How to Fix a Refrigerator Door Seal

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By alcor805
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Meet the door seal

All refrigerator/freezer doors have a seal--sort of like a giant gasket-- attached to the door. Usually white or black and made of rubber, the seal's job is to keep the cool air inside of the refrigerator and the room air outside.

Some refrigerator seals are lined with a magnet that runs its length and width. The magnet helps to hold the door closed and create a tight seal. The screws that hold the seal to the door also hold the door liner in and help to "square" the door.

Since your refrigerator can be up to 10% of your monthly electricity bill, it is important to inspect the seal regularly and change whenever it gets frayed or torn in any way.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Screwdriver
New Door Seal(If necessary)
a little muscle

Step 1

Inspect your current seal:
Mildew can form on refrigerator seals, this can cause an unpleasant odor and/or can cause the seals to become brittle and crack over time. So it's very important to periodically clean the refrigerator seals with a toothbrush and a solution of warm water and baking soda or bleach. Gently pull the seal back to expose the folds. Be careful not to pull too hard or you may tear the seal(It can be brittle on an old fridge.). If they are torn or warped, they cannot form a tight seal with the refrigerator and should be replaced.
Step 2

Find a new seal:
Finding a new refrigerator seal is easy. Every major hardware store carries replacement seals or a replacement kit for making a custom sized seal. A simple search for "replacement refrigerator seals" on google or yahoo should give you some choices if traveling down to the local hardware store isn't possible.
Step 3

Getting the new seal ready:
Once you've purchased a new seal an important part of getting the new seal ready is making sure it does not have any kinks in it. When they package these seals the rubber-type material can form folds. These must be smoothed out before application.
One tip for smoothing out replacement refrigerator seals is to warm them before installing. A few minutes in the clothes dryer
should do the trick.
Step 4

Door screws

Remove the old one:
You may need remove the door on an older model refrigerator. On most newer ones you probably won't need to.

The old seal is held in place by the inner door panel, which is held by a series of screws hidden under the rubber seal itself. Pull the seal
back just far enough to reveal the screws and remove them.

Take a careful note (better yet a photo) of the positioning of the old seal before removing it completely.
Step 5

Installing the new one:
When fitting the new one, work your way around the perimeter top to bottom, fitting the screws loosely. Then go around again to tighten them evenly. Be careful not to make it too tight as it may crack the edge of the plastic panel on your refrigerator door.
Step 6

Inspecting the new fit:
You can check the new seal to make sure of the fit by placing a sheet of
paper between the seal and the fridge. If you can pull the paper out
easily once the door is closed, the door may need adjusting to make
a firmer seal. In some cases it may be necessary to use a glue or adhesive to get the tightest possible seal.

Comments

auntkitty said

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on 10/29/2009 Super easy. Thanks. I think our fridge will be needing this soon.

shamoon said

on 9/9/2009 OMG! I just spend all morning cleaning out rotting food from my freezer in the shop b/c the seal quit working and the door was ajar for a few days. Luckily, I was defrosting it the other day and removed the most valuable food, but still lost quite a bit. Great article, and just when I needed it! 5*