Real Simple Magazine April 2014 Easy Ways to Clean Anything the a to Z

It's a new year which means it's time to get the house clean, organized, and in tip-top shape! Our refrigerator is currently low on food, so I thought I'd take advantage of the situation and clean it out. I googled "how to clean your refrigerator" and found this article by Real Simple that promises to "take your refrigerator from filthy to flawless in just 20 minutes". Fantastic! I love flawless and who doesn't have 20 minutes? It usually takes me at least an hour to clean the fridge. Let's try it!

Here is the exterior of my fridge before cleaning. It looks deceptively uh…clean.

And here is the inside view. Hmmmm, not too bad. Or wait…what is that?!

No excuses for this. None.

Okay here are the Real Simple steps to a clean refrigerator in 20 minutes:

Minutes 1 to 2: Unplug the refrigerator. Slide a coil brush underneath the unit's kick plate (the rectangular panel just above the floor) to remove dust.

I skipped this step. I can't move my fridge by myself and I don't own a coil brush. Let's move on.

Minutes 3 to 7: Empty the contents. Toss anything past its prime into a trash bag. Recycle glass and plastic containers.

I enjoy throwing things out so this step was great and took about five minutes. If it was expired or just looked like it might be, I tossed it.

Minutes 8 to 10: Remove the drawers and place them in the sink. Scrub the drawers with a sponge, warm water, and liquid dish soap. Leave them out to air-dry.

Two minutes to remove the drawers and clean them is waaaaaay optimistic. This step took me at least 40 minutes. My drawers were disgusting though. Maybe if your drawers were spotless you could do this step in two minutes.

I just used dish soap to clean all of the drawers and anything that was removable.

Minutes 11 to 15: Douse the interior with a multisurface spray. Wipe down the walls, then each shelf. (Don't forget the shelf seams and the rubber door seal.) Use an old toothbrush and a spritz of cleaner to dislodge grime from crevices.

Good advice Real Simple. But four minutes to clean the entire interior? Come on. Anytime you see "an old toothbrush" as part of your cleaning arsenal you KNOW this job is going to take a good 20 minutes or so. I used a solution of water, white vinegar, and a few drops of dish soap in a spray bottle with a microfiber cloth and some paper towels to clean the interior. Sigh. Much better!

Oh yes, and my hot, wet microfiber cloth brushed against the cold bulb in my fridge and it burst. Cleaning up glass shards took a few minutes as well. Oops. You always have to count on some kind of glitch happening though, right?

Minutes 16 to 17: Plug in the refrigerator. Return the drawers. Put the food back in, wiping down jars and bottles.

One minute to put everything back together and wipe down all the food bottles? This took me at least seven minutes.

Minute 18: Attach the baking-soda pod's suction cups to an interior wall.

I don't use baking soda inside the fridge so I skipped this step and just used the time to load things back in the refrigerator.

Minutes 19 to 20: Clean the exterior.

My exterior was in pretty good shape so I was able to quickly touch it up. But one minute cleaning on dirty days just wouldn't cut it.

Here is the before and after of my newly cleaned refrigerator! It took me over an hour to accomplish, but I must say that the 20 minute promise to flawless motivated me to start. Whatever gets you the end result, eh?

And now I need to go load up on healthy groceries to accomplish the second goal of the New Year….drop those holiday pounds! How about you? What cleaning or organizing projects are you working on today?

brownwereeld.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.homestoriesatoz.com/cleaning-tips/how-clean-refrigerator-20-minutes-or-maybe-90.html

Share this post