Clean Like A Pro: The Fridge

Clean Like A Pro: The Fridge, The fridge is one of those places where if it looks clean on the outside we can tell ourselves and that it’s clean on the inside but we all know that isn’t quite the case you’ve got those crisper drawers that aren’t so clean shelves over time can have crusty build-up from chicken juice ketchup maple syrup and anything else you put in there it’s going to drip it’s gonna leave its mark and eventually it’s gonna gross you out so in this article I’m not only going to show you how to clean a fridge properly because you should be doing it every now and then but I’m going to show you how to clean your fridge like a pro.

First things first you’ve got to empty the fridge don’t be judgmental here just pull everything out and get it on your counter what I did instead of unplugging my fridge is I actually turned off the cooling mechanism so that I wasn’t wasting electricity during this process you just have to make sure that you turn it back on at the end of the cleaning now as with any cleaning task I’m just working from the top to the bottom that way I’m being strategic and I’m not forgetting anything next up it’s time to remove the baskets the bins and the shelves if you’re not too familiar with your fridge I would say to do this slowly and carefully that way you don’t break anything having been in the cleaning business for a long time I can tell you I have broken one or two fridge shelves and I’ve learned over the years do it gingerly now I’m going to pretreat the inside of the fridge with a simple all-purpose cleaner we’ll deal with that after.

Next up I’m sprinkling some baking soda in all of these little trays and bins and on the shelves as well as spraying it with all-purpose cleaner this is going to help provide a little bit of extra abrasion deodorization and stain removal I’ve got a cleaning toothbrush a microfiber cloth and some all-purpose cleaner and I’m going to tackle the inside of this fridge moving from the top to the bottom working my way from left to right now I’m respraying any areas that I clean only because I want to make sure that they’re nice and wet what I’m actually giving them a wipe down that way if there are any stains they’ll come off easier the cleaning toothbrush is there to get into those little grooves particularly in the crisper drawer and the shelf area you know you can find like dried up pieces of lettuce or small little chunks of cheese that you really can’t get out any other way aside from flicking them out with a little toothbrush.

Finally I’m tackling the gaskets which are those little rubber seals around the doors those can get dirty and filthy over time so use your cleaning toothbrush give it a good little scrub and then wipe it clean with a microfiber cloth you can also do your door hinges at this time too now I’ll take this double-sided sponge I make sure its damp and then I’m going to tackle each one of these shelves and bins and drawers it doesn’t take too long what I find is when they’ve had a chance to pretreat they clean up much easier and that baking soda really helps remove any of the extra chunky stuff that’s been built up now for these bigger items I like to clean them and replace them one at a time because frankly it can be really overwhelming to find counter space particularly when all of your refrigerated items are on your counter as well so for these bigger things I would just clean them dry them and put them right back now it’s important that you dry everything really well because you don’t want to have excess moisture going back into the fridge after you’ve cleaned it again if you’re unsure how your shelves or your bins get reinstalled just work slowly and make sure that you don’t break or damage anything because these fridge components can be so expensive to replace these panels of glass are also very challenging to work with so just move slowly handle them gently and when you’re cleaning and rinsing and replacing them just take a little bit of extra time you’ve got to take my word on this one.

What can be particularly difficult to clean in your fridge are these little rings or stubborn spots that have just sat there and built up over time that is what’s going to require the most amount of cleaning but that baking soda and all-purpose cleaner combo really helps remove any of that stickiness the other thing you might notice particularly in your crisper drawers are stains from you know zucchini or broccoli or kale or whatever have you that’s sat at the bottom of the bin for a long time and eventually discolored it this is something that you might be able to remove with a bit of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide so you can always give that trick a shot as well now these bins came out pretty nice and clean so I’m pretty happy my fridge I think actually looks better than the day I moved in now I’m going to start filling it back up what I do is have a microfiber cloth and a little bit of all-purpose cleaner handy and before replace an item of course I make sure yeah I still want it I still need it and it’s still edible and the next thing I’ll do is give the bottom of that container a wipe that’s why you see me doing this in fast motion I’m just holding wiping replacing and anything that I’m not keeping I’m just leaving on the counter this is also a great chance for you to take inventory of what’s in your fridge what you might be out of you know do I need more pesto is that coconut milk just about finished you know you can really start to keep track of things and make a mental note of what you’re looking for always important to replace your box of baking soda you should be doing this four times a year or at the change of every season it just helps your fridge stay a little fresher and your food tastes better your floor is actually pretty crusty at the end of a fridge cleaning so you want to make sure that you give that a nice clean and of course I turn the temperature back on in the fridge.

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