How to defrost and clean your fridge freezer
The fridge freezer is one of the most important appliances in the household – it keeps our food fresh and allows us to store groceries that we can use at a later date. We all need to eat!
Despite its importance and usefulness, it’s an appliance that probably doesn’t get cleaned as often as it should. From funny smells to spillages on the shelves, regularly giving your fridge freezer a thorough clean will help keep your food fresh and safe from bacteria and bad odours.
So, what is the best way to defrost and clean your fridge freezer?
Empty the fridge freezer
First things first, you need to empty the fridge freezer of all contents. Try to use the days leading up to the clean to use most of the food that’s stored so you don’t have a mountain of items to remove, as any food that is taken out before the clean will need to be kept fresh. A chill box is ideal for any food from the fridge, and any frozen food can be placed into a chill box filled with ice. Once the fridge freezer is empty of all contents, switch off the power at the plug.
Defrosting the freezer
If you’re battling to open and close the compartment doors in the freezer due to a build-up of ice, it’s time for a defrost. There is no quick way to defrost your freezer, but we can provide a few tips to make the task a little easier:
- Place towels on the floor around the freezer to catch escaping ice and water.
- Carefully pour boiling water into bowls and place them on each shelf for about 30-60 minutes to speed up the thawing. (During this time you could head down to the fridge cleaning section and crack on with that)
- Remove the bowls of water from the shelves so that they aren’t in the way and use a scraper (car window scraper is ideal) to remove as much of the built-up ice as possible.
- If required, repeat steps 2 and 3 until all ice is removed.
- Once the ice has all been removed, wipe the shelves and freezer walls with a cloth and fresh soapy water - including the door seals, as these are prone to a build-up of bad odours and bacteria.
Washing up liquid is useful for this. Then use paper towels to dry your fresh and clean freezer. - Replace the food back into the freezer!
Cleaning the fridge
As your fridge has already been emptied of food contents, all you should be left with is shelves and drawers. Follow the below instructions and you’ll have a sparkling fridge in no time:
- Remove the shelves and drawers and place them into a sink full of hot, soapy water and leave them to soak for a little while.
- Gently scrub the shelves and drawers clean with a sponge. Use a multipurpose cleaner to remove any stubborn stains by leaving it to soak into the stain, then use an old toothbrush to gently scrub it clean.
- Use a clean cloth and hot soapy water to give the inside of the fridge a good wipe down. Don’t forget to clean the door seals!
- Return to the shelves and drawers that have been soaking and clean them with washing up liquid for a fresh, clean finish before leaving them to dry naturally.
- Place all components back into the fridge and clean the exterior of the fridge with a multi-purpose cleaner so it’s just as clean outside as it is inside.
- Replace the food back into the fridge and turn the power back on at the plug!
