Having a residence to call your own is nice until it’s time to clean.
At this, the kitchen can easily become one of the dirtiest rooms in the house to the point of where roommates can swear off cleaning it themselves unless everyone does a joint job.
When living among multiple others—or even living alone—comes the unavoidable responsibility that pays off from all those mornings of being woken up by your parents playing loud music, making you help clean the house. But, one of the challenges that may remain after disinfecting the kitchen is cleaning the place that is supposed to stay fresh year-round: the refrigerator.
The first step in doing so is to remove everything from inside the fridge, including food, the drawers, and the shelves if possible. The second step is to clean it out: thoroughly wipe down the inside with a clean rag you’re not planning on using again or a fresh sponge.
A more traditional way to deep clean while disinfecting a fridge is by using a bleach and water mixture—because “bleach kills everything,” as the popular phrase goes—but this one easy method may not solve the whole problem of the fridge. Hot water and soap is a good alternative.
For harder-to-clean places, try using lemons: squeezing juice onto a rag used to scrub the area, or even using half of a juicy lemon to scrub on the surface. To make the lemon easy to juice, roll it on the counter and then microwaving for ten seconds before cutting.
Using lemon is helpful with disinfecting and also leaves behind a clean, refreshing scent.
The third step is for future protection within your fridge: layer the bottom of the shelves and the bottom of drawers with wax paper. It does not stick to glass so using it is not only a breeze to move and to clean in the future, but the wax paper catches all the crumbs and filth that gather and keeps the inside looking fresh.
The fourth step: returning everything inside and organize.
Resealable bags (like Ziploc) are a great way to save storage space for even the simplest things while keeping them fresh—half a head of lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cheese, sandwich meat, butter, fruits, and more can fit inside resealable bags. They are also excellent alternatives to plastic Tupperware.
And then, using office supply plastic containers are perfect for organizing small things and for reusing—larger containers for larger items and small containers for smaller items and bottles.
Lastly, the fridge should be neat, organized and smelling clean.
Placing an opened box of baking soda inside will entrap the bad odors in the air. Leaving slices of lemon in various places is a viable alternative to prolong the fresh smell.
Now, you’ve just accomplished a step in adult responsibility: cleaning up after yourself.