How to Clean and Organize Your Refrigerator

This post brought to you by Clorox. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Cupcakes and Crinoline.

How to Clean and Organize Your Refrigerator in Less than 30 Minutes

cleaning it this time I worked smarter, not harder, and had everything just the way I wanted it in under 30 minutes.

Yep, this is it! Disgusting, right? What I was especially upset by was that there was fruit in the meat drawer.  That is so not good. 

Not only was there fruit in the meat drawer but there was fresh meat in the fruit drawer.  Cross contamination.

I wanted to get this done now and get things back in order.  The sooner the better!

I started by wiping down the surfaces that were easily reachable so that I didn't move dirt around.  In order to get rid of all of the germs, dirt and grease I used Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes with Micro-Scrubbers.  

The wipes kill germs that can live on refrigerator (or any) surfaces for up to 48 hours and the Micro-Scrubbers make cleaning up easy with no need for additional scrubbing.

Next, I removed food in batches.  I did this so that nothing is out of the refrigerator for too long and it's an easier task to handle.

Remember, remove food from only a few shelves and drawers at a time, work in steps and remove drawers one at a time as well.  

Don't forget to clean under drawer handles - these can harbor a lot of germs and gunk from dirty hands.  Once each section was thoroughly wiped down I dried it well with a microfiber cloth. It's important to dry everything down because of the nature of a refrigerator and wanting to limit unnecessary moisture.  

Wipe down each drawer before placing back in your refrigerator.  You may need to 'dump' your drawers first if there is a lot of gunk in them - otherwise a good wipe down should do the trick.

Wipe all gaskets inside and out, shelves as well and don't forget the butter tray.

Now, it's time to organize!

Organize each shelf with similar foods - dairy, sauces, eggs, juices, leftovers, etc. together.  This will save time and energy

Finally, organize your door once again following the principle of keeping similar items together and grouping by theme.

Now step back and enjoy! The next time you open your refrigerator you'll know right where to find everything you need and you'll know that you've killed germs, viruses and bacteria.  I used Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes with Micro-Scrubbers which are available at Target and right now you can get an additional 10% off using the Cartwheel app.