Get your appliances ready for the festive season

If you are hosting holiday celebrations this year, now is a good time to check that your kitchen appliances are working at their best. We’ve compiled some handy tips to ensure your appliances are cleaned and prepped, ready to tackle Christmas Day.

Refrigerator

Give your fridge a good clean

Give your fridge a really thorough clean before stocking up with food and wine.

• Ditch forgotten leftovers and items past the expiry date. Empty your fridge. Remove and hand-wash refrigerator shelves, wire racks and drawers in hot water and detergent.  Tackle stubborn food spills with a non-abrasive scrubber. Finally, spray and wipe the interior of your fridge with a gentle and non-toxic All Purpose Cleaner. If you have any shelves or drawers that are damaged or need replacing, easily get a replacement here
• To deodorise your fridge, fill an open container with dry baking soda and leave on the bottom shelf. This will help to absorb any odours.
• Clean your condenser coils (located underneath or behind your refrigerator). Coils that are clogged with debris and dust can impact the performance and life span of your fridge. To clean your coils, first unplug the fridge from the power source. Using a vacuum with a narrow attachment, vacuum any dust from around the coils.
• Remove fingerprints, smears and spots on your stainless steel fridge (and all stainless steel appliances) with Aktivo Stainless Steel Polish. This will leave your stainless-steel appliances look sparkling and new and the transparent film will help protect marks reappearing.

Check your fridge door seal

• The seal (also called a gasket) around your refrigerator or freezer door seals cold air. This ensures your food stays fresh and maintains safe temperatures. Be sure to wipe down the seal regularly with warm soapy water and a sponge (you can also use an old toothbrush to give it a light scrub). Then wipe down with a damp cloth.
• Regularly check your seal for any signs of wear and tear or damage. Replacing a door seal is simple. You can find the right fridge door seal for your fridge here.

Replace your fridge water filter

Changing your water filter regularly reduces common contaminants like iron, particulates, lead, mercury and asbestos in your drinking water and ice cubes. You will notice a significant difference in taste and smell. If you haven’t regularly replaced your fridge water filter every 6 months, now is a good time to get your replacement. Statewide offer genuine LG fridge water filters and fridge water filters for all other leading brands that are NSF certified. Added bonus, they are super easy to replace. Check out our handy guides to replacing your LG fridge water filter and Samsung fridge water filter.

Dishwasher

As guests gather and celebrations centre around food and drink, your dishwasher is likely to get a good workout! For sparkling clean dishes and glassware, you need to give some extra care and attention to your dishwasher.

• First, check your dishwasher spray arms can spin easily, without obstruction. Sometimes they become clogged with food debris. Simply remove them and give them a good clean with hot, soapy water and a light scrub with an old toothbrush. You may need a wire or pipe cleaner to release any debris from the spray arm holes..
• Give your filter a good clean. First, remove from your dishwasher (usually located below the racks and generally attached with a twist cap). Then, rinse thoroughly under hot water. Use a bristled brush to remove trapped debris.
• Last but not least, give your dishwasher a deep clean. Run a hot cycle with 2 cups of white vinegar added to your dishwasher.
• If bad smells are still a problem, you may need to descale your dishwasher. It’s a great way to deodorise and clean your appliance! We recommend Aktivo Dishwashing + Washing Machine Descaler to effectively remove limescale and grime.

Check for signs of wear and tear

Give your dishwasher door seal a good inspection and look out for wear and tear. If you see signs of damage or notice water leaking from your dishwasher, you can easily replace your dishwasher seal with our handy guide.

Oven

Check the heating element

A perfectly roasted turkey or your favourite festive food requires a well- maintained oven. If you are noticing that your food is taking a little longer to cook or that it is cooking unevenly, it could be a sign that some heating elements in your oven may need to be replaced. Replacing your oven element is easy and takes a few simple steps. You can find replacement oven elements at Statewide

Is your oven globe working?

A well-lit oven means less time opening the oven door to check if your food is ready (which lets out the heat). If your globe is blown, don’t worry, changing your globe is a quick and easy task. The first step is to purchase your replacement oven globe. Then, just follow our guide to replace your oven globe.

Give your oven a thorough clean

To lift away grease, grime, fat and burnt food, use an effective non-caustic and low fuming formulation. We recommend Aktivo Easy Off Oven & BBQ Cleaner. Just spray, wait and wipe. The best part? This high performing cleaner can be used on a range of appliances. Try it on your oven, oven doors, microwave, cooktop or grill.

Cooktop

Clean as you go

As with all appliances, wiping up spills and cleaning as you go will keep it clean. Clean up any Christmas day disasters with a natural solution. Wipe down cooktop with natural vinegar and water spray and damp cloth. Alternatively use your All Purpose Cleaner – safe to use on all your kitchen appliances.

In the lead up to Christmas you may want to tackle a deeper clean to rid your cooktop parts of unsightly burnt food and baked on mess. For glass cooktops, we recommend Aktivo Glass & Ceramic Cooktop cleaner. It helps to remove baked on grease and grime, leaving a streak free finish with no powdery residue. Best of all, it’s non-toxic and non-scratch.

For gas cooktops, you will want to clean greasy gas burner grates and clogged gas ports. Our how-to guide offers natural solutions for a sparkling clean gas stove burner.

Rangehood

Often neglected, you will probably find that your rangehood has built up dirt, grease and grime.

A well maintained rangehood is essential, as it helps to remove odours and eliminates excess steam when cooking.  Wipe away grease and splatters around your rangehood straight after cooking with warm soapy water and a sponge. To get your rangehood Christmas ready, give your filters a thorough clean. You can soak them in hot soapy water and giving them a good scrub. For greater ease, pop them in your dishwasher on a hot cycle. This will remove light grease and prevent build up. Check out our easy tips to clean your rangehood filters.

Over time, your filters may need replacing. If you are noticing wear and tear, you can buy your replacement filters at Statewide.

Microwave

A clean microwave is a must. Take out the microwaves rotating tray and wash in warm soapy water. Wipe down the microwave’s interior with a soft cloth and a little soapy water.

Follow this handy tip from Good Housekeeping – combine 1 cup of water with a few slices of lemon and put in a microwave safe bowl. Place inside the microwave, then turn on high until the window gets steamy and your mixture boils. Let cool for a few minutes. Remove the bowl and wipe clean.

Check your microwave seal for any signs of wear and tear or damage. You can easily replace a faulty seal. You can find the right replacement seal for your microwave here.

BBQ

Planning the Great Aussie BBQ this Christmas? Give your BBQ some attention for the perfect grilling on Christmas day. First step is to make sure you’ve turned the nozzle of your gas bottle to off. Check to make sure there are no leaks or cracks in the gas hose. Replace if required.

Start my removing your drip tray and using a BBQ scraper, scrape away grease and fat.  Next tackle the hotplates and grills. Scrape away excess grease and then place in a hot bucket of soapy water. Leave to soak before giving them a good scrub. Clean excess build up from the rest of your BBQ with Aktivo Easy Off Oven and BBQ Cleaner. Line your drip trays with aluminum foil. Lastly, give your clean and dry hotplates and grills a light spray of cooking oil. Your BBQ is now ready to go.

Don’t forget your air conditioner!

Australian summers are often scorching hot. Make sure your air conditioning is functioning at its best so that you are cool and comfortable on Christmas Day.

Clean your filters

As a precautionary safety measure, turn off the electricity supply before you start cleaning. Remove your filters from their housing. Using a vacuum cleaner, remove excess dust, grime and debris from your filters. For hard to get places, consider a Quick Clean Kit. This effective special cleaning adaptor is easy to use. It ensures efficient dust free operation of your air conditioner. Once excess is vacuumed, simply wash thoroughly in warm soapy water and a soft bristled brush. Let them dry completely before replacing.   

Last but not least, if your air conditioner filter is worn and damaged, organise a replacement air conditioning filter from Statewide.

Ready for Chistmas

A little elbow grease and prep work now, will keep your appliances performing at their best on Christmas Day. Now time to kick back and relax. You deserve it!

Need replacement spare parts or advice? We love to help! Our team has been providing expert guidance and advice for over 35 years. Give us a call on 1800 005 220 or visit us www.statewideapp.com.au.