Who doesn’t love opening the fridge and gazing upon a well-organized and pristine fridge? What we don’t like to see is the gunk and stains and sticky areas encrusted on the shelves and drawers, as a result of things like gloopy dropped pieces of jam, or worse, blood leaking from packed meats.

So really, your fridge needs to be cleaning on a scheduled basis in order to have the pristine interior vs a goopy gunky mess.

How to Start Cleaning Your Fridge

If you have an older fridge where shelves are not removable, or it’s been ages since you’ve cleaned and your poor fridge looks like it needs serious elbow grease, then unplug the fridge. Otherwise, you can leave the fridge plugged in.

• It can seem overwhelming but you need to start by emptying out the entire fridge and placing the contents on your counter or table.  Take this opportunity to throw away expired food items, wilted produce or anything you KNOW you won’t be using again. This process will make it much easier when you start placing items back in the fridge.
• Remove shelving and drawers inside the fridge. This will make it easier to reach nooks and crannies at the far end of the fridge.
• Take those shelves and drawers and wash them with warm soapy water in the bathtub as it might be a little tough to wash them in the kitchen sink. After washing, rinse, and leave to the side to dry.
• Go the inside of the fridge and spray the interior with a multipurpose cleaner. After spraying, use a clean rag to wipe down the interior. Don’t forget to wipe down the walls, shelves, shelf seams, and the rubber door seal. Use a non-abrasive sponge to remove sticky and caked-on spills.
• Put back into place all the shelves and drawers you took out, that are now clean and air dried.
• Now it’s time to place all the food items you have on the counters and table back into the fridge. Before you do that, make sure to wipe down every jar or non-perishable item before you place it back in its place in the fridge.
• So now you’re done with the interior of the fridge. Last step is to clean and wipe down the exterior. Use a damp cloth that’s been soaked in clean, soapy water. Dry immediately with a paper towel, dish towel, or microfiber cloth. If you have a stainless steel fridge, you may also use a special stainless steel cleaner if you have it.

And viola, there you have it. A nice, clean pristine fridge. Oops, if you had unplugged your fridge, make sure to plug it after you’re done!

Of course, if that sounds like too much work, you can always contact us at Maidstr, Toronto’s on-demand cleaning service, and we would be more than happy to come in and clean the inside of your fridge, your oven, any large appliance and even your entire home.