How to Clean Under Your Oven and Refrigerator Without Moving Them

Photo: Andrey_Popov (Shutterstock)

Have you ever dropped something behind the stove or fridge and gone to get it, only to realize in the process that somehow, there is a huge mess under there? You might think a massive appliance taking up space on the floor would dust from collecting beneath it, but you would be wrong.

Underneath your biggest appliances, there is a ton of dust and grime—and it’s not only gross, but extremely hard to clean. Short of hauling it all away from the wall—not an easy task, especially for one person—here are three methods you can try instead.

One step before you clean

Before you can clean under an appliance, you need to be able to get under them. Dishwashers (and some stoves) have a kickplate you’ll need to unscrew to gain unobstructed access to the area underneath, so check your manufacturer’s instructions if it isn’t immediately apparent where yours is or how to remove it. If you have a stove with a drawer underneath, pull that sucker out to get at the floor underneath. Fridges also have plates covering their motors, so remove those first to vacuum the dust out from under them.

The zip tool method

Family Handyman recommends a hair trap cleaner or zip tool—the kind of device you use to get hair out of a drain. Because they’re usually pretty long, you can push one under your fridge or other appliances to pull out pet hair, dust balls, crumbs, and all kinds of other gunk that’s drifting around down there. It’s lightweight and plastic and won’t scratch your floor. Here’s one from Walmart for about $14.

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The flat vacuum method

To pick up the dust that collects near the front underside or the sides of your appliances, use a flat vacuum attachment, advises Martha Stewart. You probably won’t be able to get it too far underneath or behind anything big, since they tend not to be very long or very flexible, but you should be able to at least do some maintenance cleaning around the front and sides.

The cloth-on-stick method

Martha Stewart also suggests attaching a microfiber cloth to the stick end of your mop, broom, or similarly-sized item. You can then get under your appliances with it; keep it dry for dusting or wet it with your favorite cleaner for a more thorough scrub-out. Apartment Therapy notes that, in a pinch, you can even cover a yardstick with old pantyhose or a tube sock to make a DIY tool for this purpose.

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