Clean your ice maker every six months

Clean your refrigerator ice maker about every six months, and more often if the ice smells weird or comes out in chunks.

Ice doesn’t spoil, but the machine does collect stuff over time: dust, mold spores, and mineral scale. If you’ve ever had ice that tastes like last week’s fish, that’s why. A quick clean is cheap insurance and takes about 10 minutes of active time.

You don’t need a special kit. Turn off the ice maker, dump the bin, wipe down the interior with soapy water, then run a few batches of a vinegar-water mix through the lines. Toss the first two batches of ice so the vinegar taste is gone. If you have a filter, changing it on schedule helps too.

And honestly, most people never clean it and live fine. But six months is a good middle ground — not obsessive, not neglectful. Your future iced coffee will thank you.