freezer restoration

Check the rubber seals around the lid. Insert a dollar bill--or any piece of high-rag content paper. The seal should be tight enough that the paper won't budge.

As for the smell and the microscopic growth. Keep the lid open. Wash down the inside with a bleach solution. If the smell remains, wash again. Sprinkle baking soda on the bottom to absorb odor. Try the bleach wash again.

Three years of neglect may mean daily bleachings for three weeks. Good luck.

Excellent advice above! I might add that you shouldn't be afraid to go a bit strong on the bleach solution--caution--bleach is corrosive to certain metals, esp. aluminum.

Rust stains will be rust-colored, or dark brown.

Mildew will be black. Bleach will both kill the mildew, and its odor, and remove the black color.

Rust should be removed with a fluoride-type rust remover. An over the counter product which works is Whink. Caution--Whink is extremely dangerous, in my opinion! The label is not firm enough in my opinion.

Wear neoprene gloves, and goggles. Do not under any circumstances allow Whink (hydrofluoric acid) to come in contact with your skin. Hydrofluoric acid can cause severe, yet painless burns (this means that by the time you discover the burn, you're needing emergency surgery!

Always rinse and neutralize HF Acid with a strong alkaline. If you can't find a neutralizer, perhaps household ammonia will work (DON'T let ammonia anywhere near your bleach, or you'll create mustard gas and die!). READ YOUR WARNING LABELS!

If the rust is not severe, and you don't want to use HF acid, try lemon juice. Fresh, or ReaLemon concentrate will be OK.

Now, back to your freezer--you will want it "on" in order for air circulation. However, if it freezes, then your cleaning and deodorization steps won't be effective. So you may have to leave it off, but with the door open for a few days (you'll probably need to do the bleach treatment on each of several days).

While you're waiting for the bleach to work, access the coils and clean the dust off of them. Use a good Dyson vacuum with bristle brush attachment. Gently vacuum/brush the dust off the coils.

If the coils are dented up, buy a fin straightening tool ($5-10) and gently open the fins back up. This is imperitive for efficient operation.

General Tsao