No one likes a messy fridge. If you’re noticing smells, stains, or sticky substances in yours, it’s time to give it a deep clean. It may feel a little overwhelming, but with these tips, it’ll be easy. Here’s how to clean your apartment’s fridge.
Remove Everything from Your Apartment’s Fridge
Start by removing all of your fridge’s contents. Once everything is out of your fridge, throw away expired items and old food. No reason to hold onto that year-old bottle of expired mustard anymore!
Wipe Your Fridge Down
Now it’s time to give both fridge and your packaged food items a good cleaning. Take a damp cloth to your fridge’s interior to remove any grime. Next, use a damp cloth to wipe down all of your condiments, bottles, and food boxes so everything is clean.
Organize Your Food
To keep your fridge organized, try using this restaurant food storage tip: Arrange your items based on their cooking temperatures. Place items that need little to no cooking, like yogurt, cheese, or leftovers, on the top shelf. Items that require longer cooking times should be stored on the bottom of your refrigerator. This includes poultry, meats, and fish. Arranging your items like this can help ensure that your fridge stays organized while also keeping all of your foods safe.
Clean the Coils
Refrigerators all have a condenser, which releases heat through coils. These coils can be found either in the back of the fridge or the front behind a “grill.” Depending on where your fridge’s coils are, you may need to pull your fridge away from the wall in order to clean them off. Trust us, this little bit of extra effort is worth it. If you don’t clean off the coils, they’ll become clogged, which can eventually lead to a broken fridge. To successfully clean off your coils, you can use a vacuum or a coil cleaning brush to remove the buildup of dirt and grime. And speaking of vacuums…
Vacuum Your Apartment’s Fridge
One of the easiest ways to deep clean your fridge is to vacuum it, which makes it easy to collect any food debris or crumbs. Use a thin vacuum attachment that can fit inside and between the shelves of your fridge.
Commit to Regular Cleanings
The best way to keep your fridge clean is to commit to a cleaning scheduling. Depending on how much you use your fridge, it may be best to do this on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Figure out what works best for you. The most important thing is that you stick with it so that your fridge never gets overwhelmingly dirty.
Quick Tips:
Here are a couple of extra tips for keeping your fridge clean and organized.
Use Liners
Keep your fridge extra clean with liners. When it comes time to clean your fridge out, you’ll be able to remove the mats and clean them off instead of having to scrub down your fridges’ shelves. Once the mats are clean, you can return them to your fridge. Another option is to line your fridge with clear plastic wrap. When it comes time to clean, simply remove the wrap and throw it away.
Label Your Drawers
Fridges get cluttered, but you can keep them organized by labeling your drawers. That makes it a no-brainer when it comes time to unload your groceries. This also helps keep things organized for roommates.
