Protect your investment and avoid surprise repair bills. Here’s why routine maintenance is the smartest way to keep your appliances happy and healthy.

Your appliances are the heart of your home, working tirelessly day in and day out. From keeping your food fresh to making sure your clothes come out clean and dry, these machines are essential to your everyday routine. But just like any long-term relationship, they need care and attention to stay in top shape. Regular maintenance is the key to ensuring your appliances stay happy, healthy, and running smoothly for years to come.

The Benefits of Routine Maintenance

Neglecting maintenance can lead to breakdowns, costly repairs, and even the premature replacement of expensive appliances. Here are five reasons why giving your appliances a little TLC is the smartest investment you can make:

Extend Their Lifespan – Regular check ups can help keep small issues from turning into major failures. This allows your appliances to continue running efficiently for years.

Save Money on Repairs – catching problems while they're small means you avoid hefty repair bills, or having to do a full replacement.

Improve Energy Efficiency – appliances that are well cared for use less energy which keeps your utility bills low.

Ensure Safety – Appliances that are faulty pose serious risks. Dangers can range from electrical fires to gas leaks to flooding. Regular inspections help keep your home safe.

Prevent Surprise Breakdowns – None of us want to deal with a broken refrigerator in the middle of summer or a washer that won't drain in winter. Scheduled maintenance keep things running smoothly year-round.

What Regular Maintenance Looks Like

Many homeowners, prior to having something break for the first time, think that maintenance and repair are the same thing. In fact there's a key difference between the two. Maintenance is about preventing problems. Like regular talking to a partner to avoid a fight, you check in and clean to keep your appliances running smoothly. Repairs are after something has broken. Or to continue our previous analogy after you've already had a major fight. By staying on top of maintenance, you can avoid expensive repairs and keep your relationship running strong for years to come.

Every appliance in your home has specific maintenance needs. A professional service check can ensure that everything stays in top condition. Here are a few things that a maintenance visit might include:

Refrigerator Love

Give your refrigerator some love by doing these three tasks.

Clean the condenser coils to ensure efficient cooling. Getting clogged with dust is all too easy given most refrigerators are pressed close to a wall.

Check and replace water and air filters as needed. (We suggest every 4-6 months for the water filter and at least once a year for the air filters.)

Inspect door seals to prevent cold air leaks. This one should be on your quarterly list, this way your food stays fresh for longer.

Dishwasher Care

Given many of us use our dishwasher on a daily basis, they need regular love. These three tasks can be done once a month to keep it in top shape.

Clean filters and spray arms for optimal performance. Using a diluted solution of vinegar with a soft toothbrush, helps to keep it clean.

Check seals and drainage to prevent leaks.

Run a deep-cleaning cycle to eliminate buildup.

Laundry Room TLC

Your washer and dryer both need tlc on a regular basis, to keep them functioning and to keep your home safe.

Inspect washing machine hoses for leaks or damage.

Clean dryer vents to prevent fire hazards.

Ensure proper drainage and spin cycle efficiency.

Oven & Stove Check-Up

These three tasks are easy to do and give your range some much-needed love.

Test temperature accuracy for even cooking. A digital thermometer is the best way to handle this one, but a technician can help if you don’t have one.

Inspect your gas lines and igniters for safety.

Ensure that the fans and door seals are working properly.

Make Maintenance a Habit

The best way to avoid major appliance troubles is to schedule routine maintenance. While every six months is great, a simple annual check-up can make all the difference in keeping your appliances running smoothly. Whether it’s your refrigerator, oven, dishwasher, or dryer, showing your appliances a little love today means fewer headaches tomorrow.

At Appliance Rescue Service, our skilled technicians are ready to help you protect your investment. Give us a call to schedule your maintenance check and keep your home running effortlessly. We’ll work with you to find a date and time that fit your schedule best. After all, a happy appliance means a happy home.

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Additional Reading
Don't Let Your Dryer Become a Fire Hazard

Stay Cozy This Winter: Key Chores for Your Home

Fact Check: Common Appliance Maintenance Beliefs Debunked

Expert Advice on Maintaining Your Washing Machine

Maintaining your washing machine is essential for ensuring it enjoys a long and productive life. While it’s common knowledge not to wash flammable substances or oils, there are lesser-known tips that can make a big difference. For instance, did you know that dishwashing soap, although excellent at stain removal, needs to be rinsed out by hand and isn’t a substitute for laundry detergent? These nuances often get overlooked, but understanding them can significantly impact the lifespan of your washing machine. Let's explore how your habits can directly affect the health and longevity of this indispensable household appliance.

Load Sizes Directly Impact Machine Health

At its most basic, a washing machine is a motor that turns a drum filled with water to agitate your clothes and then rinse them. That motor can die more quickly if it is used to the maximum consistently. Being able to identify the different sizes of loads appropriately and vary them is far better than constantly pushing for the maximum load size.

Small - this is approximately 1/4 of the size of your washers drum. Typically this is going to be a few small items like t-shirts or a week’s worth of socks and underwear. Or you might do one large item like a jacket or a blanket.

Medium - this should be, half the drum. This would fit maybe a week's worth of summer clothing for one person.

Large - this is 3/4 of the drum and is capable of fitting multiple bedding sets or a fair bit of clothing.

Extra Large - if you're washing machine is completely full then you are running an extra large load.

However large you choose to have a load, ensure that it is properly balanced, as that is also going to play a significant role. If the load is not properly balanced, the machine is undergoing more wear and tear as different parts of the drum or pushed down or up. Additionally, an imbalanced load can result and often does result in the machine vibrating, shaking or even walking.

How To Clean Your Washing Machine

Like many tasks, cleaning your washing machine is best done in smaller stages. Rather than cleaning everything once a month you can take 5 minutes here or there and knock out one part of it. This is the exterior, the drum, the detergent drawer, and any of the filters that your machine might have.

When it comes to the interior, making it a regular practice will affect not only the life of your washing machine but also the life of your clothes. Having dirt and detergent buildup in the drum will lead to poor washing results and even the machine malfunctioning. Worse is when water remains in the drum after running a load. If that's allowed, you can end up with mold, and at that point, you need to call in a professional.

Regularly Maintaining The Outside Of Your Washer Is Just As Important

You might notice that we didn't explain much about cleaning the exterior of your washing machine. That's because cleaning the exterior is a simple task. On the other hand, carefully going over the exterior to check for issues is its own kettle of fish. You need to check the hoses, connections, and the power line. The hoses need to be gone over to make sure there aren't any cracks or swelling, or kinks. If they start showing signs of wear or damage then you need to replace them before they lead to leaks. The connections also have to be carefully checked for any cracks or leaks. It only takes a minute or two to go over these but you can prevent major problems by doing it.

Anticipating And Replacing Failing Parts When Possible And Calling A Professional When Not

Many of the issues that you can run into with your washing machine can actually be anticipated or discovered long before they become a full problem by paying attention. By doing regular checks, you will notice when things aren't working the way that they're supposed to.

Unusual noises—If your washing machine starts grinding or banging not just once when you have something heavy in the load but all the time, regardless of what you have, it can be a sign of a worn-out belt, damaged bearings, or a problem with the drum.

Water leaks - A water leak means you must look closely at the hoses, the connections, and the gaskets. Any of these could be misaligned

Or deteriorating.

Excessive vibration—A washing machine is going to vibrate, due to its nature. Excessive vibration, though, such that the machine is walking or vibrating the whole room, is concerning. This means either that you have a worn-out suspension or that the load is imbalanced.

Unresponsive control panel - If your control panel is unresponsive or is flashing or is showing error codes all of these are signs that there is an issue with the electronics of the washer.

Incomplete cycles—Incomplete cycles can occur due to a loss of power from a black or brownout, but they can also be a sign that there is a short within the machine. Once you've ruled out loss of power, it's time to consider that there is an issue with different components of the washer.

Subpar cleaning - The entire point of the washing machine is to wash your clothing properly. So if it's not doing this, we question why. The easiest answer, and one none of us likes, is that it's user error. Did you treat the clothes or stains before running the load? Did you choose the right detergent and wash settings? If the answer to both of those is yes, then we will look at the machine. Human error has been ruled out, it could be an issue with the water levels within the machine or the drum.

Now, you can see how regular maintenance is important for the health and longevity of your washing machine. The great news is that you can treat some of these problems yourself. Replacing a hose or a connection, re-leveling your washer, or rebalancing a load are all things you can do with a little bit of googling. Then, it's just a quick trip to the hardware store and a few minutes of your time to get the job done and taken care of.

But when it comes to things like replacing electronics or fixing issues with the bearings or the drum, that's when a professional is necessary. You might also consider calling a professional if you've tried fixing an issue multiple times, but it hasn't solved it. Or if you're having major or consistent leaks. You don't want to guess and test in those situations because it can cause damage to the rest of your home. These are all times when it's important to get a professional in so that you can get your home running smoothly again. That right there is the key motto for Appliance Rescue Service: getting your home functioning and running smoothly again. Whether it's a major problem like your control panel not working or you want to get ahead and schedule regular maintenance, not just for your washer but for all of your major appliances, we are here for you. If you live between Frisco and Dallas or Allen and McKinney, we want to work with you to help get your home back on track.

You can contact us via our website or by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055). We will work with you to set up a date and time that works with your schedule and find the best time to send our expert technicians.

Love at First Service: Why Regular Maintenance is the Key to Happy Appliances