Crisper drawer
A removable plastic box that holds moisture on purpose. It comes out, and the manufacturer's prohibition list applies to it rather than the general kitchen one.
What not to do
Sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) is unsafe on Crisper drawer
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
A stained plastic salad drawer is exactly where bleach gets used, and the maker names bleach on plastic parts.
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Cleaning the Interior of the Refrigerator
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That abrasive or harsh cleaners such as window sprays, scouring cleansers, flammable fluids, cleaning waxes, concentrated detergents, bleaches and cleansers containing petroleum products must not be used on plastic parts, interior and door liners, or gaskets. (states this directly)
Scouring powder is unsafe on Crisper drawer
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Cleaning the Interior of the Refrigerator
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That abrasive or harsh cleaners such as window sprays, scouring cleansers, flammable fluids, cleaning waxes, concentrated detergents, bleaches and cleansers containing petroleum products must not be used on plastic parts, interior and door liners, or gaskets. (states this directly)
Glass cleaner is unsafe on Crisper drawer
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Cleaning the Interior of the Refrigerator
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That abrasive or harsh cleaners such as window sprays, scouring cleansers, flammable fluids, cleaning waxes, concentrated detergents, bleaches and cleansers containing petroleum products must not be used on plastic parts, interior and door liners, or gaskets. (states this directly)
White spirit is unsafe on Crisper drawer
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Cleaning the Interior of the Refrigerator
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That abrasive or harsh cleaners such as window sprays, scouring cleansers, flammable fluids, cleaning waxes, concentrated detergents, bleaches and cleansers containing petroleum products must not be used on plastic parts, interior and door liners, or gaskets. (inferred from the source; not stated directly)
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Start here
What this is, what tends to go wrong with it, and what to do about it.
Made from
What tends to go wrong
- Dustvia its material
Mostly textile fibres and skin, held by static as much as by gravity — which is why a dry cloth on a plastic surface makes it worse.
Why it is difficult: Static and dust, Mechanical action and abrasion, Why different surfaces get different dirt, Surface roughness
A concentrated water-soluble dye with nothing else in it. Nothing has to be emulsified or dissolved — the only question is whether the surface has taken the colour up.
Why it is difficult: Capillary absorption, Dye migration and colour bleeding
A sticky, yellow-brown tar film deposited everywhere at once. It is the reason a room smells after everything visible has been cleaned.
Why it is difficult: Adsorption of odour molecules, Solubility and polarity
Coloured by turmeric in most prepared mustards, and curcumin is a pH indicator — which is why an alkaline cleaner turns a yellow mark red.
Why it is difficult: pH indicators in stains, Fat-soluble pigments, Photodegradation, Pigment retention
The commonest cleaning problem that is not dirt. The tackiness is the plastic's own additive arriving at the surface, which is why wiping it off works for a week.
Why it is difficult: Plasticizer migration, Damage versus soiling
The science behind this: Solvent crazing, Static and dust, Solvents and polymers, Plasticizer migration
Part of Refrigerator.
In detail
Crisper drawers are removable, they are plastic, and they are designed to hold humidity around produce — which makes them the wettest part of a refrigerator interior and the most likely to carry spilled plant material and the residue it leaves. Being removable is the useful fact. The manufacturer's instruction for shelves, bins and drawers is to take them out and wash them with warm water and mild dish soap, then to make sure everything is completely dry before it goes back. Cleaning a drawer in place is harder and worse. The prohibitions that govern it are the fridge's, not the kitchen's. The same guidance excludes abrasive and harsh cleaners, window sprays, scouring cleansers, cleaning waxes, concentrated detergents, bleaches and petroleum-based cleansers from plastic parts — a list which rules out most of what a reader would reach for on a stained plastic box.
What works
Soap is safe on, in specific conditions, Crisper drawer
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits, and nothing is established outside them.
Only within these limits:
- Take it out and wash it with warm water and mild dish soap
- Completely dry before it goes back
- Nothing on the maker's prohibited list, which rules out most stain removers
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Cleaning the Interior of the Refrigerator
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That warm water with mild dish soap and a microfibre cloth is used, that gaskets are cleaned with a damp cloth and mild soap lifting the folds, that all parts must be completely dry before reinstalling, and that abrasives, window sprays, scouring cleansers, waxes, concentrated detergents, bleaches and petroleum-based cleansers must not be used on plastic parts, liners or gaskets. (states this directly)
Related
- Crisper drawer is made from Household plastics
Sources for this page
Sources
Cleaning the Interior of the Refrigerator
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That shelves, bins and drawers are cleaned with warm water and mild dish soap, that all parts must be completely dry before reinstalling, and that abrasive or harsh cleaners including bleaches and petroleum-based cleansers must not be used on plastic parts. (states this directly)