The first thing I usually do after coming home from the hot weather is to open the fridge to grab some milk, iced coffee, iced herbal tea, or smoothie. Sometimes, I leave the fridge door open and stare at the jars of drinks while deciding which one I feel like having. By the time I finally close the fridge, the temperature inside rises from about 39°F to 50°F. The same thing happens whenever I restock the fridge after grocery shopping in the summer.
When the outside temperature is very high, the AC doesn’t always cool down the apartment quickly enough. To prevent cold air from escaping every time I open the fridge door, I made mini curtains to act as cold air shields. I was inspired by the clear vinyl strip curtains used in vegetable shops to keep the cool air in.
Preparing materials
There are three shelves in my fridge, so I decided to make three separate curtains–one for each shelf. To create them, I used a clear vinyl sheet, fabric strips, and three tension rods. The vinyl I chose is fairly thick and usually sold by the yard at 99-cent and up stores. For the fabric, I used leftover pieces that matched the fridge’s white interior. As for the tension rods, I went with ones that came with clear stick-on holders, since tension rods tend to slip down.
Creating vinyl curtains
The very first step in making the curtains was measuring the areas inside the fridge where they would be placed. I then cut the vinyl sheet to match the exact size of each shelf opening, ensuring a snug fit that would help minimize cold air from escaping. At the same time, I positioned the removable tension rods in the fridge to test their placement and affixed the stick-on rod holders for them to rest.
Next, I machine stitched a strip of fabric onto each vinyl panel to create a rod pocket. To coordinate with both the clear vinyl and the fridge’s white interior, I used some white sport mesh nylon jersey fabric I had saved from the early 2000s.
And that was it. These curtains proved surprisingly effective at keeping the cool air inside the fridge during this past sweltering summer.
