Removing the Bottom Freezer Drawer From a Maytag Refrigerator

For many longtime refrigerator-freezer users, the apparent upside-down configuration of the refrigerator on the top and the freezer on the bottom of this appliance may look strange. But many people access the food in their refrigerators more often than food in their freezers, so having food in the refrigerator at eye level minimizes their bending and stretching to reach what they need. Following a few simple steps for Maytag freezer drawer removal allows you to place the drawer on a raised surface, such as your kitchen table, and clean the freezer drawer without bending down to floor level for this task.

Before you start your Maytag freezer drawer removal project, turn off your refrigerator control and disconnect the power supply. Remove all the food in the drawer and relocate it to an ice chest to keep it frozen. If you're planning to thaw the food, you can place it in the refrigerator.

It may be easier to remove the bottom freezer drawer if you have someone to help you. Open the freezer drawer as far as it will go. Using a flat-head screwdriver, loosen the four bracket screws that attach the drawer glides to the front of the freezer drawer.

Without removing the screws, simply loosen them by turning them three to four times, keeping them intact inside the drawer. Remove the freezer drawer by gently lifting it up and off the screws.

When you're ready to replace the freezer drawer, pull the drawer glides out to their full extension from the freezer compartment. Guide the two screws in the drawer front into the corresponding slots in the drawer bracket. To place the two screws in the drawer bottom into the corresponding brackets, pull the brackets toward you. Check all the screw holes to make sure that the screws are properly in their places and tighten the four screws.

You may only need to remove the freezer drawer handle instead of the entire freezer drawer. For example, if you're moving the fridge through a narrow doorway and the handle sticks out too much to clear the doorway. Or you may want to remove the handle to give it a good cleaning.

Using a 3/32" hex key, loosen the two set screws that you'll find underneath each side of the handle. Remove the handle by pulling it straight out toward you. When you're ready to replace the handle, simply position it over the set screw holes, and tighten the set screws to hold the handle in place.

If you're performing a Maytag freezer drawer removal because you want to clean the inside of the drawer thoroughly, use a cleaning solution of warm water and mild soap. Wash the drawer with this solution by using a clean sponge or soft cloth. Maytag recommends not using paper towels or scouring pads to clean the freezer drawer.

Cleaners that Maytag doesn't recommend for use in cleaning the freezer drawer include bleach, window cleaning spray and concentrated detergents. And if any food packaging labels have stuck to the inside of the freezer drawer, don't use a sharp instrument or scraper to remove the label.