Are there ANY French doors on the market WITHOUT glass shelves?

[superocd]

I currently have a stainless Whirlpool French door fridge with glass shelves. Before buying this, I searched far and wide for a French door fridge with wire shelves, sort of knowing that such an animal may not exist. I don't even like icemakers or in-door water, at least my particular fridge doesn't have this on the door. I like the simple "slab" look.

My beef with glass shelves is that they haze easily, are actually harder to clean and are delicate (particularly the plastic frame that holds the glass in). What's more, I think some heavy duty stainless wire shelving just looks better.

I'm not looking to replace my WP French door, as it I just bought it a couple of years ago, but does anyone know of a French door WITHOUT glass shelves, just one with good wire shelves instead? Even the "pro" lines have the glass shelves.

 

[frigilux]

Meanwhile, I curse my apartment's Frigidaire refrigerator for its wire shelves every time a small item or something without a flat bottom like a plastic bottle of pop tips over; or tips sideways, pushing something else over.  I hate them with...well, not exactly a passion, but damn close.

 

To answer your question, I've never seen a French-door refrigerator with anything but wonderful, sensible, glorious glass shelves.  

 

You'd probably have to step up to one of the commercial brands to find what you're looking for.

 

[appnut]

French Door fridges are regarded as premium, TOL product.  And as such, even the least expensive will have glass shelves as glass shelves are viewed as a premium attribute. 

 

When I was looking for my bottom mount 7 years ago, I didn't want dispenser in door but just an ice maker.  I had difficulty finding one with glass shelves as I'd lived with wire sh3elves for 27 years and detested them vs. glass shelves.  I find them easy to keep clean and doesn't cause a downstream ripple effect if something is accidentally spilled. 

 

[ea56]

I'm with you Supercod, I hate glass shelves in refrigerators too. I purposely bought a BOL 15 cu ft GE with wire shelves and ordered an extra shelf which now gives me more actual storage space than our previous 18 cu ft, GE that also had wire shelves.

I go grocery shopping once weekly and I have plenty of room for all the fresh produce, dairy and meat that the two of us use in a week, no need for a monster fridge that would dominate our small townhouse kitchen.

From what I've seen in the stores those French door fridges look like they have a whole lot of wasted space and a lot of plastic parts just waiting to break. And as far a ice makers and water coming out of the door, just more needless crap to break down. We don't use much ice, really only if we have company, so making a few trays of ice cubes now and then is no hassle.
Eddie

 

[appnut]

Even the least expensive French Door fridge at Sears has glass shelves. 

 

[frigilux]

Et tu, Eddie?

I'm with both of you when it comes to water dispensers & icemakers. Have never allowed a water line run to a refrigerator and I never will. But for God's sake...wire shelves?  

 

 

 

Thank you, Bob, for mentioning what happens with small spills/drips on wire shelving.  First it drips through the top shelf all over items on the middle shelf as well as the open space around those items, thus continuing onto items on the bottom shelf...where it finally stops because it's a solid freaking surface! 

 

 

 

The mess could have been contained on the top shelf and wiped up with some disinfectant and a damp rag. Instead, you're reaching for that airline-bottle martini you shouldn't have along with a few of the Xanax you stole from the old woman in the next apartment after you found a master key to the entire building taped under your fusebox because you now have an entire refrigerator to clean!!

 

 

 

Anyway...that's why wire shelving is bad.

[this post was last edited: 9/4/2017-14:25]

 

[foraloysius]

I hate wire shelves as well. Don't forget the frame of a wire shelf. Some have metal strips, that makes cleaning even worse!

 

[ea56]

Eugene,

I agree with you about the mess you have on your hands is something leaks on the top wire shelf of a fridge. Thats why I'm really careful on how I place things in the fridge, and make sure the covers are secure. In all my life I've probably only had to deal with a mess like this half a dozen times or less. But I've also had splills on glass shelves and they can be a big mess to clean too, especially if the spill migrates to the plastic frame work around the glass shelf, and gets under the plastic. And if its a big enough spill it can still overflow over the edge of a glass shelf and mess up other areas too.

Any fridge can be a PITA to clean if something spills. I like wire shelves better because I) They don't break and 2) Hot food cools off much more quickly when the cool air can circulate better, which wire shelves facilitate
Eddie.

 

[tomturbomatic]

A friend had a GE SXS fridge with glass shelves in his retirement home in FL. His kids were not neatniks and spills during thier visits went uncleaned. When I got there, there was gunk all over and I took the shelves out and washed them in his large laundry sink. Then I went to the store and bought silicone seal and sealed the glass shelves to their metal frames, eliminating the gap, so that spills did not drip down and were easily wiped up. I did that for the glass shelves in my GE fridge and, while I don't spill as much as the kids in FL, the spills and leaks I do have are easily contained and cleaned up.

 

[lordkenmore]

Frigilux, you don't need to worry about cleaning the refrigerator! Remember, you live in an apartment now. Just let everything get messy, and move to a different apartment next summer. You lose the cleaning deposit, but isn't never cleaning a refrigerator (among other horrible things to clean) worth $200?

 

And if rumors about your cleaning habits start flying about your small town, well, just say it's "fake news."

 

LOL

[this post was last edited: 9/4/2017-15:43]

 

[lordkenmore]

Icemakers

Add me to the list of people who have no real desire for an ice maker. I like gadgets as much as anyone here--but my practical side shudders, and sees an icemaker as one more thing to break. That water line to the refrigerator is just one more potential flood hazard. And the water filters they have now are just one more expense to deal with.

 

 

[vacerator]

"wire shelves allow air to circulate better"?

But once the glass shelf is cold, it stays cold unless you put something warm on it. A slight defficiency. Most BOL fridges have glass shelves today too. Air can move in front of, and behind the shelves. Also most are spill proof, and contain the spill to one shelf.
Most have air vents at each shelf level also, and temp. sensors.
The pcb board averages input variances from the sensors and cycles the compressor.
On single evaporator types, the damper door between the freezer and fridge section opens and closes also. The evap. fan may run moving cold air from the freezer with or without cycling the compressor.
Dual evaporator types need no damper door, and control temperature separately for freezer and fresh food compartments. Drawers may have individual thermostats or air sliders to control temp. or humidity.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I don't think I've seen any home fridges other than small top freezers and dorm style fridges with wire shelves. Anything more than a small top freezer will have glass.

I noticed on my parents' 1995 Kenmore (made by GE) the glass shelves had metal frames with gaps on the sides and the front and back parts that the shelves slotted into were plastic.

On their new Kenmore (made by Haier) the glass shelves have plastic frames around them and the glass doesn't seem to be able to be removed. I guess these are meant to be spillproof.

Personally, if it were up to me and I were getting a fridge, I would want a basic side by side with the ice maker and water dispenser on the door. I guess mainly because I always liked them as a kid.

The fancy french doors with drawers and all look cool, but as mentioned above they seem to have a lot of plastic pieces and I just don't see them lasting with all the electronics. I don't see them being admired in 40-50 years like the old GE Americana styles and others that we see today.

I do agree about the ice makers being something to break, they don't seem to be all that reliable although the old ones did tend to last a long time, they all seem to fail at some point before the fridge does.

I don't see filling ice trays as a big issue, especially for just one person, I just think a dispenser is cooler.

I really don't enjoy cleaning the fridge (mainly because of the task of moving everything out to clean under it). But it sure does seem like a sense of accomplishment when the fridge is all clean and bottles and things are neat and organized again. It was usually my job to do that before the holidays and it took nearly half a day. I typically took everything apart, the glass shelves, door racks, crispers, everything and washed them in the sink. Fortunately I never broke any glass pieces.

 

[cuffs054]

The MOL Frigidaire 18cf top mount that was in the mini-manse when I bought it has glass SLIDING shelves that I find very handy.

 

[rapunzel]

Spill-guard tempered glass shelves are the bees knees for reasons already stated. Wire racks do not contain leakages and spills and they turn a small cleaning job into a big one. Glass shelves also prevent food contamination, because stuff can not drip from the upper shelves onto items stored beneath.

I can't stand refrigerators that use molded slots for the shelves to slide into. They collect dirt over time and are harder to clean. I much prefer fridge shelving that hooks into the back wall and makes wiping out my refrigerator a breeze. The shelving unhooks and gets stacked in the dishwasher. There are no nooks and crannies in the fridge lining for food residue to collect and fester.

 

[brucelucenta]

In answer to your original question: NO, there is not.

 

[norgeway]

I would rather

Have wire shelves in a real refrigerator with manual defrost and a big chrome latch on the door!

 

[mrb627]

Big Chrome latch?

You'll get trapped and suffocate in that thing...

Malcolm

 

[revvinkevin]

You'll get trapped and suffocate in that thing...

 

 

Like adults have nothing better to do than remove all the shelves, climb in and close the door behind them...?!?!?   

[this post was last edited: 9/6/2017-11:07]