Cleaning a fridge freezer is invaluable information for homeowners and businesses to uphold top health and safety standards. You wouldn’t prepare your ingredients directly on a dirty countertop. So why store them in an unsanitised fridge freezer?
In this article, we discuss everything you need to know about cleaning a fridge, including sanitising your freezer and cleaning fridge shelves.
Cleaning a Fridge- Tips and Tricks
Cleaning a fridge is all about paying attention to detail. Else you could leave bits of rotting food and spills in crevices that can create smells and mould. You may be familiar with the “Fridge Smell”, which occurs as a result of bacteria and moulds thriving in your fridge. You should deep-clean your fridge every three to four months, but if you notice this smell, you should deep-clean even sooner.
When cleaning a fridge, the first thing you should do is empty all the food from your fridge into thermal bags, to prevent in-date ingredients from spoiling while you clean. You may discover that some items in your fridge are out of date during your cleaning. So you should throw them away to clear space.
Once all food is emptied from your fridge, you should remove all of the compartments, including each shelf and removable part. This will ensure you can reach all crevices and sanitise your fridge before putting everything back in.
- Cleaning the Internal Surfaces
When cleaning a fridge, you should avoid using warm water. This could raise the internal temperature of the fridge and cause it to take much longer to cool back to the ideal temperature. This wouldn’t be an issue if you didn’t have perishable items sitting on the counter, but as you do, it’s vital to have them refrigerated as soon as possible.
Instead, you should use a mixture of cold water and sterilising fluid. This will kill the bacteria in your fridge and prevent leftover microbes from breeding and causing a fridge smell.
When cleaning a fridge, you should scrub all internal surfaces, including the grooves where the shelves rest, with a clean microfibre cloth. This will pick up all the dirt and bacteria in your fridge and reduce the time it takes for bacteria to build up again.
You may also opt to use cotton buds for smaller, more difficult-to-access areas of your fridge. Once thoroughly cleaned, you should dry all surfaces and crevices with paper towels to remove all moisture and prevent condensation.
- Cleaning the Shelving and Compartments
Cleaning fridge shelves and other removable parts of a fridge is far easier than cleaning the fridge itself. Due to the simple fact that you can rotate these parts as necessary to access all the nooks and crannies, rather than needing to reach them.
The best way to thoroughly clean fridge shelving and removable compartments is to use warm soapy water or a diluted mixture of baking soda and vinegar.
Baking soda and vinegar are extremely effective cleaning tools, as when combined, they release carbon dioxide, which helps to lift dirt before sanitisation.
Once the dirt is sufficiently lifted with the baking soda and vinegar mixture, use warm soapy water to release the last of the dirt. Then use the same mixture of cold water and sterilising fluid you used for the internal surfaces of your fridge to sanitise the surface.
Reinstall the dried shelving into the cleaned fridge, and you can place your food back inside.
- Cleaning the Door Seal
When it comes to cleaning the door seal, the best thing to use is a mixture of dishwashing detergent and water. Harsher detergents and chemicals can damage the seal and substantially shorten its lifespan. So ordinary dish soap is the safest way to go.
You don’t have to remove the seal to complete a deep clean, all you need is a soft cloth or toothbrush to access hard-to-reach areas and gently scrub. Use warm water to rinse the crevices, and paper towels to dry them.
If you find paper towels aren’t reaching as deep as they need to, use cotton buds instead!
Cleaning a Freezer- Tips and Tricks
Cleaning a freezer generally takes longer than cleaning a fridge because you need to allow time for defrosting and refreezing. But you should still be conscious of the time you spend cleaning a freezer, as your frozen food could defrost outside of it. Place your frozen foods in a thermal bag to avoid this.
Before you clean, you should leave the door open for 5 minutes to allow the ice inside to melt. The layer of ice on your freezer shouldn’t be too thick and should be easily removed with a plastic shovel.
Never use blades or steel tools to remove ice from your freezer, as you could end up damaging the freezer lining. This crack will attract air and cause it to fill up with water and ice, which can make it work less efficiently.
If you notice a thick layer of ice on the internal surfaces of your freezer, you should make a note to keep on top of routine defrosting every six months. Doing this will keep your freezer cooling efficiently and prevent ice buildup.
- Cleaning the Internal Surfaces
When cleaning a freezer, it is important to do so gently with soft cleaners to not interfere with the freezer lining. We recommend using a mixture of warm water and vinegar (in equal parts), to be rubbed with a sponge or soft cloth.
Once you have cleaned the surfaces of the freezer, ensure to dry them thoroughly before reinstalling your drawers, else the water may turn to ice and freeze the drawers in place. Repeat this process with the drawers before putting them back inside.
Your freezer should have cooled to -18°C before you place the food back inside.
Your freezer generally won’t be as dirty as your fridge, as any spills or crumbs of food will be frozen, and bacteria will not survive in such low temperatures.
Additional Tips
When cleaning a fridge or freezer, there are a few basic tips you can use to reduce the rate of bacteria multiplication and keep them clean all year round.
- Do not push packaging or food against the walls of the fridge
Certain areas of your fridge, like the walls closest to the doors, are naturally warmer than the wall closest to the cooling coil. So, to maintain proper temperature circulation, ensure to leave some space between the food and the walls of your fridge.
- Don’t overload the freezer
If you overload your freezer, you risk blocking ventilation, restricting airflow, and encouraging your freezer to overwork. This can cause your freezer to burn out and stop working indefinitely.
- Always store by the expiry date
This will prevent you from forgetting about the food you have already bought and accidentally letting it go out of date. Saving money, and stopping bad smells from rotting food.
- Use anti-odourant
Placing a small jar partially filled with cotton wool, baking soda, and vinegar in the fridge can keep bad smells at bay.
