HG Hygienic Fridge Cleaner, Interior Refrigerator Cleanser & Odour Neutraliser, for Streak Free Shine with No Residue – 500ml Spray (335050106)

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Assuming you've removed as much of the gunk as possible with the drain hole cleaning device, use a cotton swab to work the vinegar/water solution around the hole to remove any remaining deposits. Cleaning your fridge will be a whole lot easier if you keep on top of smaller cleaning jobs regularly. Before doing your weekly grocery shop, sort out all the items in your fridge. Food past its use-by-date should be thrown away. If anything is still within its date but you don’t anticipate using it, perhaps give it to a neighbour to avoid waste. And Crombie has a tip for avoiding spills in the first place – it's all in the organization, or assigning 'food zones'. She explains: 'No matter how careful you are, invariably food can drizzle out or spill down the side of a container onto a refrigerator shelf.'

Similarly, baking soda is antibacterial and will sort out a stinky fridge. As we said above, chemical products can leave behind smells that will be absorbed by your food, which makes natural cleaning products, such as baking or bicarbonate of soda, a much better choice – especially as cleaning with baking soda will see off nasty fridge smells at the same time. There aren’t many people who enjoy cleaning out their fridge and that’s because there are so often forgotten vegetables squashed in the drawers and splatters of pasta sauce on the shelves. The longer you leave your fridge between cleans, the more bacteria will build up and this can lead to bad odours and poor health. Your shelves and drawers will hopefully be up to room temperature by now, so it’s time to get them clean too. Simply wash them all thoroughly in the sink or a washing up bowl with hot water and washing up liquid. Then rinse with clean water and dry them thoroughly with a clean, dry cloth or tea towel. Gently vacuum the coils to take off as much dust as you can – if your vacuum has a brush attachment, use that. Use a separate brush to clear off any remaining dirt and dust from the coils, and vacuum again to clear up any remaining mess. Avoid using harsh detergent sprays inside your fridge as the strong odour can linger and transfer to your food.Instead, use one part cool water to one part white vinegar mixed in a spray bottle. Not only will this see off dirt and food residues, but the vinegar will also deodorise the fridge. (Don’t use hot water here as it will raise the temperature of the fridge, meaning you’ll be waiting longer to replace your food.) In most cases cleaning wipes like Cif multipurpose wipes will do the job perfectly well. You can also use these to wipe down the door handle (which is worth doing as it’s one of the most germ-ridden places in the kitchen). For caked-on food, leave the wet paste to soak in for ten minutes or so, then wipe off once it's softened. 4. Clean your fridge's drain hole Cleaning little and often is your best bet for preventing unpleasant smells and stopping bacteria from breeding, but it's still important to set aside some time to do a deep-clean every now and then. Read on to find answers to the key questions about how to properly clean a fridge.

You should aim for a deep clean four times a year and when you have as little food in the fridge as possible,' says Joyce French, cleaning expert at HomeHow.co.uk. 'Every night, wipe the fridge handles with soap and water to keep germs to a minimum. You can even create a rota for cleaning different parts of the fridge over the course of a month for interval deep cleaning.'Handles can be a germ hotspot (harboring more than toilets in some cases) but don't use any old product on them. Instead, take time to read through our tutorial on how to clean stainless steel properly. This includes working with the grain, drying thoroughly to prevent water spots and finishing with oil. Melissa Maker author of Clean My Space likes to be eco-conscious also during this process, and rather than completely unplugging the fridge: 'What I actually did was I turned off the cooling mechanism so that I wasn’t wasting electricity during the cleaning process.' Start by emptying all your food from the fridge. Place everything into cool bags whilst you deep clean, including contents from drawers, doors and shelves. Sort through any expired items, especially those jars and sauces we often forget about.