Everyone purchases appliances hoping that they will last long. However, it’s important to take care of your appliance if you want this dream to come true. By keeping your appliances in good condition, you reduce their energy consumption and reduce the possibilities for them to break down.
Today, we have numerous techniques that you can apply to extend the lifespan of your appliance’s lifetime. Most of these techniques will help you with the costs of repairing or replacing a broken appliance. With that said, the following are tips that will help you to extend the lifespan of your appliances.
Clean your appliances and store them out of harm’s way
Cleaning your appliances is the first step towards extending their lifespan. With time, grease, dust, stains can affect the effectiveness of your appliances, including your fridge, oven, microwave, and food processor, among others.
Therefore, it’s important to clean the appliances regularly. Once you clean them, ensure that you keep them in a safe place, especially the smaller ones like a toaster, food processor, blender, coffee maker, and electric kettle.
Refrigerator
One of the best ways to keep your fridge in good condition is by cleaning the coils. Most people who own refrigerators don’t know where the coils are located. You don’t need to fret at all if you are one of these people. Just look at the back of your fridge or the bottom front area.
These coils resemble a radiator—and that’s what you should clean. Use a brush and vacuum cleaner to remove all the dust that might be covering these coils. Doing so ensures that your fridge doesn’t overwork to stay cool. Also, ensure that you keep the fridge and freezer clean and well organized. Lastly ensure that you clean the gaskets, and keep them in a good condition.
Dishwasher
Just like your fridge, a defective gasket can affect the efficiency of your dishwasher. Cracks, dirt, and grease buildup on the seal can make your dishwasher start leaking. Therefore, you should always clean it with water and soap to keep it in good condition.
Moreover, you should always exercise extra caution when loading the dishwasher to avoid damaging the racks. Typically, the racks come coated with vinyl material, and it can be damaged in case you are not careful. If you didn’t know, dishwasher racks are costly to replace. In fact, you’d rather buy a new dishwasher than replacing the racks. Thus, it’s imperative to keep them in good condition if you want your dishwasher to serve you for long.
Also, ensure that you pre-wash dirty plates and dishes before loading them into the dishwasher. Pre-washing them will make the work easier for the dishwasher, and will also protect your dishwasher from damages.
Keep your washing machine and dryer level
Appliances that come fitted with moving parts tend to wear out quickly. Both washing machines and dryers have a drum, as well as an internal motor. These two parts spend most of their lifetime in motion—and this increases their possibilities of wear and tear.
Thus, to ensure that these two appliances last longer, keep them in level. If possible, use a level tool to check whether they are in level. You can then adjust their legs to ensure that the machine stays level. This, in turn, will lead to improved performance, as well as reduced chances of breakdowns.
Also, it’s important to ensure that you improve the air circulation of your dryer. To do this, you will need to clean the lint screen after every load. Failing to do that can cause the vent to be clogged, and this can cause your dryer to overwork or breakdown frequently. Experts from Hartman’s Appliance Repair in Tampa say that clogged vents are potential fire hazards. Lastly, ensure that you clean the dryer’s exhaust system annually.
Don’t use firm foodstuffs on your blender or food processor
Blenders and food processes are essential kitchen tools, as they speed up most of the tasks in our kitchens. However, you should avoid throwing hard or firm ingredients like nuts and coffee beans in your food processor.
Although your blender or food processor will handle these items, they can easily damage the blades on these appliances. There are certain times when you will need to blend such items. So, you should make sure that you cut them into smaller pieces before loading them into the blender. If that’s not the case, you can just get a food processor intended to process such items.
Bottom Line
You should note that your appliances will break down at one point—even when you keep them in good condition. While you might be tempted to discard your appliances once they break down and replace them with new ones, always check whether they can be repaired before discarding them.
