Tips for loading your dishwasher the right way (Part 2)

The dishwasher is a valuable modern appliance. It allows us to clean our dishes quickly without much thought. However, its important to know how to use it the right way to ensure your dishes are as clean as they can be. Here are some tips to help your dishwasher wash dishes!

6. Place silverware face down
This makes it so the sharp parts aren't touched, which are also the parts you eat with.

7. Use only when full
Don't use your dishwasher if its only half full. Doing so waste time, money, and water. Run a load when its all the way full.

8. Unload from the bottom first
If you unload the dishes on the top rack first, it may leave water drops on top of dry dishes and leave spots on them.

9. Clean, clean, clean!
Periodically run an empty load with white vinegar. This is a dissinfectant that kills fungi and bacteria that could grow from builtup left over food particles.

Tips for loading your dishwasher the right way (Part 1)

The dishwasher is a valuable modern appliance. It allows us to clean our dishes quickly without much thought. However, its important to know how to use it the right way to ensure your dishes are as clean as they can be. Here are some tips to help your dishwasher wash dishes!

1. Load bowls and cups upside down
You don't want the dish water collecting in them

2. Leave some space between dishes
Aater and heat need to make even contact with the entire dish in order to properly clean them. This can't happen if they're touching other dishes.

3. Fragile and small stuff up top
The top rack isn't as intensive with it's cleaning cycle. THis will keep fragile and small dishes safer from breaking.

4. Angle dishes
Angling your cups as much as you can will make it so water won't puddle on the top of your dishes.

5. Don't load cups on top of the tines
Tines are the things that hold the dishes in place. These are made to have dishes between them instead of on top of them. Putting dishes on top of them could break both the dishes or the tines over time.

Sure-fire way to ruin your washer

Having laundry the size of Everest in a pretty common thing. The laundry just never seems to end!

You may want to try to pack your washer to get rid of all of it quick. You must resist this temptation! Overloading a washer may cause flooding and may ruin your motor.

Slow and steady wins the race, and keeps your washer alive!

Washing Machine Hoses

You should inspect your water hoses to your washing machine at least once a year. Make sure that they're securely connected  and are free of cracks, or bulges.

If there is any damage present, contact us immediately and we'll help you get it fixed before it floods your house!

Freezer Gaskets

With the heat going full force, freezers are working overtime.

If your freezer's gaskets (the rubber seals) have gunk in them, are cracked, or otherwise not working, it could mean that your freezer is sucking energy or slowly thawing your food.

If you need help replacing them, give us a call today!

Is the self clean cycle on your oven enough?

Having your oven clean itself is a very tempting chore to do, or in this case, not do. You can just switch it on and it takes care of itself, right?

Unfortunately, the self-cleaning oven feature isn't as effective as a good old fashioned scrubbing. It just can't be beat.

If you're wanting to put some elbow grease in, make sure the oven is unplugged and the racks are taken out. This might also be a good time to check to see if the seal on your oven is damaged.

This simple maintenance may help keep your oven staying hot for years to come!

Looking sharp!

Did you know that garbage disposal blades dull with time? It makes them less effective at chopping up food bits.

One of the easiest ways to keep them sharp is to put ice down the disposal while its running.

This sharpens the blades and keeps them working great!

For an added bonus, throw some lemon down there to keep it smelling fresh!

Don't forget to wash behind your gaskets!

Dust, mold, mildew, and food particles can get stuck in your fridge's gaskets. Your gaskets help keep the cold air in, and if something is preventing a clean seal, it'll make your fridge not work as well.

This is an incredibly easy fix though. All you have to do is get a damp towel or wipe and clean it out!

Odd Tasting Water

Is your water or ice tasting or smelling odd? Chances are that you need to replace your water filter. Ideally, water filters should be changed every 6 months or so. Usually replacing them is easy enough to where you can do it on your own at home. Just look up the manufacturer’s instructions on how to do it.

Weird Ice

Is your ice tasting a bit funny? Is it not dispensing? Ice and odors can build up and can affect the taste of your ice and functionality of your ice dispenser. Luckily, this can be an easy fix. Take your ice bin out and dump all the ice out that is in it (and make sure the ice maker is off).  If there's any ice that is frozen to the bin, leave it out to melt. Once all the ice is gone, give it a good wash with soap and water! Once dry, put it back in and enjoy your tasteless ice!

The Month of Smells, Week 3: Oven

The last 2 weeks have chiefly dealt with appliances that include a water aspect. However, this week's is different; no water included. When cooking in an oven, some smells can linger and can affect future meals cooked in it. There's some very quick and easy ways to try to get those smells to no longer linger.

• Fill a baking dish with an inch of water and put vanilla extract in it and turn your oven on low heat, while checking on it periodically
• Bake a citrus peel (orange, lemon, lime, etc)
• Fill a baking dish with lemon juice and turn your oven on low heat, while checking on it periodically
• Fill a baking dish with white vinegar and turn your oven on low heat, while checking on it periodically
• Scrub everything with a mixture of baking soda and white vinegar

Even cooking

When using your oven, ensure that the pans and trays don't touch each other. You want the air and heat to be able to circulate all the way around them unobstructed. By not doing this it prevents your oven from doing it's job properly.

The Dangers of Lint

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, 2,900 fires are started because of dryer lint every year. Those fires are responsible for $35,000,000 in damages, 100 injuries, and 5 deaths.

Instead of letting that lint build up and burn your house down, clean it out and use it for when you go camping! Lint works as a great fire starter.

Trash Compactor Maintenance

The trash compactor is a handy home appliance, but its uncommon enough to where people might not know how to care for it properly. Here are 3 basic tips to ensure your trash compactor keeps working in tip top shape!

1. Keep it clean

Once a month open it up and scrub anypart that comes in contact with garbage down with disinfectant and/or degreaser. This prevents build up and odors.

2. Deodorize

Once its all clean, its time to go on the offensive. Spray some deodorizer in to not only elimate any lingering unpleasent scents, but prevent future ones as well.

3. Air Filter

If your trash compactor comes with an air filter, remember to change that at least twice a year. This can prevent smells from building up even further

REMINDER: Now is the time!

Now is the time of the year when your dyer vents have been filling up and need cleaned out! Letting your dryer go much longer will clog it with lint, making it harder to dry, wasting electricity, and heating flammable lint. For a great tutorial on how to clean the lint out, go here.

Summer is upon us, and our freezers are feeling it!

With hotter temperatures, comes higher energy bills to keep your freezer running at it's best. However, those bills can be lowered by making sure your freezer is working properly. Here's 3 tips to get your freezer working at it's highest efficiently.

Clean Coils

Cleaning the coils is essential to having any freezer running effectively. Besides getting the occasional dust out of the way, you should also unplug and wash the coils with warm, soapy water at least once a year.

Defrost

If your freezer ends up accumulating an inch or more, it is time to defrost. Ice any thicker makes the freezer retain bad smells, not keep things as cold, and wastes a lot of electricity. To defrost, unplug and remove everything from the freezer and keep all of it as cool as possible in another fridge or freezer. Keep the freezer unplugged and defrosting till the ice is gone. After that, wipe it dry.

Air Circulation

For a freezer to run its most efficiently, it needs to have enough for air circulation to go all the way around it. This makes it so that the coils don't get dust faster, and need to be defrosted less often.

Garbage Disposal Problems

Garbage disposals are a nifty addition to the modern kitchen. It eliminates waste so easily you literally just throw it down the drain. However, this appliance occasionally needs maintenance. Here are two of the most common problems and fixes for them:

1. If you (or your kids) put too much down the disposal, and it's not working, there's an incredibly easy fix. First, fish out as much out of the drain as you can. After that, look under the sink and look at the actual disposal. On the bottom there should be a button which  resets it. You should be good to go.
2. If the motor is running, but the blades aren't spinning, you may have something jamming the blades. If you can't get it out with your hand, there's still an easy fix. Grab an Allen wrench and turn the bottom bolt of the disposal. This positions the blades to where you should be able to get the jam out.

If you need any other maintenance help, give us a call!

Baking Soda in the Fridge?

Putting baking soda in your fridge does nothing to keep your fridge smelling fresh. This myth was perpetuated by Arm & Hammer to sell more baking soda.

A more reliable way to get a smell out of a fridge is to put activated charcoal in a cookie sheet and leave it in there for a couple days. Activated charcoal is what they use to filer fish tanks and is a great odor absorber.

The best way to get smells out is to regularly clean your fridge!

Fridges in the Heat

June is here and summer is upon us! With June brings even hotter temperatures. While you know how to keep cool by going to the pool, how will your refrigerator act with to the heat?

When the temperature raises outside, your fridge has to work harder to keep up. If your fridge isn't in tip top working shape, it could spell disaster for your food, or even the fridge itself.

The best way to keep your fridge working properly is to do the following:

• Keep your fridge several inches away from the wall
• Clean the condenser coils frequently
• Keep your house at a cooler temperature

If your fridge needs maintenance or does break down, give us a call!

How to easily and quickly dry your shoes!

 Tie the shoe laces together tightly.

Put the shoes in the dryer, but have the shoe laces to be outside of the dryer. This allows the shoes to dangle against the door in the dryer. Put on low heat and dry your shoes!