Four Precautions To Take After You've Had Moldy Food In Your Refrigerator
Posted on: 20 May 2015
Since it's neither cheap nor easy to replace a refrigerator, it's important to take care of the one you've got. Additionally, while you might not think that a piece of moldy and rotten food in the back of your refrigerator is such a big deal, it's a serious threat to your health as well as the refrigerator itself. After you discover and remove a piece of food in your refrigerator that's been infected with mold, remember to undertake these four precautions.
Don't Forget To Clean The Vents In The Back Of Your Refrigerator
Once you've discovered any mold in your refrigerator, it's important to clean the entire interior and kill any tiny spores that might remain. However, this isn't enough to completely eliminate the threat of further mold growth.
Before you forget about the moldy piece of food entirely, always clean the vents on the back of your refrigerator with strong dishwasher soap. If you don't do this, mold spores that were caught on the vents before the rotten food was disposed of can spread back through the interior of the refrigerator and start growing.
Toss Any Food That Was Sealed Only With Plastic Or Aluminum Foil
Even if you wrap your food very tightly in plastic or aluminum foil, you'll still leave a few air pockets large enough to let a huge amount of mold spores through. So unless you exclusively use plastic containers with protruding lips on them to make it harder for spores to reach what's inside, go through your refrigerator and remove any leftovers that are vulnerable to mold growth.
Only Use A Plastic Container Inundated With Mold After A Hot Water Wash
While most plastic containers are relatively good at keeping mold out, they're also good at keeping mold in. If the piece of rotten food was stored in a plastic container, you'll need to thoroughly wash the container with hot water and bleach before you use it again.
Additionally, while the risk of spores growing in the rest of your refrigerator is lower in the case of moldy food in a plastic container, you still shouldn't neglect cleaning and risk letting even one spore that's loose in your refrigerator to grow.
A Few Days After Washing The Interior, Check For Any New Stains
A common sign of persistent mold in your refrigerator is dark stains that form in the interior a few days after you clean. If you see these stains, you'll have to get a professional like those at Anderson's Appliance Repair Service to open up your refrigerator and thoroughly clean all the pipes and moving parts inside.
Never take any mold in your refrigerator's interior lightly. If you delay doing any of the necessary cleaning tasks, the risk that you'll have to get major repair work done in the refrigerator's interior increases drastically.
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