do you clean behind your oven & fridge?

[sunberst]

i realized that i scrub my kitchen from top to bottom, but i have neglected to ever pull out the oven and the fridge and really get in back there.

how often do you guys do this if at all?

when i am pulling out a heavy appliance like the oven, do i have to worry about anything ripping out from the wall? i have a gas oven, so i imagine there is some line that connects it to my gas line right? can i harm anything by moving my oven a few feet away from the wall so i can in back there & clean?

[Meganator]

...every 10 years whether it needs it or not. Quite seriously, I have never considered doing that unless I am moving the appliance for some other reason, like replacing it or tiling the floor. I hope that doesn't make me too much of a slob. I have enough trouble keeping up with the dirt I can see!

[wallycat]

I've only cleaned back there when they were putting Pergo in our kitchen and all the appliances had to be moved.

[aggie94]

Originally posted by sunberst
how often do you guys do this if at all?

When we move out. :o

[sneezles]

I wouldn't be moving the gas stove too far, there's usually not much extra in the gasline. The fridge is easier most times to move but I usually just stick an attachment on the hose of the vacumn and get what I can that way. My new stove sits up off the floor so not only can I sweep under it I can mop also. The new fridge is built in and it's a tight fit so it's not moving unless it breaks.

[Gail]

Sure.

And it all goes under the rug.

[Peggy C.]

I'm having a hard time deciding to quote Eva or Gail...I like both answers!

I'm sure I told the story about moving from our last house to this one. That when we moved the stove out there were like a dozen mice under it and almost gave one of the guys a heart attack...then he realized they were the fake ones for the cat! LOL! We always wondered where those things were going off to!

[JHolcomb]

Behind the fridge? I'm with Eva and only do this when we move. Behind the stove? I pull it out every couple of months and give it a good cleaning. I tend to drop stuff beside/behind it from time to time, and when I go on a search and rescue mission for those items I go ahead and clean back there.

[JHolcomb]

Originally posted by Peggy C.
I'm having a hard time deciding to quote Eva or Gail...I like both answers!

I'm sure I told the story about moving from our last house to this one. That when we moved the stove out there were like a dozen mice under it and almost gave one of the guys a heart attack...then he realized they were the fake ones for the cat! LOL! We always wondered where those things were going off to!

LOL!!!

Thanks to the cat, we found about a dozen wine corks under the dryer when we had to move it.

[lhall]

LOL!!

Peggy, that's hilarious.

I clean out behind the fridge and the oven every couple of months. Mostly to get toys and alphabet magnets. Since I've got to move the fridge I clean up while I'm back there. As for the oven, I can just pull out the drawer completely and get under there.

Leigh

[lakelady1]

Dirt I can't see doesn't exist.

[mcraig13]

A week ago I moved the refrigerator--getting a new one the next day. I thought I should clean before the new one went in. Omigosh!! It was awful. I now plan to pull it out every 3 months at least and clean the floor underneath.

As for the stove--I guess I will have to grit my teeth and do the same. As long as I didn't know what was under there I had no problem with it, but now that I know.

[sunberst]

Originally posted by sneezles
My new stove sits up off the floor so not only can I sweep under it I can mop also. wow, i would like one of those!

i am sure i have dropped a small piece of food or whatever while cooking in the crack between the side of the stove & the counter. it is a small 1/2" gap, and i really cant get an attachment in there or even see down there to know what may be growing. ;)

tonight i am going to pull my oven drawer out and see if i can see to the floor and the back wall.

i hope i dont faint if i see mounds of dirt & unidentified objects!

[TamiKnight]

I never thought about pulling out the oven drawer to clean underneath. We have the childproof tip guard installed on our stove, and it's pretty much impossible to get out. The clue should've been when it took them 45 minutes to move the stove INTO position when they installed it. No way is that baby coming out until we're ready to replace it. I do move out the refrigerator, washer, and dryer to clean now that we have hard tile, although not as often as I should. I'm not sure why I don't--just lazy, I guess! :D

[Terrytx]

Originally posted by lakelady1
Dirt I can't see doesn't exist.

ditto-but really the DH will pull the refrigerator out every so often (once or twice a year) and clean, but not the oven. Haven't looed and don't want to know what's back there!

[Beth]

I have wall ovens and a cooktop, so there is really nothing to move and clean. But I do clean behind and underneath when we have replaced appliances -- like the dishwasher at the last house. In this house, my refrigerator is open on one side, so I can clean behind it if I notice it getting dusty back there, but I don't have to pull it out. I did pull it out about a week ago only because I lost a business card for a repairman that was clipped on the front and was hoping to find it under the fridge. Didn't find the card or any furry mice -- just a small clean up on aisle one.

[lindrusso]

I do try to clean behind the fridge and under the stove (I take out the drawer, but don't move it away from the wall because of the gas hook-up) at least twice a year. I do this because if I don't, it starts to creep out to where it IS visible and looks really gross. Also, it's kind of nice to not have it entirely gross when you need to retrieve that grape or toy that just rolled under the fridge.

Now, the washer and dryer - that's another story. We don't have a laundry room, they are in a closet in the hallway. It's too much of a pain in the rear to move them, so I just clean around them.

Alysha

[Wendy w]

We tried to pull the fridge out but it cannot move. :eek: So....we don't know what demons and dustbunnies are lurking back there and we really don't want to know. :o

The stove is built in. Lakelady, I love your philosophy. ;)

[Gail]

Actually, I did mean to give you a serious answer, but I got called away after the silly one.

Really, my situation is remarkably similar to Beth's except for the placement of the fridge. I also have built-ins, however my fridge is wedged in a rather tight are between the dish washer and one of the kitchen doors, so I can pull it forward but not much more. I HAVE pulled it out a few times when the urge strikes (which ain't often) and my husband occasionally gets industrious and does the same.

I prefer not to think about it, actually... ;)

[LaraW]

I pulled our fridge out once (OK, well DH really moved it) and vacuumed off the back of it. Every time I went to get something out, I saw this big dust ball and it finally drove me crazy and I had to get rid of all of it.

I had something (piece of silverware I think) skitter under the stove once as well, and pulled the drawer out to retrieve it. I ended up cleaning it out as well. It was pretty nasty.

In both cases, I found stuff that had been left by the previous owners of our house, so evidently they did not clean back there very often either!

[CompassRose]

I actually clean behind my fridge every time I thoroughly clean the rest of the kitchen (which is, um, probably not quite as often as I should be doing). It's a nice design WITH non-marking smooth-rolling casters specially designed (it says in the manual) for "easy cleaning behind the appliance." And a long cord, too.

The stove's another story. Though I do manage to get there perhaps once a year or so; otherwise it's too disgusting to contemplate. It's electric, and the cord, while there, isn't generous, so it's quite the adventure. First A. pulls the stove out as far as it will go, using an old towel to smooth its progress... then I (because I'm smaller) scramble over the counter into the gap... then A. hands me the vacuum... then I suck down several cats' worth of dust rhinoceri... then back goes the vacuum... then we spend ten or fifteen minutes fighting and swearing (with the stove, not each other) as the cord insists on catching underneath the stove and preventing it from sliding right back up against the wall.

Must be done, though; otherwise stray breezes tend to waft ENORMOUS clots of cat hair from back there, somehow, usually at inopportune moments such as when a guest is standing in the kitchen right after having finished eating dinner.

[funnybone]

I NEVER do it - the beauty of all built-ins! :D :D

Come to think of it, I never did it before I had built-ins either. :o :eek:

[Mamasue]

Peggy.....Riva has lost so many mice in this house and I bet there might be some under the stove. I will check it out. Her favorite spot in under the washer and dryer. :D

The stove is sandwiched pretty tight between cabinets but I have taken out the drawer once or twice since moving here. The refrigerator is on wheels so that gets pulled out on a monthly basis.

[swquilts]

Do WHAT behind WHERE? ;) :cool:

I can remove the kickplate under the stove, but I haven't since I put it on....ok, it's only been 9 months! :) The fridge I can't move by myself, but we can vac behind it.

[fci5767]

Originally posted by lakelady1
Dirt I can't see doesn't exist.

That would make a great signature line:D Actually, I've never done it and don't plan to. Unless I go on Trading Spaces and have my kitchen redone.

Beth

[Svadhisthana]

Originally posted by lhall




I clean out behind the fridge and the oven every couple of months. Mostly to get toys and alphabet magnets. Since I've got to move the fridge I clean up while I'm back there. As for the oven, I can just pull out the drawer completely and get under there.



Ditto. Can you tell we have kids?:D