How often do you open the door of your refrigerator in a day? 10 times? 15 times? 25 times? Or more?
A refrigerator door in any home gets opened more frequently than the door of a kitchen, cupboard, a bedroom closet or any other shelf. While most of the time it happens out of habit, it clearly points towards the importance of a refrigerator in any home.
It keeps your food fresh. It’s what makes all those fruits and vegetables eatable for at least a few days. And in many of our homes, refrigerator serves as a storage solution for some medicinal drugs.
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Given how important a refrigerator is, you can’t just hope for it to serve you for a long time when all you do is keep it cluttered. I understand that decluttering a refrigerator is a big project because it takes at least a few hours to do it. But let me tell you that choosing not to declutter a refrigerator is way more time-consuming and costlier than decluttering it.
Think of all the fruits and vegetables that get wasted because they got overlooked while sitting behind a pile of unwanted jars and containers. And let’s face the fact. We’re living in inflationary times. It would hurt your pocket to restock the fridge and bear the cost of wastage at the same time.
If you are looking to declutter your fridge in a way that doesn’t leave you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, here’s a step-by-step guide to help you:
1. Empty It Out
Emptying out your fridge should be the first obvious step as you begin to declutter it. Take every single item out of your fridge and place it on the kitchen countertop. Grab the airtight containers, fruits, vegetables or leftover food.
Items that are likely to get perished during the time you’ll be cleaning the fridge can be transferred to the deep freezer or cooler.
2. Take The Shelving Out
It’s important to make your refrigerator undergo a thorough cleaning session before you start putting everything back inside. So, take all the shelves out and leave them to soak in a tub filled with some warm soapy water for maybe half an hour. Use a scrubbing brush and some baking soda to scrub off those stubborn stains. Leave it to dry.
Meanwhile, take a couple of microfiber cloths and clean the inside of the fridge thoroughly using some white vinegar or baking soda. Scrub the tough stains and leave no corner of your fridge uncleaned.
3. Start Putting Everything Back In
Now that the shelving and the inside of your fridge has been deeply cleaned, it’s time to put the food items back inside. But make sure that you don’t start arranging everything haphazardly. Pick every jar or container individually and wipe clean it with a damp microfiber cloth. They shouldn’t be sticky or stained before being put in the fridge. Check for any stale or rotten food inside these containers and discard if you find any.
Now grab the bags of fruits and vegetables and empty them all in the bottom rack so that they’re easily visible and get consumed before expiry.
4. Wipe Down The Exterior
Now that you’ve tackled with the interiors, it’s time to get to the exterior of your fridge which includes the top, the sides and the front part. You can start by detaching everything that’s stuck on the exterior of your refrigerator door – fruit magnets, post-it notes, take-out menus, stained or faded photos and old invites. Now soak a dry microfiber cloth in some warm soapy water and wipe down the exterior of your fridge until it’s free of those sticky stains and traces.
Look for the fruit magnets that have loosened over time and take-out menus that you don’t use or need. Discard them without second-guessing your decision. Also trash the notes that are no longer relevant and the invitations that have expired. Make it a rule in your home to keep the refrigerator door clutter to minimum. Personally, I only have fruit magnets and a timer put on my refrigerator door but you can choose to have a couple more items if you want. Make sure that you don’t over-clutter it with needless items.
5. Vacuum Underneath And Behind The Fridge
The area underneath and behind the fridge is likely to attract dust and spiders over time. If possible, unplug your fridge and pull it away from the wall. Now vacuum the floor and the area behind the fridge, and wipe down the wall. If the instruction manual requires you to adopt a different cleaning method for the exterior of your fridge, go for it by all means.
6. Get Creative With Storage
If you want to maximize the space in your fridge while making sure that it stays clean and organized, you can get more creative with the storage solutions you use for your refrigerator.
I always make it a point to use fridge shelf liners and drawer mats to avoid the need to clean my fridge more often. Over the years, I have shifted from having round containers to square ones to store the food in as it helps in making the best use of the limited space. I also make it a point to use stackable containers to utilize the vertical space and to make the fridge look more organized.
There’s a bunch of clear organizing bins that I use to store fruits, herbs and vegetables. You can go for a simple fridge organizer or a rotating turntable organizer to keep the items in your fridge organized and hygienic. Make sure that you use a bunch of food storage bags that are refrigerator-friendly to keep the quality of your food good.
Now that you’ve gotten rid of the clutter that had been hiding in your fridge, it’s time to sit back and enjoy the fresh items that are actually edible and useful. And when you think that your refrigerator needs another session of purging a few days later, don’t forget to come back and read this post.