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During the MCO/CMCO, a humble refrigerator becomes the focus of one family’s attention, imparting valuable lessons about how to properly treat perishables and the fridge they rely on to keep food edible.

The refrigerator is one of the most expensive home appliances to acquire and it can be as much a member of any family as a car or a pet – but the fridge certainly doesn’t get that kind of Tender Lovin’ Care (TLC). Nothing else comes to mind as something we could simultaneously use as an art gallery, community message board, and chest of edible treasures.

Image source: alphafoodie.com

Just as we were getting accustomed to the swing of things during the quarantine, the power went out on our street in Bangsar (Did anyone of you experienced the same? Share with us in the comment section below) – and to add insult to injury, we could see our electricity supplier’s fully-lit logo from our roof. The blackout only lasted around 24 hours, but this event revealed some deeper truths about how we treat our food and our beloved fridge.

As we buckled under yet another layer of coping on top of our “new normal”, we realised that our planned grocery run needed drastic changes. With the electricity out for an unknown period, we couldn’t rely on the refrigerator to keep things cold.

Resigned to eating what dried foods we had in the pantry, we decided to stay at home and spend the day KonMari-ing our fridge. Here’s what we discovered about cleaning, organising, and treating our fridge like a member of the family.


Cleaning a Fridge

“You raze the old to raise the new.” ― Justina Chen Headley, North of Beautiful

Step 1: Turn the Fridge Off

If you’re going to be poking around in any high-powered home appliance, as a general rule, you should always turn it off first.

Consider this a friendly reminder to always be careful when poking into things – especially when they involve both electricity and water. Photo by Sebastian Pociecha on Unsplash.


Step 2: Empty It out to Let It Reach Room Temperature Quicker

We want to get at all the nooks and crannies, some of which may have frozen over.

We knew when the blackout happened. So as long as we kept the doors closed as much as possible, and relied on dried foods in our pantry, according to the Internet, we could expect to keep our food safe for about four hours.

In the course of our research, we also discovered that if the door remained closed, a fully-stocked freezer would remain frozen for up to 48 hours, while paradoxically, everything in a half-full freezer would be completely defrosted after only 24 hours.

Our diversion into how long the inside of a fridge would stay cold led us to the Three Laws of Thermodynamics and our first lesson in the grand saga of our fridge, the idea of filled versus empty volume.

A side-note on the ideal storage volume: Basically, keeping lots of cold stuff together helps to keep other nearby stuff cold for longer, but having too much stuff restricts the movement of cold air and creates warm spots which lead to more rapid decay.

We also found that, other than the starting temperature, the amount of time that the inside of a fridge would remain cold depends on:-

1. the amount of thermal mass (foodstuffs for the fridge to keep cold) inside;
2. the gaps between the foodstuffs for cold air to flow around; and
3. the integrity of the seal in the door gasket, which could let cold air out.

After unplugging it, evacuating it of foodstuffs, and leaving the doors open to let the fridge air out and reach room temperature quicker, we proceeded to go about the business of cleaning it.


Step 3: Wipe everything

But don’t use detergent.

With everything out of the way and nothing but condensate and lingering odours holding us back, we:-

1. remove trays, bins, shelves, drawers, or any other loose bits, from the interior;
2. wash the removed bits with warm soapy water;
3. soak any stains in a concentrated spray solution of vinegar and water;
4. wipe down the interior of the fridge with a soft cloth;


Step 4: Extra care

For more long-term maintenance beyond the coverage of your warranty.

We were really done cleaning our fridge by now, but we decided on a little bit of extra care before turning it back on, all in an effort to reduce our electricity bill and improve the smell on the inside.

We began by cleaning anything that was even remotely dusty, paying extra attention to the condenser coils (the bits that get hot) and the door gasket (the rubber seal around the door that keeps the cold air in).

i) The Condenser Coils

The coils should be cleaned once a year – twice a year if you’ve got pets that shed a lot.

That’s another maintenance fee that we’ll be adding to this one’s rent. Photo by fotografierende on Unsplash.

Our second-hand fridge wasn’t under warranty, otherwise, we could have taken advantage of a worry-free service by the manufacturer directly. Without a manufacturer’s warranty seal to ward us off, we removed the rear panel and grilles with a screwdriver, then proceeded to vacuum and brush the condenser coils.

The Internet tells us the objective is to remove dust that settles on the coils, with the aim being to maximise the amount of heat that the coils can radiate, which should reduce the strain on the compressor and the costs of keeping food cold. This is also why, back in the day, we had those big green stones for the fridge to stand on.

ii) The Door Gasket

If dirt gets trapped in the rubber gasket around the fridge door, the seal becomes less efficient and may tear or stain over time. The gasket needs a wiping down between once a month and once every six months, depending on the frequency of use.

Aside from periodically clearing the gasket of food residue and wiping it down once a month, the Internet gave us other useful maintenance tips such as:-

1. wiping old gaskets with talcum powder for lubrication;
2. scrubbing stains out with a toothbrush dipped in a baking soda and water solution; and
3. using a piece of paper to test the seal’s grip.


Step 5: Air it Out

By this point of our adventure, the stains were gone and the interior was gleaming like the day we first bought it, but a distinctive odour remained.

You know the kind we mean. Image source: melbournefridgeworks.com.au

This time around, some of our elderly relatives joined the Internet in suggesting some common household items that could help with the smell. We’ve had suggestions to use things such as:-

1. charcoal;
2. crumpled newspaper, because black ink is basically charcoal.
3. baking soda, which should be replaced every three months; and
4. citrus peels – because the smell is a divine added bonus.

Seeing our fridge restored to its former glory compelled us to carefully consider how we approached the immediate task of refilling it, and in the long term, how we used it once the electricity returned.

Despite our newfound love for the fridge and our best efforts to make cleaning it as enjoyable as possible, we couldn’t see much appeal in making an annual tradition of this exercise – so we resolved to set some new rules. Stay tuned for our next article for the 5 Essential Tips to Keep a Fridge Organised.


(Written by Kevin Eichenberger, 11th June 2020)

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Easy guide to cleaning fridge.