Top 10 Appliance Tips for Your Seattle – Tacoma Thanksgiving Dinner from A Puget Sound Appliance Repair Expert

1. Clean the Older Items Out of Your Fridge

Your refrigerator is going to be packed to the gills before, during, and after the big meal. Before you stock up on all your Thanksgiving groceries, toss out your older and expired food items. Anything that you can’t remember purchasing (such as older condiments etc.) can be tossed to make room for all of the extra food you’ll need to store prior to the meal, and for leftovers after it.

2. Clean the Old Ice Out of Your Ice-Machine

In addition to cleaning all the old stinky ice out of your icemaker, turn up the icemaker’s settings to make fresh, new ice more frequently. This will produce more ice than usual. This way, you’ll avoid sending a friend or family member out for a bag of ice and there will be plenty leftover to keep your guest’s drinks refreshed.

3. Check Your Fridge’s Water Filter

Do you remember the last time you changed the water filter in your fridge? If not, it’s probably time to replace it. Manufacturers recommend changing it every six months. Replacing the filter will avoid funny tasting water and ice on the big day as well as a decrease in your fridge’s water flow.

4. Clean Your Fridge’s Coils

Manufacturers recommend cleaning the coils (located in the back of the fridge) every six months. Unplug your fridge and take ten minutes to dust or lightly vacuum the coils. This will make sure your refrigerator is working at an optimal efficiency level.

5. Clean & Disinfect Your Kitchen Sink

Cooking meat products, especially turkey can lead to salmonella and/or e.coli poisoning. This is the last thing you want your guests to remember you by! In fact, many studies have shown that the typical kithcen sink has more harmful bacteria than the standard toilet bowl. Yuck! Now that you’ve been made aware of this, disinfect your sink! Throw away any old sponges and bleach any older rags and cloths in hot water. Also take one part rubbing alcohol to one part water, or bleach and water, and let the solution run down the drain.

6. Test the Overall Temperature of Your Oven

You don’t need any special tools or equipment to do this. Simply buy a prepackaged cake from the store, and bake it according to the directions. After the allotted time, if the cake is undercooked or burned, your oven’s temperature settings are off.

7. DO NOT Self-clean Your Oven!

This is the reason we get so many calls over the Thanksgiving holiday. Most of our clients have never used the self-cleaning cycle on their oven and it can break as a result! By all means, use the self-cleaning cycle on a cool day where you aren’t expecting company, but do not run it just before the big dinner.

If you haven’t had the chance to use the self-clean setting on your oven in October, we suggest that you use a less caustic, steam cleaning measure: Put an oven safe bowl of white vinegar in and set your oven at 270F. When the preheat sensor goes off, turn off your oven and keep it closed overnight. The next day, open your oven door and wipe off any grease and food residue with a sponge. No elbow grease is needed, and you don’t run the risk of your oven breaking.

8. Do Self-Clean the Washing Machine

If your washer has a self-clean cycle, run it before your guests arrive. If not, run the empty load on HOT with either 2 cups of bleach or vinegar, add ½ cup of detergent halfway through the cycle, remove stains with a sponge, and voila – your washer has been deep cleaned!

9. Check the Hoses on Your Washer

The most common source of a leak in your washer is the hoses, as they can split, crack, or tear over time. Gently pull your washer away from the wall and check the hoses in the back for any tears, cracks, or loose fittings. This will avoid a disastrous flood over the big weekend.