Green (Pre) Cleaning Your Fridge: Easy Tips and Tricks!
Fall is our favorite time of year. We know that between Halloween and Thanksgiving we all have plenty to celebrate, but at Sweep Home our most favorite holiday is on November 15th: Clean Your Refrigerator Day. It’s a real thing, we swear! Here are a few tips that will keep your fridge clean and help you avoid any actual cleaning! #BestofBothWorlds! These pre-cleaning DIYs will take you very little time, are completely Earth friendly and will pay off in dividends.
- DE-GOOP the STICKY STUFF
It’s not rocket science: it’s so much easier to keep things clean than clean up a big mess. And in this case, it takes very little time! Things like milk cartons, sticky jelly jars and leaky take-out boxes can leave your fridge shelves unsightly. Before you pop things in the fridge, rub them down with a damp cloth. This prevents any goopy build up and keeps your fingers from getting sticky too!
- THE MAGIC OF BAKING SODA
You’ve probably heard that baking soda eliminates odors from your fridge, but maybe you’re wondering if it works..? IT DOES! Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, has an uncanny ability to neutralize pH levels at the root of those nasty smells. Wonky pH levels are cause by strong acidic smells, like sour milk, or strong base smells, like rotting meat. We’re all guilty of keeping food in the fridge just a liiiiiiiitle too long, but baking soda really will help keep the smelliness at bay.
- DATES, DATES, DATES
No, not the dried fruit (but those are good, too) – the date of when you’re putting fresh and jarred/bottled food in your fridge. All good things must come to an end, even food. Buy a couple sharpies and keep them close to the fridge. When you’re loading your items in to the fridge for the first time, pop the day’s date on a visible side, or in the case of veggies, on to the bags they come in. Dating your food not only helps you keep an eye on what may or may not spoil soon, they are also a good reminder to use ingredients before they expire for good. After all, nothing’s worse than needing some green onion to top those delicious, cheesy enchiladas and realizing they are a dried mess in the bottom of your crisper.
- KEEP THINGS THAT GO BAD EASILY WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM
Aren’t we all guilty of buying a delicious, ripe avocado, throwing it in the fridge, and pulling it out a week later AFTER it’s gone completely brown and mushy? There is no “wrong” way to organize your fridge, but at Sweep Home we like to keep our fresh (read: expires really quickly) foods right where we can see them. We organize our fridge items in bins so we know where everything fresh lives and can access it quickly. It’s a little Type A, we know, but it saves a TON of time when cooking, cleaning and making grocery lists.
- PAPER THE SHELVES
Okay, let’s be honest. The first four items on this list have a tendency to get away from us, too. Nobody’s perfect! When we know time is of the essence, we give ourselves a little mess insurance by lining our fridge shelves and drawers with old newspaper. Even if something leaks, clean-up is a breeze! Just remove the old paper and toss it right into the recycling bin. Easy, peasy!
- LET US HELP!
Moving soon? Don’t forget, if you’re a renter you need that fridge to be CLEAN before you move out so you get your security deposit back! Luckily, Sweep Home offers great Moving Cleaning Services! {HYPERLINK TO WEB PAGE} And we will do it all with a focus on green cleaning because we know keeping the Earth fresh and clean is pretty important too.