The Nasty Part Of Your Fridge That Should Be Cleaned Every Day

After a long day of putting your kitchen to use for meals, snacks, and family functions, many households do a nightly kitchen shutdown to make their lives easier the next day. Doing dishes and cleaning countertops as part of the shutdown may not be enough, though, to prevent germs from making you or your loved ones sick. The real enemy is the Petri dish that exists on the handle of your refrigerator. Given the number of hands that grab the handle in order to open the fridge door, it harbors an abundance of germs on its surface that can be carried to the next person in line.

If you live with children or prepare raw meat, there's also a chance some of that ick could be fecal matter. Some people also hang hand-drying towels from the handles, which adds moisture, more bacteria, and even mold. When it comes to unpleasant things consumed from a kitchen, it's hard to decide if accidentally consuming mold or fecal matter is more frightening.

Cleaning the handle is pretty simple; you can use your preferred multipurpose cleaner and give it a quick wipe with a rag or paper towel. Or if your fridge is made of stainless steel, you can opt for a stainless steel cleaning solution. If it's been a while since you've cleaned the handles, you may want to make the first cleaning a vigorous one.

The handles of your refrigerator should be cleaned every day (maybe even a few times a day, depending on how much traffic they get), but what about the rest of your fridge? There's no strict cleaning timeframe for refrigerators, because it really varies on use and what goes in and out. However, cleaning them every few months or so will give you an opportunity to get rid of any leftovers you mistakenly forgot about (and while we're at it, here's a list of foods you should never store in your fridge) or clean any lingering spillage.

A clean fridge can help prevent cross-contamination and the spread of bacteria like Listeria. While rare, Listeria can be incredibly dangerous, and the most at-risk people include infants, pregnant people, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems. The good news is that a clean fridge, both inside and out, can prevent Listeria and other illnesses, like the flu, from reaching your household. So the next time you clean your kitchen, remember the handles of your appliances are where the bacteria party is happening every day, and be sure to give them a good wipe down.