Speed Cleaning the Fridge

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6.12.10

Speed Cleaning the Fridge

Wouldn’t you love to open your refrigerator and see it shining and clean…and ready to fill with goodies for the holidays? If there was ever a time of year when a clean fridge was essential, the holidays is that time! We want to be able to say, “Sure, I’d love to have your help!”  How many times have you said, “No, thanks, I’m just fine.” , just because you didn’t want your guests to see the state of your refrigerator?

  clean Kitchen


Well, not this year! This week, is Zone 2, if you are following the Flylady plan and that means working in the kitchen. I have talked a lot about that HERE and HERE.  I spent several days last week de-cluttering and boxing up my kitchen gadgetry and linens for a garage sale with my daughter-in-law.


cereal snack cabinet


While doing that, I naturally, ended up getting my cabinets in order. Last month, I de-cluttered the upper cabinets and this week, it was the lower ones--you know, the ones with appliances, mixing bowls, and Tupperware. Sadly, I didn’t get to the water bottles! I just flat ran out of time. But with Ebeth’s inspiration, I got enough junk out to make $50.00! She made a lot more, but hey, that’s still money in the bank and less clutter in my kitchen!


Freezer


But what I most wanted to get done this week was to clean the refrigerator.  Every month, right before we do our monthly grocery shopping, I do a pretty major cleaning but not as thorough as I did this month. There will be a lot of baking, candy making, and cooking going on this month so I wanted everything to be as sanitary and roomy as possible.


vege bin

Since I also started the South Beach Diet this week, (Gotta love those RECIPES!!), I needed a very clean vegetable bin and lots of room for fresh vegetables. I soaked those bins to get every last little bit of dried up unmentionable bits out of every crack and crevice. What were all those dried up bits? Ah..I’m not going to tell you! Didn’t I say they were ‘unmentionable?’. 

What dies in the kitchen…stays in the kitchen.

That’s my secret! Tee-hee! Let us pull a polite curtain over the remains of last month’s dinners shall we?

Really girls, It’s not as bad a job as it seems. If you are dreading the thought of tackling the whole fridge, at least commit to one bin. Once you get that one vege or fruit bin empty and it’s all clean and shiny (just use warm soapy water) you may have enough courage do clean the whole fridge!  That’s how I got started. I just wanted a clean vegetable bin..but one thing does often lead to another…and now the whole fridge is lovely—just in time for the holidays!

ACF36F

If your refrigerator is already in good shape but just needs some touching up, here is a good method from Jeff Campbell of Clean in a Minute: Speed Cleaning.

How to Speed Clean a Refrigerator
  1. Take out a few things from the top shelf. Scoot everything to the left side of the shelf.
  2. Spray and wipe this shelf with 409 and wipe clean with paper towels.
  3. Remove and discard old food as you work. 
  4. Scoot everything to the right side and clean the left side of the shelf.
  5. Now move half of the second shelf to the empty space of the top one.
  6. Repeat the left to right side scoot, spraying and wiping as you go. Work your way down to the vege and fruit bins.
  7. When you get to the fruit bin, empty the fruit and veges from the top drawer into the bottom.
  8. Clean that bin and replace.
  9. Then shift the fresh food to the top drawer and replace and sort.
  10. For the side drawers in the door, remove about half the condiments from the first shelf and set them in an open space inside the fridge, now scoot your stuff left to right.
  
    Fridge Door

    My door drawers are empty enough, that I can scoot every thing in the drawer over enough to clean the surface without removing anything. This is called “de-cluttered”. :o) You want this!

    Organizing and Maintaining Your Refrigerator

    Now, how do you keep a fridge clean?  Once a week, you just have to put everything back where it belongs. Or better yet, how about once a day? When you see condiments in the wrong place, put them back. If someone puts leftovers on the dairy shelf, then move them back to the spot designated for leftovers.  If you don’t have any organizational plan for  your fridge, today might be a good time to start! :o)
    I have my refrigerator organized, in a general way, like this.
    • Beverages
    • Dairy Products 
    • Lunchmeats
    • Leftovers and Extra Fresh Veges (things that could spoil if not used quickly
    • Fruit Bin
    • Vege Bin
    And in the side drawers or shelves
    • Butter and Eggs
    • Tiny condiments and Misc.
    • Sauces and Recipe Ingredients
    • Lunch Condiments
    • Salad Condiments

    In my photo, you can see that I need to do some rearranging—again. This is called NORMAL life.  Order requires maintenance. It doesn’t happen by itself. So when you first start to try to keep some order in the fridge, be sure to label the shelves! This will help everyone get used to your new system!


    fruit bin


    I hope today’s post will help you get brave and get the fridge clean and shiny! I want your refrigerator to make you smile!

    What cleaning job are you going to do today to help get you ready for the holidays?

    It’s Monday-- Let’s put on our aprons and bless our homes!

    Happy Homemaking...
    signature

    8 comments

    Jill said...

    Hi Donna,

    Thanks for stopping by and entering the giveaway. :-)
    Decluttering and cleaning the fridge seems to be never ending, lol! I tend to just take everything out and work top to bottom using warm soapy water. I take the shelves out then dry them cook before replacing them. The girls tend to leave little sips of drinks in cups in the fridge and it drives my husband crazy so daily maintenence is a must here, lol.
    Hope you have a great day!!
    Blessings,
    Jill

    GlorV1 said...

    Great ideas and I do some of those. I clean one side and scoot the things to the other side and clean. It's faster and does get done. As for tamales, I'm not a good teacher so I'm giving you a link to check out:

    http://www.sonofthesouth.net/tamales/Tamale_Recipe.htm

    This guy here seems to have it step by step including the supplies you'll need, etc.
    Great post, have a wonderful day.

    Jill said...

    Hi Donna!

    I'm back again...this time to let you know you won my giveaway!!!
    Congratulations!! Please email me your address and I'll get it out to you right away. :-)
    jill58972@gmail.com
    Enjoy! Have a great night!
    Blessings,
    Jill

    Donna said...

    Dear Jill, Oh my goodness! I'm so excited! I can't believe I won!

    How fun!

    Well, I'm off to get that Tamale Recipe that Gloria told me about. MMMm! Yummy...oh no, I think that is NOT going to work with my diet.

    Well, maybe just 'one' itty bitty bite of tamale?

    :o)
    Donna

    Jill said...

    Hi Donna!

    I'm excited for you...but I need your address to send these out to you :-) LOL I got all your lovely comments but don't know where to send it :-)
    thanks!
    Jill

    Breathing In Grace said...

    You give the best tips...for EVERYTHING....I wish I could hire you!!! :)

    Kerrie said...

    Today the frig, thank you! Tomorrow the Stove! LOL!

    Shona Cole said...

    yep, that is so much easier on my scrolling speed, I can keep up with that size photo much better. You are so awesome. I have on my list to do the fridge this weekend before my big shop on Monday. I love how you think Donna.

    “There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” ~ Margaret Sangster

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