Dishwashers have made household life significantly less stressful for millions of Americans, saving hours that might have been otherwise spent on the tedious task of hand-washing and hand-drying your dishes. The holiday season is upon us, and that means one thing that we all can look forward to: Lots and lots of food. And that means lots and lots of dishes. It would be a huge bummer if your dishwasher called it quits on you during any time of year, but a busted dishwashing appliance can add to the already existing stresses of the holidays. Baking and cooking for friends, family and yourself should be enjoyable, right? By taking the following measures, you can make sure that it stays that way-at least when it comes to getting the dishes done.
Don’t overwork it.
You, like most people, are probably guilty of putting too much into the dishwasher. This is a common practice, but it shouldn’t be. Consistently piling too much into the dishwasher not only puts a strain on its mechanics, but also fails to get your dishes clean. It wastes water and power to rerun an entire load of dishes because they couldn’t adequately be cleaned the first time through, so you’re not really gaining anything by doing this. It is more efficient to hand-wash the remaining dishes.
It is also in bad practice to place heavily soiled dishes into the dishwasher. The dishes will simply not be cleaned if they are washed without having been scraped first. Some dishes, like ones used for cooking, might even need to be washed by hand once before entering the dishwasher. It probably sounds silly to say that you should wash your dishes before washing your dishes, but the presence of excess food particles does no favors in keeping the rest of your dishes, or the dishwasher itself, clean.
Keep things clean.
Regular cleaning of your dishwasher not only helps it to produce better results, but also keeps the appliance functioning at its very best. We recommend two cleaning methods to keep your dishwasher in peak condition:
- Running vinegar in an empty dishwasher. Vinegar is an exceptional cleaning tool that is commonly used in many household cleaning tasks. Run a normal cycle, but with the appliance empty and a cup of white vinegar added to it. This clears away food particles left behind by dirty dishes and keeps things smelling great.
- Beneath the sprayer at the bottom of your dishwasher, there is a (typically) removable piece known as the dishwasher trap. Upon removal of the trap, you will likely see at least some food remnants and other things that you don’t want to keep in there like pet hair and dirt. If the trap isn’t removable, simply use a cloth to clean it.
- Keep the gaskets clean. The gaskets are the seals around the door of the appliance, and they function to keep water inside of the dishwasher rather than on your kitchen floor. A quick once-over with a rag will eliminate the growth of grimy film on the gaskets.
This holiday season, trust your appliances with CS Appliance Service. Since 1983, we have been serving the North Shore and Greater Boston area by repairing their troublesome dishwashers, dryers, refrigerators and more. If you are worried that your dishwasher isn’t running as well as it should be, call CS Appliance Service today at 781-953-9600.