Spring Cleaning for Your Appliances

Taking care of your appliances

Four Appliance Tips to Keep your Appliances Fit

Clean your dryer duct. There's a reason why this is the first tip. Supposedly, the number one cause of house fires is clogged dryer vents. The lint trap on your dryer should be cleaned after each use, but the external vent hose and in-wall vent should be checked annually, and professionally cleaned if necessary. If your clothes are taking longer and longer to dry, or if your clothes come out of the dryer and/or the dryer cabinet gets very hot, those are good signs that your vent is clogged. In some cases, with short direct vents you can clean them yourself. Otherwise, you may need to have them cleaned professionally.
Change your refrigerator water filter. This one you can do yourself. If it hasn't been done in the past year, you should definitely replace it. Otherwise, check the use and care manual.
Clean your oven (if it is dirty). There are now a lot of different oven cleaning systems, such as Aqualift®, steam clean, and the familiar pyrolytic self-clean systems. Depending on your oven brand and type your cleaning system may vary. If all your oven needs is to be wiped down with hot soapy water, then you're good to go. Otherwise, use the cleaning system provided for your specific oven.
Check your washer fill hoses. Make sure that there are no leaks, and no cracks or split hoses. If the hoses are old or brittle, they should also be replaced. You really don't want a flooded laundry room, so better safe than sorry.

If these are just common sense, and you take care of them on a regular basis, then good for you, but most of us need to be reminded, and Spring Cleaning time is a great opportunity to handle this maintenance.

Remember that when it's time to replace your appliances, Universal Appliance and Kitchen Center is the place to go. They have great selection and availability as well as the best prices. Call or visit the professionals at UAKC today.