Chill Mama Kitchen Gadget Review - Is she better than a bowl full of bicarb?

Kitchen Gadget #1 - Chill Mama - Fridge Deodoriser

This gadget is the sister to the popular Angry Mama, that's steaming head powers up to clean your microwave. 

What does Chill Mama do? Chill Mama is effectively a reusable container that holds up to 150g of Baking soda. Keeping Baking soda in your fridge is a great trick to keep your fridge smelling fresh. It absorbs any funky smells that may be making your fridge smell musty, stale and anything but fresh.

The most frugal way is to get an old bowl / container, without a lid and fill it with Baking soda. Put it at the back of the fridge and make a note to change it out for a fresh batch every month (I've been doing this for years). It's as simple as that. The way Chill Mama works is that you fill her body up with bicarb soda and the several holes in her head allow the bicarb to absorb any bad smells. Two things I liked about Chill Mama, she has a built in calendar, you just turn the dial to the right month, so you can keep track of when the baking soda needs replacing and no one will mistake her for food that needs to be thrown out. 

Whilst chill Mama is quite cool looking and something people might ask about the next time they look in your fridge, she isn't budget or frugal friendly and she definitely isn't a necessity. I was lucky to find her at a local bargain centre for $4, but online I've only seen her priced between $8 and $22. There is NO WAY I would have paid anywhere near those prices and the more I think about this gadget, the more I realise that even at $4.00 it's still a lot of money, particularly if you're trying to pay down debt. A bowl & baking /bicarb soda is definitely still the best and cheapest way to achieve the same result and you'll still have at least $4 in your pocket to put toward something else.

On the plus side, she is still cheaper that buying boxes of one time use 'Fridge deodoriser' like that made by Arm & Hammer, which is $5 a box. Which you need to buy and replace each month.

Since I've bought her she will live in my fridge and be my new deodoriser container. If you can buy her for $4 or less a piece, she would make a great gift. If you want to make your own fridge deodoriser, check out my below video to see how you can make a reusable fridge deodoriser with a built in calendar out of 2 paper cups and a permanent marker.

What are your thoughts, would you buy her or make your own?

If you're in Victoria, Australia here is a link to the bargain depot that I visited and where I purchased all of the kitchen gadgets that i'll be reviewing over the next few weeks. 

http://www.bargaindepotclearance.com.au/m.stores.php 

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