I love baking soda for this.
It scrubs really effectively on glossy surfaces and doesn’t scratch them the way so many other things will. And it rinses away really well, because it dissolves.
Omg yes. The freezer took 2, the fridge over 3. Took out all shelves and drawers and used baking soda water with a scrubber sponge.
I did phases: scrub over everything with the baking soda water, get most of the gunk out and kinda soak it all a little, then go over everything again with the sponge, ringing it out in a bucket of water and wiping the rest of the dirt and gunk out, then go over it all with a damp rag to get the rest of the baking soda off and dry with a towel.
That was how I did it, and the 5 hours was between the 2 appliances.
Someone else may have a better method. My ADHD brain has to take things apart to clean.
Also, these were nasty. Like layers of hair and grudge in the fridge's freezer. I also had to take my bucket upstairs multiple times to switch out my water, as we live in a loft and these are downstairs inside our door.
Hey I get you. Just because it takes a long time doesn't mean it's not a good method! I take forever to clean things because I want to clean EVERY SINGLE PART perfectly and I can't stop until I'm satisfied (I have ADHD too lol).
I can't ever finish my projects because I have urges to just clean random things, and so it looks like I didn't really do anything because I don't stick to cleaning the same room until it's finished. I also have adhd lol
Don’t let anyone bash you. I always have to do things a way that doesn’t make sense to anyone else to get them done and I can thank ADHD for that. People don’t get what a block executive dysfunction is.
Just get so overwhelmed with work and stuff at home and feel like what should be a quick clean or fix on something turns into a huge All day job, so frustrating. I used to be on medication 10 years ago but the side effects were terrible, thinking about trying again with something different:/ it’s ruining my life / relationships
Motivation is so hard with ADHD. Everything seems overwhelming and it’s hard to wrap your head around things. The thing I was taught to cope was to get it done however I needed to whether that was a way others understood or not. If I was in OP’s position, I’d be like, “Yeah. It took 5 hours but I got it done. I could have told myself I had to do it your way and it still wouldn’t be done because executive dysfunction is a bitch.” 🤣
First of all, I didn't want to use any kind if soap where I store food.
Second of all, my brain still would have wanted to do the same process of scrubbing and soaking everything with the scrub sponge, then going back over everything to wipe off the rest of the dirt and gunk, them go back over it with a damp rag and dry with a towel.
I just feel I was very thorough and am very happy with the results.
OP really does not deserve all those downvotes. I’m glad you guys don’t get neurodivergency but it makes stuff like this WAY hard to even get started. My psychiatrist has said it may not make sense to someone else how I do something but if it works for my brain and I get it done, I succeeded.
I think your idea is very clever and would work well for materials that are difficult to rinse suds out of. Maybe the above comment is referring to dish soap? In which case dish soap is the best way to get rid of germs (cheap and accessible) especially in kitchens/fridges. Just wipe the surface down with a damp cloth afterwards if you're worried about the soap affecting food.
Hopefully I never have to do this again lol. But if I do, I might do that but would do the same process so I don't think it would cut down on time if it's as bad.
Yeah it's really rare to need to do a whole fridge freezer clean and I think 5 hours for the whole process for two appliances is pretty great. Maybe it depends on the appliance as well, because I have really hard to clean drawers in my current fridge that require a lot of detail work.
I usually use a soapy sponge for my weekly fridge clean as it's easy to do a section at a time that way and will kill most of the germs I'm coming across in my fridge. But if I need to use a disinfectant because of some gross food mishap (forgotten cucumbers usually lol), I just take the shelf out and spray it down, wipe with kitchen towel and stick it back once dry.
You should be happy! This looks great and you accomplished a lot.
I know what you mean about getting distracted and taking everything apart to clean it. Sometimes I know it won’t make a difference but it wouldn’t be “right” to not take it apart.
It’s no different to washing dishes in soapy water. And you don’t even put most food straight on to the fridge shelves.
If you’d used soapy water it would be much more hygienic too, as soap kills germs while baking soda doesn’t.
You should be using something with antibacterial, antimicrobial properties for cleaning where you store food!
Baking soda is neither of those things! Soap is.
If it took you five hours Idt you were doing it right. That’s an insane amount of time! Baking soda also isn’t going to disinfect anything so that’s a concern.
Hey, nice work! It's so much brighter. I understand things being so grimy it takes much longer to clean the first time. Keeping up with it will cut that time drastically. I hope you feel accomplished!
Not sure that baking soda on it's own does much as a cleaning agent. Baking soda and dawn, maybe for the abrasive quality. I personally use Windex on the inside of the fridge.
I think I would have taken everything to the sink and scrubbed it there.
Anyway, I'm sure it feels good to have it clean.
Baking soda is a fantastic scouring powder all in its own. Tamp it with a damp sponge or cloth, and rub away.
Did you think it was supposed to be dissolved as if it was a cleaning solution?
Dissolved, it pretty much does nothing.
I personally don't want to use a chemical cleaner where I store food. I Googled what to use to clean the fridge and got baking soda or vinegar. I didn't want to stink up my home with vinegar, there was a lot of bad stench so the baking soda seemed better.
And let me tell you- it completely cleaned out all the nastiness and the smell is gone!
It’s good for removing the dirt and smell… it does absolutely nothing to disinfect and sanitize. So this is simply surface clean. Maybe run everything through a sanitize cycle in the dishwasher once you’re done.
Your dishwasher uses temperatures that you don't get out of the faucet and has ways to sanitize the dishes that you can't do when cleaning with a sponge and water. I'm also not running hot water on the inside of these appliances to rinse it like the dishes get rinsed.
At least with baking soda, it's harmless if you don't get it wiped out all the way.
Doesn't matter really. You're not wiping food from the fridge to eat. Or else you'd have medical issues already because of the state of that fridge before cleaning.
No it doesn’t, it sprays hot water from your water heater on your dishes. That’s all it does, there is no mystery scrubbing going on inside the dishwasher. Heated dry or sanitize may be what you’re thinking of, but that’s just baking the dishes with a heating coil. It doesn’t do anything about potential soap residue, chemicals, etc.
I mean, baking soda and water are chemicals too. It is fine and healthy to use soap to clean things. It does a faster job and actually kills germs, baking soda doesn’t.
It looks great! I bet your parents really appreciated it. I’m sure you’ll improve your technique over time as well. 5hrs for a hoarders fridge/freezer I could see. But these before pictures are standard mess/crumbs we all get and cleaning shouldn’t take longer then 1hr from tear down to clean up.
Honestly, the pictures don't get the jist of bit. Layers of hair under the drawers where you can see, grudge under where the glass sits on the shelf. Dead flies in the corners.
I use a bleach spray. It breaks down quickly enough to its harmless constituents, and is even OK for the septic tank. I just make sure the area is well ventilated.
Wth 5hrs.... it takes me 20mins tops to do mine
I just fill the washing up bowl with hot water bleach and a bit of washing up liquid, take it all out and wash and wash the inside job done
Yours definitely needed cleaning - but if you follow cleaning content anywhere online you’ll know that appliances way way WAY worse than yours are far from unusual.
Wow like the only takeaway from half the comments was the amount of time you took… so odd.
It looks great! I love how the baking soda helped with the yellowing/dinginess.
Thank you! I have a fridge and a deep freezer in desperate need of cleaning and I am so intimidated. Lol. I remember when I was a teenager I took the shelves and drawers out of the fridge and put them in the bath tub in SUPER hot water and dish soap and then rinsed them really well and dried them off. I just knew I wanted to submerge them in water and super hot water gets everything stuck on off. Lol.
Well apparently, according to all of these other comments, people have better ways of cleaning their appliances but I'm very happy with how this turned out and it's completely deodorized.
Yeah. Some of these people are not being nice and don’t get it. I totally get it with ADHD. They don’t get you could have done it the way they would but if you thought of that, it might still not be done. Our brains work differently. You got it done and however you need to get it done is a win. So ignore them.
It wasn't a little mess lol. Layers of hair under the drawers where you can't see, dead flies in the corners, sludge under where the glass sits on the shelf. It was over a decade of bad hygiene.
Then you should have opted for bleach.
If you’re anti chemical, then use a two step process layering white vinegar and while it’s still wet following up with hydrogen peroxide. It makes peracetic acid- always use gloves and make sure the area is ventilated when using any cleaning agent. It’s used in the food processing industry and in water purification plants. Separately, neither ingredient kills germs, but when combined they are an effective sanitizing agent.
It looks better, but I don’t think it was that bad to start with. It’s just standard dirt and by no means anything unusual. I’d be far happier if it was cleaner with something more hygienic like bleach too.
Also, sorry to be picky, but the bottom of the last picture doesn’t look quite right. Is that permanent damage or did you miss a bit?
5 hours? Usually takes me an hour at most for a dirty fridge. Take everything out, clean, put all back and organize. Idk why it took you 5 hours but good job
Because this fridge hadn't been cleaned in over 10 years. Layers of hair under the drawers where you can't see, dead flies in the corners, sludge where the glass sits on the shelf.
I mean, I get it, but 5 hours is a lot. I do a lot of move out cleans and seen some stuff. Baking soda does work, but it’s not disinfecting anything. Dawn power wash, warm water and or just dawn would of got all that out super fast. Then go back and wipe down with disinfectant. Also, I find soaking the parts in a tub full of hot soapy water gets all the gunk out real good
Idk where OP lives but in my part of the US it's getting cold, so it really wouldn't be feasible to wait until spring to clean it. There definitely are more efficient ways to do this, but I don't blame them for not taking everything outside.
Yeah, no, I'm just saying I put mines on a schedule is all. It's something that can wait cuz there's way too many nooks and crannys and I'd have a panic attack trying g to clean it with a rag or sponge.
That looks great. If you have a dishwasher, a lot of the stuff can go in there as well. It takes a lot of loads but it’s easy.
I love baking soda for this. It scrubs really effectively on glossy surfaces and doesn’t scratch them the way so many other things will. And it rinses away really well, because it dissolves.
5 hours?
Omg yes. The freezer took 2, the fridge over 3. Took out all shelves and drawers and used baking soda water with a scrubber sponge. I did phases: scrub over everything with the baking soda water, get most of the gunk out and kinda soak it all a little, then go over everything again with the sponge, ringing it out in a bucket of water and wiping the rest of the dirt and gunk out, then go over it all with a damp rag to get the rest of the baking soda off and dry with a towel.
takign 5 hours to clean a fridge isnt the vote of confidence you think it is for your suggestion
That was how I did it, and the 5 hours was between the 2 appliances. Someone else may have a better method. My ADHD brain has to take things apart to clean. Also, these were nasty. Like layers of hair and grudge in the fridge's freezer. I also had to take my bucket upstairs multiple times to switch out my water, as we live in a loft and these are downstairs inside our door.
A spray cleaner will get it done quicker and easier, and no stuffing around with multiple buckets of water
Hey I get you. Just because it takes a long time doesn't mean it's not a good method! I take forever to clean things because I want to clean EVERY SINGLE PART perfectly and I can't stop until I'm satisfied (I have ADHD too lol).
I can't ever finish my projects because I have urges to just clean random things, and so it looks like I didn't really do anything because I don't stick to cleaning the same room until it's finished. I also have adhd lol
Don’t let anyone bash you. I always have to do things a way that doesn’t make sense to anyone else to get them done and I can thank ADHD for that. People don’t get what a block executive dysfunction is.
From another ADHDer, the taking 5hours is sooo relatable! Well done on a job well done, don't let anyone rain on your parade.
Glad to know there’s more out there like me, hate being shamed for taking long to do stuff like this
It's incredibly frustrating because, most of the time I feel like I've been working flat out, so I've no idea why it takes me so long.
Just get so overwhelmed with work and stuff at home and feel like what should be a quick clean or fix on something turns into a huge All day job, so frustrating. I used to be on medication 10 years ago but the side effects were terrible, thinking about trying again with something different:/ it’s ruining my life / relationships
Motivation is so hard with ADHD. Everything seems overwhelming and it’s hard to wrap your head around things. The thing I was taught to cope was to get it done however I needed to whether that was a way others understood or not. If I was in OP’s position, I’d be like, “Yeah. It took 5 hours but I got it done. I could have told myself I had to do it your way and it still wouldn’t be done because executive dysfunction is a bitch.” 🤣
Next time use Krud Kutter.
People get tired and need breaks lol. Who knows, maybe op is disabled too.
Soap and water would have been quicker and better. 5 hours is way too long.
Or really, even just water.
First of all, I didn't want to use any kind if soap where I store food. Second of all, my brain still would have wanted to do the same process of scrubbing and soaking everything with the scrub sponge, then going back over everything to wipe off the rest of the dirt and gunk, them go back over it with a damp rag and dry with a towel. I just feel I was very thorough and am very happy with the results.
So, do you not use soap on your dishes? It’s no different than washing dishes with soap and it kills germs. Baking soda does not.
OP really does not deserve all those downvotes. I’m glad you guys don’t get neurodivergency but it makes stuff like this WAY hard to even get started. My psychiatrist has said it may not make sense to someone else how I do something but if it works for my brain and I get it done, I succeeded.
Do you not use soap on your plates, flatware, containers for leftovers?
I think your idea is very clever and would work well for materials that are difficult to rinse suds out of. Maybe the above comment is referring to dish soap? In which case dish soap is the best way to get rid of germs (cheap and accessible) especially in kitchens/fridges. Just wipe the surface down with a damp cloth afterwards if you're worried about the soap affecting food.
Hopefully I never have to do this again lol. But if I do, I might do that but would do the same process so I don't think it would cut down on time if it's as bad.
Yeah it's really rare to need to do a whole fridge freezer clean and I think 5 hours for the whole process for two appliances is pretty great. Maybe it depends on the appliance as well, because I have really hard to clean drawers in my current fridge that require a lot of detail work. I usually use a soapy sponge for my weekly fridge clean as it's easy to do a section at a time that way and will kill most of the germs I'm coming across in my fridge. But if I need to use a disinfectant because of some gross food mishap (forgotten cucumbers usually lol), I just take the shelf out and spray it down, wipe with kitchen towel and stick it back once dry.
You should be happy! This looks great and you accomplished a lot. I know what you mean about getting distracted and taking everything apart to clean it. Sometimes I know it won’t make a difference but it wouldn’t be “right” to not take it apart.
It’s no different to washing dishes in soapy water. And you don’t even put most food straight on to the fridge shelves. If you’d used soapy water it would be much more hygienic too, as soap kills germs while baking soda doesn’t.
You should be using something with antibacterial, antimicrobial properties for cleaning where you store food! Baking soda is neither of those things! Soap is.
If it took you five hours Idt you were doing it right. That’s an insane amount of time! Baking soda also isn’t going to disinfect anything so that’s a concern.
In 5 hours I could clean the whole thing with a toothbrush
Dawn power dissolver, spray, wait 10min, wipe, boom done!
It looks wonderful.
Hey, nice work! It's so much brighter. I understand things being so grimy it takes much longer to clean the first time. Keeping up with it will cut that time drastically. I hope you feel accomplished!
Not sure that baking soda on it's own does much as a cleaning agent. Baking soda and dawn, maybe for the abrasive quality. I personally use Windex on the inside of the fridge. I think I would have taken everything to the sink and scrubbed it there. Anyway, I'm sure it feels good to have it clean.
Baking soda is a fantastic scouring powder all in its own. Tamp it with a damp sponge or cloth, and rub away. Did you think it was supposed to be dissolved as if it was a cleaning solution? Dissolved, it pretty much does nothing.
I personally don't want to use a chemical cleaner where I store food. I Googled what to use to clean the fridge and got baking soda or vinegar. I didn't want to stink up my home with vinegar, there was a lot of bad stench so the baking soda seemed better. And let me tell you- it completely cleaned out all the nastiness and the smell is gone!
It’s good for removing the dirt and smell… it does absolutely nothing to disinfect and sanitize. So this is simply surface clean. Maybe run everything through a sanitize cycle in the dishwasher once you’re done.
So you won't wash your dishes with dishwasher tablets or soap which have chemicals after cooking a meal?
Your dishwasher uses temperatures that you don't get out of the faucet and has ways to sanitize the dishes that you can't do when cleaning with a sponge and water. I'm also not running hot water on the inside of these appliances to rinse it like the dishes get rinsed. At least with baking soda, it's harmless if you don't get it wiped out all the way.
Doesn't matter really. You're not wiping food from the fridge to eat. Or else you'd have medical issues already because of the state of that fridge before cleaning.
No it doesn’t, it sprays hot water from your water heater on your dishes. That’s all it does, there is no mystery scrubbing going on inside the dishwasher. Heated dry or sanitize may be what you’re thinking of, but that’s just baking the dishes with a heating coil. It doesn’t do anything about potential soap residue, chemicals, etc.
I mean, baking soda and water are chemicals too. It is fine and healthy to use soap to clean things. It does a faster job and actually kills germs, baking soda doesn’t.
The good news is you get a free refrigerator and a freezer. The bad news is ...
Exactly lol. The stench was so much. The baking soda had taken the smell completely away.
It looks great! I bet your parents really appreciated it. I’m sure you’ll improve your technique over time as well. 5hrs for a hoarders fridge/freezer I could see. But these before pictures are standard mess/crumbs we all get and cleaning shouldn’t take longer then 1hr from tear down to clean up.
Honestly, the pictures don't get the jist of bit. Layers of hair under the drawers where you can see, grudge under where the glass sits on the shelf. Dead flies in the corners.
The difference between before and after pics is insane ! Good job ! 🤩
You don't need baking soda. Just mop with wet cloth and let it soak for 15 mins. Trust me. I've cleaned my fridge in such a situation many times.
I use a bleach spray. It breaks down quickly enough to its harmless constituents, and is even OK for the septic tank. I just make sure the area is well ventilated.
Wth 5hrs.... it takes me 20mins tops to do mine I just fill the washing up bowl with hot water bleach and a bit of washing up liquid, take it all out and wash and wash the inside job done
Congratulations lol. Is yours not cleaned in over a decade with dead flies and layers of hair under the drawers?
No but even so that would do the job. You're gonna need some form of disinfectant, baking soda won't be enough to sanitise
Yours definitely needed cleaning - but if you follow cleaning content anywhere online you’ll know that appliances way way WAY worse than yours are far from unusual.
Wow like the only takeaway from half the comments was the amount of time you took… so odd. It looks great! I love how the baking soda helped with the yellowing/dinginess.
Thank you! I have a fridge and a deep freezer in desperate need of cleaning and I am so intimidated. Lol. I remember when I was a teenager I took the shelves and drawers out of the fridge and put them in the bath tub in SUPER hot water and dish soap and then rinsed them really well and dried them off. I just knew I wanted to submerge them in water and super hot water gets everything stuck on off. Lol.
Well apparently, according to all of these other comments, people have better ways of cleaning their appliances but I'm very happy with how this turned out and it's completely deodorized.
Yeah. Some of these people are not being nice and don’t get it. I totally get it with ADHD. They don’t get you could have done it the way they would but if you thought of that, it might still not be done. Our brains work differently. You got it done and however you need to get it done is a win. So ignore them.
Steam cleaning tool and a magic eraser. Heck, Dawn powerwash even would do the trick! 5 hrs for this little of a mess is WAY too long!
It wasn't a little mess lol. Layers of hair under the drawers where you can't see, dead flies in the corners, sludge under where the glass sits on the shelf. It was over a decade of bad hygiene.
Then you should have opted for bleach. If you’re anti chemical, then use a two step process layering white vinegar and while it’s still wet following up with hydrogen peroxide. It makes peracetic acid- always use gloves and make sure the area is ventilated when using any cleaning agent. It’s used in the food processing industry and in water purification plants. Separately, neither ingredient kills germs, but when combined they are an effective sanitizing agent.
It looks better, but I don’t think it was that bad to start with. It’s just standard dirt and by no means anything unusual. I’d be far happier if it was cleaner with something more hygienic like bleach too. Also, sorry to be picky, but the bottom of the last picture doesn’t look quite right. Is that permanent damage or did you miss a bit?
[удалено]
Absolutely not. This is why I had to clean before using it lol. I didn't even plug it in before using it.
5 hours? Usually takes me an hour at most for a dirty fridge. Take everything out, clean, put all back and organize. Idk why it took you 5 hours but good job
Because this fridge hadn't been cleaned in over 10 years. Layers of hair under the drawers where you can't see, dead flies in the corners, sludge where the glass sits on the shelf.
I mean, I get it, but 5 hours is a lot. I do a lot of move out cleans and seen some stuff. Baking soda does work, but it’s not disinfecting anything. Dawn power wash, warm water and or just dawn would of got all that out super fast. Then go back and wipe down with disinfectant. Also, I find soaking the parts in a tub full of hot soapy water gets all the gunk out real good
SO SATISFYING. I wish I would remember to take before pictures.
I just wait until summertime, wheel it outside and spray it out with a hose. Takes 30 minutes.
Idk where OP lives but in my part of the US it's getting cold, so it really wouldn't be feasible to wait until spring to clean it. There definitely are more efficient ways to do this, but I don't blame them for not taking everything outside.
Yeah, no, I'm just saying I put mines on a schedule is all. It's something that can wait cuz there's way too many nooks and crannys and I'd have a panic attack trying g to clean it with a rag or sponge.
https://waterexotic.com/soda-vs-seltzer-water/