--- title: "Ice Tastes or Smells Bad: Causes and Fixes" description: "The ice tastes bad or smells stale, musty, of plastic or of whatever else is in the freezer, even though a glass of tap water tastes fine." url: "https://icemakerrepair.center/problems/ice-tastes-or-smells-bad/" --- # Ice Tastes or Smells Bad The ice tastes bad or smells stale, musty, of plastic or of whatever else is in the freezer, even though a glass of tap water tastes fine. ## What it usually means. Ice picks up taste in three places. The water itself can carry it: an old filter, a new plastic supply line, or a well or softener feeding the kitchen. The storage can add it: cubes sitting in an open bin for weeks absorb odors from the air around them, and a door ice compartment breathes the same air as the freezer. And on an undercounter unit the water system can grow a film of slime in the trough, the tubing and the drain, which gives the ice a musty or earthy note long before anything is visible. Tasting the water from the dispenser beside a cube from the bin is the fastest way to tell the water from the storage. The 5 causes, cheapest first Answer these first 01 Does water from the door dispenser taste bad as well, or only the ice? 02 Does the ice smell like the food stored near it, or musty and earthy? 03 How long do the cubes usually sit in the bin before they are used? 04 Is the supply line new, or has the filter gone unchanged for more than its rated months? 05 On an undercounter unit, is there any pink, black or slippery film in the bin or on the water trough? ## Check these before you book. Ice tastes bad: 5 checks, and none of them costs anything. 01 Pour a glass from the dispenser and taste it beside a cube from the bin; the answer tells you whether it is the water or the storage. 02 Throw out all the ice, wash the bin in warm soapy water, rinse and dry it before putting it back. 03 Replace the water filter if it is due, and run several glasses through before trying the ice again. ### Also worth checking - Cover strong foods and clean out anything spoiled near the ice bin. - On an undercounter unit, run the cleaning cycle from the manual and look for film on the trough and in the bin. ### How soon does it need a visit? Bad-tasting ice is not urgent. Discard the ice, wash the bin and change the filter first. Book a visit if the taste returns, or if an undercounter unit shows slime that comes back soon after cleaning. ## The causes, cheapest first. 5 things ice tastes or smells bad turns out to be, from old ice absorbing freezer odors to door ice compartment seal letting air in. [The cost guide](https://icemakerrepair.center/cost/) 1. 01 no repair ### Old ice absorbing freezer odors Cubes left in the bin for weeks take on the smell of the food around them. Throwing out the old ice and washing the bin often clears it. No repair: check it yourself 2. 02 lowest ### Filter past its rating A spent carbon filter stops removing the chlorine and the tastes it was bought to catch, and it can add a stale note of its own. [Fixed by water filter and supply line service](https://icemakerrepair.center/services/water-filter-and-supply-line-service/) 3. 03 low ### New plastic line or fitting A new plastic line can give the first ice a plastic taste. It usually fades after the line has been flushed through; a line that keeps tasting is worth replacing with braided steel. [Fixed by water filter and supply line service](https://icemakerrepair.center/services/water-filter-and-supply-line-service/) 4. 04 low to moderate ### Slime in an undercounter water system Undercounter units hold standing water in the trough and the tubing between batches. A film grows there, especially where cleaning has been skipped, and it gives the ice a musty taste. [Fixed by undercounter ice maker cleaning and descaling](https://icemakerrepair.center/services/undercounter-ice-maker-cleaning-and-descaling/) [On an undercounter ice maker](https://icemakerrepair.center/types/undercounter-ice-maker-repair/) 5. 05 low to moderate ### Door ice compartment seal letting air in A door ice maker is closed off by its own small door and gasket. When that seal gaps, humid kitchen and cabinet air reaches the ice and brings its smells with it. [Fixed by ice bin and door seal repair](https://icemakerrepair.center/services/ice-bin-and-door-seal-repair/) [On a door ice maker](https://icemakerrepair.center/types/door-ice-maker-repair/) 6. What it costs ### Every repair on the site's cost scale, side by side Open the cost guide ## What else it could be. Most often confused with cloudy or discolored ice, then ice clumped or frozen in the bin. [All problems](https://icemakerrepair.center/problems/) Codes that come with it - [`Water filter symbol` Bertazzoni · Mode, not a failure](https://icemakerrepair.center/error-codes/bertazzoni-water-filter-symbol/) - [`Replace Filter light` Café · Mode, not a failure](https://icemakerrepair.center/error-codes/cafe-replace-filter-light/) - [`Filter indicator blinking red` Dacor · Mode, not a failure](https://icemakerrepair.center/error-codes/dacor-filter-indicator-blinking/) - [`Water Filter Status` Frigidaire · Mode, not a failure](https://icemakerrepair.center/error-codes/frigidaire-water-filter-status/) - [`Replace filter` Fulgor Milano · Mode, not a failure](https://icemakerrepair.center/error-codes/fulgor-milano-replace-filter/) - [`EMPTY WATER FROM ICE BIN` Fulgor Milano · Mode, not a failure](https://icemakerrepair.center/error-codes/fulgor-milano-empty-water-from-ice-bin/) [17 more codes, by make](https://icemakerrepair.center/error-codes/) Also related - [**Ice Maker Light Flashing** 6 causes](https://icemakerrepair.center/problems/ice-maker-light-flashing/) ### Cloudy or Discolored Ice 6 causes ### Ice Clumped or Frozen in the Bin 5 causes ### Undercounter Ice Maker Not Draining 5 causes ## The makes it happens on. 27 makes on this site; ice tastes or smells bad can show up on any of them. Each mark opens that make's own page. [All 27 brands](https://icemakerrepair.center/brands/) ## Ice Tastes or Smells Bad, where we come out. 9 metros, each with its own page. 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[Sea Cliff](https://icemakerrepair.center/locations/bay-area/sea-cliff/) - [Hillsborough](https://icemakerrepair.center/locations/bay-area/hillsborough/) - [Atherton](https://icemakerrepair.center/locations/bay-area/atherton/) - [Woodside](https://icemakerrepair.center/locations/bay-area/woodside/) - [Palo Alto](https://icemakerrepair.center/locations/bay-area/palo-alto/) - [Los Altos Hills](https://icemakerrepair.center/locations/bay-area/los-altos-hills/) - [Tiburon](https://icemakerrepair.center/locations/bay-area/tiburon/) - [Piedmont](https://icemakerrepair.center/locations/bay-area/piedmont/) - [Marina](https://icemakerrepair.center/locations/bay-area/marina/) For the heart of your home. ## Questions about ice tastes or smells bad. ### The ice tastes fine at first but bad after a week. Why? That is storage. Ice is porous enough to take up smells from the freezer air. If you use little ice, switching the ice maker off for a while keeps the bin from filling with old cubes. ### Is musty ice from an undercounter unit safe? A musty or earthy taste usually means film is growing in the water system. Stop using the ice, run the cleaning cycle and book a cleaning if the taste or the film comes back. ### Does a baking soda box near the ice help? It helps a little with freezer odors in general. It does not fix a spent filter or a film in the water system, so treat it as a supplement to cleaning. ### We installed a water softener and the ice tastes different. Is that normal? A softener changes what is in the water, and some people notice it in ice first. If it bothers you, ask your water treatment installer about a bypass line for the kitchen. --- **[Read on the site: Ice Tastes or Smells Bad: Causes and Fixes](https://icemakerrepair.center/problems/ice-tastes-or-smells-bad/)** **[Book a visit with IceMakerRepair.center](https://icemakerrepair.center/schedule/)**