• Your dishwasher is not a disposal; always rinse off solids from your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.

• Used to be, it was advised to run the sink water until it’s super hot before starting the dishwasher. With modern dishwashers and detergents, it is no longer necessary to run the water at the sink, at all; furthermore, pre-heating the water will destroy the cleaning enzymes found in modern detergents.

• If the inside of your dishwasher is beginning to brown and form mineral stains, put Limeaway (available at your grocery store) or Tang Citrus Drink into the tank during the wash cycle. The citric acid from these products will remove the mineral buildup and restore the finish.

• If your dishwasher is developing a film on the inside, put 6-7 drops of good quality, name brand regular liquid detergent (for hand washing dishes) in the bottom and put the machine through a regular cycle. This procedure will wash away soap scum, mineral deposits, and grit. It will also allow the machine to work better. Important note – do not use more than 6-7 drops of detergent or you may have a flood.

• Those coils located at the bottom of your refrigerator? Accumulated dust and dirt makes your fridge work harder to keep cool. Regularly cleaning/dusting those coils keeps your fridge running efficiently.

• If the door is sticking or not closing properly, wipe off the face of the gasket with a wet rag and make sure the interior shelves, drawers and food are not preventing the door from closing from inside.

• Do not pack the freezer to it’s fullest capacity.

• If the unit is not self-defrosting and the temperatures begin to rise, check the frost build up on the inside of the freezer. If it is heavily frosted, manually defrost the freezer by turning it off at the thermostat, unplug from wall and allow 12 hours for the unit to defrost, with both doors open.

• If the unit is not an automatic self defrosting model, defrost the unit once a year or as often as needed. Follow proper defrosting methods (do not use a knife, pick, hammer, chisel, screwdriver, or any sharp object.)

• To ensure the life of your washer, don’t overload it or pack it too full. Overloading your washing machine can wear it out sooner than if you run more measured loads.

• If you are on a well system or have high sediment content in your water, insert screened hose washers in the end of both washing machine fill hoses where they attach to the external supply faucets. These screens will prevent the washing machine fill valve from collecting the debris in its screens and clogging up causing slow fill times.

• Always follow the proper loading procedure and machine operation.

• Never overload the machine.

• Always follow the proper loading procedure and machine operation described in your owner’s manual.

• Never overload the dryer.

• Clean out the lint trap after every single load. Check to make sure there isn’t lint clogging the dryer vent.

• Pay attention to time: if clothes take longer to dry, there might be an issue.

• Never run a microwave without anything in it.

• Always use microwave safe dishes.

• Do not use aluminum foil or anything with metal.

• Wipe the seal off with a wet rag and dry it thoroughly as often as needed.

• Do not twist, bend, or slam the door in any way.

• microwave a cup of water for 1 minute on high. The heated water vapor will soften stuck on crud making it easy to just wipe clean.

• While it may make sense to line the bottom of your oven with foil, in fact, it’s a bad idea. The foil reflects heat and cause the over to get too hot, and breaking. If you prefer to line the bottom of your oven to keep it clean, seek out liners specifically designed and approved for oven use.

• If oven is not heating, make sure the clock is set on the manual and not automatic time bake cycle.

• If your burners are not heating on your electric range, make sure they are sitting straight and in their proper position.

• If the top burners are not lighting, wipe off the burner head with a hot, damp rag and then dry completely.

• Always run cold-warm (**never hot**) water in the sink when you operate the unit.

• Ground orange or lemon peels will remove stale odors from the disposal and put off a fresh scent.