How to Clean an Ice Maker in a Fridge Door

When it comes to cleaning an ice maker, most fridge manufacturers discourage using cleaning chemicals like window-glass sprays and chlorine bleach. Usually, most individuals tend to use bleaches to aid in flushing out germs, stains, along with foul odors within their home. However, this is never the case for an ice maker; cleaning your ice maker with an unapproved cleaning product will significantly affect your refrigerators material.

Therefore, before you start cleaning your ice maker, you should consider checking out the effective cleaning chemical that the company has approved for use. With that done, you can proceed to clean your ice maker. In this article, we shall be discussing how to clean an ice maker in a fridge door to help with the process.

Steps to Clean an Ice Maker in a Fridge Door

Cleaning an ice maker in a fridge door is pretty much straightforward. All that is required of you is to follow these vital steps.

Step 1 – Unplugging Your Fridge

Unless you plan to leave your home midway through the cleaning process or during the extreme heat of summer, you will not have to transfer everything to the cooler since the cleaning process is pretty much straightforward and will not take a lot of time.

However, you also don’t want your ice maker to make ice while cleaning. Therefore, you should consider shutting off your fridge. This will help in easing the cleaning process, making it faster.

Step 2 – Cleaning the Ice Cube Maker

Ice cube bins are vital and maintaining their cleanliness should be your top priority. When cleaning it, you should consider handwashing all plastic pieces from the freezer. To clean the removable parts, you should consider using a tablespoon of baking soda that is dissolved in one gallon of warm water or use warm soapy water. Once cleaned, you should rinse it well and then let it set to dry. Ensure that the pieces have dried completely before returning them to your unit.

Step 3 – Defrosting

This is a vital process that you should try to emphasize more. Ensure that you remove all any ice that has frozen on your ice maker. To do this, you will need to use paper towels that have dumped in lukewarm water. Once that is done, you should go ahead and open your freezer and get rid of any built-up ice. Take a look at your ice chute located on a freezer door and wipe away all ice that has build-up over time.

Step 4 – Assess the Filter

Most individuals fail to note that their ice maker is equipped with a water filter. When the water filter is clogged due to the build-up of minerals, it will block a sufficient amount of water from going through, hence having a negative impact on your machine’s performance.

To avoid that from happening, you should consider assessing the filters. You will need to change the filters after every six months. By doing so, you will be boosting the functionality of your ice maker significantly.

Step 5 – Replace the Ice Cube Bins

After assessing and ensuring that the filters are working accordingly, you will go ahead and replace the ice cube bins in the freezer compartment. Go ahead and turn on your ice maker and let it operate as usual.

The fridge plugged back-in as usual, letting the ice cube cycle operate about two to three times, and discard the cubes. You should consider cleaning and then dumping the unused ice cubes after a few months. This is a vital process since the cubes will absorb the odor present in the freezer.

After cleaning your ice maker, you will have to wait for approximately 24 hours before the ice production resumes back to normal. As an ice maker owner, you should consider cleaning it more often; by doing so, you will be boosting its functionality along with longevity significantly. To achieve that with ease, you should consider adhering to the tips discussed in this article.