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.
I started putting plastic zip lock bowls in the veggie drawer to hold onions and anything else that needs a home and potatoes in another one lemons. I can get 2 big ones and one small one in the drawer I lay celery and lettuce broccoli on top??? It definitely keeps the drawer cleaner and I can easily see my inventory?? I need something for my meat drawer?
Whenever I open something, before I put it in the refrigerator, I date it with magic marker- makes it easy to clean out and there’s no question of how long has this been in here.
I recently started dating things, but for a different reason — I am interested in how long it takes to use some of the items so I know about when to start looking for them to go on sale. I like your reasoning as well though!! I also started labeling leftovers with what they are and the date they were made…. we reuse containers and I KNOW we don’t have that much yogurt in our refrigerator! :-p
Ha! Great idea!
Reviewing all of the posts regarding fridges and science experiences reminded me of a situation I experienced many years ago. We lived in the country and had several big dogs. A very strange and unpleasant odor was emanating from the fridge yet despite numerous efforts by my daughter and me, the disgusting smell continued. It was not until we pulled out the very bottom drainage shelf that the mystery became self-evident. Because we were in the country we always had little field mice coming and going. They had apparently stored dog food(from the garage) on the drainage shelf. The reputed heating, cooling and water drainage had effectively created a dog food and mouse fecal cake. Barf! Barf! Barf!
We replaced the shelf, added a mouse trapline and made sure the dog food was stored in a tightly secured container.
I posted this for the benefit of Country Moms who may experience the same mystery over an elusive odor. Don’t forget the drainage shelf whilst cleaning every month or detecting an offending odor of unknown origin.
Eeew. Thanks for the warning!
I love your tips for cleaning the fridge! Keeping the fridge clean is something I struggle with more than anything else around the house, and it drives my husband bonkers. We frequently have science experiments in our fridge, and it is almost always stuffed full. I’m going to use these techniques to clean out my fridge while my son is at preschool tomorrow!
I love to clean the fridge weekly. My family is not crazy about leftovers, so I don’t create them. I’ve managed to alter recipes new and old to fit our family size. This also cuts down on “thrown out food.”
Another help for my fridge is to buy paper towels with different sized sheets and then line each shelf and drawer. Catches the major spills and leaks. Saves so much time. At the end of the week, I take everything out, scrub it all down, and re-line. Holiday paper towels are a nice festive touch.
You motivated me! I cleaned out my fridge before I went grocery shopping today. It was already empty! 🙂
One thing I like to do is put an old newspaper in the bottom of the vegetable and meat drawers (well, the meat drawer was probably meant for fruit, but I use it this way). This makes it so much easier to clean next time around!
yikes I think my fridge could use a good cleaning. Not that it smells or anyting.. just things get split, and not wiped up…. Its such a yuckie job!
I love the comment about leftovers not improving with age. So true.
Someone else said this also but I clean out my fridge the night before my hubby takes the garbage off(no pick up here). This helps prevent the science experiments that we used to have.
Now if only I could get him to take it off more often…
I like to keep my fridge organized to faciliate using leftoverss, not “losing” things in the fridge and finding things easily.
One shelf is for drinks. One shelf is for leftovers. One shelf is for dairy, like eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt. On the door, one shelf is only for dressings, another for condiments.
One drawer is only veggies, one only fruits.
I used a permanent marker to label the shelves. It works for us!
@momma mindy, OOH! I do this, too! It bugs me when someone puts the juice bottle on my leftover shelf…or vice versa!