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cleaning glass refrigerator shelves..is marthasteward right?

post #1 of 17
9/28/12 at 3:17pm
Thread Starter 
Hi everyone, i just want to say that i love it here in this section and cant wait to join you all more soon. I spend time at night learning tips and gaining inspiration. Why dont i ever have time to post? And to those of you who have answered my post, i really appreciate it and will be getting back to them soon. Something new always comes up! I need focus, and clutter is always in my way. SO, i was all ready to attack a part of my fridge after thawing out cold glass shelves and martha stewards advice is only baking soda, which i dont have..she say no dishsoap on those parts b/c it affects smells and food absorb ing residue or something...other people seem to do it anyway, but i find myself thinking she must be right. I can clean it another day right!When i get the baking soda, or i will try just water.. Theres more sections to be done later, it will probably take me a few weeks. I really hope i am in the right forum for cleaning issues because to me they are very much like decluttering and frugality all wrapped up in one, add mental health in there too b/c its so stressful. Anyway, i feel like i am making this all too complicated. Trying to do too much, i cant be perfect like martha steward. Oh well,!

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post #2 of 17
9/28/12 at 6:30pm
I wash mine in the shower with dish soap. I've never had issues with any of my food smelling/tasting of soap. And dh works in food manufacturing and knows that's how I do it.
post #3 of 17
9/29/12 at 7:00am
I use 7th gen dishsoap. Never a problem with smell and I'm fairly sensitive to smells.
post #4 of 17
9/29/12 at 1:24pm
I use vinegar and water. I figure it's edible, right?
post #5 of 17
9/29/12 at 2:38pm

Martha's the one making this all to complicated.  We use dish soap to wash dishes that we eat from, right??  How does dish soap that's properly rinsed away leave a scent?

post #6 of 17
10/2/12 at 5:59pm

Darn it, Martha! I feel like she makes everything more complicated than it needs to be.

Quote:
Originally Posted by journeymom View Post

Martha's the one making this all to complicated.  We use dish soap to wash dishes that we eat from, right??  How does dish soap that's properly rinsed away leave a scent?

post #7 of 17
10/2/12 at 6:25pm
That's because SHE'S not washing the shelves in refrigerator !
post #8 of 17
10/3/12 at 8:24am

I don't know, I can totally see Martha Stewart scrubbing her fridge shelves with a baking soda concoction, smirking the whole time.

post #9 of 17
10/3/12 at 9:18am
I do vinegar. I scrub a few times a year or whenever I feel like the fridge needs a good "turnout".
Edited by philomom - 10/6/12 at 9:35am
post #10 of 17
10/3/12 at 9:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldcrunchymom View Post

I don't know, I can totally see Martha Stewart scrubbing her fridge shelves with a baking soda concoction, smirking the whole time.

ROFLMAO....totally.

 

I think the scents thing plays a bigger part in fridge because it's closed and all recirculating where dishes are in open air...

not a matter of soap getting into food, but scents lingering.

 

that being said I don't use stuff with much scent because I don't like my house or food or clothes to smell like chemically flowers anyway *shrug*

 

anything that is safe to use on plates etc would certainly be safe for fridge, I don't often eat my food directly off my fridge shelves. I  find pouring leftover stew directly into the crisper to be not the wisest choice :D

post #11 of 17
10/3/12 at 10:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Basylica View Post

ROFLMAO....totally.

I think the scents thing plays a bigger part in fridge because it's closed and all recirculating where dishes are in open air...
not a matter of soap getting into food, but scents lingering.

that being said I don't use stuff with much scent because I don't like my house or food or clothes to smell like chemically flowers anyway *shrug*

anything that is safe to use on plates etc would certainly be safe for fridge, I don't often eat my food directly off my fridge shelves. I  find pouring leftover stew directly into the crisper to be not the wisest choice orngbiggrin.gif

LOL! I can't use my water bottles Nalgene or stainless straight out of the dishwasher if the detergent is scented. I know lemon in water is common, but if my water tastes like lemon, it should be from fresh lemons!
post #12 of 17
10/6/12 at 12:30am
Thread Starter 
You all are the best, for real. My girls! You just bring all the sense right into things. I cant believe it . Yeah, so i guess when i think about it that way, having crusty spills of stew dipped on the shelves THAT is dirtier than the dishsoap. But i am still planning to get baking soda ( why did i forget again)and smirk like martha while i scrub feeling perfect smile.gif. We'll see how long that lasts. I feel so nieve when it comes to residues, things i cant see, until and if they cause build up, but when it comes to my food, i am mrs overprotective. All my threads lately are all about getting techniques squared away, once i know how to do it , it just becomes a matter of keeping up hopefully.
post #13 of 17
10/6/12 at 12:38am
Thread Starter 
Martha also says to turn off the fridge, especially when cleaning the inside part of fridge., after shelves are removed. I am doubting i will get to that as soon as i would like. Do people do this too? Just cause you're getting it wet and want it to dry out? Or just like an electrical thing? I think a guy i lived with once cleaned the fridge with vinegar and didnt turn it off and the whole thing was just so gross smelling like sour foul smell and i dont think it ever smelled right again...maybe he bleached it or maybe something was wrong with it in the first place...?
post #14 of 17
10/8/12 at 11:51am

I use a solution of vinegar and water for a quick spray-and-wipe of the fridge shelves every 6 weeks or so.  It never smells yucky later, IMO.  I don't scrub anymore, unless something spills in there.  Easier to just wipe it down regularly.  Baking soda would be a total PITA, in my opinion, and I'd never waste the time/energy to mess with it.  Ick, it would take so long to get all the grit off the shelves!  

 

Dish soap is also fine for simple cleaning and I don't notice any smelly chemicals.  I don't usually use scented dish soap, though.  I would certainly stay away from bleach or other harsh cleansers in there.  Though I've gotta say the time I spilled kimchi in the fridge -- whooeeee, bleach would be an improvement over that, for sure.  

 

Martha Stewart does NOT clean her own refrigerator.  I can guarantee it.  And I've never unplugged my fridge to clean it, that's just ridiculous.  I can't even find the plug without moving the whole darn contraption, and it's too heavy to move.  

 

ETA: I don't wish to offend anyone who DOES unplug her refrigerator to clean it.  It's not objectively ridiculous -- but it's certainly ridiculous to assert that "everyone must" do it that way.  Martha Stewart seems to be famous for those sorts of assertions.  

post #15 of 17
10/13/12 at 8:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by here we are View Post

Martha also says to turn off the fridge, especially when cleaning the inside part of fridge., after shelves are removed. I am doubting i will get to that as soon as i would like. Do people do this too? Just cause you're getting it wet and want it to dry out? Or just like an electrical thing? I think a guy i lived with once cleaned the fridge with vinegar and didnt turn it off and the whole thing was just so gross smelling like sour foul smell and i dont think it ever smelled right again...maybe he bleached it or maybe something was wrong with it in the first place...?

 

You have to remember, Martha is clinically insane.

 

I am 40 years old and have never unplugged my fridge except while moving house.  I assure you I have never had a fridge smell weird after I wiped it out while still running.  In fact, I would wager a guess that an unplugged fridge would take longer to dry out at room temperature, because of the lack of air conditioning inside it.

post #16 of 17
10/28/12 at 4:46pm

I wipe up spills with plain water when they happen.  A couple of times a year I scrub out everything with baking soda dissolved in water. I've never unplugged it to clean it.  But a fridge I had years ago used to freeze up inside the back where the thermostat was, usually in the middle of a heat wave of several weeks.Then it wouldn't keep things cold enough.  I had to turn it off and use my hairdryer to defrost it. While I had my food in coolers with ice packs to do that I cleaned the whole inside and vaccuumed the coils. About the only time I remebered to do it. I also forget to clean the top of the fridge since I can't see it.  Yuck, I know. It could get pretty gross unless I needed something from the cabinet above the fridge-where I kept seldom used things anyway since I needed a step ladder to reach it. Confessions of a way less than perfect housekeeper.


Edited by MaJoie - 10/30/12 at 5:20am
post #17 of 17
11/1/12 at 3:49am

I use vinegar and water to clean my fridge.. I haven't unplugged a fridge to clean it with the exception of when I was in the military living in the barracks.. The freezer was part of the fridge and needed to be defrosted and cleaned out every week to pass inspection. I thought it was silly then and I haven't done it since I got out of the barracks.

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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Decluttering, Organizing, & Simplifying › cleaning glass refrigerator shelves..is marthasteward right?