Live in an Efficient, Safe Home

No one likes to deal with appliance inefficiencies and repairs.  Appliances were created to help make your life easier, not harder.  Going without modern day technologies can cause a strain on your life.  Appliance issues cannot be eliminated, but a little maintenance and know-how can increase the span between problems and reduce amount of hassle and time spent.  Following is a broad list of ways to help your home run at it’s peak performance and provide you an efficient, safe home.

Garbage disposals can be a very useful and fast way of getting rid of waste without adding to the garbage pile. Disposals can also cause an array of problems, from creating unwanted smells, to backing up, and not working all together.  A few tried and true household tips can help you rectify many of these common problems.  To fix smell issues, occasionally grind zesty fruit peels, such as those from oranges, limes, and lemons.  To keep blades sharp, try periodically grinding ice cubes down the disposal.  If you simply have some drainage and/or cleaning issues, mix and pour ½ cup of baking soda and ½ cup white vinegar down the drain.  Rinse with hot water.  If disposal stops working all together, before calling plumber or maintenance, try and push the reset button on the base of unit and make sure unit is plugged into outlet.

Washing clothes is necessary and time consuming. Make sure you’re making the most of your precious time by maintaining your washer and dryer units.  Your clothes can be fresh and clean and not smelly, moist, and dirty if your washer and dryer are running efficiently.  Rattling and shaking of units can both be annoying and cause washer to not clean as well.  Make sure your units are level to reduce this noise and if not, just prop up unit and twist unit legs to adjust.  Poor drying and fire hazards are caused by an accumulation of lint and debris.  Make sure to consistently clean and remove lint from lint trap and occasionally disconnect exhaust pipe and vacuum out any lint and debris.  Also do this to the air vent to the outside of home.  Leave all doors open to reduce amount of moisture.  This will help with mold and mildew forming and unwanted smells.  Overloading your units can be appealing for time saving purposes but puts extra stress on motor and causes more energy to be used and units to perform under peak output levels.

Everyone at some point has dealt with a drain that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to, and that’s drain.  Its gross and causes molds and mildews that make your place of cleaning a dirty place.  There are, of course, several chemicals and cleaners you can pour down your drains, but even that sometimes is not enough and chemicals can be hazardous.  If large blockages are occurring you probably have a large buildup of hair and debris just inside the pipes.  You can easily remove drain covers and build a small hook by bending a coat hanger straight with a small hook on the end.  Push hook as far down drain pipe as possible and try and pull up and out as much debris as you can.  Run hot water down drain to fully clean excess debris down pipes.  For added blockage and cleanliness help, try and mix and pour ½ cup baking soda and ½ cup vinegar down drain.  Follow this by rinsing with hot water.  Before calling plumber or maintenance man you can even try plunging or vacuuming out excess debris.  Hopefully this helps you with drainage problems.

Appliances are mostly based in kitchens and bathrooms and/or utilize water in their workings.  Mold and mildew are mostly caused by excess and stagnant moisture and most usually occurring in bathrooms and kitchens.  Mold and mildew is very dangerous and can cause both short and long-term health issues of all kinds.  Getting sick and respiratory problems are most common and some can even get fungal infections.  “Molds can gradually destroy the things they grow on,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says, “You can prevent damage to your home and furnishings, save money and avoid potential health problems by controlling moisture and eliminating mold growth.”  Try and identify water and moisture issue areas in your home and try and reduce water buildup.  Bathrooms can be particularly troublesome.  Ceiling fans and bathroom windows can greatly reduce mold issues.  Try and keep doors open, fans running, and windows open during and after bathroom usage, especially after hot showers.  Shower grout and corners can be another trouble area and can be helped by squeegeeing walls and wiping moisture.  If mildew and mold becomes noticeable try immediately scrubbing with bleach water.  Use gloves and masks while doing this.  Do not paint over mildew on walls, as spots will just get bigger and cause paint to peel off.  If mold persists, call professional as mold can be very dangerous to you and your families health.

We hope these tips and solutions can help you run a more efficient home and maximize your benefits of modern home technologies.