Easiest Way To Maintain Your Refrigerator

Refrigerators need to be cleaned inside and out on a regular basis.

Although the recommended temperature of a refrigerator is 40°, bacteria and mold still grow and can make you sick if eaten. Contamination often spreads in the refrigerator and ruins other food.

Interiors of refrigerators have crevices where drips and spills can hide providing an environment for molds and bacteria to grow. Trouble spots are generally the bottom of or underneath a drawer, the hardware that holds the racks, the gasket around the door, etc.

# Keep Things That Go Bad Easily Where You Can See Them

Not all messy stuff can be fixed with a pre-clean, some stuff just has to bust out its grossness in its own good time. That’s right, it’s time for another pre-cleaning tip, but trust us, it will all be worth it once you’re up to your ears in actual cleaning elbow grease. It’s inevitable that some items in your fridge are going to cause a mess at some point in time—rotting veggies, bad meat, all that smelly stuff—so keep them where you can see them, so it won’t come as a horrible surprise when your kale or hamburger or strawberries go bad and you don’t discover the horror until weeks later. Don’t be afraid of that crisper drawer, it’s easy to peek into for a reason.

# Put Dates on Stuff

If it’s not obvious by now, the weirdest way to clean your fridge is to pre-clean it, or at least get it primed for best cleaning practices. The biggest villain in the fridge will always be the spoiled stuff that is there way past its prime—hello leaks, spills, and bad smells. But what if your pre-wipes and sightline tricks don’t work? Date things. Date everything! Stick a marker next to your fridge and use it to mark down the date an item enters your icebox so that when you’re wondering just how long that dried-out pizza has been there, you have an answer.

# Use that Baking Soda

Chances are you’re familiar with the concept of leaving an opened box of baking soda inside your fridge to trap bad smells, but do you know how to accelerate that process if something smelly gets by that handy box? It’s easy enough—just spread out some of your baking soda on a baking sheet or dinner plate and place in the middle of your fridge. It can stay put until the odor is gone.

# Clean the Edges

While it’s not as obvious as cleaning shelves and bins, cleaning the edges of your fridge (where the doors seal up against the icebox) is infinitely more satisfying. It’s also really gross, mainly because most people don’t even think about the gunk that collects there (Got pets? Get ready to find plenty of pet hair lodged in there). Give the edges a wipe every few weeks to keep it at bay—use hot water and a touch of white vinegar on a rag to really make that thing pop. Then wash that rag. Maybe a lot.

# Be prepared

If the power goes out, keep the doors closed and use foods from the pantry. An unopened refrigerator will keep food safe for four hours; a freezer will maintain its temperature for 48 hours if full and 24 hours if half-full.