The refrigerator is one of the hardest working appliances in your kitchen. It is time to Clean, Organize and Tame your refrigerator. The months of May and November we focus on the decluttering event ‘Declutter Your Kitchen’.

Also part of Marilyn’s Way Home Keeping Made SIMPLE system is Weekly Habits.  On Wednesdays is Get It Done Weekly Habits and part of the Weekly Habit is ‘Cleaning Your Refrigerator’. I will show you how I get it done each week. Take what you like and incorporate into your weekly cleaning of the fridge.

Lots of Information!

There is lots of information on cleaning your refrigerator. It is anywhere from basic to very detailed. I tried to do them and was never able to stick with it. So how do I tame my refrigerator today? I am ready to tell you my method. It is part of Marilyn’s Way Home Keeping Made SIMPLE.

Friendly Cleaning Solution

Mix one part baking soda and three parts warm water in a small bucket with a dishcloth.

Clean One Shelf At A Time

Start with the top shelf by removing the items so you can wipe down the shelf. You can also wipe the sides while you are there. You might want to take the vegetable and fruits drawer so you can wipe down underneath. Do the same with the door starting at the top. Remember Done is Better Than Perfect.

You can take out every shelf and drawer to clean in more detail every three to six months. Only do it when you have a minimal stocked refrigerator. This is also the time to clean under your refrigerator removing the dust bunnies living in the coils.

Organizing Your Refrigerator

Believe it or not there are certain areas of your refrigerator you keep certain foods. If you don’t stay on top of keeping your refrigerator organized, in no time it becomes a mess. This is the very reason for Weekly Home Keeping Habits and on Wednesdays one of the weekly habits is cleaning your refrigerator.

When it comes to food storage it does help to organize your food in the refrigerator. Your organizational setup will depend on the type of refrigerator you own, but there are a couple of common tips to follow to help stay organized.

Where To Keep Types of Food in Your Refrigerator

Finding The Coldest Spot

The coldest spot in your refrigerator is near the freezer. The colder the fridge the longer it will keep food. Consider keeping the following items on your coldest shelf:

• Milk
• Sour cream
• Cottage cheese
• Yogurt
• Eggs

You will want to store raw meat in the coldest part of your refrigerator as well, but will need to store meat in a safe container. Do not skimp on a container, otherwise, you risk meat juices dripping down to other shelves. This not only makes an annoying mess to clean, but it can ruin anything stored on the other shelves.

Organizing Your Fridge Door

Because it is the first part of the refrigerator you see, it is easy to for it to become a mess out of the shelves on the inside of the door. The door is also the warmest part of the refrigerator. Drinks and condiments do well in warmer conditions. The top shelves have limited space storage where the bottom shelves are set up to hold your drinks and large condiments.

Prioritize the drinks and condiments you frequently use by placing them in the front. One of the easiest ways for a refrigerator to become a disorganized mess comes from trying to store everything in the front immediately after use, no matter how frequently it is used. This leads to items getting pushed around on shelves and poorly utilizes your space. When you are organizing your refrigerator door, double check whether your condiments need to be refrigerated.

Group Items Together

The best way to always know what is in your refrigerator is to organize it so it makes sense to you. One of the most effective organization methods is to group food items together. It keeps from getting cluttered. If you leave items loose in your refrigerator, you risk not knowing what is in it. When you do not know what is in your refrigerator, you are more likely to buy something you already have, further increasing the amount of clutter in your fridge. This is especially bad for items with expiration dates since it is easy to mix up the items.

Grouping items is much easier if you utilize the drawers in your refrigerator. The number of available drawers depends on your refrigerator, but most models at least have a set of drawers on the bottom. What you store in the drawers may vary slightly depending on your model of refrigerator. For example, if you have a refrigerator where your drawers are temperature controlled, then you can lower the temperature and use your drawers to store meats and cheeses instead of a shelf.

If your refrigerator has limited drawer space, then use the drawers to store your produce. Many refrigerators have humidity settings on the drawers. A low-humidity drawer is great for storing the following types of food:

• Apples
• Ripened avocados, melon, peaches, pears or plums
• Grapes
• Mushrooms
• Peppers

For your high-humidity drawer, you want to store the following items:

• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Green onions
• Leafy greens

If you have a larger refrigerator, then you may have smaller, more vertical shaped drawers. These are great spaces to store smaller beverages, such as individual cans of soda or juice.

Storage Containers

Drawers are not the only way to keep your refrigerator organized. For optimal organization, pick up several glass or plastic containers of varying sizes. These containers stack easily in your fridge, and since the containers are see-through, you do not have to go through each container until you find what you are looking for.

Square and rectangular containers are optimal in terms of space efficiency. When you use a larger container, be sure to transfer the contents into a smaller container as you remove items. To make your food last as long as possible, consider placing a piece of plastic wrap directly over the surface of the food.

When you store leftovers, try and use glass containers or any other lidded container safe for your microwave. Ideally, you can keep all your leftovers on the same shelf. Since leftovers have a limited shelf life you want to avoid mixing the containers with fresher food. If you frequently have uneaten leftovers, then it helps to label the container with the date the items were originally stored. Take the time to keep the oldest ones in the front, so you do not accidentally let these leftovers expire or become forgotten in the back of the fridge.

Use this guide when you clean, organize and tame your refrigerator. You can leave out the items that could be located in a better place. And PLEASE ‘Admire Your Work When Done!’