Organizing Your Fridge

Are you finally taking up the challenge to clean your fridge after many weeks or months or glossing over it? Kudos to you. Not sure of how to begin? Follow these simple steps. 

First of all, remove the contents of the fridge before starting. An empty fridge makes cleaning it a lot easier for you. You should also take out all the removable pieces like shelves and drawers and soak them in a pan of warm water and dish soap for a few minutes. Wipe, rinse and dry them when you are ready.

Clean up all the surfaces in the fridge with a soft washcloth using warm water and dishwashing liquid. Make sure you sue a particle that won't leave particles in your fridge. If there are particularly strong stains, apply a mixture of baking soda and water to it for about an hour before wiping down. Baking soda will also help get rid of stubborn odors and smells, leave a small bowl with a handful of baking soda in it at the bottom of your fridge and watch it absorb any odors.

When you finish cleaning, then it's time to organize your fridge to make it easy to find whatever you need. Place items that require no cooking such as canned foods or leftovers at the top while everything else is organized downwards based on the cooking temperature. This design is to help prevent cross-contamination from happening. The door is the warmest part of any fridge so only put condiments and things that cannot go bad there. The upper shelves should be used for drinks and ready to eat foods like yogurt and cheese.

Label foods in clear containers so you can see what contains what. You can put similar food items in baskets, so they are easy to reach. Put fruits in the lower drawer, leaving them in a plastic bag. Don't wash them before use as the moisture may promote the growth of bacteria. For more storage space, hang suction baskets on the walls of the fridge and fill them with little items that might otherwise be lost in the refrigerator. You could also buy detachable magnets and glue them to the underside of small plastic containers and attach them to the side walls of your fridge. 

Visit your local supermarket for more options of additional storage bins you can incorporate into your fridge.