How to keep your refrigerator clean
Your refrigerator holds you food, so keeping it clean is pretty important, and yet it is a task most of us dread. Old food is gross. The following are some ways to keep your refrigerator cleaning by taking a few simple steps daily, weekly, and seasonally:
Daily-
On a daily basis, if you spill anything in your refrigerator, wipe it up right away before it has a chance to dry and harden on. This is fast and simple and saves you a lot of hassle later.
Make sure that anything you put into the refrigerator is nice and clean. Wipe off the rims of jelly jars, ketchup bottles, salad dressing bottles, etc. before putting them into your fridge.
Each day do a quick sweep of the fridge to make sure nothing is spoiled or past its expiration, if something is, throw it out immediately.
Place anything that is likely to drip or leak on to a rimmed plate, items like berries, defrosting meat, etc. would qualify.
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Weekly-
Wipe down the outside of the fridge, the door, the top, the handles, and the edges. You will want to use a damp cloth with a mild dish soap. Be sure to pay special attention to the handles are they often have sticky hand prints.
If you have a stainless steel fridge, use the proper cleaning material, and wipe in the direction of the grain.
Seasonally-
Once every season you will want to clean the actual shelves and drawers in your fridge. To do this you will want to remove all food an put in an ice chest so it stays good. Then turn off the fridge, let it cool to room temperature, then remove shelves and clean. You want to let them get to room temp first so that they do not crack when you try to wash them.
Next, use a cleaning solution to wipe down the inside of the refrigerator box. A good solution to use is 2 tablespoons baking soda, one quart hot water. You do not want to use soap or detergent as it might leave behind an odor, and foods absorb odors, and take on that taste.
You will want to remove any caked on food by soaking it for a while. You will also want to soak shelves and drawers for a nice good clean. After which you will want to let them dry thoroughly, or use a towel to dry them before replacing them in the fridge.
Be sure to clean the door seals as they collect crumbs and a sticky residue, and can weaken the seal and give your fridge an inferior ability to cool.
You will also want to take special care to clean the drip pan, as it often gets quite dirty. You will want to let this air dry before you replace the grill.
If you follow these simple ways of cleaning, and keeping your refrigerator clean, you will never have to be embarrassed by it, or worried and dreading the day you have to clean out all those moldy containers of leftovers and dried on spills. It is a dirty job, but you have to do it, so why not do it a little at a time, and have a better result?
Remember to daily, weekly, and seasonally give your fridge the attention it deserves for a nice cleaning, and refreshing so that you can store your foods without worrying about contaminating them.
