Life Hacks: How To Keep Your Appliances Clean

April 29th, 2015

Appliance Talk Kitchen Laundry Small Appliances

Has grease and grime taken a grip of your kitchen? Here are our Top Tips for freshening up some of your most used home appliances.

Newly_renovated_kitchen_with_cabinets_refrigerator_stove_and_hardwood_floor

Fridges:

top mount bottom mount fridge

One of the most frustrating products to clean in the kitchen is the family fridge. You have to slide out the shelves, dig into the many crevices and corners, and empty the compartments of food you forgot you had.

So to cut the laborious nature of this tiresome chore, here is a cheap and satisfying solution – Cling wrap!

800px-Clingfilm

If you don’t already have spill safe tempered glass shelving, then this could really be a plastic-fantastic option.

All you need to do slide your shelves out, and wrap them in a layer of cling film until the surfaces are covered.  That way, if you have a spill, you can slide out the shelf, unwrap the plastic and reapply.

Having the cling wrap cover the surface also stops the liquid from seeping inside the cracks and keeps your fridge looking whiter and brighter for longer.

Top Tip:

People mostly place milk on the inside door shelf of the fridge to allow the bottle to stand up.

This however, is not optimal, as this area has the highest temperature inside the fridge and therefore speeds up the milk going bad.

Consider arranging your shelves so top shelf has the most space above it, enabling you to place dairy products in this section. This also helps to avoid milk spills, as the bottle will be standing upright.

Upright Oven/Stove:

Freestanding Chef Gas Oven Stove CFG503WA

Other tricky tinkers are your trivets, oven racks and baking trays. Sometimes, soaking them in hot soapy water just doesn’t hack it.

Our solution – take a plastic bag (minus holes), or a large plastic container, and fill it with water and three quarters of a cup of Ammonia.

800px-Sodium_bicarbonate

If you don’t like using such abrasive chemicals, you can use two full cups of vinegar and four heaped tablespoons of baking soda.

Place the offending objects in the water, and leave for a day. Remember, the longer you leave it, the better the finished result.

Make sure you leave the bag in a safe spot, and when you come to revealing the contents, you will find your usually rusty, greased-up accessories will be spick-and-span.

Top Tip:

Lemon and rock salt work a treat as a scourer on stainless steel. It’s also a better way of cleaning a surface that tends to scratch. Another reason to love this method is that it’s safe and friendly for the environment.

Microwaves

Panasonic Microwave NNSD351M

Microwaves are deceptively easy to clean. However, here’s a quick corner cutter which will deliver cracking cleaning results.

The method involves using any of your favorite kitchen cleaners, or even lemon and white vinegar.

800px-Lemon_with_white_background

Simply pour one or two tablespoons of the solution into a half filled bowl of water.

Pop the bowl into the microwave and heat for up to five minutes. When you take the bowl out of the microwave, the process will have steamed the inside, and the walls should be beading with condensation.

Take a cloth and simply wipe down the inside – it will be squeaky clean.

Top Tip:

You can even place one drop of a scented oil into a bowl of water and heat for a couple of minutes to ensure the inside of the microwave smells fragrant.

Washing Machines

7kg Front Load Asko Washing Machine W6564

Washing machines are one of those things most people wouldn’t consider washing: “It cleans your clothes, how can it not clean itself at the same time, right?” – Wrong.

Stagnant water creates mold, and mold isn’t good for the machine or your clothing.You can use bleach, however it’s not a popular choice as it pours toxic waste out of your pipes.

7kg Top Load Fisher & Paykel Washing Machine WA70T60GW1

Once again, you can call on the tried and tested white vinegar and baking soda.

You’ll need to mix three tablespoons of soda, half a cup of vinegar, and one cup of water, then use this mixture as a detergent.

Put the machine on a rinse cycle and once that is completed, wipe down the insides of the machine. All clean!

Top Tip:

You can even use this mixture to wash your whites. Once you’ve finished this cycle, put it on a normal load using your usual washing powder, and those items that were greying will turn white again.

This method is also less harsh on your clothes than bleach, and doesn’t damage the fibers.

Dishwashers

Bosch Dishwasher SMV69T10AU

This tip isn’t so much about what you can do to clean your dishwasher, but rather what it can clean for you. Who said dishwashers are only supposed to wash dishes?

For those things you don’t like to wash in the conventional washing machine for fear of damaging the drum, simply use the dishwasher!

Baseball-Cap-c

Hats are a perfect example, especially caps. Washing in the dishwasher ensures the hat doesn’t lose its shape.

Also, as the hot water sanitises, you can wash your sponges and scrubbing brushes in the dishwasher, ready to help tackle the rest of the kitchen.

Top Tip:

As a bit of advice to keep your dishwasher operating to its best, remember to clean out the mesh filter at the bottom regularly. This will remove stuck food residue, and ensure the water is cleaner and flows better.

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