Mini fridges are great because they provide the storing capabilities of a regular refrigerator and combine it with the portability that we all tend to look for these days. The compact size of a mini fridge allows you to have it in many different places outside its conventional kitchen for convenient food storage with a smaller electrical demand.
But one thing that a mini fridge has in common with a regular refrigerator is that it has to be properly cleaned and sanitized regularly to prevent anything from food contamination and bacteria growth to bad odors or food residue stains.
These are the last things that you'd want to find in the place where you keep your food, so here are different tips and tricks you can use to clean your mini fridge properly.
How to Clean Your Mini Fridge
Step 1: Empty Out Your Mini Fridge
Before you can do an intense deep cleaning, you'll have to take out the contents of your refrigerator, and this includes getting rid of any old and rotten food that may have been left in your mini fridge for a bit too long. Get your trusty pair of dishwashing gloves to protect your hands from any bacteria or grime and begin sorting through the items inside your refrigerator.
It's also best to have a garbage bag with you so that you can easily toss out any expired or spoiled food. You can also throw away anything that's nearing its expiration date or nearly empty to get ahead of everything and prevent future spoiling. This includes any leftovers you aren't planning to eat, and any drink or container that will be going bad soon.
Step 2: Wipe the Inside of Your Mini Fridge
When you've cleared away all the items in your refrigerator, grab a dry cloth or paper towel that you can use to wipe away any debris or spills from the surface of your refrigerator surface.
Step 3: Choose Your Cleaner
There are many different cleaners and solutions that you can use to clean your mini fridge. Here are a few options that you can choose from:
Cleaning Bleach
This is perhaps the most common option to choose as bleach is a very common household cleaner. To use cleaning bleach to clean your fridge, simply mix bleach and water in a bucket as instructed on the bleach bottle.
Hot Soapy Water
Choosing hot soapy water is a much gentler cleaning solution compared to cleaning bleach, while still offering the same effectiveness. With the simple ingredients of hot water and some dish soap, this mixture is definitely an easy one to make.
White Vinegar
If you want to opt for a more natural alternative, you can also use white vinegar to clean your mini fridge as the acetic acid found in white vinegar is proven to have both antifungal and antibacterial properties. All you need to do is mix equal parts of vinegar and water together to create this cleaner.
Baking soda
Another alternative is to use baking soda instead. Just mix one to two tablespoons of baking soda with a quart of warm water to create a baking soda paste that can be used to clean your refrigerator.
In case you want another option, you can also combine some hot water, a third of a cup of baking soda, and a third of a cup of dish soap. The addition of the dish soap makes this ideal for any stubborn stains and hard-to-clean messes.
Whichever one you choose, the important thing is to make sure that the baking soda has fully dissolved into the mixture.
Step 4: Deep Clean
Once you've chosen which cleaner you want to use, get either a kitchen sponge or a clean cloth to begin deep cleaning your mini fridge, including all the shelves and drawers and even the fridge door. In case you've opted to use a kitchen sponge, make sure to find one with an abrasive side to help you scrub away any stubborn stains more easily.
Should your shelves have any stubborn messes that are difficult to wipe away, feel free to remove these, as well as any other removable parts like drawers and compartments, to make cleaning these much easier.
You can also choose to get an old toothbrush to help you reach any stains and gunk in the tight corners of your refrigerator.
Step 5: Wipe Everything Dry
When you've finished wiping down all the different surfaces of your refrigerator, get another clean cloth or dish towel and simply wipe the whole fridge dry, from the inside surfaces to the fridge door. When you're done, you can also return all the removable parts that you may have removed.
Once everything is back in place, you can start putting all your containers and bottles back into the mini fridge, but make sure that you wipe them down as well with either a damp cloth or a kitchen sponge.
