How to Maintain your New Kitchen Appliances

There’s so much to love about your home, but one of the best things has got to be new kitchen appliances. How can you extend their life expectancy? Keep on reading.

While it’s inevitable that appliances will need to be replaced at some point, you can extend their lives by simply taking care of them.

As the old saying goes, “The kitchen is the heart of the home.” However, like a heart, a kitchen needs proper maintenance. Without care, the shelf life of appliances can severely decline, and the costs of new appliances can add up.

If you maintain your appliances properly, you won’t only help extend their lifespan, you will also improve energy efficiency and cut down on costly repair bills.

So, show your appliances a little cleaning love, and they’ll thank you by looking and performing better.

Refrigerator

The space behind your refrigerator is the dirtiest couple of square feet in your house. It is a meeting place for dust, gunk, and a host of other stuff that’s fallen behind it.

Steps on how to Clean your Refrigerator:

1. Pull out the refrigerator and mop up whatever you find.
2. Vacuum refrigerator coils behind or beneath your fridge. Doing this will put less stress on the fridge’s motor and will prolong its life.
3. Replace loose door gaskets. Check your owner’s manual for replacement part numbers and find new gaskets at home improvement centres or by searching online. You’ll get the added benefit of saving energy with a tighter seal. Monthly, wipe gaskets down with warm, soapy water; rinse and dry.
4. Use Euca Glass All Surface Cleaner & Spot Stain Remover to clean and shine the inside and outside of your fridge. Wipe down shelves and crispers weekly, or whenever you spot a spill.
5. Remove fingerprints on stainless steel exteriors using a damp cloth.

Stovetop and Oven

Most ovens have self-cleaning options. We heartily recommend letting the oven do the work for you. But there are a few spots the self-clean option doesn’t reach, such as the gunk around door hinges and frames, and the crumb-catching space between double ovens. You can wipe them up with Euca Multi Concentrate – Super Strong Multipurpose Cleaner.

Baked on crud comes off with a little baking soda on a sponge, or a spritz of Euca Multi Concentrate Super Strong Multipurpose Cleaner. Just make sure you open a window before you spray, so you don’t choke on fumes. Make it a habit of wiping spills quickly after using the oven, and you may never have to scrub it again.

To clean your stovetop:

1. Fill your sink with hot water and Euca Dish Washing Liquid Concentrate with Lemon Myrtle & Tea Tree oils; soak burners, knobs, and hood vents for a couple of hours; then scrub. Repeat if necessary.
2. Replace stained metal drip plates if they're beyond the help of steel wool.
3. Vacuum crumbs that have fallen in cracks between the stovetop and counter. Use the sofa attachment on your vacuum to get into those cracks.

Dishwasher

You’d think you wouldn’t need to clean your dishwasher because it cleans itself every time you use it. But you should check the drain in the bottom of the machine for debris, and wipe the gaskets around the door to ensure a tight seal.

Once each week, deodorise it with Euca Eucalyptus Dishwashing Powder Concentrate, just add half a cap (20gm) or one 20gm cap full to your machine’s powder detergent dispenser  and running it, empty, for a full cycle.

Coffee Maker

Because they’re used daily, coffee makers are especially prone to germs and can host mold and other microscopic pests if not cleaned properly.

After sipping your morning cup of joe, pour out any leftovers and rinse out the pot. Leaving leftover coffee in the open invites bacteria to come in, especially over several days. A more thorough wash of removable parts is recommended, especially since loose coffee grounds can remain after a simple rinse.

 An alternative cleaning method is to mix vinegar and water while brewing:

1. Mix one part white vinegar to two parts water, then pour the mixture into the water tank of the coffee maker
2. Place a filter in the basket and turn the coffee maker on.
3. Run at least 2-3 more pots of plain water to flush the vinegar out of the coffee maker.

Much like a human heart, you need to take care of the kitchen and its appliances to ensure a safe and clean space for living. For more cleaning tips and products, visit us our website.