Can you imagine your house without appliances? For many, home appliances are essential for a productive, comfortable and convenient lifestyle. Almost all household chores require the use of appliances, and manufacturers continue to innovate machines that make everyday tasks easier for everyone. People recognize the importance of home appliances so much that it has become both a status symbol and a wise investment to have the latest state-of-the-art machines in one’s household.
Given the important role of home appliances, many homemakers spend time, energy, and resources in cleaning and maintaining them to maximize their functionality and keep them in top shape. If you’re a homeowner, for instance, you’ll probably need to create a regular cleaning schedule to take care of most of your appliances.
However, at times, professional services are required especially for gadgets with more complex functions and for those needing repair. If you’re a homeowner, it’s helpful to learn more about professional appliance services available in your area. If you’d like to see some examples of professional home appliance services, you can visit this website https://www.sterlingservicegroup.com/chicago.
For regular clean-ups, there are many pantry items and cleaning agents you can use to keep your appliances in good form. You can consider the following tips for cleaning common home appliances using materials that you may already have in your household.
Jump to:
1. Refrigerator
Keeping your refrigerator clean is easy as long as you store your food properly and clean spillage as needed. On top of this, you’ll also need to do regular deep-cleaning and maintenance checks to keep the appliance in good working condition. Apart from regularly defrosting its freezer, for instance, you’ll also need to deep-clean the whole interior every three to four months. To do this, you can mix equal parts of water and white vinegar in a spray bottle and use the solution as a cleaner when wiping the storage chambers. You can also wash the drawers and shelves separately using dish soap and water, and wipe them dry before returning them inside the refrigerator.
2. Dishwasher
Despite its cleaning function, your dishwasher also needs to be cleaned just like the kitchen sink or the shower. The dirty dishes may leave odor and grime which can accumulate if not cleaned promptly. This is why you’ll need to wipe the interior with a mild water and bleach solution which would also kill germs, fungi, and bugs. To remove the odor, you can leave a cup of baking soda on the top rack overnight, and then pour a cup of white vinegar on the bottom and run one wash cycle the next morning.
3. Microwave Oven
With microwave ovens, most of the cleaning is needed in the cooking chamber because of the spills and splatters that accumulate over time. Some of them are not easily visible, so it’s best to wipe down the interior after each use to prevent buildup. You can use a wet rag with dish soap to wipe the cooking chamber clean. On the other hand, you can also place a bowl with water and lemon slices and microwave it for three to five minutes until the water boils. The steam will then loosen up the grease and grime so it will be easier to wipe them off, while the lemon can help remove odors, if any. For the handle and other exterior surfaces, you can use antibacterial wipes to kill the germs and then finish with a dry rag.
4. Washing Machine
Germs and other bacteria can accumulate in your washing machine especially if you don’t use bleach when doing laundry. To prevent this, you can run one empty cycle with bleach and water weekly. If available, you can also use the germicidal cycle in your washing machine for the same purpose.
You can also deep-clean your washing machine once every six months. To do this, you need to pour two cups of white vinegar into an empty wash drum and run a heavy cycle with maximum heat. When the cycle is finished, mix four cups of water with 1/4 cup of vinegar. Dip a sponge in the solution and scrub the interior of the drum, including the soap dispenser and the rubber seal for front load type washers. You can then run another cycle to remove the vinegar smell and wash off the remaining debris if any.
5. Stove And Oven
The kitchen stove and oven can both harbor microbes and germs if not cleaned regularly. To prevent this, the stovetop should be wiped down with a clean cloth and all-purpose kitchen cleaner after each use. The key to keeping a clean stove is to promptly wipe down any spills before they dry and stick to the surface which makes them harder to scrub off. If this happens, however, you can still remove stains on your stovetop by soaking them with cleaners and carefully scraping them off to prevent damaging the surface.
The oven, on the other hand, has to be thoroughly cleaned every quarter if there are no visible spills or burns. Since many ovens have a self-cleaning function, you’ll just need to remove the racks for separate cleaning and follow the directions on the user manual.
6. Coffee Maker
The coffee maker is prone to bacteria, yeast, and mold growth due to high exposure to moisture and warmth. There’s a great risk of ingesting these contaminants if the coffee maker isn’t cleaned regularly and effectively. To prevent this, you’ll need to deep-clean your coffee maker monthly using a water and vinegar solution.
To get started, pour the solution into the water chamber and brew half of the liquid first. Next, turn off the machine and let the solution sit for half an hour. After that, turn it on again until all the solution has been brewed. Next, throw out the solution and fill the water chamber with plain water for another brewing cycle to take out the vinegar smell. You can repeat this process until you’re sure that your coffee maker is thoroughly cleaned and ready for use again.
For daily cleaning, you’ll need to wash the removable parts such as the carafe, basket, and lid after each use with warm water and dish soap. You can either handwash the separate parts or put them in the top rack of the dishwasher.
Conclusion
Cleaning home appliances is essential in keeping a safe and comfortable home. These appliances make everyday living more convenient, so it’s only wise to take good care of them. Also, many of these items can be quite expensive so keeping them clean and functional for the long term is also a cost-effective measure beneficial to your household.
