Finding mold growing in your refrigerator is something that we cannot usually avoid, because mold exists everywhere we are and it grows on dead organic materials, just like what we keep in our refrigerator. There are ways, however, to reduce the amount of mold that will grow in your refrigerator.
You should take inventory of your refrigerator and anything that is outdated beyond use should be thrown away because if mold is not growing on it now, it will eventually. The sooner that you forget an outdated item is in your refrigerator, the sooner mold will begin to grow inside it and spread to other items nearby. The spread of mold in this way is especially true of fruits and vegetables that are often stored in a bin on top of each other. One infected item can affect the whole bin and make it inedible. It is best to go through these items as often as possible to make sure anything contaminated is removed.
When you bring fruits and vegetables home from the grocery store, we often have them in the plastic bags that we used in the produce section to pack them in. You should probably remove these items from the bags in order to reduce the amount of condensation they are exposed to. Condensation will build up inside the bag as water evaporates and mold will begin to grow.
Cleaning the refrigerator regularly is also essential to slow the growth of mold. Everything in the refrigerator should be washed thoroughly and since no surface inside it should be porous, using chlorine bleach to wash the inside should be fine to assist in removing any mold that has begun to grow. Whatever you choose to clean your refrigerator with, please do not mix household chemicals when cleaning your home. The results can be harmful or even deadly if you mix the wrong two, such as bleach and ammonia.
Before you really start cleaning it out, take the light bulb out of your fridge because they are not made to be left on for more than a few minutes and will possibly burn out if you leave the refrigerator door open for too long.
After you are done washing the inside of the refrigerator, take a few minutes and go through everything as mentioned earlier and throw out anything that you think is too old. Washing down the outside of the refrigerator is also a good idea.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
