How To Clean A Stinky Yeti Cooler

Yeti coolers are designed for the rough outdoors. Whether it be hunting, fishing or camping with the family over time your Yeti cooler may hold some smells awesome ideas that you want to get rid of.

Maybe you're like me and you came home from a camping trip and thought to yourself "I'll just clean the cooler tomorrow" only to find the cooler five days later because there is a terrible smell coming from the garage.

With great trepidation and fear you open your cooler to be hit in the face with a smell no person should experience, plus the beautiful sight of mold growing everywhere inside your cooler.

If your Yeti cooler is starting to smell and has odors that you can't seem to get rid of them in this article I will share with you exactly how to get rid of those strong odours so your yeti cooler smells fresh and new and you're not scared to open it or use it.

Step 1: Rinse Well

The first step is to rinse your cooler well to get rid of any old bits of food or any loose mold that is growing in your cooler.

I like to take my yeti cooler outside and spray it with the hose. I turn the hose on high so I can get the highest pressure of water possible.

I first loosely rinse the cooler all over and then I move the hose closer to the cooler to wash away any dirt that is sticking to the cooler.

Step 2: Wash Well

Once you've rinsed your cooler you want to go ahead and give it a thorough cleaning. I've done a full detailed article on the different easy ways to clean your Yeti cooler so go ahead and check that out if you want to learn about the best ways to clean your Yeti.

Below is a short summary of that article and some different cleaning techniques that you can use.

You want to make sure that your cooler is completely clean before going onto the next step which will remove the odors.

Soapy Water (with or Without Bicarb Soda)

If your cooler isn't too dirty or to moldy then simply getting some hot soapy water and filling up your cooler and giving it a good scrub can be a great way to clean and sanitise your cooler.

Some people like to add bicarb soda to the detergent as they feel this cleans the cooler better, when my cooler isn't too yucky then I personally just use soapy water and if it's really bad then I'll use high-pressure soap spray or bleach.

Vinegar and Bicarb Soda

Some people like to stay away from chemicals and stick to more natural ingredients and for those people vinegar and bicarb soda are a great combination and are a great cleaner.

Bleach

To tackle mould and other stains that might be in the cooler you can use bleach.

Mix bleach with water at a 1 to 6 ratio and use a sponge to apply it all over your cooler and leave to dry.

The bleach itself may be enough to remove the odors from your cooler or you may need to take some further steps.

High Pressure Spray

One of the easiest and most effective ways to clean your cooler is with a high-pressure spray.

You can hire or buy one to use at home or you can simply go down to your local self service car wash and use their high-pressure sprays. This will only cost you a couple of dollars and it's amazing how well he can clean the cooler.

This is also one of the most effective ways to get hard stains out of your Yeti cooler.

Step 3: Spray Throughly With Clorox Anywhere Spray or Cooler Reviver

Once your cooler is clean and dry then get some Clorox Anywhere Spray and spray all over the inside of your cooler and leave open to dry.

This spray contains sodium hypochlorite which is a component of bleach that won't stain your clothes. Apply it to the inside of your cooler and leave to dry and this will remove most smells and odors.

Alternatively you can use Lethal Cooler Reviver which is a product specifically designed for removing those bad odours that accumulate inside coolers.

To use simply spray the Lethal Cooler Reviver all over the inside of your cooler and give it a good scrub with a sponge. Then leave it for 10 minutes and rinse thoroughly and then leave your cooler to dry.

If the odor is really bad then apply 8 to 10 ounces of Lethal Cooler Reviver to your cooler and then fill the cooler two thirds with water and leave to soak for 3 hours or longer.

Then tip out the water, rinse your cooler thoroughly and leave to dry.

Step 4: Repeat if Required

If you follow the steps and you're still finding that your cooler has a smell that you can't get rid of you can go ahead and repeat the steps again and that should do the trick.

Other Ways To Get Smells Out of Your Yeti Cooler

If you're finding the above method doesn't work or if you want some other ideas on how to get odors out of your Yeti cooler than below are some other ways that you can get rid of those bad smells.

2-3 Tablespoons of Vanilla

Once you've cleaned your cooler put in 2 to 3 tablespoons of vanilla essence and leave to soak for a few days. Then rinse the cooler well and you have a cooler that smells deliciously like vanilla instead of old moldy fish.

Wad a Bunch of Newspapers and Leave For a Few Days

I don't know how this works but I saw this suggestion multiple times across the internet.

Apparently if you scrunch up a bunch of newspapers and put it inside your cooler and close the lid and leave it for a few days the newspapers will absorb the smells in your cooler and leave your cooler smelling nice.

Put a Dish of (Clean) Kitty Litter Inside

Kitty litter is great at absorbing smells so put a dish of kitty litter into the bottom of your cooler to allow it to absorb the bad smells. After a few days tip out the kitty litter and rinse your cooler thoroughly.

It goes without saying, but make sure you use clean kitty litter not kitty litter that your cat has already done its business in.

Expose The Inside To The Sun

The sun is actually great at killing a lot of odors and leaving your cooler open and outside in direct sunlight can both air out the cooler and also neutralize a lot of the smells in the cooler.

Charcoal Briquettes, Baking Soda or Coffee Grounds

There are a bunch of different things that can absorb odors.

Charcoal briquettes, baking soda or coffee grounds are all good at absorbing odours. Put some of these in your cooler (ideally one at a time not all of them mixed together) and leave for a few days before tipping out and rinsing your cooler well.

Personally I think I would choose the coffee grounds because I absolutely love coffee and love the smell of coffee so I would not be complaining if my cooler smelt like a strong almond latte.

Rub Lemons On Your Cooler

Lemons can also be used to neutralize the smells in your cooler. People suggest cutting lemons in half and then rubbing the lemons on the inside walls of your cooler and leaving it to dry out and then rinsing the cooler afterwards.

Did You Get Rid of Your Cooler Smell?

Did these tips help? Were you able to get rid of rotten and disgusting smells in your cooler?

Or do you have another suggestion and way to remove bad smells from your Yeti that we haven't included here?

If so please let us know in the comments section down below.