.png)
Cleaning your refrigerator may seem like a trivial task you accomplish with a rag and the closest bottle of disinfectant at your disposal but considering this appliance stores the foods you and your family ingest on a daily basis, shouldn’t the ingredients you use be safe to come in contact with your food?
Although the market is saturated with a wide variety of cleaning products deemed safe for cleaning almost all surfaces in your home, most of us don’t truly know the composition of these products and the toxicity we might be exposed to with a single spray of the most common disinfectant. Have you heard the saying ‘’If you can’t pronounce the ingredients on the label, don’t use it’’? Well, there is a lot of merit to this especially when considering the vulnerability of items such as fruits and veggies that can easily be contaminated with harsh chemicals that would then be consumed.
As the world embraces a more eco-friendly approach to home maintenance, homeowners have relied on natural ingredients such as lemon, vinegar and baking soda to achieve a sparkly clean fridge, effectively cleared of lingering smells and disinfected of any potentially harmful bacteria.
Next time you’re tackling clearing and cleaning your fridge, consider these household ingredients you likely already have in your pantry and you’d be surprised to find the results are identical to the harsher chemicals you might be accustomed to using.
Vinegar
A go-to cleaning agent for a variety of uses throughout the home, vinegar is a strong choice for its ability to break down grease and grime with its high acidic composition. Not only does it effectively remove odors, kill bacteria and disintegrate any stubborn gunk, it is clearly food-safe and when mixed with warm water, the original scent of vinegar quickly dissipates.
Combining 1 part vinegar to 5 parts water creates a mild but functional surface cleaner for wiping all over the fridge as well as cleaning containers that might be dirty and openings of squirt bottles.
Baking Soda
Much like vinegar, baking soda has antibacterial properties that make it a common ingredient used in household cleaning. Its neutral scent, abrasive texture and mold-killing properties quickly remove patches of spilled food that have hardened, remains from rotten produce or even stubborn stains such as ketchup on a white drawer.
Combining 3 parts baking soda to 1 part water creates an abrasive paste that helps to remove those difficult sticky areas as well as stains and debris for a shiny finish.
You can also combine 1 part baking soda to 5 parts water to wipe the fridge, should you choose to forego the vinegar option.
Lemon Juice
Another star ingredient that is immensely popular for its effectiveness is lemon juice which can be added to the baking soda paste for another layer of germ-fighting power and a milder scent than vinegar.
One of the great benefits of lemon juice for this specific use it its acidic nature makes it another effective bleaching agent for pesky stains. When mixed with baking soda, the paste can be left over stains for several minutes to help lift it and ensure all bacteria is properly removed.
Lemon juice is also widely recommended over vinegar for wiping glass surfaces as it leaves less or no residue or streaks that can be noticeable.
Combining the juice of 1 lemon to 4 parts water and 1 part baking soda will also create an effective multi-purpose cleaning solution not just for the kitchen, but for any cleaning endeavor throughout your home.
Perhaps you’ve never considered taking a more eco-friendly approach to cleaning your refrigerator but not only is it safer for your consumables, it can also be a gateway to learning how to implement environmentally friendly changes in your home that will benefit your well-being along with the well-being of the planet. You likely have these ingredients at your disposal already at a lower cost than most widely available cleaning products and with time, they will prove to be as effective at home maintenance as any other staple in your home.
