Cleaning the Refrigerator

by Melissa Ringstaff, Director
The regerator should be cleaned as often as needed and at least once a week. The best time for a thorough cleaning is the day before you do your weekly shopping.Germs for spilled food, molds, and other old foods can contaminate fresh ones. Refrigerator odors can be so bad that they taint other foods make them unfit to eat. Throw out old foods when cleaning out the refrigerator. To save money, eat foods before they become rotten. Throw out old foods from the freezer as well, but try to plan your meals according to what will be soon too old to eat.

Cleaning the Refrigerator: Weekly:
1. Unplug refrigerator. Manufacturers warn to unplug the refrigerator before washing. Be careeful not to splash lights and wires while you are cleaning.
2. Remove food from regerator to the countertop.
3. Remove drawers and shelves.
4. Using hot sudsy water, wipe down the inside of the refrigerator. Be sure to clean the walls and inside the gaskets. Work from top to bottom.
5. For nasty stuck on spills, make a paste with water and baking soda.
6. Really hot water may crack glas shelves so be careful.
7. If you have mold in your refrigerator, use a bleach solution to disinfect. Using too much bleach will caue the refrigerator to smell like bleach. 3/4 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water. Do not clean and disinfect in one step. Clean first, and then disinfect.
8. Wash the shelves and drawers with hot sudsy water and replace them when finished.
9. Wipe off any sticky food containers before replacing them in the refrigerator.
10. Plug the regerator back in when you are done.