(so embarrassed) I've got sludgy mold in my fridge

[bebemoohatessnot]

We went away on holiday for 3 weeks, and though I cleaned out the fridge, when we came back there was mold on the shelves on little bits of food which I had missed AND more disgustingly an orangey sludge on the back drip trough?? which has a little hole in it and goes inside the back of the fridge. (I know it's not clear but I'm really not sure what it is or how to describe it. ) Anyhow, cleaned out the fridge before putting stuff in it with hot water and bleach mix. BUT the sludge is back and my food seems to be spoiling rather quickly...
Is my fridge ruined? It's only 3years old

I knew it! It's too gross to even talk about!

Check the temp and turn it to colder if you have a food thermometer put a bottle of water in fridge for 24 hrs then check water temp [if above 5 degrees it will be to warm]
Is the sealof is it closing properly?

The electronic indicator does say 5'C, but I'll but the bottle and water in there and see what happens. As far as I can tell it's sealing, sometimes I cannot even get the thing open it's sealed so tight. Tho it has been known to be left open by dh who does not always check that it's closed 'behind him.'

I'll put not but

(and thanks)

no advice - but as it's something to be embarassed about I shall let you in on my embarassing discovery of the week.

I missed the black bin collection 2 weeks ago.

Result - had to have the bagged up rubbish in the house (we have loads of cats (and maybe even foxes as well) round here and in the past when I've put "over fill" rubbish out bagged up outside they've ripped open the bags......

It was smelly, but I thought it was ok.

Until I moved the bags of rubbish on Tuesday to put into the neighbours bins (had to wait to make sure they didn't fill theirs up before asking to put some of my extra rubbish in).

Oh the HORROR of HORRORS - I had f*cking maggots in there

eww! That's gross too. Maggots are icky aren't they? The way the wiggle about [blergh]

How do we let these things happen? Too much MNing and not staying on top of our domestic goddess-ness. [very sarcastic smiley]

yes was very gross - but my kitchen is now cleaner than it's been for a long time as once I'd got rid of the offending bags and creatures I scrubbed the floor like it's probably never been cleaned before

lol... yes to be honest I scrubbed the fridge and then cleaned the counters and then the floors... trying to get rid of the shame and the 'oooky' feeling.

Soda crystals. Easy cheap and non toxic. There is somewhere that little hole goes to, might be worth having a look in the freezer compartment if you have one, I know when I cleaned ours out I found it somewhere but can't remember where!!!

Bottle of water is registering at just below 5. Going to try soda crystals... do I just leave them in there? Or wash with them?

I had the smae with ours so dont worry you are not alone lol. went away for a week, came home and fridge was full of water! When i checked back the drain was full of orange sludge! I cleaned it with lemon juice and luckily its been ok since

Thanks I'll try that next, though it seems to have 'cooled' off a bit. I've been watching closely though and making sure to wipe down any hints of damp/mold.

Mine's like that too - so I'm going to buy a new one.

Actually, it's about 19 years old, on its last legs and we're going to be totally re-doing our kitchen soon, hence new fridge/freezer in due course.

Current fridge/freezer has a V-shaped drip trough in the back of the fridge, a little hole at the bottom of the V, plus a little plastic pokey implement. The fridge compartment is supposed to automatically defrost and the defrost water drains into the trough. The water from the trough doesn't go back inside the fridge or the freezer, but ends up in a small reservoir at the back of the fridge, from which it evaporates. Apparently the drain hole from the trough to the reservoir is meant to be cleaned regularly. Which is OK if you can get to the back of the fridge quite easily (means pulling it out of its space) but a bit difficult if yours is built-in.

Having said that, yours is 3 years old and mine is 19! So a lot has probably changed in 16 years! But that might be the answer to the sludge problem, once you've worked out how to clean the drain hole. Have you still got the handbook?

Handbook doh! I'll go look for it now...

Ah well, just stick a wire coat hanger down the drain hole and hope for the best

Pull the fridge out from the wall and you should see where the hole drains. It is usually a tube which empties onto a little tray situated on top of the motor thingy where the heat allows the water to evaporate. Put the tube into a bucket. Then get an old washing up liquid bottle, fill it with hot water and your favourite cleaning agent and squirt lots of water under pressure through the hole inside the fridge.

The gunky muck will drain into the bucket at the back. Squirt through the hole about half a dozen times and the tube should be clean again.

Thanks Pacific I've done that now and things look much better.