Essential Appliance Maintenance Tips

Appliances are essential. They allow us to clean our clothes, boil rice, bake cookies, and just about everything. It is impossible to live without them. Hence, it is crucial that you look after your appliances to ensure that they last a long time. 

Many of us fear the day when any washing machine parts break down or stops working in the middle of washing clothes. Similarly, you would not want the refrigerator to shut down and your groceries to spoil. The best strategy that you can adopt to avoid such an instance is following basic appliance maintenance tips. It will ensure that you do not encounter a major appliance malfunction. The essential appliance maintenance tips mentioned below will help keep your appliances working.

1. Ensure Your Oven Door Has a Tight Seal
2. Clean or Replace Downdraft Vent Filters or Dirty Range Hood
3. Clean the Refrigerator Coils
4. Change the Refrigerator Water Filter
5. Fix Rusty Dish Rack Tines
6. Inspect the Washing Machine Hoses
7. Clean the Air Conditioner Filter

Ensure Your Oven Door Has a Tight Seal   

One of the most important tips that you need to follow to keep your oven in order is ensuring that the oven door has a tight seal. If your oven does not have a proper seal, it would lose over 20% of its heat. Therefore, you must check the condition of the seal by opening the oven door and locating the fiberglass or rubber gasket next to the door. Feel for any deformed, torn, or broken areas. You can also close the door for seeing if there are any leaks. If there are any leaks, you will need to replace the seal.

Clean or Replace Downdraft Vent Filters or Dirty Range Hood

Another essential appliance maintenance tip that you should consider is cleaning or replacing the downdraft vent filters or dirty range hood. For the cleaning, you can use soapy water to wash the metal-mesh grease filters or place them in the dishwasher. Keep in mind that paper or charcoal filters cannot be washed. Thus, you would need to replace them. 

Clean the Refrigerator Coils

One of the refrigerator parts that usually get clogged due to pet hair, dust, and dirt getting stuck are coils. It restricts airflow and causes the refrigerator to work much harder for remaining cool. You can use a handheld vacuum for cleaning the coils once or twice every year. It will suck up loose particles and keep the refrigerator working at all times. The location of the refrigerator coils varies based on the model. However, you can expect to find it either at the rear of the fridge or behind the kick plate.  

Change the Refrigerator Water Filter

If the water filter is not working efficiently, it would fail to remove impurities and contaminants. This means that you would be exposed to harmful water. The instructions for changing it vary from model to model. However, for a Whirlpool refrigerator water filter, you just have to turn the filter by an inch and it will pop out of place. This simple task should be performed every 3 to 6 months. You can also read more about Benefits of Whirlpool Filters on our blog.

Fix Rusty Dish Rack Tines 

To avoid your dishes and silverware from getting damaged due to the dishwasher racks rusting on the tines, you must fix the rusty dish rack tines. A tine repair kit from KitchenAid dishwasher parts should help solve the problem. To stick the replacement tips, you will also require a sealant. It will help adhere to the tips and prevent rusting. Do leave the sealant to dry for a minimum of 24 hours before you run the dishwasher.

Inspect the Washing Machine Hoses

Leaks in the hose cause most washing machines to flood. To avoid this from happening, you must check the hoses which connect with the back panel of the washing machine to see if they have any weak spots, leaks, or cracks. If there are any deformities, you must get the hose replaced. The least you can do is get the hoses replaced every 5 years. You can also take a look to other common problems with washing machines here. 

Clean the Air Conditioner Filter

The final appliance maintenance tip that you cannot afford to overlook is cleaning the air conditioner filter. The reason behind this is that dirty or clogged filters tend to restrict airflow and reduce the energy efficiency of the appliance. Unkempt filters also reduce the lifespan of the appliance. Therefore, it is in your best interests to clean the filters every 2 to 4 weeks. It is very easy to clean the filters. All you have to do is remove the front panel and wash it thoroughly. Then, you just have to leave it to dry before placing it back. 

If you are using a disposable filter, you can replace it. As for reusable filters, you can remove them from the unit and vacuum them to get rid of dirt as much as possible. 

After you have finished reading our post, you will know the essential appliance maintenance tips that will make your life a whole lot easier. It is common for people to ignore taking care of appliances and not educate themselves on how to keep their appliances in excellent condition. When you follow our tips, you will no longer need to worry about costly repairs. However, if you do require best appliance parts online, you can contact us and we will be happy to help you.