It's a holiday truth for most of us, the winding down blues set in. You may ask yourself what do I do now? The first thing to do is chill out. Try and do something to get back into a normal routine. Next you may want to find out what is living behind the closed doors of your refrigerator!



The holiday season brings the gathering of family and friends, gifts and all sorts of food and drink. As a result the refrigerator turns into the one spot in the house where everything seems to accumulate. All sorts of once yummy and delicious things have been shoved in and pushed to the back of the frig. Before you know it all those once delicious items are now smelly, sticky and moldy. 



Using a steam cleaner is a great way to tackle your holiday cleanup. Steam cleaners use only water heated to 225° F and higher to clean, sanitize and disinfect. Cleaning with a steam cleaner eliminates the need for harsh chemicals that can get into your food or irritate your allergies. They are environmentally friendly and you can use reusable towels and terry cloth pads to dry and wipe the surfaces being cleaned. 



Some things you will need to get started include a steam vapor cleaner along with one or two hand towels, and some paper towels. The small attachments that come with most steam cleaners are handy but optional.



Some of the things you will not need to clean your refrigerator are potentially harmful chemical-based cleaners or detergents, sponges or abrasive cleaning tool as well as rolls of paper towels.



So how do you actually get started with this task? Here are the steps you should follow to clean, disinfect and sanitize your refrigerator. 



Step I. Clean out the refrigerator of all unwanted and outdated items and leftovers. Dispose of these items carefully so you do not attract bugs in the process.



Step II. Wipe off the drips on the outside of bottles, jars and containers. Yes the steam cleaner can be used for this. This is where the small attachments come in handy. Wrap a small terry cloth towel around the head of a small brush attachment and secure it with a rubber band. You can now clean the outside of your bottles, jars and containers using your steam cleaner.



Step III. Lets start with the shelves. Move the items you will be keeping to the shelf below or place them on the counter where they will be out of the way. Attach a terry cloth towel around the large brush head that came with your steam cleaner and begin cleaning the top and bottom of the shelves as well as the ceiling and the sides of refrigerator. If possible, remove the shelves so you can clean the track the shelves ride in (this is where small attachments work well). When you finish the first shelf place the items you want to keep back on it and move on to the next shelf. Continue until all the shelves and the tracks they ride in are cleaned, sanitized and disinfected.



Step IV. Bins and Drawers: Follow the same process of purging unwanted items in the bins and drawers. Some bins and drawers may have to be removed entirely in order to steam clean the bottoms and underneath surfaces and crevices where drips collect and mold forms. Be very thorough in this process because mold and mildew can take root in these areas.



Step V. Steam clean the sides of refrigerator door on the inside as well as the gasket by the hinges before moving on to the freezer side. This would be a good time to change to a clean towel or a clean side of a towel if this hasn't been done as yet.



Step VI. A steam vapor cleaner will work just as well in the freezer as it does in the refrigerator. Begin the freezer with the same process used on the refrigerator by purging all unwanted and outdated items.



Step VII. If your freezer has shelves start with the top shelf and work your way down. Steam clean any drips (don't forget to attach a towel to the brush) you find frozen onto ice cream containers or spaghetti sauce containers. Place the items you want to keep in a thermal cooler.



Step VIII. Next steam clean the shelf. The shelves usually slide forward so you can clean the back of the shelf, the sides and track of the shelf as well as sides and ceilings of the freezer. Place the wanted food items back on the shelf and continue on to the next shelf. The shelves on the doors can be done the same way. Replace ice cubes and steam clean the ice cube trays or bin. This will clean and disinfect as well as get rid of odors that ice cubes tend to pick up.



Step IX. Remove any magnets from the outside door. Steam over them as well and gently wiping them with a paper towel. Steam clean the outside of door, door handles, tracks, moldings and vents. Be sure to steam clean the top of the refrigerator if it is not a built in. If possible vacuum the sides and back of refrigerator where dust and soil accumulate and then follow with the steam cleaner.



Step X. Cover all food well and make sure all wanted items are wrapped or in a secure container. Return food to freezer. An open box of baking soda kept on a shelf helps to eliminate odors.



Seems like quite a project, however, this whole process can be done in less than 30 minutes. Now your refrigerator has been green cleaned. There were no harmful chemicals used during the cleaning process that can get into the food and there are no chemical odors left behind. The only thing left behind is a towel that can be cleaned and reused and the beauty of a thoroughly green cleaned refrigerator.