Senior Care in Loudonville OH
Helping keep your parent’s home clean, fresh, and healthy is an important part of your senior care efforts for them. Not only does this make the home more comfortable and pleasant to live in or visit, but it also helps to reduce the chances of your parent experiencing an illness, infection, or irritation to allergies. One area of the home that is often overlooked during cleaning efforts is the refrigerator. This piece of equipment is a part of your parent’s daily life and can play host to a wide variety of germs, bacteria, odors, and other issues if not properly maintained, yet many people do not include it in their usual cleaning routine. The task may seem daunting, but with a few simple tips, tricks, and habits, you can keep the kitchen smelling good, reduce food waste, and lower the risk of foodborne illness by keeping the refrigerator healthy and clean.
Use these tips to make keeping your parent’s refrigerator healthy and clean a regular part of your senior care efforts:
- Start fresh. When you are ready to clean your parent’s refrigerator, make it easier on yourself by starting completely fresh. This may seem like more work at the beginning, but it will actually make the entire process faster and simpler in the end. This is a great part for your parent to help you with. Sit down in front of the refrigerator and pull everything out of it. Go through it as you are taking it out and determine if you should keep it or throw it away. Any foods that are expired, close to expiration, damaged, leaking, messy, or improperly labeled should be thrown away immediately. Once the refrigerator is empty, you can clean it out thoroughly and then reload it in an organized and controllable way. Make sure that any foods that you want to keep are stored in a cooler of ice until you can put them back in the refrigerator.
- Remove residue. The first step in getting the refrigerator clean is removing any residue. This can come from spills, splatters, or food falling out of its containers while inside. Wipe these up with a damp cloth or paper towel. If there are caked-on sections of residue, coat them in a paste of baking soda and vinegar, sprinkle additional baking soda on top, and place a warmed rag soaked in vinegar over it. Allow this to sit for 15 minutes to loosen the food before wiping it up.
- Clean with caution. The refrigerator is not a place where you want to use strong chemical cleaners. The scents of these cleaners will stay in the refrigerator, soaking into food and making it taste unpleasant. Instead, choose natural cleaning products that are fragrance free and non-toxic. You can also make your own using vinegar, water, and lemon juice. Clean all surfaces of the refrigerator, including removing the drawers so that you can access the inside, outside, and underneath them.
- Clean promptly. The most important part of keeping a refrigerator clean is cleaning up promptly. If something spills, do not just leave it until later. Wipe and clean it as soon as it happens so that it does not stay and breed germs, bacteria, and other issues.
If you are considering hiring senior care in Loudonville, Ohio, call the caring staff at Central Star Home Health at (419) 610-2161. Providing services for families in Mansfield, Lexington, Bellville, Mt. Gilead, Loudonville, Crestline, Galion, Shelby, Ashland, Wooster, and the surrounding areas.
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