Do you want to know how to sanitize your ice maker machine? Let’s read about the crucial steps that help to clean and sanitize the machine easily. Ice makers proved to be an incredible tool to make ice conveniently.
However, if you don’t clean or sanitize the machine regularly, you may get cloudy ice that tastes bad. Thus, if you want to get crystal-clear ice, you need to clean and sanitize the machine regularly.
Through this blog, we’ll talk about sanitizing the icemaker and explain why you need to sanitize your machine.
Let’s take a dive in and know the brief about the sanitizing of the machine.
Table of Contents
Why Do You Need to Clean Ice Maker Regularly?
There are so many reasons which show that you need to clean your ice maker machine regularly. Some of the reasons are as follows:
- It prevents the impeded transfer of the heat.
- It helps to maintain the ideal ice making time.
- Avoid the building of the scales that clog the evaporate plates.
- It helps the ice maker machine to work with full capacity.
- It reduces the fogginess of the ice.
- Regular sanitizing helps to avoid the high repairing cost and improve the shelf life.
What Are the Signs That Shows Your Ice Maker Requires Sanitizing?
We all know that when we use the ice maker machine regularly, the dirt will accumulate into the machine, which invites germs.
However, it may be challenging to analyze when you need to clean your ice machine, but there are a few indications and symbols which are as follows:
- The ice maker doesn’t make ice faster.
- The ice maker machine doesn’t make the crystal-clear ice.
- The quality and texture of the ice is poor.
- The ice smells bad, which is unfit for drinks.
- The ice producing capacity is reduced.
- The ice-making machine produce incomplete cubes or shallow cubes.
Also Read: How To Clean Frigidaire Ice Maker
How to Sanitize Ice Maker?
If you come across the above signs in your ice maker, this is the right time to sanitize your machine. Here is the stepwise guide which you can follow for hassle-free cleaning of the machines.
So, let’s start…
1. Turn Off Your Ice Maker
Before sanitizing the ice maker machine, switching off the ice maker and removing it from the power supply is crucial to avoid any hazardous activities. Make sure to disconnect from the head section and remove it from the water outlets.
Also Read: How To Clean KitchenAid Ice Maker
2. Disassemble the parts of the Ice Maker
Then you need to disassemble all the parts of the ice maker. Remove the ice basket and other parts carefully, and make sure to keep them aside carefully.
3. Prepare Your Sanitizer
There are so many ice maker cleaners and descalers available on the market. You can purchase anyone and use it to sanitize the machine. I’m using the Opal ice maker cleaner kit from Amazon.
However, keep in mind that the sanitizer is available in concentrated form, so first, you need to dilute the sanitizer into lukewarm water.
The right ratio of the cleaner or the sanitizer will be mentioned on the sanitizer. In general, you can use 2 ounces of sanitizer into the 3 gallons of water. You can use normal water or slightly warm it to use it appropriately.
Also Read: How To Clean Opal Ice Maker
4. Pour the Sanitizer in the Parts of the Machine
Once you prepare the sanitizer mixture, you can pour the liquid sanitizer into the parts of the machine. Moreover, you can use the spray bottle to dispense the liquid sanitizer on the parts of the machine.
Make sure to soak all the parts of the machine properly. Do not rinse the parts immediately after dispensing the sanitizer on the machine.
Leave for about half an hour to ensure that the sanitizer completely kills the microbial and dirt from the machine. Soaking is also helpful in cleaning the stains from the machine.
Also Read: How To Clean Igloo Ice Maker
5. Rinse-Off the Parts
After soaking the parts for 30 minutes, scrub them with a damp cloth to remove all the dirt and debris from the machine parts. Once you are done with the scrubbing, carefully rinse the parts of the machine with warm water.
After rinsing, keep it aside so that it can dry naturally. You can also use a clean cotton cloth to clean the remaining water in the ice maker parts.
6. Pour Sanitizer into the Freezer
Cleaning the freezer is also essential because this is the place where the microbial film can grow. Pour the liquid sanitizer into the freezer and keep it for 20-30 minutes.
Once the soaking is done, use the sponge or dry cloth to clean the freezer from inside.
If you don’t have sanitizer, you can also create a mixture of bleach and water. Take half a cup of bleach and one gallon of water. You can use Vinegar and Lemon juice to prepare a cleaning agent.
It will act as a sanitizer. When you are done cleaning, use a dry cloth to wipe out the remaining soap from the freezer.
7. Assemble All the Parts
When you are done cleaning and sanitizing, collect all the parts of the icemaker and assemble it again. Then, carefully fix all the parts so that you can resume the ice maker machine.
Also Read: How To Clean NewAir Ice Maker
8. Resume The Ice Maker
Now, you can connect your ice maker to the water supply and electricity point. Do ensure to fix the water outlets properly to avoid any spelling issues. Once it is done, resume the machine.
Note– Dump a few cycles of ice cubes because it contains the odor of cleaning agents. You can use ice cubes after 6 to 7 cycles.
Conclusion
Cleaning the machine is a crucial part of getting the crystal-clear ice. If you regularly clean your machine by following these steps, you will be able to improve the shelf life of the ice maker.
Also, make sure to use the appropriate quantity of liquid sanitizer to ensure proper cleaning. Use a scrubber to remove the dirt from the corners.