01/01/2020
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a safe New Years!
Holidays bring families and friends together and fill our hearts with love. When the cooking is done, presents have been opened and the leftovers are eaten, it’s time to relax! You’ve worked hard these past few weeks. Your appliances have worked hard too! Your dishwasher and stove might feel like they’ve been working non stop through the holidays.
Here are a few tips to help your appliances renew themselves.
OVENS - Most ovens have a self-clean cycle. If yours does, you need to know that the inside of the oven has a coating that protect you and your house from the 1000*f temperature that is reached during clean. This coating helps insulate the oven, keeping the heat inside. The glass on the inside of the door is also coated.
Between cleanings you can wipe up any spill overs with a wet towel or soft sponge. You can use any dish soap, I use Dawn, and wet the towel with hot water. Place the towel on the spill over for 30 min or more until it loosens the baked on mess.
NEVER use anything that will scratch the surface. SOS pads, scouring pads and OVEN CLEANING SPRAYS will damage the coating. Once that happens, the oven cavity will discolor, rust, and it won’t hold the temperature. There is no repair for the cavity.
DISHWASHERS - Water recirculates from the pump, up through the spray arms and back into the pump. If your hearing a noise like something is getting spun around like a B.B. stop the cycle and carefully look for broken glass, maybe a toothpick, or even a cherry seed. I’ve even found a diamond ring in one.
The spray arms catch a lot of food particles. Inspect the spray arms. Look for stuff hanging out of the little holes on the spray arms. Use tweezers or similar to pull out the food so nothing is clogging those holes. You can easily remove the spray arms. Once cleared of all food partials, clean the filter if your model has one.
With no dishes loaded, pour a half gallon of white distilled vinegar into the bottom of dishwasher and let it sit for an hour or more. While it’s sitting, let’s check the garbage disposal.
The dishwasher usually drains in to the disposal. The hose from the dishwasher should go up and form a loop and come down to attach to disposal. This will look like an upside down “J”. I have posted a detailed, with pics you can refer to.
ICE is great for cleaning the disposal. With the water off, put two handfuls of ice cubes in the disposal and turn it on. Once the crunching stops run some hot water through and add a handful of ice. This will clean it. A lemon or orange peel will freshen it but they don’t always get chopped up right away and will start decaying. Try slicing the peels and freeze in a ice cube tray with water. Toss a cube in the disposal weekly to keep it fresh and clean.
Once your dishwasher has sat an hour with the vinegar, run it on a normal wash cycle. It doesn’t need a dry cycle. We just want it to wash a circulate that vinegar through all the spray arms and water lines. You can do this as often as you want. Vinegar is safe. I recommend at least once a month.
There are several dishwasher and disposal cleaners on the market. They cost around $3-$5. When it comes to spending money, I avoid it. Vinegar is inexpensive and cleans as well as the ones you buy. I use vinegar because I prefer to spend my money on other things, like ice cream. 😊
I hope this helps you and your appliances! Relax and enjoy 2020!
