Whenever a new year begins, there’s always a desire to start fresh, setting new resolutions for the year. While there are many resolutions you can select, a great goal is to keep your home well maintained and organized. (And most would say cleaning up the house is easier than losing weight!)
This year, we’ve been continuing to spend most of our time in the comfort of our homes. The last thing any homeowner wants to deal with is appliance service or repairs. However, a few simple tips can help your home appliances stay in top shape throughout the year.
6 DIY Ways to Freshen Up Your Home Appliances
At S & S Appliance, our team has extensive experience in appliance service throughout Alabama. Often, the condition of broken appliances results from a lack of preventive maintenance, including regular cleaning and maintenance by the homeowner.
We’ve compiled a list of simple steps that you can take to freshen up your home appliances, leading to fewer appliance repairs down the road.
1. Organize the Fridge
When is the last time you really cleaned out the fridge? If you’re like most homeowners, it’s been a while… a long while. If you can’t remember the last time you ever took a household cleaner to a shelf in your fridge, then it’s time for a quick clean-up. Go through and throw away any old or expired food, and clean the shelves with a simple multipurpose solution.
Organizing is one thing that takes some work on the onset but then becomes easy once a system is in place. Using labels for shelves or clear plastic bins is an excellent way to organize your food while still seeing everything in your fridge.
2. Clean Out the Dishwasher
The inside of the dishwasher is not something that often gets a lot of attention on our weekly chore list. If you’ve noticed that your dishwasher isn’t getting your dishes quite as clean as it used to, there may be a problem with the filter. There’s a simple DIY solution for cleaning the filter, and then it should be back to running like new!
3. Remove Smelly Odors
Opening a refrigerator and having a foul smell hit you like a wave is disgusting! There’s no way to ignore a scent like that for very long. Usually, the cause of a nauseating smell like that is spoiled food that needs to be removed. If your food is properly organized, you should find the source of a scent quickly.
However, there are also other less intense times when your fridge or freezer just smells a little off. One trick is to empty your ice bins. Sometimes if ice sits for too long, it can form one massive block and start to stink. Another interesting tip is to fight odors in the fridge with charcoal, which can help absorb various odors.
4. Sound-Proof the Laundry Room
You’re finally sitting down to enjoy some evening Netflix shows when suddenly you hear a violent vibration in your home. Nope, it’s not any sort of natural disaster, just your washing machine shaking in the laundry room. We’ve all been there! And although this may seem like a minor inconvenience at first, the noise pollution from the laundry room is enough to drive anyone crazy.
Combat the noise by sound-proofing the doors and investing in rubber pads for the bottom of the washing machine and dryer. Adding some little DIY noise blockers may just be enough to drown out the noise!
5. Flush Out the Garbage Disposal
Cleaning your garbage disposal is likely another cleaning task that doesn’t get completed very often. While cleaning the garbage disposal, please be careful and ensure that the power is off, not to put yourself at risk for injury.
Wipe down the garbage disposal with dish soap and a sponge, carefully scraping out any gunk between the disposal folds. Next, a great way to deodorize the garbage disposal is by putting ice and lemon peels down the drain, which can help remove any particle build-up and create a pleasant odor.
6. Polish Stainless Steel Appliances
Unfortunately, stainless steel gets dirty with just one little handprint. Fortunately, stainless steel is incredibly easy to clean. You can use WD-40 to wipe down your appliances, or if you’re looking for ways to enhance the shine of your appliances, there are many specific products for stainless steel, such as cleaning wipes and microfiber cloths, that target stainless steel appliances.
If you’re in a pinch, you can always use dish soap. Surprisingly, dish soap and mineral oil are easy fixes for getting rid of any grime on your appliances.
Moving from DIY Tips to Professional Appliance Service
Proper cleaning and upkeep of your home appliances can help prevent future problems. However, sometimes life happens, and you need a repair that’s beyond what any DIY trick can salvage. If you’re experiencing any common issues with your refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, washer, dryer, or any other appliances, take a break and call your local appliance servicer. A qualified professional will be able to tell you if you need a more significant repair, addressing and solving the issue quickly and efficiently.
Need professional help for cleaning and maintenance of your home appliances? Contact S & S Appliance!
Call us at 1-205-426-5468. S & S Appliance services home appliances in Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, Mobile, the Florida Panhandle, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and other surrounding areas. To schedule an appointment, give us a call or schedule an appointment online.