Tired of having a disorganized refrigerator? Wondering what those weird smells are? Keeping a clean and tidy fridge is easier than you might think. Below, find some useful tips for freshening your fridge and organizing your food and drinks and a pleasing way that will facilitate ease of use for everyone!
Your goals will be to find things you need without struggling, enjoy less mess, keep your fridge smelling fresh and clean.
So, are you ready to fix your refrigerator woes? Create a user-friendly refrigerator following these simple rules. Let’s go!
Refrigerator Rules and Best Practices
Rule 1: Maintain easy access to the milk.
There should always be an unobstructed path to the milk. It should be so direct that you’d be able to find the milk in the pitch dark, in the eclipse-rare event that the refrigerator light burned out, by blindly reaching your arm in and feeling around for it.
Rule 2: Tall things on the top shelf, small things on the lower shelves.
No one wants to play Refrigerator Jenga with precariously placed piles of styrofoam take-out containers balanced with overripe bananas, an economy-size tub of large-curd cottage cheese, and bags of expired lunch meats stuffed into the spaces between.
Make sense of the space of your fridge and you and your family will enjoy opening that door of possibilities to see what deliciousness awaits!
Rule 3: Spot clean as a routine.
It is truly a mystery how there always seems to be a mysterious, tacky substance that has dribbled down the back wall of the fridge to collect in the spot where the removable bottom shelf meets the back edge of the crisper drawers (or why one always seems to cut one’s finger trying to wipe it).
Keep your fridge spill free AND smell-free, with a simple, homemade cleaning spray made of vinegar, water, a pinch of baking soda and a few drops of lemon essential oil. Store in the cabinet under the sink and spray your fridge with it from time to time. Smells heavenly, and it disinfects!
Stock up on dark glass spray bottles, white vinegar and lemon essential oil to make and store a homemade cleaning solution to do a quick wipe-up of your fridge, countertops, sink and more.
Rule 4: Mitigate unpleasant odors.
Here’s an easy fix for those times when you can’t get to the sticky substance that has glued your crisper to the back wall and is puddling beneath the drawer. Baking soda! Simple, economical. Endless cleaning and disinfecting uses. Baking soda sucks the odors right up.
Get Boxes of Baking Soda Now. Put Them Everywhere!
Rule 5: Avoid bottle tippage and know when to store on the door.
Whipped cream, chocolate syrup, bottles of pickled jalapenos and other tall, tippable objects belong on the door shelf, NOT on the top shelf by the milk.
Since we’re discussing spills and smells, this simple practice could definitely prevent condiment casualties AND keep your fridge fresher and tidier for longer.
Rule 6: Manage moisture by lining your crisper drawers for fresher produce longer.
Are things coming to life in your crisper? Line the drawers with paper towels and arrange the produce on top. Or, if you’re the frugal type, get a few of those no-lint 100% cotton kitchen cloths and line the crispers with those.
These are the lint-free cotton cloths I mean… I have flour sack towels in my crispers. Not microfiber. Those will NOT soak up dampness like 100% cotton will.
Rule 7: Use glass food storage containers… NOT PLASTIC!
Today’s plastic containers just don’t stand up to the prior generation’s weighted Tupperware with textured snap-on lids, that didn’t topple over or slide out of place when stacked like those Chinese takeout containers full of leftover pot roast which are stacked on the TOP SHELF of your fridge right now, making it impossible to access the milk without an avalanche of prepared food products and ensuing swear words.
These Pyrex food storage containers are the be-all end-all.
They go from counter top to oven to table to fridge to microwave to table and back again. If you buy them it will change your life.
For those who insist on stackable plastic meal prep containers, they’re right here.
Rule 8: Clean what lies beneath.
While you’re maximizing the performance of your refrigerator, you may as well take care of dusting underneath the appliance, which may improve your fridge’s cooling capability, who knows?!
Here’s an under-the-fridge dusting kit.
Since you now can eliminate your refrigerator pet peeves, pass this on and add your own. Share the link on Facebook or your other favorite social media hangout.
