Tips for extending the life of your daily appliances

Repair and replacement of household appliances can nibble away at your bank account.  We’ve rounded up a few tips to help you prolong the life of your everyday appliances. In a nutshell, cleaning is your best friend. Cleaning can extend the life of just about any appliance and save you a significant amount of money.

Refrigerator:

For example, the coils of your refrigerator should be free of dust and debris. If dust gets into the coils or the vent, the appliance motor can overheat, resulting in a hefty service charge. Coil cleaning only takes about five minutes. Start by unplugging the refrigerator. Pull or unscrew the vent plate that protects the coils. Then, clean the coils with a vacuum hose, using a brush to wipe off any dust in sight.

It’s also helpful to pull out refrigerator drawers for regular cleaning, and icemakers can also benefit from a good cleaning twice a year. For more tricks to keep your refrigerator in tip-top shape, check out our post Tips to prolong the life of your refrigerator.

Dishwasher:

Cleaning is again your not-so-secret weapon. Make sure to clean the dishwasher gasket on a regular basis.  The gasket is the watertight seal around the door of your dishwasher. In every dishwasher, there also is a component called the trap. It collects food and hard water build-up.  Like the gasket, the trap needs regular cleaning to stay top of game, so be sure to give it the attention it needs.

It’s also helpful to remove all filters and clean them thoroughly with warm water. While you’re at it – keep the soap dispenser free of soap scum and other buildup. Use only dishwasher detergent in recommended amounts. Load the dishwasher properly, and run only when you have a full load.  If you have hard water, use an anti-limescale product once a month.

Oven:

If you have a self-cleaning oven, put the self-cleaning cycle into action. Do not use any other method to clean it. Clean up spills immediately, and give the interior of your oven some TLC regularly. When you allow food to linger and build up, it just gets more difficult to clean.

Garbage disposal:              

To keep your garbage disposal at its best, be careful about what you put down it. Food high in fiber is notorious for wrecking havoc on garbage disposals. Whether it be celery, cornhusks, potato skins or seafood shells, save those scraps for the trash. Never put rice in the garbage disposal; it’s another clogging culprit.

To freshen your disposal, occasionally grind half of a lime or lemon in it while running cold water. Keep the strong flow of cold water running throughout grinding, and continue it for at least 30 seconds after turning off grinder.

Washer and Dryer:

Overloading your washer or dryer might be a nice way to get more clothes clean in one fell swoop. But unfortunately, when you cram your washer or dryer to the brim, its performance is impacted. Over time it can take a toll and add to repair needs. So, resist the temptation to overload, and make sure to choose the correct load size.

While you’re at it, be sure to use the proper laundry detergent for your particular model, whether it be high efficiency or regular detergent. Make it a habit to clean the dryer lint filter prior to each load, and clean the dryer exhaust vent routinely. This will both protect your dryer’s performance and prevent possible fires.