Are you tired of coming back home to a sticky, messy fridge? The work it takes to keep your fridge organized 24/7 is minimal compared to the rewards of a clean and organized fridge. Not to mention, keeping a clean fridge is essential for food safety. With these 10 nifty tips, you can be assured of a neater fridge with next to no spills and clutter. Also, you can prefer commercial undercounter fridges that look attractive in your home.
How to keep your refrigerator clean and organized
The obsession with cleaning and organizing videos on YouTube has got people thinking about how to keep their fridges and kitchen cabinets spick and span. If you have never gone down the rabbit hole of decluttering videos, fair warning: it’s never-ending.
It’s quite satisfying to watch these videos, but doing it yourself and taking a step back to view your progress feels just as great. So, here are some tips that you can use to keep your fridge always clean and organized:
Organize on grocery day
You might be tired after hauling all your shopping bags in from the car, but grocery day is the most important time in the organization process. Make sure to clear out your entire refrigerator and clean it the day before you do your grocery shopping. That way, you have a clean space for the new incoming food. Unpack and organize all your groceries into your fridge in an organized manner.
Use baskets
One of the best ways to ensure an organized and better refrigerator is to buy tons of baskets to store your fresh produce and any jars. For example, you can store your apples and oranges piled up in a basket. You can also keep your favorite beverages safe and secure using baskets. Baskets clear up space in your fridge, and they will also reduce the chances of glass jars or bowls toppling over and making a mess.
Invest in containers
A close cousin to baskets, containers will also streamline the process of keeping your fridge organized. Containers come with the added advantage of having lids. You can buy bigger containers to hold frozen foods like fish and meat in your freezer. Instead of piling stuff on top of each other, you can pack everything out of sight, which also frees up space that you can use for the odd purchase in the middle of the week.
Lots of bowls
To keep your fridge clean and organized, make a rule to never keep any plates in the refrigerator. Have you ever left a plate of food in the fridge for so long that you forgot of its existence? Now it has suspicious fuzz on it, and you can’t remember its original contents. Strictly no plates in the fridge. Instead, use bowls. You can wrap the tops with saran wrap to ensure freshness. Bowls won’t topple over and create a mess. They take up less space than plates and can be stacked on other containers with ease.
No cups in the fridge
In addition to the no-plates rule, make sure to never leave cups in the fridge. Think of how many times kids have put their little cups in the refrigerator and how they fell every time and left a sticky mess in the refrigerator for weeks. If there are leftover liquids, keep them in an airtight bottle. Make a reminder to take them out and toss them in the drain if they overstay their welcome.
Ziploc bags for frozen foods
Another great organization hack for the freezer is to place fresh produce in Ziploc bags. These are reusable and seal their contents securely. You can use Ziplocs for fish, meat, cheese, peas, tomatoes, and other vegetables. They are also great for storing left-overs, as long as you don’t forget about them for weeks. Using these resealable bags provides more space in the fridge since they don’t have a sturdy shape like a bowl or container.
Placemats
Placemats will help with keeping your fridge cleaner. Let’s face it: messes are unavoidable. Line your shelves with placemats before putting things in your fridge. This way, you can keep all the mess in one place. In case of a mess, you can just take the placemats out and clean them. Less mess, less cleaning time.
Throw out too-old left-overs
Get into the routine of throwing out left-overs. It’s a good idea to store food for later, but you are compromising storage space if you keep these inside for too long. Additionally, food kept for too long might have adverse health effects. It might look okay and smell alright, but eating old food can have you spending a nasty time in the toilet.
Assign shelves
How many times have you got lazy to cook, all because you didn’t want to sift through your fridge to find ingredients for a simple vegetable stir-fry? Assign shelves to specific food items. Come up with a system that works for you. Top shelf: leafy greens and herbs. Middle shelf: peppers and tomatoes. Bottom: potatoes and brinjals. PS: You don’t even have to keep potatoes in the fridge! You can leave them outside until you need them.
Binder clips and cloth pegs
Ever had crispy chips go soft in the bag because you didn’t seal it tight enough? To prevent this from happening, buy some binder clips or use cloth pegs to clamp down the pack. This will also help with making sure nothing pours out. Binder clips are also great for using outside the fridge. Sealing bags is a breeze with these clips.
Final Thoughts
With these 10 tips, you can work towards a clean and organized refrigerator. You don’t have to do it all at once. You can try out one or two tips and see the magic unfold. One of the most effective ideas is to buy some baskets. Your entire fridge game will change with this organization hack.