How To Give Your Refrigerator A Good Once A Month Cleaning

I must admit, cleaning out my refrigerator and giving it a good cleaning once a month is one of my least favorite household chores. However, if you get organized and get into a routine when doing it, it should become easier.

Cleaning Supplies Needed:

2 Buckets
Hot Water
Mild Hand washing Dish Soap
Clean Sponge
1 box of baking soda

The first thing you need to do is fill up your kitchen sink with warm soapy water and clean off your kitchen countertops. Remove all food and beverage items from your refrigerator and place on your countertop. Turn your appliance off . Remove racks, trays and drawers, place them into the sink to soak.

Fill up your clean bucket with semi-hot water and hand dishwashing soap. Using a clean sponge, wipe down the inside of your refrigerator, being careful to not slop water all over the place. If needed, use a plastic scouring pad to remove any stuck on food debris. Using a clean wet sponge or damp cloth, go over the inside of your refrigerator with plain water, just to rinse any remaining soap. Once you are done scrubbing the inside, take a clean cotton towel and dry it out.

Your next stop is to scrub down your racks, trays and drawers that have been soaking in the sink. Use a plastic scouring pad if needed to remove stubborn food debris. Rinse with clean water and set aside to air dry.

Fill up your bucket again with hot soapy water and scrub down the outside of your refrigerator...don't forget to get the top. Take a clean damp sponge over it to rinse any soap that you left behind and dry with a clean cotton towel.

Place your racks, trays and drawers back inside your refrigerator. Turn the power back on. Take a clean and wet dishcloth and wipe down any containers or jars that might have sticky food debris on them. You want to really check out those sticky condiment bottles and jars. Place all your food and beverage items back into your refrigerator.

Now that it's all clean, partially open a fresh box of baking soda and place inside on your middle rack, this will help to keep odors to the minimum.

I personally like to give my refrigerator an overall inside and out cleaning once a month. If you have a large family, you might have to do it more often. If you find that you need something stronger than just hot soapy water, I recommend a mixture of vinegar and water (1 cup of white vinegar mixed with 1 1/2 gallons of water.)

This article was written by Shelly Hill, copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved.