Your Guide to Cleaning Home Appliances
- Refrigerator
- Microwave
- Dishwasher
- Oven
- Air Conditioner
- Washing Machine
Cleaning can be a tedious task. Whether it’s making wood floors shine again, tidying up a bedroom, or vacuuming pet hair from a carpet, cleaning effectively takes time and effort. That’s why we recommend sticking to a routine and using natural cleaning methods, whenever possible.
One of the best ways to thoroughly clean your home is to periodically clean all of your home’s appliances. Find out how to clean home appliances in the kitchen and beyond with this useful (and thorough) guide.
How to Clean Home Appliances
Since there’s more appliances to be found in the kitchen, starting there makes sense. That way, you can start with the room with the greatest number of appliances while your energy is still high, and progressively work towards rooms with few appliances.
While many people turn to common cleaners, these products can use harsh chemicals or dangerous substances to remove dirt and grease. There are many safer options, including the go-to combination of vinegar and baking soda, that can clean just as well.
Also, Fresh Wave’s versatile Laundry Booster is a plant-based, all-purpose natural deodorizer. Wiping down appliances after a deep clean is a healthy choice for eliminating any lingering odors.
Cleaning Kitchen Appliances
Refrigerator
When a refrigerator isn’t cleaned as often or as thoroughly as it should be, spills become a greater issue than just sticky spots on fridge shelves. They can become an issue of food safety.
The key to eliminating and preventing fridge odor is to reach for a natural and safe method.
- First, remove all food items from the fridge before you clean.
- In a small bowl of tepid water, add a tablespoon of dish soap.
- With a paper towel or microfiber cloth, wipe down fridge shelves, the crisper drawer, and condiment caddies in the door.
The next step is to deodorize your fridge with Fresh Wave Odor Removing Laundry Booster.
- Dab a microfiber cloth with the Fresh Wave solution.
- Wipe down the same areas in the fridge where you spot cleaned.
The natural plant oils and extracts will naturally neutralize any lingering odors from spoiled food, spills, and leftovers.
Microwave
Many of the same cleaning principles that apply to wiping residue and stains off of the fridge’s various compartments also apply to the bottom (and sides) of the microwave.
Odor molecules need energy to convert into gas and that energy often comes in the form of heat. When your microwave heats up food, odor molecules convert into their gas form quickly, causing intense smells — good and bad. To give these volatile molecules a chemical structure to bond with, you can always use baking soda or vinegar to neutralize lingering odor after you’ve wiped out the inside of your microwave.
Simply add a healthy amount of baking soda to a small microwave-safe bowl and fill the bowl with water. Run the microwave for up to 5 minutes to create steam. Once time is up, let the steam swirl around inside a bit (about 10 minutes), open up the door, and use a towel or cloth to wipe down the grime and stuck-on food that loosened from the steam and baking soda solution.
Dishwasher
One of our favorite tips for cleaning appliances is to use vinegar —specifically, white distilled vinegar — to deep clean your dishwasher.
- Empty all dishes and silverware from the shelves and compartments.
- Place a dishwasher-safe bowl with white distilled vinegar in the dishwasher’s bottom rack and run it on a cycle of hot or warm water.
The vinegar’s acid will loosen up any food residue, stains, or anything else that might be leftover from a particularly dirty after-dinner cleanup.
If you’re needing more than just cleaning appliance tips and are searching for getting the stink out of your dishwasher, follow up with Fresh Wave Odor Eliminating Spray.
Oven
Like other kitchen appliances, a little bit of Fresh Wave, baking soda, and vinegar all factor into our tips for cleaning the oven. Although some people prefer to use ammonia, cleaning an oven and stove with baking soda also works.
If the baking soda and vinegar combo is used to clean inside the oven, leave the mixture overnight so the chemical reaction can really work. Using the established mixture in a spray bottle method is also used for stovetops, with a wipe down using a warm cloth removing any excess grease or grime.
Cleaning Other Home Appliances
Air Conditioner & Filters
Your indoor/outdoor appliances need some love, too. Think appliances that help with air flow and air quality like A/C units, air purifiers, fans, and others. It’s especially important to regularly clean these appliances to insure their effectiveness and upkeep.
The easiest way to clean an A/C unit is to use water and a washcloth. And always be aware that the unit’s coils can bend easily so they must be cleaned, like all home appliance parts, with care and consideration so as not to damage the product or unit.
Washing Machine
Your washing machine is probably dirtier than you think, so it’s high time to give it a good clean. If you have a top-loading washer and you’re going with the natural route of using vinegar, this should be a breeze.
- First, fill the washing machine drum with the same amount of hot water as you would a large load of clothes.
- Then add a quart of white distilled vinegar and run the washing machine for about a minute.
- Once the water and vinegar are combined, stop the machine and open up the door.
- Let the liquid sit in the drum for one hour.
- Run the washing machine on a full cycle
- Wipe down the insides with a clean cloth
For front-loading washers, a similar process works, too. You can also use Fresh Wave Laundry Booster for added odor elimination. Run an empty load with this powerful plant-based blend of deodorizers. Wipe down the gaskets, seals, and doors with a cloth soaked in Laundry Booster to get rid of lingering mildew odors.
There are many tips for cleaning appliances out there but not as many about removing odors from a washing machine, so apply our easy advice if you ever encounter this issue. If you have a larger problem, like your laundry room smelling like rotten eggs, even after putting appliance cleaning tips into practice, use Fresh Wave to reliably remove stinky smells.
