Spring Cleaning: Top Five Tips for Cleaning Your Refrigerator
We’ve all been there: One day, you open your refrigerator, and you pause for a moment. What’s that smell? It’s not terrible, but it’s not…great. It’s also not complicated—you need to clean your refrigerator. With spring right around the corner, S&S Appliance is here to provide our top five tips for refrigerator spring cleaning.
Our tips are more than just a series of cleaning methods. As trained and experienced technicians, we want to offer our customers insight that will help keep your fridge clean for longer than just a few weeks. Best of all, none of our tips require fancy equipment. Most of these things can be found right in your own home.
Mix An Unstoppable Cleaning Solution
A couple of reasons might explain why your refrigerator’s stench returns faster than your food can even turn. For one, you might be failing to clean it properly. We’ll get to that in a bit.
More likely, you’re not using the right cleaning solution. Grocery stores and supermarkets line the shelves with pricey chemicals whose logos make big promises. Instead of feeding into the cleaning chemical hype, opt to create your own solution that will be far more effective. To make your own cleaning fluid, mix into a gallon of hot water the following ingredients:
- 1 cup clear ammonia
- ½ cup vinegar
- ¼ cup baking soda
Pour the solution into a spray bottle, or, with the protection of rubber gloves, you can dip your sponge directly into the cleaning solution.
This no-nonsense formula prevents mold, mildew, and grease.
What Makes Your Teeth White?
Hear me out—toothpaste. Not only does it contain the mild abrasive that aids in brushing your teeth, but it also spackles the smells lingering in your refrigerator.
Solving the Problem at Its Root
Dirt, residue, dust bunnies, and plain old dust build-up underneath the refrigerator. The fridge’s grille at the bottom blocks us from viewing this atrocity, but you’ve got to remove it to get there.
Find a long stick, like a meter stick or a thin cane, cover it with an old towel or rag, pantyhose, or any material that you can get nice and dirty, and sweep all underneath the fridge. Additionally, make sure to check the water pan because if you don’t regularly change it out it can smell pretty bad.
Refrigerator? $400. Paper Bags? Priceless
Once you’ve finished cleaning the refrigerator, you might still smell some residual odors. Though faint, they’ll remain in the fridge’s confined space.
Bunch up some brown paper bags and shove them in the drawers, nooks, and crannies. Within a couple of days, they’ll have absorbed the last of the lingering odors.
Is It Really That Cold?
Your refrigerator should run at about 37°. The thermometer keeps a constant watch over the temperature. When it’s cool enough, it shuts down the compressor. When it starts warming up again, the compressor goes on again.
Leaks in the refrigerator’s seals can allow warm air to keep rushing in so that the compressor is constantly working. In some cases, the refrigerator may not be able to get down to 37°.
In order to check for a leak in your fridge, find a flashlight, turn the lights out when night falls, place the flashlight inside the fridge, and close the door. Because your refrigerator’s light shuts off when the door is closed, if you can see the flashlight seeping through the door’s seal, you know there’s a leak. Having a leak in your fridge will explain why food goes bad faster, and smells seem to strengthen and linger for longer periods of time.
In that case, it’s time to invite one of our technicians to seal it. Please give us a call or visit us online to schedule an appointment. From fridges to washing machines to dishwashers and ovens, no one across Alabama and Florida can match S&S Appliance’s service or prices.
Discover S&S Appliance professional repair services today!
S&S Appliance Parts & Service is the leading independent appliance service and repair provider in the Southeast. We have experience with all makes and models, and we are ready to put our 60+ years of experience at your service. Contact us at 1-205-426-5468 to consult a technician and give a new life to your old or broken appliances.
