How to Clean Your Fridge
INSIDE: HOW TO CLEAN AND ORGANIZE YOUR FRIDGE
If the center of the house is the kitchen, then center of the kitchen is the fridge. And sometimes it makes me want to sing, “It must have been love…but it’s over now….” So let’s talk about how to clean your fridge!
I’ve seen people put contact paper on their shelves, but what happens when that gets icky? Another idea I saw on Pinterest was Peel-n-stick plastic wrap on the shelves. Have you ever tried that??
After weeks of visitors, our fridge looked like a bunch of mismatched meals, and I had no idea how old they were. It was time to clean and organize the fridge!
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Of course, the best time to clean your fridge is right before getting groceries. If you haven’t read about the most effective way to grocery shop with kids…check this out.
1 – REMOVE
As with all organizing adventures, you must remove all the current items. Now – with a fridge we need to be careful not to leave them out too long. Obviously!
2 – PURGE
Throw away any and all expired items. Checking dates and calculating what year it is was my biggest challenge.
3 – DOOR
After throwing away anything that would cause diseases…move onto the door! First of all, if you store your milk in the door…STOP IT!! LIKE RIGHT NOW!
Go shelf by shelf in the door. Pull the shelves out, wash them in warm soapy water, and dry them. Put them back, and when you put everything back – put like things together. Not mayo with chocolate syrup as seen below.
Condiments together. Dressings together. However it makes sense to YOU!
4 – SHELVES
Then move on to the first fridge shelf.
Remember, things one shelf at a time so nothing is warm too long! I know I’ve said that before but it’s worth mentioning more than once.
Wipe every shelf with Mrs. Meyers. Top, bottom and sides.
Add things back with like things together.
5 – DRAWERS
Pay special attention to the drawers you have in the fridge. They collect spills, sometimes gross ones. Don’t neglect them, take them out and wash them with warm, soapy water.
I am a firm believer in doing this at least quarterly. However, cleaner people might tell you monthly. I don’t have time for all that.
I feel lucky that I have a second fridge in the garage to hold our drinks. Sodas, juice boxes, adult beverages…so I like to keep most of the things in the main fridge toward the front of the shelf.
This makes it easy for prying eyes to find things without having to look “too hard.” If you can’t have a second fridge, I STRONGLY recommend using one of the drawers as a drink only drawer.
**Do not overstock the fridge…as you can see, mine is not filled to the brim…it will not stay cold if it is too full. Think about this – refrigerated items expire, and they will go bad, so if you are purchasing enough groceries to fill it to the brim, you are probably wasting your money and creating unnecessary food waste.
I URGE you to ONLY buy what you KNOW you will use THAT week – or 10 days MAX!
This is why people do the whole meal planning thing. Pick your meals before you go shopping, buy what you need for those meals, and you will save a TON of money. You also save money by shopping online and not going into the actual store.
Before and afters:
What are some of the tricks you use to keep your fridge clean and orderly? Do you use baskets? Labels? How do the kids get their snacks?
Happy Organizing,
