It is a known fact that we should eat healthily, and that starts by keeping our surroundings and food containers clean. To develop healthy eating habits, the task of utmost importance is to keep your refrigerator clean. If the refrigerator isn’t cleaned regularly, it can welcome unwanted diseases and illnesses.
Cleaning your entire refrigerator is no easy task, and you often wonder what is the right agent to do that. We have an answer for you; hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen peroxide is a multifaceted cleaner used for a variety of functions and is a must-have for your household. This adaptable chemical seems no less than a miracle when it comes to cleaning and disinfecting surfaces in the household.
Cleaning Your Refrigerator – What You Need to Know
Your fridge is the breeding ground for bacteria and other pathogens. The moisture and nutrients are the ideal situations for their growth and while preserving food in a low-temperature environment prevents rapid growth of bacteria on it, it doesn’t necessarily destroy them.
The enormous amount of food that you pile up in your fridge can only be preserved till a certain time and should be eaten before it goes rotten.
Once the old food starts decaying, it gives way to the growth of other pathogens. These pathogens are harmful and can stick to other fresh food and make you sick.
It happens to all of us that we sometimes spill the liquids like curry, sauces, or milk in the fridge while taking them out. These stains can allow the growth of bacteria such as E.coli and Listeria in it. They can spread and contaminate fresh food if not cleaned properly.
In addition to spill stains, there can be other stains such as rust and yellow stains that can be very off-putting. Let’s learn more about stains in your fridge.
Oil And Curry Stains
Oil is an essential ingredient in almost everything that we make. If oil itself or any dish containing oil, such as curry, spills in the fridge and is not cleaned on time, this can lead to less than favorable conditions for you.
You see, the oil contains components such as fatty acids that bacteria just love to feed on. Bacteria break down these fatty acids and utilize their energy for their growth. This multiplication continues and makes other food in your fridge susceptible to these disease-causing micro-organisms.
Rust Stains
When the metal hardware in any part of the fridge, especially beneath the plastic-coated surface of the fridge, is exposed to air and gets oxidized, it can rust. Rusting can lead to unwanted brown spots and stains that make it look ugly.
Yellow Stains
As appliances get older, they lose their bright and shiny color. This happens due to oxidization of the surface material of these appliances and leads them to develop yellow stains. These yellow stains can be very unappealing and impart your fridge an unpleasant look.
Using Hydrogen Peroxide to Clean Your Refrigerator
These stains are resistant and are therefore hard to get rid of. These tough stains can be removed with the help of hydrogen peroxide.
This chemical does not only remove the stains but also disinfects the surface due to its fabulous oxidizing properties.
#1 Removing Spill Stains From Fridge Using Hydrogen Peroxide
Removing spill stains from the fridge can prove to be a hassle. These spill stains are greasy and grimy and stick well to the surface.
Hydrogen peroxide can disinfect these spills because bacteria break down components of these spills and multiply through them. These stains, therefore, require thorough cleaning and dissolution in order to be removed.
What You Need
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Baking Soda
- Clean Cloth
- Bowl
How to Use
- Make a solution of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda in a clean bowl
- Dip the clean cloth in the solution
- Clean the spill stain with the cloth
- Scrub it well until you’re sure that the stain is gone
- Let it dry properly and rub it with a water-dipped cloth
Points to Consider
Some important points to consider are:
- Take precautions that hydrogen peroxide doesn’t come in contact with your skin or eyes as it is irritating to them. Use gloves for this procedure for safe outcomes.
- Please also note that if the stain hasn’t gone, repeat the procedure, and this time, you should scrub the stain really hard.
#2 Removing Rust From the Rails Using Hydrogen Peroxide
Rusting is a phenomenon that every metal eventually undergoes, and hydrogen peroxide can help you to clean your rails of rust and brown stains. Hydrogen peroxide has strong properties that break the bond between color-causing compounds of rust and therefore make it lighter if not entirely removed.
What You Need
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Borax
- Brush
- Cloth
- Bowl
How to Use
- Pour hydrogen peroxide into a bowl
- Dip the cloth in hydrogen peroxide
- Apply hydrogen peroxide on the rails and let it sit for a few minutes
- Add borax to the bowl and mix it with hydrogen peroxide
- This time apply the solution with the brush
- Now start scrubbing
- After the stain has lightened or gone, clean the rail with water
Points to Consider
This procedure requires the use of both borax and hydrogen peroxide. Therefore, heed the following precautions:
- Hydrogen peroxide and borax should both be used while wearing gloves because they can be harmful to your skin and eyes.
- Rust is not something you can just clean off. You will have to scrub it thoroughly with the brush after applying the solution, so keep that in mind.
- Fully rinse the rails after cleaning them with borax. It can be very dangerous if ingested in any way.
#3 Sanitizing Your Fridge Using Hydrogen Peroxide
As mentioned earlier, hydrogen peroxide is the perfect sanitizing agent for numerous surfaces in your household.
Your fridge also falls in that category, and hydrogen peroxide can be used to sanitize it. Your refrigerator contains harmful bad odor-causing bacteria that you should get rid of. Here’s how you can use hydrogen peroxide to do that.
What You Need
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Spray Bottle
- Vinegar
- Clean Cloth
How to Use
- In a spray bottle, pour hydrogen peroxide
- Mix hydrogen peroxide with vinegar
- Take out all your food from the fridge
- Start spraying on every possible surface of the fridge
- Clean with a cloth afterward
Points to Consider
Hydrogen peroxide is a dangerous chemical if ingested, and you should be extra careful when using it around food appliances.
- Make sure that you empty your fridge entirely and keep all the food as far away from the cleaning area as possible, preferably in another room.
- The solution should be cleaned thoroughly after its application. Ingestion of these chemicals can cause problems in your body.
- Use gloves while applying this mixture because it can be irritative to the skin.
#4 Deodorizing Your Fridge Using Hydrogen Peroxide
Bad odors are produced by the bacteria who feed on nutrients and break down, producing this odor. You can use hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to deodorize your fridge.
What You Need
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Baking Soda
- Clean Cloth
- Bowl
How to Use
- In a bowl, pour out some hydrogen peroxide
- Add baking soda to it
- Mix both of them well
- Soak the cleaning cloth in the mixture
- Take out all the food from the fridge
- Clean the entire fridge with this cloth
- Clean the fridge again with another cloth dipped in water
Points to Consider
Hydrogen peroxide and baking soda make a great combination because baking soda dissolves any stain’s organic components, and hydrogen peroxide disinfects and brightens it. However, you should heed caution when using them around food appliances such as a fridge.
- Hydrogen peroxide should not be ingested in any way. Therefore, clean the fridge with a water-dipped cloth afterward to ensure maximum safety.
- Avoid skin and eyes contact with hydrogen peroxide
Why Hydrogen Peroxide Is Your Fridge’s Best Cleaning Partner
The problem with cleaning the refrigerator is that it contains food stains that are tough to remove. Other stains like iron stains and yellow stains only add to the problems.
If there was one cleaning agent that could be used against all of these, it would be hydrogen peroxide. It disinfects the surface and removes the stain as well as the order. This multifunctional chemical is the best cleaning agent for your fridge.
It Is The Best Disinfectant
Hydrogen peroxide contains one more atom of oxygen than water. This oxygen makes it a solid oxidizing agent and a disinfecting agent.
Hydrogen peroxide forms OH radicals that oxidize the cell walls and cell membranes of bacteria. This leads to a loss of functionality of these components, and their death is inevitable. This works for micro-organisms other than bacteria as well.
This oxidizing capability of hydrogen peroxide has a wide range of uses and can be practically applied to any surface.
It Is Easily Available and Simple to Use
Hydrogen peroxide is easily available in the market. This solution is ideal for your general household use as it is concentrated enough to take care of micro-organisms as well as remove stains.
Hydrogen peroxide has a wide range of uses, and that is one contributing factor to its bulk and easy availability in the market. Hydrogen peroxide is simple to use and is perfectly safe if used with precaution.
It Gets Rid of the Tough Stains While Not Releasing Toxic Byproducts
One of the best qualities of hydrogen peroxide is that it removes stains. It doesn’t magically make them disappear.
All the stains have color-causing compounds that are the reason for imparting them that color and making them look dirty.
Hydrogen peroxide breaks those compounds down by breaking their bonds. Once those compounds are broken down, the color from the stain diminishes, and hence your stain is removed. In addition to removing the color from your stain, it also disinfects it from any pathogen. It really is a pretty useful agent.
Ideal Concentration Of Hydrogen Peroxide — A 3% Solution
The ideal concentration for hydrogen peroxide is a 3% solution. This is the solution that you would generally find in the market.
A more concentrated solution can be dangerous and is not recommended for general household usage.
The 3% solution works best as a bactericidal and removes stains without causing any damage to the surface on which it is being applied. This is the ideal concentration of hydrogen peroxide solution, and it is widely available!
The Final Verdict
Hydrogen peroxide is a versatile cleaner that can be used to clean various surfaces.
Your fridge can get easily stained, and bacterial growth can ruin your fresh food. Therefore, these stains need to be cleaned immediately. Hydrogen peroxide is the best agent to do that.
This chemical has excellent microbial and stain removing properties that make it ideal for your daily household use. Order your set now and start cleaning your house with this fantastic agent!
