brand's web site and see if there are cleaning instructions there. The site might also have a live online chat feature where you could ask a staffer for help--I've done that before for appliances! Or email them the question. They surely have had similar "funky freezer" questions.
Home remedies if the maker can't help: I second trying vinegar. Use white vinegar, not cider vinegar (which can leave a brownish stain on some surfaces). Can you turn off the freezer separately and keep the fridge running...? If possible I would clear out the frozen food and totally defrost and turn off the freezer and I'd keep it off at least 24 hours-- you need to get it completely dry inside, then spray with a vinegar/water solution and let it sit, dry it up thoroughly and repeat a few times. I would replace the water line again and replace the ice tray rather than just cleaning it. Don't forget to treat the interior of the door as well. Then leave a shallow tray of baking soda in the dry fridge and prop the door open a wide crack. Yeah, you'll have to do without the freezer for a few days but removing all moisture and getting it dry to clean it could help. If you cannot turn off the freezer separately, just do the best defrost you can and get it dry inside as much as possible, then treat. The plastic interior lining has picked up the odor.
It's possible, though, that internal ice maker parts you can't (and shouldn't) try to reach might still carry the garlic funk. That's a question for the maker's web site.
