Top tips to keep your refrigerator clean and odour-free

Scrubbing the fridge can be an intimidating job, but these quick tips for a clean and odour-free refrigerator can help make the task a whole lot easier.

The surface of white refrigerators and freezers gets dirty more quickly than you'd like, especially around the handles. Even the hardware shows fingerprints and spotting. To get them to gleam almost like new:

• Scrub it with equal parts of ammonia and water.
• Rub it down with club soda, which cleans and polishes at the same time.
• For a glossier finish, wash and rinse the surface. Then apply car paste wax and buff it to a shine with a clean soft cloth.
• Polish any chrome trim with a cloth dipped in rubbing alcohol.

When cleaning your refrigerator, don't neglect it!

• The flexible rubber or plastic gasket framing the inside edge of your refrigerator door seals cold air in and keeps warm air out.
• Wipe grime off with a soft cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol and finish by rubbing the gasket with a little mineral oil to prevent it from cracking.

You're cramming today's groceries on a high shelf of the fridge. Suddenly,  a small bowl of leftover sauce in the back tips and begins to leak.

• To get rid of the gummy mass, sprinkle it with salt.
• Then dip a plastic scrubber or abrasive sponge in hot water and rub the stain vigorously.
• Repeat until it's gone, each time wiping the area with a wet paper towel.

To help absorb odours, store three or four charcoal briquettes in your refrigerator.

• Put them in a small mesh bag (the kind that holds supermarket onions) and stick them on a fridge shelf.
• After a month, refresh the briquettes by dumping them into a heavy stainless steel pot and warming them. Ventilate the kitchen well while doing this.
• After the briquettes are cool, put them back in the bag and return them to the fridge.

To diminish refrigerator smells:

• Peel a raw potato, cut it in half, and place each half on a small saucer.
• Next place the potato halves on different shelves in the fridge.
• When the cut surface of a potato turns black, trim the black part away and return the potato to the fridge with its absorbent powers restored.

Your refrigerator gets a lot of use during the day, ending up with spills, fingermarks and more. These easy tips will help keep this important kitchen appliance sparkling clean and odour-free for years of carefree use.