HOME MAINTENANCE : To Keep a Refrigerator Humming Along

It’s natural to ignore a refrigerator. It sits, humming quietly from time to time, keeping its cool. But a neglected refrigerator often runs poorly and is unsanitary, and a breakdown can be a catastrophe.

Here’s how to give your appliance the periodic care it needs:

Wash the outside weekly to keep it from becoming so dirty that it is difficult to clean. Use an all-purpose spray cleaner or, for heavy cleaning, dissolve 1/4-cup of automatic-dishwasher detergent in a gallon of hot water. Wear rubber gloves to avoid irritating your skin. Sponge with clear water to rinse.

To cut through sticky, greasy dust that sometimes accumulates on top of a refrigerator, mix one part household ammonia with 10 parts hot water. Leave the solution on the surface for about 10 minutes to break down the grease, then wipe it away with paper towels. Consider applying a coat of appliance wax to make cleaning easier.

Once or twice a year, clean the condenser coils located either behind or underneath the refrigerator. Dirty coils interfere with cooling and cause the refrigerator to run longer than it should.

First unplug the refrigerator. Pull it away from the wall if the coils are in the back or remove the front grille beneath the door if the coils are underneath. Vacuum the coils if you can reach them; otherwise, dust them with a dampened sock slipped over the end of a yardstick and secured with a rubber band.

To remove odors and spills inside a refrigerator, wash surfaces with a solution of one tablespoon baking soda in a quart of warm water. Regularly clean the drain system in a self-defrosting refrigerator. To do this, remove the plug from the drain hole under the bottom drawers and in the freezer, insert a piece of stiff wire to unclog the drain and then flush the system with hot water from a basting syringe.

Afterward, slide the drain pan out from beneath the refrigerator. Wash it and sprinkle it with baking soda before sliding it back into place.

Defrost a refrigerator when ice in the freezer is a quarter-inch thick. Never scrape ice with a sharp utensil that can damage surfaces; instead, wait for the ice to melt and use a dull plastic windshield scraper.

If the rubber gasket on a refrigerator door does not seal tightly, first make sure the refrigerator is level and that the door does not sag. To level a refrigerator, prop it up in front with a wood block; turn the roller-adjustment screws or the leveling legs to alter their length, then remove the block.

To adjust a sagging door, remove any cap from the hinge at the top, then use a nut driver or screwdriver to loosen the hinge screws. Reposition the door and have someone hold it in place while you tighten the screws.

If the gasket still leaks or is torn, replace it promptly to avoid overworking the refrigerator motor and creating excessive frost. Buy an exact manufacturer’s duplicate gasket and soak it in warm water for a few minutes to soften it.

Unplug the refrigerator and loosen the screws across part of the top and the upper half of a side. (Do not loosen all the screws at once; if you do, the door may come apart.) Pull the loosened part of the old gasket out of the way and attach the new one by pushing its lip under the metal retainer and tightening the screws.

Replace the other top corner section and then the bottom half of the gasket the same way. Close the door and check your work. If necessary, readjust the door to correct any warp.