How We (I) Clean Our Refrigerator

Here is how I clean my refrigerator:

I start by taking everything out and putting it on the counter. I like to keep everything close together. Not only is it friendlier, but I fantasize it helps keep the food colder longer. I leave the fruit, vegetables, cheese, etc. in their drawers. I put these back last, after I have emptied and washed each out.

Sometimes I take out the shelves before wiping out the refrigerator. It depends on how much trouble I had the last time when I tried to get them back in.

Using paper towels, I wipe out the refrigerator with a baking soda solution of 1/4 cup of baking soda to 1 quart of warmish water. I wipe everything down, including the door gasket. Then I use a damp paper towel to wipe up the solution and dry towels to dry the refrigerator. I do not think it's necessary to wipe up the solution, but I do make sure the shelves and walls are dry before putting anything back. I do not like the idea of leaving the inside if my refrigerator damp.

That's really it. Of course I wipe off everything before it goes back in.

The freezer comes next. I clean it the same way as the refrigerator, using the same cleaning solution. The only difference is that I dump the ice into a big plastic bag, put the frozen food into a cooler and put the ice bag on top to keep things from defrosting too much.

Before I dry the floor from all of the dripping, I use my refrigerator coil cleaning brush to clean the coils. On our current refrigerator, the coils are on the bottom. I get on the floor, take off the little grill kick plate (ours is attached by clips) and poke the anteater-like nose under the refrigerator and dust the coils. On our last refrigerator, I had to roll it out from the wall to get at the coils. In any case, clean coils allow your refrigerator to cool more efficiently (cheaper). I also think my refrigerato likes me better when I clean its coils. After all, I like people who make my work easier.