Refrigerator and its Care

Hello All! 

As the summer vacations are over in Bangalore, So are mine too!!!  Lets get back to work again! 

The topic that we are going to take up is Refrigerator.  It is the second appliance to hob/cooktop that completes a kitchen. Its not only an expensive item that has to be bought with a good insight about the family’s requirement, but also, with a deep comparison of  similar products available in the market. The family’s requirement helps to decide the capacity in litres of the fridge that needs to be bought and the space that it is going to acquire in the home or kitchen. 

Its a human nature that we tend to buy certain appliances again in our life when they start giving a dull or an untidy look to us, although, it might be functioning properly. One of these in again-bought item-list has the name of refrigerator. Almost, after a decade long use, we feel like changing it or replacing it with a fresh one.

                           

The thing which I identified in my fridge, that was giving it an untidy look, was the Gasket (rubber that moves length and breadth wise on the refrigerator door). This is the gasket that maintains the sealed (no-leak) cooling of the fridge. I found some kind of the blackness and somewhere grey colour mildew appearing on the gasket in my fridge. Also, in the rushy hours of cooking, I tend to use the same hands that has a touch of turmeric on it. 

                               

Regular cleaning of the fridge with a damp cotton or muslin cloth every week before we refill the fridge for the next upcoming week is a very healthy habit. It maintains the freshness of the fridge somehow. It not only cleans the spill that has happened over the week but also the removal of some recent spots that may turn into stubborn spots at later stage. Aligned, sorted and a clean look!

Cleaning the gaskets is required once in a while , to say, I do it twice a year. And, it can be done with the help of a solution (mix)  made up of white vinegar with some drops of turpentine oil in it, which is readily available in the market. Vinegar is a regular kitchen item in Indian cooking; turpentine oil has a steep smell but it has a property that it evaporates very fast. Turpentine oil is made from the resin of certain pine trees. Don’t confuse turpentine oil with gum turpentine, which is the resin. We can put the same solution in a spray bottle for an easy use.

Points to remember:

1. This gasket cleaning should be done on the day when fridge is minimum required. 
2. Switch-off the fridge. Empty the full fridge.
3. The broader side of the gasket can be cleaned with a cotton cloth dipped in this solution.
4. The inner layers of the gasket can be cleaned with the buds (cotton swab) dipped in this solution.
5. The fridge doors should be left open for 2-3 hours once the cleaning is complete.

And, your fridge is ready to be used again. Most of the Indian kitchens have the facility to place the fridge inside it, then, the roof top of the fridge is found to have some grey layer that results from the use of oil while cooking in the kitchen. The same can be cleaned too with the same solution. This solution is also good, in case, some spot has come from the fridge magnets, only precaution is that the cloth should not be rubbed against the layer of the paint of the fridge in a rough manner. The regular cleaning of the fridge takes just 15-20 min a week. 

Additional tips:

1. Try to lid all the vessels that are placed inside the fridge. 
2. Use small sized boxes as  much possible for optimum usage of the space.
3. Cut fruit and chopped veggies if kept in closed containers in fridge maintains their moisture level.
4. Opt for brown paper bags instead of polythene or plastic bags.
5. In case of some spill having strong aroma, you can place some twigs of mint or a half lemon on the same shelf for few hours.

I hope you will find this article helpful for yourself. Another step-up in maintaining and organising your home.

Signing-off once again, will wait for your responses. You can also write me on upasanagarg@gmail.com. Will be back again next week .

Upasana