A refrigerator’s ice maker is an instant solution to quench your thirst or chill your favorite drinks instantly on a hot summer day. Imagine, seeing dirty ice cubes popping out from your ice maker these days! And it’s been a while since you have cleaned the dispenser or ice maker with a professional.
Because you are looking for a quick solution, the question arises in your mind, can I clean the refrigerator’s ice maker or any ice maker with vinegar? Well in this article I’m gonna give you a proper guideline about cleaning ice makers with vinegar and other products.
Cleaning an ice maker with vinegar needs a 1:1 water-vinegar solution. Empty reservoirs should be sprayed and cleaned with vinegar solution. Then Ice maker should be filled with purified water. Ice cubes should be made a couple of times to drench out all the solutions out of the ice maker.
So you see, it is incredibly easy to clean an ice maker with vinegar. And the good thing is that vinegar is a natural cleaner that does not harm any components. In the later parts of the writing, you’ll get to know about the cleaning process more deeply and other products that could be used alongside vinegar to clean your ice maker.
Tools You Need to Clean Refrigerator’s Ice Maker With Vinegar :
The tools you need to clean an icemaker are pretty easy to find inside your home. You need ingredients to form a mixture and cleaning tools. Let’s find out what tools or ingredients you need:
- Pure quality vinegar.
- Distilled/purified water.
- Screwdriver.
- Bucket.
- Hosepipe.
- Spray bottle.
- Lemon or baking soda for Vinegar Smell.
6 Easy Steps to Clean Refrigerator’s Ice Maker With Vinegar:
You likely have an inbuilt ice maker with your refrigerator or you have a separate machine in your home. Whatever the case is, the cleaning process is the same for both situations. If you have an inbuilt ice maker, take it out of the refrigerator by using screws and pressure. Now we move onto the main cleaning process.
1. Move The Ice Maker In A Perfect Place:
The very first thing you need to do is switch off your refrigerator or ice maker. Then you need to place the ice maker somewhere where:
- The melted ice water can be drained easily. In that case, a sink is a good place. However, you can also use a bucket for storing water.
- Take out the maker and remove ice cubes from the inside. Give time to the stubborn ones as they will melt naturally in a while.
2. Drain-All The Water Out From Ice Maker:
If you look closely, you can find a drain plug somewhere in the body of the ice maker. The drain plug is sealed with a tight screw. To remove all the melted ice water from the container, follow these steps:
- Use a screwdriver or remove the drain plug screw with fingers and remove all the water from the ice maker.
- If it’s hard for you to remove the ice maker from the fridge, attach a water liner hose pipe with the drain hole of the ice maker and plunge another part of the pipe inside the bucket.
3. Make Vinegar-Water Solution to Clean Ice Maker:
To clean the ice maker, you’ll need to make a simple solution of two ingredients, white vinegar, and water. Here’s how you make and use it :
- Take equal amounts of vinegar and distilled/purified water. That means if you use 1 cup of vinegar, take an equal proportion of water too.
- Mix these and put the solution in a spray bottle and thoroughly spray it all over the body of the ice maker. Make sure you don’t leave any corner behind.
4. Use Brush to Clean Tiny Spaces of Ice Maker With Vinegar :
There are tiny holes or spaces in the ice maker where your hand can’t reach. In that case, you can use q tips or brushes to reach these spaces. Here is how you do it:
- Dip your brush or q tip in vinegar – water solution or while spraying the solution use any of them
- Gently reach the areas that are not spacious and do the cleaning.
5. Use Towel to Soak Leftover Vinegar and Fill Up Ice Maker With Water :
After the initial cleaning has been done, you can get rid of the solution by using a paper towel or dry cloth. The things you can do is :
- Take the dry towel in your hand, rub it thoroughly all over the body of the ice maker so that no solution is left there.
- Fill up your ice maker with pure water. This fillup is necessary to clean the whole ice maker properly. We talk about it in the last step.
6. Make Ice Cubes With Remaining Vinegar And Water to Clean Ice Maker :
Now it’s time to clean each corner of the ice maker and to do so, all the cleaning solution has to be removed. You can do it by following these steps :
- Turn on your ice maker machine so that it can form ice cubes with water inside.
- Repeat the process of making ice cubes a few times. The remaining vinegar will come out with ice cube pieces. Now your ice maker is cleaned fully
Related Questions :
Can I Use Vinegar to Clean Refrigerator or Ice Maker’s Mold?
Molds are creatures that often infest the small countertops of ice makers or dispensers. As most molds are toxic, this could also make your ice or water poisonous. To remove these molds you can use vinegar. The acidic property of vinegar will kill and wash these molds away. Here is how you kill ice maker’s molds with vinegar :
- Make a solution of vinegar and distilled water and pour it into a spray bottle.
- Keep spraying the solution in an infested area such as ice maker tops, sides and use a brush or clean cloth to rub away all the molds.
Can Bleach Be Used Instead of Vinegar to Clean an Ice Maker?
Although bleach is known for its cleaning properties, it is also toxic. And for cleaning things like an ice maker or refrigerator, bleach is not recommended at all. Vinegar is a safe option instead of bleach to clean the ice maker.
How to Get Rid of Vinegar Smell After Cleaning The Ice Maker?
When you clean the ice maker with vinegar, you can add lemon. Lemon neutralizes the smell of vinegar. Or if you wish, you can add baking soda mixed water in the step of ice cube making. This will remove the odor of vinegar.
How Often Should I Clean My Ice Maker With Vinegar?
It is recommended that you clean your ice maker every 5-6 months. Most modern ice makers have LED lights that indicate your cleaning time. When cleaning you can use vinegar or cleaning agents instructed by your ice maker company.
Which Products Can I Use Instead of Vinegar to Clean My Refrigerator or Ice Maker?
Like vinegar, many natural ingredients to clean ice makers. You can use natural ingredients like a lemon solution, citric acid, baking soda, etc to clean and disinfect your ice maker.
Final Words :
Ice makers get dirty over time because of things like dirt, mold, odor, etc. It is recommended to clean the ice maker after every 4 or 5 months. And to do the cleaning vinegar is a very choice as it is natural and safe for your ice maker.
