Few large kitchen appliances get such frequent use as refrigerators, so it’s crucial to keep them clean. A fridge exterior can help brighten your whole kitchen, while a clean interior looks great, uses space more efficiently, and can help you keep food fresher. These are easy steps on how to clean your fridge inside and out.
Step1: Take everything out of the refrigerator
In order to properly deep clean a refrigerator, it needs to be totally empty, which means taking everything, Stash highly perishable foods like milk or raw chicken in a cooler, to avoid spoiling.
Once you’ve taken out the food, remove any detached shelves, drawers, and door inserts.
Step2: Throw out old and spoiled food
As you transfer food from the refrigerator to the cooler or freezer, check for spoiling and throw away anything that’s gone off, or that you simply know you will not use. If your refrigerator is home to a lot of leftovers in food storage containers, this is a good time to review the contents and throw out any food that you know you will not consume. Disposing of leftovers can be an unpleasant task, but donning a pair of rubber household gloves can help to make scooping old food out from storage containers a less disgusting job.
Step3: Wash shelves and drawers
Start by washing the shelves, drawers, and/or door inserts you removed from the refrigerator, which can be done just like you wash dishes, using a sponge and dish soap. If the refrigerator shelves are made of tempered glass, a bit of caution is required when cleaning them. Priyanka Rathore, a communication manager for KitchenAid, says, “It is important not to clean glass shelves or covers with warm water when they are cold. Shelves and covers may break if exposed to sudden temperature changes or impact, such as bumping.”
Step4: Clean the interior of the refrigerator
When it comes to choosing a solution for cleaning the interior of a refrigerator, there are a number of options, and personal choice should certainly play a role. If using a disinfectant like diluted bleach solution makes you feel more comfortable, that is a fine choice. If using bleach in the place where you store your food makes you feel uncomfortable, that is also okay.
There are, however, some products to avoid when cleaning a refrigerator, Rathore says. “Do not use abrasive or harsh cleaners such as window sprays, scouring cleansers, flammable fluids, cleaning waxes, concentrated detergents, or cleaners containing petroleum products on plastic parts, interior, and door liners or gaskets.” After scrubbing with a sponge, use a microfiber cloth or paper towels to give the interior of the refrigerator a going-over. Use an old toothbrush to reach tight or oddly-shaped parts and a thin cloth for cleaning the rubber seal around the door.
Step5: Treat stubborn spills and stains with these tricks
To remove a stubborn, stuck-on mess, wet a sponge or rag with very hot water, wring it out and press it on the spill just as you would a compress, repeating as needed and being careful not to burn yourself with the hot water. The heat and moisture will reconstitute the dried-on mess, making it pliable and easy to wipe up.
Step6: Clean the exterior
The exterior of plastic refrigerators can be cleaned in the same way as the interior, using a microfiber cloth or sponge with a mild cleaning solution. Stainless steel refrigerators can be wiped clean using a microfiber cloth; very dirty exteriors may require a stainless steel cleaner, though typically one is not needed. If fingerprints and smudges often show up on your stainless steel appliances, a wax-based cleaner can help to prevent them. Regardless of material, don’t overlook the top of the refrigerator when cleaning its exterior as it is likely very dirty.
Fridge Cleaning Hacks
- Wipe up spills and stains as soon as they happen since, the longer they sit, the harder they’ll be to remove.
- Make sure containers are clean going into the fridge. A jam jar or ketchup bottle with residue on the outside will make your fridge sticky.
- When thawing items such as frozen meat, place them on a rimmed plate or baking sheet to control spills or leakage.
- Soak cotton balls in vanilla extract and leave them in the fridge for a few hours to provide a pleasant aroma.
- Clean the refrigerator door seal with a toothbrush and a mixture of bleach and warm water. Wipe with a dry cloth.
- Try scrubbing tough stains with a mildly abrasive toothpaste.
- Place a crumpled piece of brown paper in the fruit and vegetable drawer to absorb odors over time.
- Don’t overfill your refrigerator. Fridges cool more efficiently if air has room to circulate, and it’ll be harder to see or clean up stains if it’s overcrowded.