The easiest way to a sparkling fridge

I like to think that I have a pretty good housework routine but it's nothing compared to when I was working outside the home. I would normally do grocery shopping on a Saturday morning and so I would clean the fridge early on a Saturday morning (or even on a Friday night if I was feeling particularly saintly) so that it was the emptiest it would be all week and so that all the fresh food would go into a sparkly clean fridge. Needless to say, I had better things to do than spend all Saturday cleaning and shopping so over time I developed a routine where I could get the whole fridge cleaned in around 20mins with a minimum of mess to clean up afterwards and I still follow that routine now, although I tend to grocery-shop more frequently so my fridge isn't usually very empty when I clean it.

First of all, I run a shallow bath (yes, bath!) of hot soapy water with a few drops of eucalyptus oil.

While the bath is filling, I sort through all the food and throw away the soft carrots, limp lettuce, expired sauce etc. I also empty the Tupperware Fridgesmart containers so they can have a wash. Anything that’s staying goes in a basket (this also is the perfect opportunity to wipe over sticky sauce bottles etc with some damp paper towel). I quickly remove all the shelves, trays, drawers etc and give the fridge interior a bit of a spray with a cleaning mixture (Spray&Wipe or similar) but don't wipe it off, put the basket of food in the fridge and close the door so it can stay cool. I don't keep magnets on the freezer door (because you can see them from the living and dining rooms) but i do have some on the fridge door so I move them around to the side of the fridge. 

Then back into the bathroom to put all the drawers etc in there and give them a quick wash, removing them once clean. The extra space in the bath means I don't splash water all over myself and the floor and the shelves have a chance to submerge and soak. So much quicker than doing them one at a time in the kitchen sink.

Then you can either rinse each individually or refill the bath with fresh water and rinse them in the tub, which is what I do. I pull the plug and let them drain while I go back to the fridge.

I wipe over the interior of the fridge, the seals and the outside.

Then I give the shelves etc a quick dry with a teatowel and put them back in, then unpack all of the food out of the basket.

Here's the processed summarised:

1. Bathroom: Run a bath (put a few drops of detergent and eucy oil in first) (1min)

2. Kitchen: Empty fridge contents and spray inside with spray cleaner (5min)

3. Bathroom: Turn off bath tap, dunk shelves etc and give a good wipeover. (5min)

4. Bathroom: Pull plug, refill with fresh rinse water (2 min)

5. Kitchen: wipe over inside and outside of fridge (2 min)

6: Bathroom: turn off tap, wipe shelves dry(ish) (5min)

7: Kitchen: pop shelves back in (1min)

Also, I've been asked this before so I thought I should clarify- I don't 'bath' my fridge every Saturday morning. When I was working outside the home I tried to do it every Saturday as it would be at least a week before I could do it again. Working from home I tend to think "eh! I can always do it tomorrow" but either way, it isn't/wasn't EVERY Saturday, probably every 2-3 weeks and the weeks inbetween get emptied out and a wipe-over. 

Laura xx