Mini Speed Cleans for In-between, Use Placemats!

Cleaning the refrigerator, the ordeal of taking out the shelves and drawers means trying not to drown the countertops and floors while washing everything.  Back in December when my fridge expired, with all of the food and a full freezer, I imagined my new fridge would be easier to clean than the last one, only because this one would have glass shelves instead of wire racks.

Au contraire.  The glass shelves require constant cleaning because, well, they are glass and every little thing marks them.  The milk pitchers leave rings and rings and rings; and I wipe and wipe and wipe.  

Top shelf where I have the milk pitchers
with the brand spanking new placemat.
I picked cups, because I'm matchy that way.

What to do, what to do?

Light bulb!  Cover the shelves with something wipeable and removable and easily replacable.  That's a lot of ble- bull.  No, it's true.

What to cover the shelves with?  The shelf liners had a pebbled surface or were woven, so those are out. Anything not smooth is out.  Anything with a strong plasticky or chemical odor is out.  The solution must be removable and not sticky.

One trip to a $ store, hunt down some vinyl placemats and after washing said placemats, put them on the shelves and voila.

Eggs, Bacon, Bread, Strawberries...
I need to shop.

The placemats were not wide enough to cover the complete shelf, but I can live with that.  If they were turned, they would be cut and pieced.  So, I bought 4 placemats, one for each shelf and one which I cut in half which fit perfectly in the fruit and veg drawers.  I forgot about the deli drawer, so I'll get one more placemat  to fit inside the drawer.

See the wire rack?  When my old fridge was being hauled away, I decided to save the rack, maybe to use in the craft room to hang things on.  Instead, just because I'm curious, I put the rack in the new fridge to see if it would fit.  The old fridge was several cubic feet smaller than this new fridge, but the same width, so the rack fits perfectly.  I get to customize my shelves!  Love that.  If you need another rack for your fridge, see if you can use a wire rack, it might work.

Last, but not least, yes I chose a fruit placemat for the fruit and veg drawers.  Just had to cut it in half and it covered them completely.

I cleaned all the shelves before laying down the placemats and for that in-between cleaning, work great.

Now, should I cover the wire rack, too? Hmmm... maybe yes.  I guess I could have gone with bland placemats or all of the mats the same design, but I didn't, what would you do- be plain or use variety?