How to Clean Your Fridge and Keep It Fresh

Every time I clean my fridge, it seems to get dirty again practically overnight. I can spend all day wiping down the shelves, throwing out stinky leftovers, and removing moldy produce from the crisper drawer, but somehow the whole thing winds up smelling and looking just the same only a week later.

Rather than continuing to store my food in a perpetually grimy fridge, I asked cleaning bloggers where I've been misstepping. Kirsten Horton, creator of Organized Charm, tells me that my issue might be that I'm not cleaning my fridge often enough. She says that if you wipe it down once a week, you only need to deep-clean it a handful of times a year. And if you think that's not enough to keep your beast of a fridge clean, she says there are few simple DIY hacks that will help maintain its integrity from one cleaning session to the next.

To make sure I know exactly how to clean my fridge from now on, I asked Horton and Becky Rapinchuck, creator of Clean Mama, to break down the process step by step. Here's everything you need to know to keep your fridge sparkling, plus some easy ways to preserve its freshness between cleanings.

Wipe it down every week before you go grocery shopping.

Rapinchuck says that when your fridge is empty at the end of the week, you should quickly wipe it down before you head to the supermarket to restock it. If you use this built-in cleanup time to your advantage, you won't have to resort to deep cleans as frequently. The moral of the story: The more often you clean your fridge (or anything for that matter), the less work it will take to keep clean.

Use a super simple cleaning mixture during your weekly fridge wipe-downs.

On a week-to-week basis, Rapinchuck says that all you have to do is simply wipe down your empty fridge with a towel and a mixture of warm water and dish soap. When it's time to deep-clean, though, you'll need to rely on slightly more heavy-duty cleaning supplies. (More on that below.)

For deep cleans, you'll need a cleaning solution with bleach and a glass cleaner.

When it comes to deep cleans, you'll need a couple different products to get the job done. Horton relies on a cleaner with bleach in it (like this one) to really get the smells out. She also uses a glass cleaner (like this one) to give glass shelves and drawers a polished look. You'll also need one or two clean dishcloths to wipe everything down with.

When you're have all your supplies together, start the process by taking out all the food.

Even if your fridge is mostly empty, take out any remaining ingredients or condiments before you start cleaning, says Horton. This extra step will give you an opportunity to check the dates on all your food to ensure that nothing goes bad and starts to stink before the next time you clean your fridge. Plus, removing everything will guarantee you don't miss any smudges or spills that might be hiding beneath your food. Whether you're deep-cleaning your fridge or simply wiping it down, you should always do this step. Also, even though it seems like more work to empty everything out before cleaning, I promise you it's way quicker and more convenient than moving every bottle and container one by one or trying to clean around each one.

Next, remove the drawers and shelves and wash them separately.

Things like shelves and drawers are way, way easier to clean when you remove them from the fridge, says Rapinchuck. Take them out before you clean anything else, spray them with cleaning solution, let them soak in the sink for a few minutes, and then rinse and dry them off. Before you put them back in, quickly spray and wipe them with glass cleaner.

Finally, wipe down everything else.

Spray your cleaning solution on a clean dish towel and use it to wipe down the rest of your fridge, or whatever you can't remove and clean in the sink. Before you put anything back in, make sure the fridge is thoroughly dry, says Rapinchuck. And that's all it takes to do a deep clean! Bonus: If you wipe your fridge down weekly, you'll only need to do this four to five times a year.

Use a bit of lemon and baking soda to keep your fridge fresh all week long.

Before you put all your food back into the fridge, Horton recommends wiping down the shelves with a bit of lemon rind. "Rubbing some lemon on the shelves keeps it smelling nice and clean," she explains.

After you put everything back, Horton also recommends storing an open box or bottle of baking soda on one of your shelves, as baking soda can absorb any future bad smells. If you've been using this trick forever, it might actually be time to replace your baking soda, because it won't work as well (or possibly at all) if you've had it in there for years.

Though it may seem like cleaning your fridge is a whole thing, these tips and tricks prove that you only need about 10 to 20 minutes every week to keep it looking good. With a cleaning spray, a box of baking soda, and a washcloth, your fridge will always be sparkling.