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How To Clean The Fridge The Right Way

Houston Chronicle

Regularly sponging the inside of your refrigerator with baking soda dissolved in water is good preventive maintenance, but there comes a time when it needs a thorough cleaning. Here’s how:

Leave the refrigerator at the normal temperature setting. Take out all removable parts and wash them with warm water and mild soap or detergent. Rinse and dry each piece. If your refrigerator has glass shelves, let them come to room temperature before sudsing them in hot water; this will prevent the glass from cracking.

Wash the inside walls of the refrigerator with a solution of 2 tablespoons baking soda to 1 quart water. Rinse thoroughly and dry.

Wash the gasket and door liner with warm water and mild soap or detergent. Rinse well and dry.

For refrigerators with removable drain plugs, remove the plug and force a mixture of warm water and baking soda through the drain; a meat-basting syringe works well for this.

Wipe jars, bottles and containers before returning to refrigerator.

To clean the freezer, remove foods and leave the door open a few minutes to warm it up. Wash the interior with baking soda water or mild detergent. Rinse and dry.

The drip pan underneath the refrigerator is out of sight, so special effort must be made to clean it. Remove it and wash it thoroughly with warm, soapy water.

Vacuum the condenser coils two to six times a year. Condenser coils are the tubes under or behind the refrigerator that carry coolant to the refrigeration unit.