How often do you clean out your refrigerator?

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   favoredposted 9 years ago

   How  often do you clean out your refrigerator?
   
   Since today (Nov 15th) is National Clean out your Refrigerator day I was wondering how often people clean theirs.  Do you do it often or when it absolutely has science projects growing from lack of cleaning?
   
   

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   aesta1posted 9 years ago

   I do regularly as my husband is relentless and will always find something old in there. He cleans it every weekend. My strategy is not to buy too much as we have an expat grocery store in our hotel so I can just go down each day to get what I need. But once I'm home in Canada, I don't like even looking at an overstuffed refrigerator.

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      favoredposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I can relate to your schedule.  I like to clean it out before trash day each week and have it fairly empty before grocery shopping so I can clean it down easily.

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   chaitanyasaivbposted 9 years ago

   First of all, thanks for letting me know that, Nov 15th is National Clean out Day. But, We have just bought a refrigerator, a month ago, and Even, We haven't cleaned it. Hope, We have to start cleaning once in a month.

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      favoredposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You should be good to go for at least a few years   Seriously, you're in a great position to start a new habit of doing in on a regular basis.

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      chaitanyasaivbposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Hope, I have to start that habit, with in short time,so that I would be habituated to it soon.

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   Besarienposted 9 years ago

   I do a deep cleaning- everything out, drawers removed and washed out,  vinegar water on a sponge to wipe down the inside, then everything dried- on Mondays since the garbage goes out on Monday night. I recycle or compost most everything but will toss something particularly gross occasionally. I try to keep it clean and organized as much as possible during the rest of the week and if something drips, leaks, or spills, I clean it right away or as soon as I notice. I can't abide a dirty fridge. The freezer part I am much more laid back about. I clean that out about every six months and try to time my shopping so that it is close to empty when that happens. I stick everything in our freezer chest- which I clean every six months in a different set of months than the fridge freezer. I also keep track of what I discard and the approximate value so I hopefully can do better at minimizing waste in the future. For three weeks I have thrown away nothing at all out of the fridge. The week before those three I composted about 30 cents worth of baby spinach that was starting to smell bad. It was maybe a day past what I'd feel comfy putting in a soup. So this month I had out of the fridge waste of 30 cents! Yippee! I try to make zero waste of but I'll take 30 cents. Of course more got composted off our plates and from prepping food to cook. I try to keep all that pretty minimal too.

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      favoredposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You are so good at keeping up with this task. If you only lost about 30 cents that's terrific.

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   Loretta Lposted 9 years ago

   I couldn't possibly respond to this on the grounds that it may incriminate me, lol.

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      favoredposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      So funny!  I know what you mean, that's why I wanted some ideas here.  With just the two of us you would think it wouldn't be hard

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   fpherj48posted 9 years ago

   Good Question, favored.  Having been raised in the family Restaurant business, I'm well-educated on Food & Beverage Safety issues.  I have no doubt that if the general public were clearly aware of the numerous dangers in this regard, they'd change their habits.
   I'm on this particular chore like white on rice.  Always noting "what's in the fridge."  While raising 4 boys this was a monstrous job to keep up with..(I won't even go there right now)
   If it becomes habitual, it's really simple.  I rarely open the fridge door for anything without a clean warm wash rag with a spritz of bleach on it.  It takes seconds to lift up bowls or bottles and wipe up possible spills.  It's against all house rules to ever put anything in the fridge without a cover, saran, foil, cap, lid...whatever. 
   There are dates on all purchased products.  How often do you check dates?  Does it occur to you to tape the date on something you have prepared and placed in the fridge?  Well, I do these things automatically.
   As for the BIG CLEAN?  I empty it entirely and wash every inch inside and out.  Toss out or transfer and recover all items where needed at least every 2 months.
   My entire kitchen may be in disarray, but my fridge is a work of art!!  LOL

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      favoredposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      fpherj48 I think if we knew what was literally growing in our frig when we wait to clean it that would be an eye opener.  Wish mine was a piece of art, but maybe in a weird way it still is LOL.

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   lawrence01posted 9 years ago

   Mini clean as we need it but major clean just before grocery shopping so we've an idea what we need

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      favoredposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That's a good way to keep after it too as long as it's not too long between shopping for me.

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      lawrence01posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That's the theory anyway. It mostly works

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   mary615posted 9 years ago

   I clean out my refrigerator once a week.  That's when I look through and throw out left overs that I forgot all about!   I'm bad about keeping out of date stuff, too, so I take care of that at the same time.
   I take this time to clean the interior well, too.  I remove the shelves and drawers and wash them well.

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      favoredposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Mary I think that's what most of us intend on doing, but don't get around to it.  Hubby is good though with vacuuming the grill area and getting rid of stuff before trash day.  He tends to go in there more

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   shellys-spaceposted 9 years ago

   I never do a deep cleaning, but try to keep shelves wiped down as the refrigerator empties out. Sometimes I take out the drawers to clean the crumbs out.

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      favoredposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Shelly with doing all that I'm not surprised there isn't much to clean.  Very good example young lady

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    doallposted 8 years ago

    Removing smelly items reduces odors and cleaning the spills improves the look, but what isn't readily visible is the bacteria that accumulates in this food storage area between thorough cleanings. Since we don't always wash our hands before retrieving or storing food items or condiments, a good cleaning is needed to remove the germs that take residence in the refrigerator.
    http://www.doallappliances.com.au

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