Refrigerator Storage and Cleaning Hacks: Save On Time and Effort with
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Refrigerator Storage and Cleaning Hacks: Save On Time and Effort with an Organized Fridge

Published on January 28, 2022 • 11 minutes read
Refrigerator Storage and Cleaning Hacks: Save On Time and Effort with an Organized Fridge

Household chores are tedious and time-consuming. With lots of work on your plate, you barely have the time and energy to put into it. And then, there’s your fridge. It’s stuffed and brimming with food, it’s stuck, and the door won’t close itself shut. Even worse is that your long-forgotten dairy spread has become stale and is already emitting a pungent smell inside the refrigerator. Now, you have no excuse; you need to clean the fridge. Planning to do a general refrigerator cleaning soon? Try some of these awesome hacks from Condura refrigerator experts and prepare to be amazed!

How to Clean and Organize Your Fridge

Cleaning the fridge is an entire chore in itself. It requires the kind of attention you would normally give when cleaning a house or a room. You need to wipe, clean, and rearrange every nook and cranny to ensure that every area will be covered. As intimidating as it sounds, there are ways to make your efforts last. You just need a little creativity and a little out-of-the-box thinking to make it happen.

Cleaning

In cleaning your refrigerator, you have to be thorough. You must make sure that no grime or dirt is left behind in your unit’s interior and exterior. This leftover grime and dirt is a potential breeding ground for bacteria that can ruin and degrade the quality and lifespan of your food. Here’s what you can do:

  1. Create your own surface-friendly solution. Your cleaning solution will be a huge part of your success, so make sure that you use a solution that’s effective and won’t be harsh to your fridge’s interior at the same time.
  2. Remove stubborn spills and stains with hot water. A cleaning solution may remove the grease in your fridge when it’s oily, but some stains and residues can be tricky. For that matter, dipping a cloth with hot water can soften such sticky residues from your fridge.
  3. Use toothpaste to remove tough stains. If you need a little something that can soften stains and leave a pleasant smell, try using toothpaste. Toothpaste is a gentle abrasive that can remove stains effectively and leave a clean menthol or fruity scent.
  4. Don’t forget the removable parts. In case you forget, your fridge comes with removal trays for easy storage. Remove them, soak them, and wipe them clean as well. Dirt and grime tend to accumulate in tight corner spots, so make sure you don’t take shortcuts in cleaning those areas.
  5. Line your shelves with easy-to-clean mats. When you’re cleaning your storage trays and shelves, take it as an opportunity to improve your cleaning methods. Before you return them, try lining them up with waterproof mats. This way, the drips from foods won’t reach the other levels or sections of your fridge. Should it get messy, it will be easier to take out the linings and wipe them clean until your next cleaning schedule.

Organization

  1. Label the doors. If you’re not the only one using your fridge, it’s hard to control what goes into each storage and section. So, before you conclude your general fridge cleaning, make sure you label the doors to guide users on how to store their foods and snacks properly. However, this might be quite difficult for negosyo owners. So, having a negosyo refrigerator with glass doors like Condura Negosyo Chiller Pro will definitely make this task easy.
  2. Label everything. To take this a step further, you may label all food containers to make it easier to find particular food and snack items. Labeling items in the fridge will avoid one from foraging that can leave the contents in total disarray. Make sure that you use baskets and containers to sort all your fridge’s contents. Fruits and vegetables go together, as well as milk and dairy. You can also allocate a section for perishables or food that’s near expiry and mark them as a priority.
  3. Use plastic bins in your drawer freezer. If you put a lot of items in your freezer’s drawer, you tend to push some items deep in the back. When this happens, it often leaves some items out of your attention until they’re no longer of use. However, you can prevent such from happening if you put plastic bin organizers in the drawer. In that way, you can pull out the bins quickly and easily audit your stocks.
  4. Use six-pack containers to organize the door shelves. Another thing that you can do to keep your fridge tidy is to use six-pack containers that usually come with your beer cans or bottles. These containers can hold your bottles in place and can maximize the space of your shelves.

If you’re looking for a refrigerator with spacious compartments, you may consider the Condura Negosyo Inverter Pro Two Door Refrigerator. This negosyo refrigerator has Adjustable and Tiltable Wire Shelves that allow you to adjust the shelves in different levels. No need to worry that bottled drinks will fall off with the Condura exclusive adjustable and tiltable wire shelves.

Keeping it Fresh

  1. Eliminate lingering odors with a brown paper bag. After some time, your vegetable bin organizers will develop a lingering odor from the vegetables themselves. If you do not have the time to wash the bins, you can try putting pieces of the crumpled brown paper bag inside for 48hrs. The paper should be able to absorb the odor.
  2. Use vanilla extract to eliminate odors faster. If adding a paper bag isn’t enough, try scenting your fridge with vanilla extract. Just pour some in a cotton ball and swab the corners of your refrigerator. You can also use orange and lemon extracts as alternatives.

Storage

Even after you have cleaned your refrigerator unit, what you do with your resources still counts. If you don’t pay attention to your storage practices and habits, you’re bound to make the same mistakes and find yourself in the same dilemma. Reassess your storage habits and find inspiration from these storage tips:

  1. Mason jars are the best way to keep salads. If you want your salad to last longer, you better start keeping them in mason jars. Jars can keep vegetables preserved for longer because it helps the contents stay untouched even after so many users have accessed the fridge. Vegetables are vulnerable to organisms, so you have to put them in places where contamination can be controlled.
  2. Store the milk in the middle compartment. If you’re usually storing milk near doors, then you are doing it wrong. The fluctuating temperature around doors isn’t exactly suitable for milk products. You should store them somewhere in the middle for best results.
  3. Meat and fish belong at the bottom. If you don’t know this yet, then we’re telling you: meat and fish should be stored at the bottom to prevent unwanted drips. However, this would only work if you are using a bottom freezer refrigerator such as Condura Home Ultima No Frost Inverter Bottom Freezer. If not, you can use wraps as an alternative for the meantime. Wrap your meat with cling wrap before storing them so that it won’t drip too much all over your fridge.
  4. Don’t slice your food until you are ready to consume it. Chopped meat, fruits, and vegetables are more prone to spoilage and contamination, so don’t cut them up until you’re all ready to use them and eat them. The same also applies to milk and cheese products.
  5. Keep a roll of masking tape and a sharpie near the fridge. You’ll never know when you’ll feel the urge to do your grocery or buy some food. Make sure you have tape and a sharpie readily available if you need to store perishable stuff. In this way, you can write expiration dates, so the people you live with will know which ones they’d need to consume first.

Don’t forget to bookmark or take note of all these hacks, so you’d be able to apply them the next time you clean your fridge. It’ll be good if you will set a schedule at least bi-monthly for cleaning your refrigerator separately. Or, if you want to do away with extra work on your fridge, consider replacing it with a unit that has more room and storage for all your goods.

How to Keep Food Fresher for Longer

We spend a lot of money on our food, so it only makes sense that we know how to store them properly inside the refrigerator to get your money’s worth. Oftentimes, food that wasn’t properly stored just goes to waste, so having a few food storage hacks up your sleeves can keep the shelf life of food longer. Having an efficient refrigerator is the key to keeping food fresh and in good condition. Condura’s Home Prima and Home Ultima refrigerators carry a variety of models that cater to your specific food storage needs. The Home Prima No-Frost Inverter is perfect for young families, single adults, business owners, and even empty nesters. For larger storage needs, you can opt for the Home Ultima No-Frost Inverter Multi-Door or the Home Ultima No-Frost Inverter Side By Side. No matter what Condura ref you choose, maintenance is key for your appliance to function properly. Always keep your fridge clean so the items you put inside will not be contaminated and keep it in a cool temperature between 37°F to 40°F (between 2°C to 4°C) to prevent bacteria growth. Here are a few food storage hacks that can be useful for you:

Tips to Keep food Fresher

1. Food containers 101

Investing in airtight food containers is one great food storage hack for you. Putting leftover food in airtight containers or sealed microwavable containers helps keep bacteria out, retain moisture, and prevent the leftovers from picking odors from other food in the refrigerator. For fruits, placing them in a plastic bag with small openings could help retain its freshness. Berries and grapes can last longer if placed in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Not all fruits can be refrigerated though. Avocadoes, mangoes, and melons will continue to ripen if you let it sit on a countertop table instead of placing them inside the fridge. Green leafy vegetables should be rinsed and wrapped in a paper towel before being refrigerated to stay fresh longer. When storing any chopped, sliced, or diced vegetables, keep them in airtight containers to keep their freshness intact. For prepared snacks like sliced fruits, green juices, or overnight oats, mason jars are good containers to retain the freshness. Fruits stored in mason jars can even last about twice as long as they would if you put them in plastic. Store raw meat, seafood, and poultry in a sealed container and never leave it uncovered. Having a small container inside your freezer for processed food is a great hack because you get to store them in one area and you can put in more things in your freezers like ice cream or refrigerator cakes.

2. Know where to place your food

The cooling function of refrigerators works differently across their shelves and drawers, so knowing where to place certain items inside for storage can have an impact on their shelf life. If you happen to store raw meat and seafood in the fridge instead of the freezer, make sure it is placed at the top or middle section. Just make sure that you place it in a sealed container so it won’t spread bacteria to other items inside. Ready-to-eat food should be stored on the topmost shelf to prevent cross-contamination. You can also place anything that doesn’t need cooking on the upper shelves, like leftovers and other dips, since the upper shelves have the most consistent temperature. For fruits and vegetables, the crisp drawer is a perfect storage place for them. Milk or milk alternatives should be stored on the bottom shelf, where the temperature is usually the coldest. Keeping milk at a colder setting can extend its shelf life. You can store juices or water jugs near the door. As per condiments, keep this in mind: “condiments containing dairy, vegetables, and fruits should be refrigerated.”

3. Practice Food Freezing

According to Ohio State University Extension, to maintain top quality, store frozen fruits and vegetables at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Storing frozen foods at temperatures higher than 0 degrees Fahrenheit increases the rate of deterioration and shortens the shelf life of foods. Most wais moms and housewives usually buy things in bulk to save time and money, but sometimes they purchase more than they can consume. If you bought too much milk and you don’t want it to spoil, it’s safe to freeze it to extend its shelf life. Defrost milk on the middle shelf of the fridge and not outside to prevent bacterial growth. For lactating mothers, you can store breast milk at the back away from the door. It can last up to 3-8 days but is ideal to be consumed within 72 hours. You can also freeze breast milk for 2 weeks up to 6 months if placed in a self-contained freezer. If you have too many vegetables and want to preserve them for the next few days, you can chop them up and blanch them in boiling water. Then put them in a zip bag and freeze them. They’ll be ready for thawing and cooking once you need them. Herbs can also be frozen with a bit of water or olive oil in an ice cube tray.

4. Try the Upside-Down Method

Experts say that by turning the jar upside down, the surface where a mold may land when you open a jar is now squashed against the lid without much air, making it more difficult to grow. This trick works best for thick food in jars like pasta sauce, pesto sauce, salsa, and tomato paste. For other condiments like mayonnaise, bottled ketchup, or jams, the upside-down method isn’t necessary. But know that once you open a jar or a bottle of any condiment, it should be stored in the ref to maintain product quality. Knowing how to store your food properly will maintain its freshness and quality. Try some of these tips and see how you can keep your food fresh for longer.

Keeping Refrigerator Clean and Organized with Condura

Congratulations! Your fridge should be clean and tidy. Cleanliness, in general, is one way to improve your mood and energy. It’s also a huge factor in your health, so it’s only right that you strive for it in every facet of your life. It doesn’t matter whether you start with your room or your fridge as long as you start. Condura is a trusted refrigerator partner for negosyo owners and homeowners. Condura refrigerators offer a wide array of sophisticated refrigerator units that can suit different lifestyle needs. You can choose from different sizes and functionality. One thing that you will notice is that their refrigerators are adequately spaced, which is a plus. Spacious refrigerators are easier to clean and organize; it also doesn’t stuff easily, so you won’t need to clean them as often. Check our partner online stores such as Lazada and Shopee for refrigerator and refrigerator price in the Philippines and the latest promos!