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.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Start here
What this is, what goes wrong with it, and where CleaningHQ can help.
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. Outside those limits, CleaningHQ makes no claim.
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
Why we say this
Supported
Removable is the useful fact: cleaning it in place is harder and worse.
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)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The cleaning solutions, the walls and removable parts sections, the gasket procedure, the prohibited-cleaner list and the frequency. Supports the claim as stated. Supplies a part-scoped prohibition list including bleach on gaskets, which directly contradicts the same maker's washer-seal guidance and is the sprint's clearest evidence that appliance advice cannot be generalised.
Last reviewed by a person on .
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)
Verification: a person has read the passage relied on.
Read on — The cleaning solutions, the walls and removable parts sections, the gasket procedure, the prohibited-cleaner list and the frequency. Supports the claim as stated. Supplies a part-scoped prohibition list including bleach on gaskets, which directly contradicts the same maker's washer-seal guidance and is the sprint's clearest evidence that appliance advice cannot be generalised.
Last reviewed by a person on .