The kitchen is the pride and joy of a household. It’s a social area where families talk, parties occur, and a place where delicious smells originate from. Heck, it’s practically considered the heart and soul of a household. If you’re at all serious about keeping a clean, functional and healthy kitchen, then you want to make sure that your kitchen appliances are running smoothly at all times.
There’s nothing worse than planning a huge meal and having your oven break down right when you need to pre-heat it, or going grocery shopping and finding out that your refrigerator isn’t cooling. Broken kitchen appliances are no fun, but there are some easy and user-friendly ways to make sure that your appliances run smoothly or to identify any problems that warrant expert appliance repair from your friendly team at Profix Appliances. Check out these useful kitchen appliance maintenance tips:
Clean Your Stovetop Drip Bowls
It is crucial to clean drip bowls on your stovetop immediately after spills, so that food residue doesn’t cake on and becomes even more difficult to clean in the future. If spills from food or liquids burn into the bowls, you might need to replace them.
Remove the drip bowls from underneath your burner elements and presoak them in a cleaning solution (warm water and soap should work just fine) for about five minutes. After, simply hand wash your drip bowls and replace. This will minimize potential stove repair issues in the future.
Change the Water Filter on Your Refrigerator
Even if the water coming out of your fridge doesn’t necessarily taste bad, it’s important for your health to make sure that you’re drinking clean, purified water. Filters that don’t efficiently remove contaminants and impurities could expose you to harmful water. Check the dates on your water filter to see when you should be replacing the filter and how often it needs to be replaced, but generally, performing this task every 3-6 months should be sufficient.
Clean the Coils in Your Refrigerator
The coils in your refrigerator make it so that your refrigerator can efficient cool everything inside of it. However, dirt, dust, and pet hair can clog up your refrigerator coils, restricting air flow and ultimately causing your refrigerator to work harder to maintain the same temperature. If the coils in your refrigerator continue to get dirtier, your fridge may eventually break down. Once or twice a year, simply use a handheld vacuum to clean the coils and suck up any loose particles. The location of most refrigerator coils varies by model, but you can find most coils behind the kick plate of your fridge, which is the front panel of your fridge near the floor.
Make Sure Your Oven Has a Tight Seal
Your oven can lose more than 20 percent of its heat without a properly sealed door. The result of an improperly tightened seal? Your food will take significantly longer to cook, or it will cook unevenly. If you’re a pro baker or chef, you know that this is absolutely unacceptable.
To check your seal’s condition, simply open the oven door and locate the rubber or fiberglass gasket around the perimeter of the door. Feel around for any broken, torn or deformed areas along the gasket, and close the door to see if you can spot any leaks. If so, replace the seal immediately for optimal oven performance.
Keep That Garbage Disposal Clean
Don’t stick your hand into the garbage disposal! Not only is that gross, but it’s not the easiest way to clean it, either. Also, don’t stick a hard object into your garbage disposal, because you might risk damaging it.
You can clean your garbage disposal by simply filling your sink with hot, soapy water, and then letting the water flush out into the disposal. Once that’s done, follow through by cutting a lemon into halves and then putting it down the disposal drain and running the unit until both halves of the lemon are gone. Your garbage disposal will smell nice and fresh, too.
Keep a Strong Dishwasher
Though most people don’t regularly hand-wash their dishes, if you happen to, make sure to actually run your dishwasher at least once every couple of weeks. Running your dishwasher keeps the seals from drying out and it also keeps the machine in better working condition. That being said, don’t run your dishwasher too often, either, because this could potentially damage it from overuse.
Additionally, you can help your dishwasher’s pump work more efficiently. Most dishwashers transfer their used dish water into the sink disposal. A really simple tip is to run your disposal a few seconds before starting the dishwasher, as this clears out your dishwasher’s pump and will help keep the drain tube clear of debris.
Even know you’re a savvy kitchen owner who keeps good care of your kitchen appliances, eventually, your appliances will need legitimate, specialized appliance repair service. Fortunately, Profix Appliance is an authorized appliance service that will handle your broken appliance with no problem. Call us today!