Cleaning and Maintaining Your Refrigerator

Yes, it’s that time again; time to clean your refrigerator. Here are some tips for making the dreaded task of cleaning the refrigerator easier and to help speed up the process.

First, remove everything from the inside of the refrigerator. As you are removing the food, containers and condiments and bottles, throw away anything that is out of date or expired.

Next, remove fruit, vegetable and meat drawers and wash with hot, soapy water and dry. Now, using a sponge or wet cloth and a bit of baking soda wipe down all shelves and walls inside the refrigerator. Using a dry dish towel, dry the inside of the refrigerator and replace all drawers and shelves.

Sprinkle a bit of baking soda powder in each drawer and place the opened box on the top shelf in the back. Replace all food and other items that were not discarded in the first step.

Finally, wipe down the outside of your refrigerator including, front, sides, and handles and you’re done! That wasn’t so hard now was it?

With the following maintenance tips you’ll be able to do a quick cleaning of your refrigerator, making a deep cleaning necessary less often.

- Instead of wrapping your leftovers in aluminum foil or plastic wrap, use plastic food containers.
- Every three months, replace your box of baking soda. Better yet, pick up one of the newer stick up type baking soda fresheners that will alert you when it’s time to change it.
- Set your refrigerator’s cooling temperature at the manufacturers suggested setting.
- Place your fresh vegetables in a plastic zipper bag to keep their freshness longer.
- Once a month, defrost your freezer and place a box of baking soda in the back.
- Don’t buy refrigerated items in bulk. If an item can’t be frozen, only buy what you’ll need for the current week or month. This will avoid foods from getting pushed to the back of your refrigerator and forgotten.

Using the tips above to clean and maintain your refrigerator will aid in making the process less time consuming and stressful. Who knows you might not put it off so much either.