Got a Holiday Checklist? Include These Appliance Maintenance Tips

The most wonderful time of the year is quickly approaching, and with this festive time comes many traditions. Some of these nostalgic traditions include roasting the perfect turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, lighting the house with twinkling lights, baking dozens of holiday cookies, flipping the thermostat from cold to heat for the first time, and even spending a few extra minutes warming up in a hot shower each morning. 

However, these traditions will not work out too well if you don’t have properly working appliances. In a survey of more than 381,000 appliances, Consumer Reports calculated that 6 percent of respondents reported problems with cooking elements not lighting or heating up in the way that they should, while 5 percent of people reported refrigerators that didn’t cool enough to keep their food lasting as long as it should. An even larger 11 percent of people said their dishwashers no longer worked properly. 

Don’t let household dilemmas ruin your festivities. Follow these three appliance maintenance tips to help ensure a truly magical season for you and your loved ones. 

Plan a Cooking Test Run

If some of your kitchen appliances haven’t been put to good use in a while, or even if they have, now is the perfect time to test everything out before the holidays. A couple of weeks before your holiday meal, turn the oven on to cook some chicken or make a batch of brownies. Then, test out the dishwasher by loading it up with your dirty dishes and making sure everything comes out clean. If there happen to be any problems with these major appliances, you’ll know far enough in advance that you can schedule a time for the appliances to be repaired before you have to start preparing for your holiday dinner. 

Help Prevent Breakdowns by Deep Cleaning

Just before the holidays begin is a very common time for people to deep clean their homes. Before you grab those cleaning supplies, consider giving your most-used appliances some detailed attention. Help keep your fridge working properly by pulling it away from the wall and cleaning out the dust from the mechanical coils . Deep clean your oven and stove top, making sure all the heating elements or gas burners heat and ignite fully. In addition, make sure to clean your dishwasher by setting a single dishwasher-safe cup of white vinegar on the top rack and running a full cycle. These extra steps will help ensure a less stressful and more joyous holiday season.

Reach Out to Our Maintenance Crew

At Washington Place, we want you to have a magical, memory-filled holiday season. This can be tough when you are dealing with broken appliances preventing your traditions from being fulfilled. 

To help ensure that your holidays are filled with seasonal magic, our on-site management and 24-hour maintenance teams are ready to help if you are having any sort of problems with your appliances. If you have discovered that your dishwasher or garbage disposal has quit working, simply visit Washington Place’s Resident Portal and submit a work order. Our team will schedule a time for the repair, getting you back on track to holiday happiness. 

Alleviate the additional stress a broken appliance can cause this holiday season by spending some extra time following our appliance maintenance tips. Be sure to clean and test out those kitchen appliances and reach out to our maintenance team as soon as repairs are needed. The entire staff here at Washington Place sincerely wants your holiday wishes to come true this year!