Fix Broken Clear Fridge Shelf - Quickly, Easily, and Cheaply

Intro: Fix Broken Clear Fridge Shelf - Quickly, Easily, and Cheaply

Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike those ginormous, almost walk-in fridges where carrot remnants desperately send out emergency shoots, half-empty yoghurt pots grow blue beanies against the cold, and dried-out sauce bottles linger that haven't been seen since last century? Once our current monster fridge dies, I will buy a bar fridge, which will provide ample space for my needs - minus the unfathomable depths.

Anyway, I digress. One of the shelves of our flash Mitsubishi Refrigerator broke as soon as it saw us, and has been dangling ever since - until I couldn't bear it any longer. On the web, I couldn't find any instructions that didn't involve paper clips, buying special glue, and a dremel, or keeping an ugly ply-wood shelf in the fridge.

Time involved
approximately 15 minutes

Materials used:
-Shoe Goo
-clear plastic discs found on top of new DVD/CD spindles

Here's what I did
I took the broken shelf out, cleaned it, turned it upside down, and propped it on some books to keep it lying flat without dangling.
Then I applied a little shoe goo along the break line (very little, you don't want it squeezing through to the other side).
Next, I applied a little shoe goo on to the flat side of the clear discs - one at a time - and pressed it flat so the glue distributes as evenly as possible without squishing out.

Just so it's clear: The discs are underneath the shelf, not on top...

It's been holding up a while, so I guess it works - and once you've put stuff on the shelf the break and glued discs are almost invisible.

UPDATE SIX MONTHS LATER: the shelf is holding even the heavy stuff as strongly as on the first day!

UPDATE AFTER TWO YEARS: still going strong!

UPDATE AFTER THREE AND A HALF YEARS: I think the fridge itself will die before the shelf... still holding up strong. Very soon, however, people will ask, "what are DVDs?"

UPDATE AFTER EIGHT YEARS: We finally caved in and bought a "new" used fridge. We sold the old one to students who since told us that the repaired shelf still keeps on going strong at the flat. Who would've thought the shelf outlasts the fridge in our house :-) Here endeth the tale of the little shelf that could!

Comments

[elpayo]

Thak's a lot, the best are the updates

[olystyrene]

Hi there,

I know this post is now VERY old but I'm so glad I
found it! I have fixed several shelves in a couple of our fridges at
home using this method and all worked beautifully! They happen to be
shelves that hold heavy glass jars and bottles with all my pickled and
fermented foods, with no sign of failing. Thank you again!!

[SabineT]

Hi there, so glad you found this useful! Hope your shelves hold up as well as mine. They're still going strong. I wish I had the money to buy a smaller fridge, but since it's still going well there's other stuff higher up on the priority list. Best wishes for the New Year from NZ. Sabine

[SabineT]

Yes, that's an excellent idea!

I took the discs because I didn't want to buy anything. I already had the discs, and now they've been put to good use instead of ending up in the landfill.

By the way - the shelf is still holding up like a trooper... it's been more than a year!

Thanks very much for your comment.

[jelte1234]

you could also use some plexiglass, then it would be one piece along the whole breakline.

[audreyobscura]

This has been the best post I've read today. Thank you.

[SabineT]

Thank you for your nice comment - very encouraging!