Shea Simmons
Cleaning the refrigerator isn’t a task people like. From finding forgotten leftovers in the back to discovering sticky shelves, the job can be daunting. But there’s a cleaning hack that might help.
You can use your dishwasher to clean your refrigerator, and yes, we know that sounds odd.
Once you’ve got food, leftovers, and any other items removed from your fridge, it’s time to clean the shelves and drawers. Typically, that requires using an all-purpose cleaner and some elbow grease to get the job done—not if you’ve got a dishwasher.
For the most part, the removable parts of your fridge, like shelves and drawers, can be placed in your dishwasher for a thorough clean that won’t have you doing extra work. Paul Berry, owner of San Antonio-based Mr. Appliance, a Neighborly company, told Eating Well you can simply remove the top rack of your dishwasher to make room for bulkier fridge drawers. Then, run a cycle with only those items inside.
The only caveat to this trick is that you’ll likely need a cooler of some sort to store your food. Dishwashing cycles can take up to an hour, and you don’t want your food sitting out that long so go into this hack prepared.
But the next time you need to deep clean your refrigerator and are dreading the process, your dishwasher might be the way to alleviate some stress.
