Friday, May 4, 2012

Refrigerator Door Water Tray Gunk Cleaning Trick


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Okay - so this post has not a thing to do about embroidery.  Since having the baby, and being able to move around  - I am noticing all the things that fell apart in my house while I was preggo and on bed rest.  Pair delayed nesting, a horrific onset of adult ADD, with insomnia..and you have me cleaning the water tray in the fridge at 2 am and taking pictures with my phone for a blog post.  Yup... that is just how it is going to be folks.  Random posts with poorly lit, mediocre quality photos.   Hope you love it!

If you have a fridge with a water or ice dispenser...then I am sure you have this little tray.  Yours may be glistening and squeaky clean.  Mine looked like this AFTER running through the dishwasher:

 Nice, huh?  Not so much.  SO - at 2 am - I decide this is something that had to be taken care of immediately.  I took pictures of the experience to share with you.

Step 1.  Look at it about 100 times and say to yourself "I need to clean that thing...it is disgusting."

Step 2.  Finally run it through the dishwasher hoping it will get it clean, but know that it really isn't going to do a darn thing.

Step 3.  Confirm the fact that it still looks disgusting and go to your computer and google how to clean it.  That may be how you ended up here!  

Step 4.  Go to your pantry and whip out the white vinegar.  I am sure you have some.  I have 3 bottles.  Why?  Because every year around Easter time I buy a bottle for Easter eggs because I can't remember if I still have any from the year before.  I need to remind myself when I try to buy it next year that I SURE DO have white vinegar..I have enough for the entire neighborhood to dye eggs next year.


Step 5: Pour enough vinegar to fill all the groves of the tray.  I forgot to take a picture of this step - but I am sure you can figure that one out :)

Step 6.  Let it soak for a few minutes.  It really doesn't take long...I think I let mine site for 3 (maybe less, I was anxious to see if this really worked).

Step 7.  Grab a sponge or an old toothbrush.  I keep an old toothbrush in my kitchen, and another one in my laundry room.  They are fantastic to have around...you know, in the middle of the night when you need to scrub the grooves of a tray.  Put a little dish soap on it and scrub away.  I didn't have to put much elbow grease into this at all - just a light scrub.
Step 8. Run it under the faucet a little to rinse off the soap.

VIOLA!  Your water tray is clean!

Ahhh... I feel much better now :)  Easy Peasy.

Happy Scrubbing!
~Jacki~




68 comments:

  1. Girl,
    You are a mess. Thanks for the tip. I'm going to check mine now. lol

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  2. Vinegar is great for cleaning lots of things! Thanks for the tip! Hope you get some sleep tonight.

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  3. WOW! Thanks for the tip! I was on bedrest with my #4 & my house went to pieces! Still don't seem to be able to catch up & he'll be 1 this week! I've been looking at mine lately thinking...I wonder if it would be easier just to buy a new one! Thanks so much!!

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  4. lol! you are too funny!!
    My tray is clean but the levers themselves are dirty so I will try this on them. thanks!

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  5. I just tried this and it works! My tray is white and it was looking yellow/light brown. Looks so much better. Thanks for the tip.

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  6. Its 1:22 AM here and I am headed over to my fridge now to clean my tray. I have used CLR on mine before but have always worried since it is a chemical and my kids are always dropping ice on the tray then picking it up and putting it in their glasses. SO having something to use that is not an actual "chemical" is great for me :) thanks so much for the great tip

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  7. Wow great idea. I use white vinegar to clean tons of things. Check out this link http://learningasigotips.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/killing-weeds-with-white-vinegar-tested-confirmed/ it will give you a great way to use up all that vinegar pretty quickly.

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  8. I use vinegar and a magic eraser, it gets down in the grooves better for me.

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  9. Thank you! Ours had been bugging me a lot - especially since we are trying to sell our house. Quick and easy job at 1 AM.

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  10. Just saw this on Pinterest, ironically at 3am, and am tempted to head into the kitchen. Just kidding. Kinda sorta. This drives me nuts! I usually soak in vinegar but can not believe I didn't think of toothbrush! Those things work wonders!!
    Thanks for the tip! :)

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  11. I tried it and LOVED it! But...then the little flap things that dispense the water and ice looked dingy. I'm trying the same thing on them. Got a small glass of vinegar sitting on an upside down glass to hold it up. Let's hope it works. This was a great tip. I'd been looking at that disgusting tray for a LONG time!

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  12. you can just mix the vinegar and (1/4 cup) dawn dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle, and use it for all kinds of things :) I clean my tub and shower with it!! works great

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  13. Thank you! I just saw my water tray today and thought "Gross!", then turned around walked away resigned to the yuck. I'd forgotten about vinegar for cleaning hard water deposits. Thanks again!

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  14. Have tried everything - except this! :D Thank you! Oh, and you could use your white vinegar instead of fabric softener in your wash.

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  15. this is great to know!!! tried many different products: soda; lemon juice; salt; etc.

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  16. Thanks so much for this reminder, I use vinegar to soak my handheld shower head and for fabric softener (if you haven't tried that you should!) but somehow never thought of using it on my refrigerator tray!

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  17. So I guess I could just skip right to Step 4 and begin...... lol
    Thanks for posting such an easy solution to a gross job! I, too, had been using CLR or Limeaway but hated using harsh chemicals, And thank you Kelly for the link to other vinegar solutions....

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  18. Found this on Pinterest. Thanks for the tip, mine looks HORRID right now! Gonna try this tonight. HILARIOUS post btw!!!

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  19. Wow definitely scrubed the hell out of mine a million times & nothing...thanks

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  20. You are a funny, funny...FUNNY lady!!! Had me LOL!! TFS!! Must do now...immediately!

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  21. It looks great wet; but once it dries, it's chalky! Nothing cleans my hard water stains!!

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    Replies
    1. Try straight (not watered down) peroxide...

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  22. I look at mine so irritated every time I get ice ... and then I apparently put the full weight of denial to work...but I'm definitely doin' this! Thanks!

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  23. For extra power, warm up the vinegar in microwave oven. I just did that with my shower door tracks. I had the vinegar in a spray bottle. Worked like a charm!

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  24. Hey, word up...just write on your calendar or, better yet, put in your Google calendar so you get a pop up reminder, maybe a week before Easter that you do, indeed, have enough white vinegar to dye all the eggs in, say...a 50 mile radius. I love those pop up reminders!

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  25. Totally just did this and it worked like a charm! I love the power of sharing tips with each other...as a collective there is nothing we can't accomplish/solve!

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  26. Oh...and did I mention when I looked in on it soaking in the sink I could literally see the "gunk" floating to the surface of the vinegar as it did its magic!

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  27. Ok ladies...fyi...hard water stains are calcium carbonate deposits. They are the weakest chemical bonds in nature...use a dryer sheet(any brand )a wet it and scrub..wipe off the white paste that forms. Rinse and it should be clear...if it has built up for a while, it may take several cleanings! Works on faucets, sinks, shower doors and such!!

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  28. Oh, wow! This is so simple and so cool! Thanks so much for sharing, My wife just asked me how to do this, and I said I'd check the Web ... and there you were. God bless!!

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  29. I feel like you were talking directly to me I have done all that hoping it would get clean and yes I have tons of vinegar also . thanks for the tip !!!

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  30. I tried Mona's idea of fabric sheet too...I ended up switching back and forth between the two methods and I am making some progress! Mine is stainless steel, so I was reading comments to see if also worked on that...glad I read thru to Mona's :) Thanks all!

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  31. Now that you have the great advice on how to clean the tray from those nasty hard water stains, here is a trick that the Sear's repairman gave me to eliminate them in the first place. Keep the light on. Not only as a night light but constantly. The light produces just enough heat to dry up any little daily drippings. It's amazing! I haven't even had to replace the bulb yet!!

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  32. Peroxide (not watered down) works extremely well (better than vinager imho) on hard water!

    For places that it can run off & for an extra boost.. Make a thick paste of peroxide & baking soda...

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  33. Wahoo! Thanks for the tip. I didn't know my tray would come off :) I'd been cleaning it (um, like once?!) while still on the fridge and that was a nightmare. Even baking soda didn't get the orange hard water stains off. The vinegar worked like a charm and by taking the tray off I was able to clean under it as well. Thank you, thank you! It doesn't gross me out now :)

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  34. I'm having a hard time removing the tray. What is the secret? I leave it on and pour Vinegar in the tray and leave for 5 mins.

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  36. I do these things at 2am also. Thanks for the great tip. My Mom always used white vinegar for cleaning. She had the best looking windows in the neighborhood.

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  37. I have done the vinegar and dish soap. Also straight lemon juice. I'm excited to try peroxide. My tray turns out pretty good. My problem is the water deposit drips on black dispenser and facing since soaking is much more difficult.

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  38. Read recently that the water tray on refer is one of the germiest places in your home-worse than toilet seat. Needs frequent cleaning!

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  43. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  44. I always keep a small jug of CLR (Calcium Lime Rust remover) in the house. It has many uses, is biodegradable, non-corrosive, and is readily available at Walmart, Target etc. I remove the fridge's water tray, place it in the kitchen sink, put a little amount of CLR in the tray's grooves making sure all the surfaces are moistened with CLR. Come back 5 mins later and rinse. No elbow grease needed. Perfect results. Now you'll start finding lots of uses for CLR. (No, they are not a sponsor. I just like the product.)

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  45. Oh my gosh you are a lifesaver. I had tried everything including baking soda and vinegar but it never fully cleaned it. Vinegar for 3 minutes and then dawn dish soap with a toothbrush and it looks brand new. Seriously grateful! Thank you! :)

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  49. Thanks so much for this reminder, I use vinegar to soak my handheld shower head and for fabric softener (if you haven't tried that you should!) but somehow never thought of using it on my refrigerator tray!

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  50. I just tried this and it works! My tray is white and it was looking yellow/light brown. Looks so much better. Thanks for the tip.

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