Keeping the Refrigerator Sweet.
Few duties are more important than that of keeping the refrigerator in perfect condition. If the lining be broken in any part, so that the water soaks into the wood, attend to the relining at once; or, if the refrigerator be not worth that, discard it wholly. Never have the waste-pipe connected with the plumbing in the house.
Have the refrigerator placed where it can be flooded with air and light whenever necessary, but, of course, in as cool a place as possible. Once a week have everything removed from it. Take out the shelves and wash them in hot soap-suds; then pour boiling water over them. Place them in the sun; or, if that fails, by the range, that they may be perfectly dried. Now take out the ice rack and wash and scald in the same way, except that, as there are grooves or wires in this, the greatest care must be used to get out every particle of dirt that may have lodged there. Next wash out the ice compartment, running a flexible wire rod down the waste-pipe, that nothing shall lodge there. Put two tablespoonfuls of washing soda into a quart of boiling water and set on the fire. When this boils, pour it into the ice compartment; follow this with a kettleful of boiling water, and wipe dry. Now wash the other parts of the refrigerator with hot soap-suds, and wipe perfectly dry. Be careful to get the doors and ledges clean and dry. Leave the refrigerator open for an hour, and then return the ice and food to it. Plan this work for a day when the iceman is due. The work should be done immediately after breakfast, so that the refrigerator shall be ready when the ice comes.
Should you, after this care, still have trouble, do not use the refrigerator. It will be far better to get along without the comfort it affords than to endanger health and life by using a contaminated article. Food never should be put in a refrigerator while warm, because it absorbs the flavors of other food and also heats the refrigerator.