Here Is How You Can Clean A Moldy Fridge!

Refrigerators have become essential appliances in every home due to their role in storing and preserving food items. Refrigerators house both cooked and raw food items, with some being perishable.

While a refrigerator’s primary goal is storage and preservation, perishable items often get spoilt and give room for mold growth.

Having a refrigerator is not enough. You have to properly clean and maintain your refrigerator regularly for your refrigerator to be efficient.

When you fail to clean up your refrigerator, you set it up as a breeding ground for mold and other harmful bacteria.

A refrigerator with black mold is an unpleasant sight to behold. Therefore, how do you clean a moldy fridge?

You can clean a black mold refrigerator using non-toxic cleaning agents such as Vinegar, baking soda solution, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, and bleach. When using bleach, you must ensure to dilute the bleach properly because of its level of harshness on surfaces. When cleaning a moldy fridge, leave some cleaner to inhibit future mold growth.

How to Clean a Moldy Fridge?

The most prevalent cause of mold in refrigerators is moldy food. If food materials are left or forgotten in the refrigerator for a long time, and the items eventually get spoilt, the food materials will develop black mold.

Rotting foods generate black mold in refrigerators, and the mold is spread by the circulation of air and through surface contact.

Mold thrives in dark and damp environments. Refrigerators are always closed, dark, and have high humidity.

When you fail to clean your fridge regularly, the water and lack of air in your refrigerator are ideal for mold growth.

Molds are unhealthy and yield toxins that cause allergic reactions and even cancer. And as such, you must ensure to prevent mold growth in your refrigerator.

Preventing mold growth in your refrigerator is better than cleaning a moldy fridge. Because cleaning a black mold refrigerator is stressful and irritating at the same time and exposes you to becoming infected with allergies.

If you fail to clean a moldy fridge, you are encouraging the spread of mold to other parts of your kitchen and home, which is dangerous.

While cleaning a moldy fridge is stressful, it is doable, and you must ensure to use all the protective measures while cleaning a black mold refrigerator.

You don’t want to inhale or stick the black mold to your hands or body. And so, you must wear glasses, facemask, and gloves, also ensure you cover up your body.

To clean mold in the fridge, follow the steps below.

1. First, unplug your refrigerator as a precaution to avoid any electrical shock. Always take this step when dealing with electrical appliances.
2. Do away with any food items in your refrigerator and keep them in a safe place.
3. Remove all shelves and drawers from the refrigerator. Spray the items with Vinegar, and allow items for some minutes.
4. Spray the inside of your refrigerator with Vinegar or baking soda and allow it to stay for some minutes.
5. Wash the shelves, drawers, and the inside of your refrigerator thoroughly with warm soapy water, scrubbing the surfaces properly.
6. Using a brush, make sure you fully clean all crevices, including the refrigerator seal and other external surfaces.
7. You can repeat the cleaning process where necessary to be sure you left no stains.
8. Allow the fridge to dry up properly with no water droplets left in the refrigerator. It would be best to allow the fridge to stay open for the water droplets to dry up.
9. Dry your refrigerator with a paper towel or a dry cloth.
10. Dispose of the dry cloth and paper towel after usage.

11. Finally, you can put shelves and drawers back inside the refrigerator.

12. You can place baking soda in the refrigerator, which aids in soaking up lousy odor and moisture. Hence helps prevent black refrigerator mold.

We have several types of mold in our environment with various health effects on individuals depending on the level of contact. The table below shows the types of mold and their health effects.

Types Of Mold	Health Effects Of Mold
Aspergillus	They cause infection in people with a weak immune system.
	Cause stuffy nose sometimes supported by drainage that contains blood.
Penicillium	Cause irritation of the stomach.
	Causes congestion and eye irritation.
	Cause coughing.
Stachybotrys	Cause cancer.
	Cause joint pain.
	Causes headache and dizziness.
Cladosporium	Cause severe allergic reactions.
	Harmful to people with asthma.
	In rare cases, it causes infections.

How to Clean a Moldy Fridge With Bleach?

Bleach is one of the most potent cleansers and a standard home cleaning agent.

While bleach is expected and also an efficient cleaner, you must be cautious when using bleach to clean your refrigerator.

Bleach is a harsh chemical and can cause damage to both the interior and exterior components of your refrigerator. As such, you should use bleach when it is compulsory.

Refrigerators are delicate and should be handled with care and attention when cleaning. As such, you must be sure to use a cleaner that won’t have side effects on any parts when cleaning a moldy fridge.

So due to the harsh nature of the chemical on surfaces, manufacturers oppose the usage of bleach in cleaning refrigerators and other delicate surfaces.

Certain refrigerator black mold conditions will warrant the usage of bleach in cleaning.

For example, suppose the rotting food has caused an overly large amount of black mold growth such that other cleansers won’t be effective in cleaning the mess.

In that case, you can use bleach to clean your moldy fridge after adequately neutralizing bleach with water for safety reasons.

You must follow the approved bleach cleaning methods to clean your black mold refrigerator with bleach.

First, wash your refrigerator and its parts with soapy water thoroughly. Then gauge a table of bleach, add one gallon of water, and stir the mixture.

Finally, you can use the diluted mixture to scrub the fridge parts, especially those covered with mold and stains.

Aside from the effects of bleach on your refrigerator, full-strength bleach can cause respiratory problems when inhaled and skin irritation and burning when it comes in contact with the body.

In addition, you must know that mixing bleach with ammonia is extremely dangerous, and the mix can cause toxic fumes.

As such, you must carry out an initial cleansing before using diluted bleach to round up your cleaning.

What Is the Best Way to Clean a Moldy Fridge?

Refrigerators facilitate mold growth because they are dark, wet, and cold. In reality, no homeowner wants to open their fridge and see black mold growing in their food storage space.

Although many factors cause mold growth in the refrigerator, aside from rotten food, other mechanical factors such as water leakage can also enhance mold growth, so endure to stop leaks when discovered.

There are various ways you can effectively clean a moldy fridge, and to a large extent, the best technique for cleaning a moldy fridge depends on the amount of mold in your refrigerator.

Molds have a significant way of growing, and to completely do away with black mold in your refrigerator, you must use the most effective technique to clean your moldy fridge.

While most of the cleansing methods are effective, soapy water and baking soda solution will do the job in most cases.

Also, utilizing warm water with detergent and Vinegar is enough to finish the work. You must ensure not to dilute the vinegar solution.

In extreme cases, you should clean a moldy fridge with diluted bleach after properly washing with water and soap. You can take measures to avert the growth of black mold in your refrigerator.

However, if you desire to prevent mold growth in your refrigerator, you must be willing to put in the work it takes to have a clean refrigerator and observe decent food storage practices.

The following are preventive measures to protect mold growth in your refrigerator.

1. Consume your food items before they start to rot. Always make sure you buy the number of food items you can consume at a time. This way, you can regulate how long food items stay in your refrigerator.
2. Dispose of food materials when you notice any rotting to prevent the spread to other food items and your home.
3. Please use food storage containers or foil papers to cover your food correctly before placing them in the refrigerator. Covering food discourages the spread of mold spores from moldy foods to other parts of your home.
4. Always leave your refrigerator plugged in and also regulate the humidity. Defrosting your refrigerator reduces ice deposition, which melts and creates a conducive mold growth environment.
5. Regularly clean your refrigerator every month. By so doing, you will get the guarantee your fridge is safe from molds and other bacteria growths.
6. If mold growth persists after constantly cleaning your refrigerator, don’t hesitate to call on an expert to come and check out your refrigerator for proper maintenance.
7. You must ensure you do not overstuff your refrigerator so you don’t block the refrigerator’s cooling unit, hence exposing your food items to get spoiled.
8. Cans should not be left open in your refrigerator as they can induce chemical contaminations and promote the growth of mold in your fridge.

Learning how to refrigerate food correctly is very important, as it is not just an excellent healthy measure but also helps improve your budget for food items.

For example, certain foods, such as dairy products, should not be placed on indoor shelves, which are prone to temperature fluctuations.

In addition, freshly bought food items should always go behind the old items. 

Final Thoughts 

Refrigerators play a crucial part in storing and preserving food items in homes and businesses. And when left unkept are affected by mold growth.

In extreme situations, you should clean black mold refrigerators using warm water, soap with baking soda or Vinegar, and diluted bleach.

Sharing is caring! Spread The Love!