Cleaning Out the Refrigerator
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It’s a dirty job. But, somebody’s got to do it. And if I don’t miss my guess, that somebody could be you.
Never fear! FishMama is here with an 8 Step Program Toward a Cleaner, Happier Refrigerator. And believe me, I speak from experience….
Prior to our recent vacation, I did a major refrigerator overhaul and I was so glad that I did. We had been battling illnesses for the first three weeks of September.
Dimished appetites resulted in a lot of little leftovers and a tired mama contributed to a very messy fridge. Definitely not something you want to come home to after vacation.
But, it doesn’t take illness and fatigue to wreck havoc on your fridge. Just the business of life can get ya. So, ready to get cleaning? Let’s go.
But first a note from my legal team: I am not a medical or nutritional professional nor do I work for the US Department of Agriculture or the food police. If you know better, then do it your way. I make no promises that mine is the best way. 😉
1. Empty
Empty the refrigerator of all its contents. Really. It will be okay.
This presupposes that you have a clean sink and clean counters. (Sorry, babe, but its true.) Remove everything from the shelves, from the door, from the drawer, from the little storage nooks and crannies.
2. Wipe and Wash
Once the fridge is empty, wipe every shelf, removing them if necessary. I took out all the drawers and door inserts and washed those with warm, soapy water, as directed by my refrigerator’s manufacturer. I’ve also read that baking soda and water is a good refrigerator cleaner.
3. Purge
Throw away any leftover food that is older than three days or wasn’t all that great the first time. It’s not going to improve with age.
Scan your condiments. If you haven’t used it in the last couple months and don’t foresee using it anytime soon, give it the “heave ho” and make a note not to buy it again if you really won’t use it in a timely fashion. I ditched old BBQ sauce and peanut butter that my daughter is allergic to. I also said farewell to ethnic condiments that just don’t fit our tastes, but which we were willing to try once upon a time.
4. Rinse, load, and run
Remember all those leftovers? Well, if there were beakers of science experiments containers that need to be washed, rinse those. Load them into the dishwasher and get it going. I have to confess after several weeks of illness in our house, I had a lot of dishes to wash. (Yikes!)
And, no, that wasn’t all from the fridge. I cleaned it right after dinner so I could add the dishes to the dinnertime cycle.
5. Wipe bottles, jars, and containers
Take a damp wash cloth and wipe down any bottles, jars and containers that you will be returning to the fridge.
6. Organize
As you return condiments and other refrigerated items to the refrigerator, organize them in a logical way. Place unopened containers behind their opened counterparts, so that the oldest is used first. I found out that we had two milk jugs opened. Oops! That’s what happens when your fridge is a wreck!
For more ideas, check out these suggestions from Organizing Junkie.
7. Use what you have
Now that you’ve touched everything at least twice, you have a good idea of what’s in your refrigerator, what needs to be replaced, and what needs to be used up. Build this week’s menu plan from what’s there as it is probably the most perishable food in your house.
8. Repeat monthly.
If you do steps 6 and 7 weekly and wipe up spills as they occur, you can easily only clean the refrigerator once a month. This works for me.
There’s nothing I love more than a clean fridge! (well maybe a really organized pantry but I’m kinda nutty like that!)
Since I do most of my shopping on a monthly basis, my fridge gets cleaned right before I do my shopping. And like you, I will frequently make my menu adjust to what’s left in the refrigerator, just so I can use it all up before I have to shop again.
But for some reason I can’t handle taking everything out at once to wipe the inside out. I *try* to handle the spills as the happen.
Thanks for the great reminder to bless our families with a sparkling refrigerator!
I hate cleaning out the fridge! Doing the whole fridge at once really bothers me, so I break it up. I try to clean out one shelf (and the door compartment across from that shelf) each week. I have 3 shelves & 2 drawers so this way, each shelf is cleaned about once a month and it doesn’t become one of those dreaded chores that I keep putting off!
Um…one small comment: Milk shouldn’t be stored on the door of the fridge, especially if you have kids who have the tendency to leave the door open for long periods of time. The constant up-and-down of the temp will make it spoil faster. I keep mine in the coldest section of the fridge (bottom shelf for me).
From: http://www.dairycouncilofca.org/milk-dairy/milkhand.aspx
“Store milk in the back of the refrigerator and away from the refrigerator door if possible to keep the temperature at a lower and more constant temperature. Frequent opening and closing of the refrigerator door welcomes warm air in, which interacts primarily with foods immediately inside the doors.”
That is a new one for me. Thanks!
@Jessica Fisher, Actually the same can be said for eggs. The will spoil faster in the door.
On garbage day eve (Tuesday night at this house) I go through the fridge and take out all the uneaten leftovers from the week and anything esle that needs to be pitched and put it to the curb to be taken the next morning. I do a wipe down and then fill it the next day when I go grocery shopping. Once a month I do the drawers and shelves out! Those pesky onion skins get every where!
good job! i should go do that now- our fridge is gross. 🙂
Lovely job! When are you coming to do my two refrigerators and upright freezer?? I’m open most of next month. 🙂
Actually, my 20 year old just did our main refrigerator a few days ago. I thought I must be dreaming. Thankfully, no one woke me up!
I wipe down one shelf each night either while putting dinner together ( sink full of dish water anyways) or afterwards before I run the dishwasher. I do this with the 2 refrigs in the house and the one in the garage gets done when I pull the meat from the deep freezer for the week. This way I know what to use up THAT week. A month later I would be having science exiperments to sell the grandkids….hum….income….maybe I should think about that
I have 2 fridges and a stand up freezer! I clean out the fridges the day before or morning of receiving our produce from the CSA. I’ll take a few minutes to organize the remaining produce and prep it for weekend meals, slice the fruits for weekend fruit salad, and get ready for the incoming goods. This is a great reminder to purge what you don’t need and keep it clean!
🙂 Allie
And, I definitely did not mean my comment to sound like I have it all together and my fridge never gets disgusting! It certainly does. It’s just a good tip I TRY to do 🙂
Your method is sound:-)