How do you clean yours?

A drain snake apps £5 from a hardware shop or amazon online.
Every home should have one as they work on sinks too.

I use a cottonbud thing

Thank you all. I did wonder about cotton buds, but wasn't sure if they'd be long enough. I'm now wondering if I need to get husband to pull the fridge out and see if their is actually a collection tray that needs to be emptied.

The drain snake seems like one of those gadgets that you really should have, but one that you don't realise how useful they are until you need one - and haven't got one.

I frequently have to soak up the flood at the bottom of my fridge, which can lead to a horrible smell. However it does not seemed to be linked to a blockage in that hole you all describe. It seems to be caused by items touching the back of the fridge and causing running water which the hole cannot deal with.

I havent got one,I wonder why!

Use a bottle brush (there are thin ones on Amazon) or a dental hygiene brush which come in different sizes. They look like mini bottle brushes.

Cotton buds x

Cotton wool bud... though I gather those are going to be banned soon... and a chopstick works too.

Pipe cleaners

There is the perfect tool in existence for cleaning the hole of Doom.

HERE

I clean mine very efficiently ( not bragging, hoisted a slimy rotting courgette out of the cooler the other day that must have been there for yonks) with a little brush that looks like a miniature artificial Christmas tree. It was given to me by an eccentric friend, who appeared to have dozens of the things. I'll ask her where she obtained them.

A three inch screw...from my tool box does the trick...poke it around s bit and it seems to clear!

Our fridge has one, unfortunately, and even a couple of hours after the regular unblocking (with an old-fashioned knife sharpening steel, dipped in hot water) it’s iced up again. Leave it a fortnight and there’s a glacier in front of it to chip off. It hasn’t worked from day 1, and the fridge temperature is too low even at the bottom setting. Why I didn’t send the darn thing back, I don’t know.

I fold an old towel into the bottom of the salad tray, to keep it dry.

I prefer the older design of fridge with a drip tray to empty. Be careful not to put anything against the back of the fridge as the drips going down the back of the fridge will pick bits up.
Mine has never got clogged but I did get a nasty smell a couple of times. The first time I couldn't work out where it was coming from for a while. The best way to get rid of it is to use dissolved Milton tablets. You just have to bear in mind the size of the drip tray when you pour it through and it may need to be done a couple of times.

A cotton bud worked well on my old fridge I haven't found one on the new one

I have a set of what look like tiny bottle cleaning brushes and I use the longest of them for this job, then dump it in bleach to clean it.

Think someone else has mentioned a pipe cleaner. The long ones you can get in craft places folded in half to make it a bit easier to poke around with works well for us. I bought a pack of about 20 for a £1 so will last for a while,assorted colours so makes a yukky job a bit more cheery!

This fridge has a collection tray at the back. OH pulls out the fridge once a month and empties it. The other fridge we had had a hole that was always getting blocked and causing problems but not this one. Thank goodness for OH.

I thought it was just me! Our fridge is only a few years old and has one of these drainage holes. It seems to block up with black gunge, then the shelf of the fridge gets all wet. I will try the dental stick. That sounds like a good idea.

I have an old brush for cleaning the teapot spout which cleans the hole on the fridge perfectly. But to be really effective we have to pull the fridge out and get to the small tube behind it. Then of course I notice how much dust and fluff (and Lego pieces for some reason) there is.

Annep. Wonderful you cleaning your fridge shelves all the time. I do mine some of the time!!!

I have some small wire brushes with a bristle head, similar to the brushes we used to get for cleaning babies’ bottles but much smaller. I can’t remember where I got them from but they are very useful for lots of cleaning jobs.

Sorry Greyduster I see you have already posted a similar suggestion. Can you remember where you got them from?

I have a watery hole too ??.
I poke it with kitchen paper.
But to stop the watery bottom I have a blue jay cloth underneath the veg drawer. This stops wet feet when opening the veg drawer!!

Oh great ideas folks. Thank you! This is one of those irritations of modern day living. My fridge is weeping again. I’ll try the pipe cleaner idea. Lots of those in my GC craft box.