ZONE CLEANING - WEEK 3/ DAY 3

How are you doing?  Are you keeping up?  Tiring out or just getting started?  I'm feeling a great sense of accomplishment so far and am excited to keep this up through the month - hopefully you are feeling the same.  Today, I'm tackling the refrigerator.  Fifteen minutes in the refrigerator will be well spent.  My three main goals in the refrigerator today will be to wipe every shelf and drawer out with Basic H2 (it's non-toxic so it's safe to use around food), to throw away anything that's expired and to put food in "zones" so everything is accessible.

But before I get started, I want to make sure that you have one of these in your cleaning arsenal - a Super Microfiber Window Cloth - if you haven't heard of them, please take my word for it.  Truly, one of these cloths will change your cleaning life.  It's specifically for windows and mirrors and you toss it in your washing machine when it gets dirty and you can reuse it hundreds and hundreds of times.  My favorite place to use it?  Stainless steel appliances - I spray them down with Basic H2 in the all-purpose formulation and wipe with the window cloth and there's no streaks, no fumes, nothing to throw away - just clean and shiny appliances.  I've tried a variety of stainless steel cleaners - wipes and pastes - they leave a residue, smell funky, and they are expensive.  The H2 doesn't leave any streaks, doesn't smell, and actually cleans off the hand prints.  If you've been playing along and have noticed that I don't shut up about the Basic H2, it's because it's such an awesome, economical product.  (Bear with me just a minute longer)  One bottle of Basic H2 retails for $12.15 - that seems like a lot for a cleaning product, right?  But that ONE bottle of concentrate mixes up 214 bottles of all-purpose H2.  So let's do the math....say you spend $2.99 on a bottle of cleaner, multiply that by 214 and that's $640 in an all purpose cleaner.  That $12.15 sounds like a pretty good deal, huh?  If you want to read what else I've said about the H2, click here.

Moving on to the refrigerator.....I had to wipe down the outside of the refrigerator too for this process - here's a before and after of the fingerprinted exterior of my refrigerator (hopefully the picture shows how dirty it was before I cleaned it):
Refrigerator's Exterior - BEFORE H2 and Super Microfiber Window Cleaning Cloth:

Refrigerator's Exterior AFTER Basic H2 and Super Microfiber Window Cleaning Cloth:

WOW!

So after I cleaned the outside of the refrigerator, I got to work on the inside of the refrigerator.  This took longer than the 15 minutes, but my kids were doing a sensory activity (hard plastic animals, giant rimmed cookie sheet and  a snowstorm shaving cream) so I was fine with kicking it into high gear to get this job done. 
BEFORE:

Here's what I did:

Step 1: Set timer for 15 minutes - it beeped, and I kept going

Step 2: Empty refrigerator - the entire thing

Step 3: Quickly sort food into two groups (toss and keep)

Step 4: Spray down shelves with Basic H2 (all-purpose formulation) and wipe clean with a rag - remove door bins and wash with soapy water in the sink.

Step 5: Put everything back - concentrating on keeping food in zones - obviously fruit and veggies in their appropriate drawers, but dairy on a shelf, sweet and savory condiments in separate door compartments, breads and baked goods on a shelf, etc.  Add beverages from the pantry to open compartments.

Time's Up!  Throw out any expired food.

After:

It's not that my refrigerator was a disaster, but it's always nice to wipe down shelves and wipe out drawers in  the refrigerator and freezer - get rid of the crumbs and grated cheese that accumulate in the nooks and crannies. 
Day 4 tomorrow - are you ready?  I'm working on the freezer tomorrow and I have some storage tips to share.  What are you working on this week?