Tips for Organizing Your Fridge

A sparkling clean fridge seems to be something you only see in magazines, movies, and TV shows. But what if we told you a spotless fridge doesn’t have to be that far from reality? 

A clean fridge isn’t just pretty to stare at. With your food organized, you will have easy access to all your groceries. Organizing your fridge can help you know what food you have left, making cooking easier and faster too. 

If the back half of your fridge is filled with expired food you haven’t touched in weeks, this article is for you. 

How to Organize Your Fridge

Before you get to organizing, you must clean. We are guessing it’s been a while since you’ve given your refrigerator a good scrub. It’s never too late to start. Giving your fridge a good deep cleaning can not only make it sparkle, but it can get rid of any funky smells that can cut your appetite every time you open doors.

It can also help reduce and change food-borne illness or contamination. Put simply, cleaning your fridge regularly is a must. 

We recommend a deep refrigerator clean four to six times a year, depending on how crazy things get in your kitchen.

How to Clean Your Fridge

Start by purging your fridge, cleaning out everything, tossing what you don’t need, and setting aside what you want to keep. If you are worried about your food going bad, pull out a cooler and some ice to keep your food fresh while you get to work. 

Once you reach an empty fridge, it’s time to clean. Pull out Safely’s Universal Cleaner to help you get the job done. Our formula uses a combo of salt and coconut-derived ingredients to cut through spills and stains while citric acid, lemongrass leaf oil, and corn-derived alcohol remove harmful bacteria.

To Clean:

1. Spray a generous amount of Safely’s Universal Cleaner through your fridge. 
2. Then, use a paper towel to wipe down all surfaces (drawers, shelves, compartments, etc.). 
3. If possible, we recommend taking your drawers out and letting them soak in hot water (and a bit of dish soap). Let soak in warm soapy water for about 20 minutes. 
4. Dry and assemble your fridge. 
5. Pat yourself on the back — you’re halfway there!

Clean Freak Code: Before you start repacking your fridge with food, make sure to stick in a deodorizer. We recommend using baking soda. This will soak up any lingering smells from inside your fridge. Stick an opened package of any old baking soda inside wherever is most convenient. 

With a clean slate, it’s time to get into fridge organization. 

Fridge Organization Ideas

While organization skills may come as second nature for most of us, it may take a bit of planning to get organized. Here are some tips and ideas to get your fridge in order. 

Create Sections Before You Start

Take a good look at your empty fridge. Create a game plan of what goes best where. This will vary depending on what groceries you buy. You may even want to adjust the height of your shelves before you get started to optimize your space.

If you have no idea what to put where here are some standard guidelines:

Top Shelves

Reserve the higher points in your fridge for foods that have a short shelf life:

• Dairy products like yogurt, butter, and cheese
• Eggs
• Leftovers
• Dipping Sauces

Clean Freak Code: If the back of your fridge is like a graveyard, try investing in a lazy suzan to keep things more accessible. 

Bottom Shelves

Bottom shelves should be reserved for raw foods and bulkier items like:

• Milk
• Meats and Poultry

To keep things clean and organized, group like items together and invest in some fridge storage bins to keep everything in order.

Door Shelves

Reserve your door shelves for condiments as they can easily fit in such a narrow space. 

Crisper Drawer Hacks

Your fridge drawers (also known as crispers) are temperature and humidity-controlled, helping them keep food fresh for longer. Here is what you should store in those crisper drawers:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Herbs

To keep things fresh for longer, make sure to separate your vegetables and your fruits into separate drawers. Many fruits create a gas that can make vegetables spoil faster. You can take things to the next level by organizing your fruits or vegetables with dividers. 

Keep things clean: Line the bottom of your drawers with a paper towel or refrigerator liner to make cleaning easier. Replace or clean every two weeks. 

Flaunt Your Fridge

Smart food storage means less food waste and more cooking. We hope our tips and tricks can make organizing and cleaning a little bit and maybe even fun!