Cooling Fresh: How to Clean Coolers

by ProDigital Freelance

You cannot avoid the fact that any travel cooler will get dirty since you typically use them for various activities, especially outdoors or on the beach. It will indeed be exposed to every undesirable debris, dirt, and grime. Before putting it in your garage, make sure to clean it first to maintain the cleanliness of your coolers before using it again.

There are many ways to clean your coolers, but you need to be aware of how to properly clean your coolers. If you’re not sure about what you are doing, you have to consult the manufacturer first for safety and to avoid any damages. Read further to learn how to clean any cooler on your own at home.

Importance of Cleaning Your Coolers

Portable coolers that are not maintained properly will result in a disgusting smell and dirty look. These may be because of the molds that have grown inside. Using it frequently, spillages will be unavoidable so the bacteria tend to be very active on the surface where moisture is present.

The good thing is that these unpleasant things are never permanent once they start to manifest. However, you need to take action in removing the foul odors, other blemishes, or stains. You don’t need to exert much effort on doing it since it is an easy job. Always do these things regularly to keep your coolers fresh and clean.

Removing Molds and Bad Odors in the Coolers

The things you will need to prepare to clean your outdoor cooler are a clean towel, sponge, warm water, hose used for gardening, baking soda, bleach, warm water, and liquid dishwashing soap. Before you get started, make sure to remove all the items on the storage, if there are any.

  1. To remove the outer layer of the mold and stains, rinse the surface using your garden hose and drain the water after. Using a high-pressure hose is better.
  2. Prepare your cleaning solution, 1 gallon of water, one cup baking soda, and dishwashing liquid around three drops and mix it well.
  3. Get the sponge and dip it on the cleaning mixture that you made. Ensure that it is adequately soaked, and you can now start to scrub the insides of the cooler. 
  4. If there is still visible dirt that you can see on your sponge after you wiped it, repeat the third step until it’s clean. 
  5. Wipe the exterior of the more excellent using the same sponge that you used to wipe from the interior. Rinse it to remove the dirt and residual soap utilizing the garden hose, and if it has, make sure to open the drain plug if it has one.
  6. Mix 1 cup of bleach with the same amount of water, dip the sponge and wipe it on the entire cooler to remove the molds. Be sure to include every corner.
  7. Leave it for 10 minutes and rinse to remove the bleach solution. If you can still see some molds, repeat this step until it’s gone and dry it.

Removing the Stains on the Coolers

Coolers are used to store many goods such as water, foods, drinks, and many more. As a result, it will leave some stains and blemishes if you let it stay for a while without cleaning it. To those who are used to this kind of problem, it is easy for them to resolve. Cleaning this kind of dirt will be easy if you follow these simple steps.

  • It would help if you prepared the following: lemon juice, soft towel, sponge, white vinegar toothbrush, and a garden hose.
  • Rinse the cooler to remove the outer layer of dirt of the cooler using a garden hose. Identify where the stains are.
  • Get a sponge and put a small amount of dishwasher, then dip in soapy water. Scrub the entire cooler. Use the toothbrush to remove any hidden dirt that is unreachable by using a sponge.
  • Rinse the soap using a garden hose.
  • Make a solution ratio of 1:1 using vinegar and water. Dip the sponge on the solution and wipe it on the cooler.
  • Leave it for 30 minutes and rinse with a garden hose. If you can still see some stains, proceed to the next step.
  • Cut a lemon in half, put some liquid soap and remove the seeds and wipe it directly on the stains. If it doesn’t work, use the same solution but use a towel and drop it on stains, rinse and dry it up.

Takeaway

Always make sure that after you have used the portable cooler, you have removed all the goods inside it and cleaned it before placing it in your garage. As a result, you will not waste a lot of time and money on your subsequent use.

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