Fridge - DO NOT READ BEFORE OR AFTER EATING

Ahavas Chesed

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 9:07 pm

We got a very disgustingly dirty fridge that is treif that came with the house that we bought and I need advice on how to get it clean enough that I should feel comfortable using it. I admit that I am extremely fussy and clean and am totally repulsed by this fridge but it is what it is. My husband used wipes to remove the worst food residue from the shell but the bins, shelves rubber, handle etc. are so disgusting with bits of food hanging on a couple of bins - totally yuck!!! and there is some of the plastic wrapping left all around the rubbers and the handle and it is completely filthy. Also the place where we pull open the bins has dirt in the top part that is covered by another plastic, the dirt is on the side and it is going inside is as well. I sprayed the entire fridge with all its part with EZ Off and started on the door handle screws and around the rubber using toothpicks, Q tips and paper towels. I am still up to there and it is not coming clean! It is true that it is extremely emotionally difficult for me to do this but as I don't use cleaning help I have to do it with S'yatta D'Shmaya, the Aibershter's Help.
I am looking for advice on how to go about it maybe a bit quicker if possible than I am doing now but it has to be spotless when I am finished.
By the way, I am a Bubby with less energy than I used to have, but B"H, B'Chasdei Hashem, I am able to work and I just love cleaning, just not this kind of cleaning.
Thank you
Rochel

sourstix

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 9:12 pm

I think you should do one part at a time and reward yourself and dont do too much at a time so you dont feel overwhelmed. take a bunch of breaks so you dont get to nauseated and put on lively music so you kind of can tune out the shmutz. hugs to you(((()))) I have done such stuff.
hatzlacha. happy cleaning.

anonymrs

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 9:15 pm

I so sympathize!! I once moved into a house that still had food in the fridge while the fridge had been turned off. I cried when I saw it. Any removable parts got dumped in the bathtub with bleach. Dish soap or any cleanser will do. Then I scrubbed the fridge first with bleach and then with another cleanser and then water. Put baking soda in when your done.

I'm so sorry taht you have to deal with this. Moving is so emotionally stressful without the extras.

sky

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 9:40 pm

Take the fridge apart.

I would take out the bottom shelf, the one that holds the drawers and put the entire thing in your bathtub with warm water and ammonia and let it sit. And then wash it down. It should help a lot with breaking down the goo.

And then repeat for each shelf, drawer.

clean the fridge cavity when it is totally empty. Fill a spray bottle with watered down ammonia. Spray and let it sit and then wipe.

Most parts of a fridge come apart. You can look up a web site like appliancepartspro - they show how to replace parts of fridge (we do it when parts break) and can help with how to take apart and put it back together.

amother

Chocolate

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 9:44 pm

is this the fridge that you will always be using or is this a 2nd fridge? If it's not the regular one and it's sort of temporary (or secondary) then after scrubbing in the bath tub and using bleach, I would cover. Line the shelves and bins and scrub the inside with amonia. If this will be your regular day to day fridge, then I understand that you might not always want to use it lined. Personally, I would hire a cleaning lady to do heavy jobs like that. I honestly don't think that I can get a fridge or dirty oven to look as nice as a cleaning lady does.

greenfire

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 10:13 pm

use fantastic, baking soda, hot water, 2 sided sponge/scrubber, toothbrush and lots of elbow grease

whatever you can take out - soak & wash in bathtub one piece at a time ... then do the walls and shelves inside the fridge

slow & steady - with 'coffee' breaks between

if you're that squeamish - use rubber gloves

Ahavas Chesed

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 10:17 pm

Thank you so much for all your empathy, it makes me feel so good. I took apart the removable parts, they are all sprayed with EZ off in the bath. Whatever won't come off I will use your wonderful advice of soaking in bleach or ammonia, of course separately. It is the shell, especially around the rubber, the handle and the screws that are giving me such a hard time now. This will be our primary fridge so it has to be perfectly clean and as we have the expenses of a new house a new fridge is not really possible at this time, especially as it B"H it is working well, it would be unfair to my husband to ask him to buy a new fridge especially as we had to replace the kitchen because that was totally horrible and falling apart.
Thank you all so much once again
IY"H I will keep you all posted
Rochel

sushi galore

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 10:36 pm

Ahavas Chesed wrote:

Good luck in your new home. May you make many simchas there in good time. Hope you settle down calmly.
A good idea even after washing fridge would be to use fridge liners on all shelves. They're easy to cut to size. I use paper towel on top of the liners to absorb moisture and I don't feel nauseated using fridge then.
Good luck!!

mummiedearest

Tue, Jul 19 2016, 11:32 pm

I spent three days cleaning the fridge that came with our house. I was in my ninth month of pregnancy at the time. not a fun job, certainly.

take all shelves and bins out of the fridge. soak them in a hot bath with dishwashing soap. you can scrub it in the water. the food really should come off fairly easily. no one cooks in a fridge, so things shouldn't be burnt on. use some steel wool if necessary.

do you have a steamer? I'm guessing you don't. if you do, great. use it. you will be very happy. if you don't, pour boiling water over the tough bits until it loosens. if you can borrow a steamer, though, I highly recommend it. it'll melt the yucky stuff away. it will smell of old food, but you'll be rid of the actual dirt fairly quickly. then you can spray and wipe with a multi-purpose cleaner. I think easy off is going a bit far, that stuff is terrible. I wouldn't want it near food.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Jul 20 2016, 5:28 am

Don't bother cleaning the rubber strip around the doors. The seal is probably weak anyway, and due for replacement. Any appliance store will sell you a roll of seal for cheap. Take out the old seal, clean down inside, and install the new seal. You'll be much happier, and save a lot of money, too.

Fridges cannot really get "treif", because they are always cold, and food is usually in containers anyway. Any strong solvent will nullify meat juice, spilled dairy, etc., so you've already got it covered. It's not like you're going to be storing raw meat in the door handle, so just get it as clean as you can.

I like to use a lot of boiling water when I clean the fridge for Pesach, and just lay down a bunch of old bath towels to catch everything on the floor. Scoop up the towels and throw them in the wash, and mop the floors last. Wash all parts that can be removed in the bathtub, and rinse with the shower head.

Cleaning the fridge is my LEAST favorite part of Pesach cleaning, so I feel your pain.

skyblue1

Wed, Jul 20 2016, 6:00 am

The clorox clean up bleach spray is great for this. After you make sure there is no easy off or other chemicals on the surface spray the entire fridge and parts with the clorox spray and leave overnight. Clean it off in the morning. My sister had a very old moldy fridge and when she did this it came out really clean.