Here's How to Clean Your Refrigerator Properly, According to the CDC

Isabella James, Tech Times 29 October 2021, 10:10 am

As an old saying goes, "Cleanliness is next to godliness" and if there is one place in anyone's home that should always be clean, it's the refrigerator.

Whether it is out of laziness or forgetfulness, it is almost always easy to forget that the fridge is home to raw food, cooked food that needs to be stored, and sometimes even spoiled food you forgot about. It is, therefore, a hygienic and healthy practice to regularly clean your refrigerator.

But here is a question: do you know how to clean your refrigerator properly? If not, here are

some easy-to-follow and reliable steps you can follow so that you can clean your fridge asap!

(Photo : Kindel Media from Pexels)

How to Clean Your Refrigerator Properly

It is actually pretty easy to learn how to clean your refrigerator properly. If you don't believe that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) actually has five simple steps to cleaning your fridge properly.

Before you get to cleaning, make sure you have the following essentials first:

Sealed bags
Hot, soapy water
Clean towels
Water and bleach

The first thing you have to do to clean your fridge is to make sure to throw out all the recalled or spoiled food in it. Per the Food Safety website, a food is recalled "when a food producer takes a product off the market because there is reason to believe that it may cause consumers to become ill."

According to the CDC, you should also throw out all the food stored with it or any food touching it. Make sure to put the food first in a sealable bag before throwing it away in the bin.

Once that is out of the way, remove the rest of the items from your fridge and put them on a counter or table. Then, you may remove all the shelving, drawers, and other compartments that are removable.

Take the hot, soapy water mentioned earlier and use it to clean the components of your refrigerator that you just took out. Use a clean towel to dry them once you are done.

After that, use hot, soapy water once more to clean the inside of your fridge, then wipe off all the soap with clean water. Once again, use a clean towel to dry it. You can also opt to sanitize your fridge using a solution that has one tablespoon of liquid bleach mixed in gallon water.

Then, voila! You have just learned all the proper steps on how to clean your refrigerator. You can now return all the removable compartments of your refrigerator, plus all the food that you previously took out.

Other Reminders on How to Clean Your Refrigerator

The CDC also offers other reminders when you are cleaning your fridge:

If the recalled food you are about to throw has been stored in a reusable container, make sure to use hot, soapy water to clean the container before using it again.
Food that needs to be kept in the fridge should not be left out of it for more than two hours.
If your fridge has glass compartments, do not run it under hot water because the glass may break.
Wash your hands before and after cleaning
Use hot, soapy water to clean the table or counter your placed your food on while you were cleaning the fridge.