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

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Cleaning the fridge is one of those tasks that's often pushed down the list of priorities. When exactly does it ever get empty enough to give it a good clean, anyway?

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

Some of the key things it depends on: how well you keep track of what's in it, whether the food in it's past its use-by date or gone off, if you clean up spills promptly, and, importantly, whether it's functioning properly.

According to Dr Evangeline Mantzioris, a University of South Australia nutritionist and food hygiene expert, there's no strict rule on how often you should give it a good clean, but "provided there are no spills and no obvious food that's gone off, you'd probably want to do it every three or four months".

What's the best thing to use to tidy up your esky?

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

"What we're trying to do is give the area a good clean, getting rid of any dirt and food scraps that are in there, as well as getting rid of the bacteria," Dr Mantzioris says.

She says alcohol-based products are good for keeping doors and handles clean, but they might not be the best for picking up small food bits and spills. For that, she recommends using warm soapy water.

It doesn't have to be the fanciest option – a basic dishwashing soap that you use in your kitchen will do just fine.

The soap helps to crack open the bacterial cell walls, and then the suds make it easy to lift it to the surface, and you can wipe it away with a damp cloth at the end.

Stay on top of drips and drops

Take care with what you're storing in your fridge and give any spills from items like trays of pre-packaged meats and leaking milk bottles a good clean.

"Cleaning up any visible food spills straight away is a good idea — then doing a regular clean every 3-4 months is just a matter of keeping things hygienic," Dr Mantzioris says.

You should also check your fruit and veggie crisper every week and chuck any produce that's gone off or near its use-by date. Give the drawers a scrub with warm soapy water if they need it.

One thing to consider is giving the bottom of containers a clean, because frequently there's a lot of dirt and grime that accumulates on the bottom of jars like mayonnaise and curry containers and other fridge storage; so doing a wipe-over of those is really important as well.

6. Put everything back in the esky, but make sure you've got

It's a good idea to switch off your fridge when giving it a thorough clean, so it's a job that's best done when your pantry is running low and you've got a solid 30–45 minutes to devote to it. That way, your food won't be left sitting at room temperature on the bench for too long.

Dr Mantzioris suggests cleaning one shelf at a time and ideally doing it on a cooler day, "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'd chuck 'em in an esky while you're having a clean-out of the fridge, especially if it's a hot day," she says.

Stay calm — don't overload your fridge

Make sure the inside of your fridge stays consistently cool. If the temperature goes above five degrees Celsius, germs can start to multiply, which can cause food poisoning.

"So, keeping it at the right temperature and stopping young blokes from just leaving the door ajar and staring at it like it's a telly is crucial," Dr Mantzioris says.

G'day, I reckon it's a good idea, especially with the temperature fluctuations we're gettin' at the moment, if you don't have one of them fancy temperature-controlled fridges, just chuck a thermometer in the fridge, put it near where you open it and make sure it stays under four degrees.

Between 3 and 4 degrees is probably ideal; you don't want it too chilly and have things freezing up and need more power.

And it might sound pretty obvious, but your fridge is one of the hardest-working appliances in your house, and the more you chuck in it, the harder it'll have to work.

"The warmer the food you chuck in, the more it'll work," Dr Mantzioris says.