How to Clean a Refrigerator
Is your fridge scary? Get it sparkling clean in 5 easy steps from the Domestic CEO.
The refrigerator is the hub of the kitchen. It’s where our friends know they can go to grab a bubbly beverage and it’s the place where we keep all our good intentions of healthy eating – literally.
So why is this appliance so easily forgotten when we do our weekly cleaning? I’ve been in many homes that are relatively clean, but the inside of the fridge is a nasty, sticky mess.
If you want to make sure that you and your guests don’t recoil in horror when you open the door of your refrigerator, these tips are for you. I’m going to break down the process of cleaning a refrigerator into 5 easy steps so you can get it done in no time flat!
Step #1: Prepare
The first step to cleaning a refrigerator actually has nothing to do with the fridge itself.
You first want to prepare your kitchen. Depending on how full or messy your fridge is, cleaning it out can require a decent amount of counter space. Clear your counters so you have room to set food items and parts from your fridge as needed, and make sure your sink is empty so you are able to hand wash the shelves and other parts you’re going to remove from the fridge.
Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by NatureBox. Discover smarter snacking with a new NatureBox each month. Get your first box FREE when you go to NatureBox.com/qdt.
I’d also recommend having an empty trash bag ready for all the expired food you’re inevitably going to find and throw away. Even if you don’t think you have expired food, have the bag ready just in case. Expiration dates can quickly pass on items you don’t use often. Take this opportunity to toss any condiments that expired more than a few months ago, and any leftovers that don’t seem quite right anymore.
Along with the counters, sink, and trash bag, also have your cleaning supplies gathered and next to your refrigerator. For really messy fridges, I like to have a sponge, dish soap, and lots of clean towels ready to go. If the fridge isn’t that icky, you may be able to get by with a spray bottle of 1 part vinegar and 10 parts water, or glass cleaner, and a few clean towels.
Step #2: Divide and Conquer
After you have your kitchen prepped and your supplies ready, it’s time to move on to Step #2: dividing and conquering the actual cleaning.
Cleaning a refrigerator can seem like a big project, especially if your fridge has collected any gunk and grime. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but don’t worry, we’re going to break the project down into 3 main areas and focus on one at a time. It’s much easier to divide and conquer than to tackle the whole thing at once. This technique will also ensure that your food items are kept at safe temperatures during the entire process. The thing to remember is that you’re going to work from the top down, knocking crumbs and gunk down to the bottom of the fridge or to the floor. We’ll clean those last, so don’t waste time trying to keep things too neat and tidy right now.
The first area we are going to start with is the door. First, memove all the items from the door shelves. Take a quick peek at freshness dates and toss anything that’s expired. Also take this opportunity to toss anything that you just can’t picture yourself eating anymore.
Remember when you wanted to start cooking Indian dishes, so you bought a big jar of mango chutney, only to realize that you don’t like Indian food? If the chances of you using the chutney again are somewhere between slim and none, just toss it. Do that with any ingredient you bought for a special recipe that gives you a little gag reflex when you look at it now. If an item makes the cut and you are going to keep it, make sure to wipe the bottom of the jar or bottle before placing it back onto a shelf in the fridge.
Step #3: Determine Level of Cleaning Required
The third step is to figure out what level of cleaning the area you are working on needs. If you’ve cleared everything from the door shelves, take a quick peek. Do they look pretty good? You may need to just do a quick spray of your vinegar mixture and wipe with a clean towel.
Do the shelves have dried, spilled gooeyness? Remove the shelves and move them to the sink to scrub the gunk off. Be sure to close the fridge door to conserve energy. When you start to wash the shelves, you’ll discover that sometimes warm water is enough to loosen sticky gunk, but other times you may need to use a scrubby sponge and some elbow grease to get it clean.
Once all the shelves are clean, use the scrubby sponge or your towel and spray to clean any gooeyness off the actual door before drying and replacing the shelves. Remember to get the seal around the door, as well as the frame of the refrigerator where goo and grime seem to mysteriously gather.
Step #4: Dry and Replace
After all the shelves are clean and sparkling, wipe them with a dry cloth and install back inside the fridge. Don’t fret about getting the selves super dry. They can go back in with a little foggy moisture on them. When the refrigerator runs, it will cycle dry air in and the moisture won’t be there long.
Once your shelves are back in the fridge, it’s time to put items back in an organized manner. I like to group similar things together in my fridge so it’s always easy to find what I’m looking for. For example, my salad dressings are all in the same compartment, condiments like ketchup and mustards in another, and cooking liquids like cooking wines and Worchester sauce are in another.
Taking extra time to make sure you have a system in place in your fridge will save you countless minutes of frustrated searching for ingredients when you’re cooking later.
Step #5: Repeat
The final step in this process is to repeat. I just walked you through cleaning the shelves on the door, but there are still shelves in the main part of the refrigerator and drawers in the bottom that likely need to be cleaned. Start at the top shelf and repeat the process you just went through. Remove the items, decide how you need to clean the shelf or drawer, wash it, dry it, and replace the items in an organized manner.
Keep in mind that nearly everything inside a fridge can be removed to help make cleaning easier. Some shelves have the glass built in, but others have a piece of glass simply resting on top. Use caution when removing the shelves to make sure that you are handling the glass safely. When you get to the drawers, whether in the middle of the fridge or at the bottom, pull the actual drawers out first before removing the shelf that the drawer tracks are in. You sometimes have to jiggle a little to figure out how the drawers pull out, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen a fridge in which these drawers and shelves couldn’t be removed, so do a little exploring and you’ll figure out how to pull them out safely.
And if you’re thinking you might skip the step of pulling out the bottom drawers, think again. Once you pull them out, you’ll see all the little pieces of food and sticky messes that accumulate under the drawers. It’s amazing how much gathers at the bottom of even a relatively clean refrigerator, so pull them out and wipe under there.
Now that you have the entire fridge clean, the only step left is to vacuum up the crumbs and pieces that you knocked to the floor. Voila! Your fridge is ready for all the healthy food you can imagine.
What does your fridge look like right now? I dare you to post of a picture of it, clean or dirty, on my Domestic CEO Facebook page. Let’s compare fridges this week and see who has the best looking fridge in town.
Until next time, I’m the Domestic CEO, helping you love your home.
Dirty refrigerator image courtesy of Shutterstock.