How often you should clean your fridge to keep it food-safe, and what to use to clean it

Cleaning a fridge is one of those jobs that rarely makes the top of the priority list. When is it ever empty enough to clean, anyway?

So, how often should you clean your refrigerator? The short answer is: it depends.

Some of the key things it depends on: how well you keep track of what you put in it, whether it's had expired or spoiled food in it, if you keep on top of spills and, importantly, whether it's running properly.

As University of South Australia nutritionist and food hygiene expert Dr Evangeline Mantzioris explains, there's no hard-and-fast rule to how regularly you should give it a thorough clean, but "providing there are no spills, and that there's no obvious food that's gone off, you'd probably want to do it every three, four months".

What should you use to clean your fridge?

Alcohol-based sprays with a concentration of at least 70 per cent ethanol are a good option if you're giving a shelf a once-over.

"What we're trying to do is clean any dirt and food scraps that are in there, as well as killing the bacteria," Dr Mantzioris says.

She says alcohol-based products also work particularly well for keeping doors and handles clean but may not be ideal for gathering up small food scraps and spill residues. For this she recommends warm, soapy water.

"The soap helps to break down the bacterial cell walls, and then the suds help to bring it to the surface and you can clear it off with a wet cloth at the end."

Stay on top of spills

Be mindful of what you're putting in your fridge and make sure you clean any spills from items such as trays of pre-packed meats and leaky milk bottles.

"Cleaning up obvious food spills that have occurred as soon as possible is a good strategy — then that every 3–4 month clean is just doing that cyclical clean to keep things hygienic," Dr Mantzioris says.

You should also check your fruit and vegetable crisper on a weekly basis and discard any produce that's expired or on the turn, and wash and clean the drawers with warm soapy water if necessary.

"The other thing to do is clean the bottom of things, because often there's a lot of dirt and grime that captures on the bottom of mayonnaise jars and curry jars and all those other jars that we keep in the fridge; so doing a wipe-over of those is really important as well."

Tips for doing a big fridge clean

It's advisable to turn your fridge off when giving it a major clean, so it's a task best undertaken when your food supplies are low and you have 30–45 minutes' focused time to spend on it. That way, items won't be sitting at room temperature on your bench for too long.

Dr Mantzioris also recommends cleaning one shelf at a time and ideally, doing it on a day when it's not too hot, "because you're trying not to let the temperature of the food change too much".

"If you've got meat, fish or milk and dairy products, I would put them in an esky while you're cleaning the fridge, particularly if it's a warm day," she says.

Keep your cool — don't overload your fridge

Make sure the inside of your fridge is kept consistently cool. If temperatures are above five degrees Celsius, bacteria can start to grow, which can lead to food poisoning.

"What I suggest, especially with the temperature fluctuations we're getting, if [you] don't have that smart, fancy monitoring within the fridge, just to buy a thermometer [for] inside the fridge, put it close to where you open it and make sure it stays under four degrees.

"Between three and four degrees is probably optimal; you don't want to make it too cold and have things icy and use more electricity."

And it might sound obvious, but your fridge is already one of the hardest-working appliances in your house and the more you put in it, the harder it's going to work.

"The more warm or room-temperature food you put in there, the harder it's going to work, too," Dr Mantzioris adds.