Home Maintenance For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by Carey, James

  Always wear rubber gloves, protect your eyes with glasses or goggles, and have plenty of ventilation when using any type of cleaner — whether store-bought or homemade. Even though our homemade cleaning solutions are made with natural products, they still contain mild acids that can sting and burn your eyes and skin. Commercial products can be even more dangerous and highly volatile due to caustic components and chemical ingredients that can sting, burn, and give off vapors.

  The owner’s manuals for your major appliances are filled with valuable information for day-to-day operation and preventive maintenance. If you can’t locate a manual, contact the manufacturer and ask the customer-service department to send you one. (Some manufacturers allow you to download product manuals from their Web sites.) After you assemble a full set of manuals for every major appliance in your home, keep them in a safe place for easy reference. They’ll also be invaluable to someone else who may purchase your home somewhere down the line.

  Gas appliances

  Natural gas has no odor itself. A heavy smell is added to the gas for one purpose: to make it easy to detect even the smallest gas leak. If you smell gas, move quickly: Open all the doors and windows, and leave immediately. If the range shut-off valve isn’t within easy reach, turn off the main shut-off valve at your gas meter. (See Chapter 16 for information on how to turn off the main shut-off valve at your gas meter.)

  Don’t use the phone or flip a light switch. Even the tiniest spark can ignite a massive explosion. From a neighbor’s home, call the gas company and the fire department.

  Electric appliances

  With electricity, the major danger is electric shock. (Duh!) If you ever hear a funny zzzzzap! sound, or a weird pwok!, followed by a burnt, ozone smell, you’ve got a problem. Something inside your appliance is sparking or arcing (electrical shorting). Unplug the appliance immediately and call a repairman.

  At this point, anything you do will be dangerous, so stop and call a professional.

  Caring for the Cooktop

  Cooking can be messy. Splatters, drips, boil-overs, and spills happen. And as a result, the cooktops in many homes (including yours?) have burnt-on food, hardened mystery globs, and a few thoroughly blackened rigatoni under the burners. In this section, we give you detailed information on cleaning and maintaining your cooktop.

  Cleaning up the cooking crud

  For day-to-day surface cleaning of the range or cooktop, a wet, wrung-out cloth or sponge will do the job — if you wipe up spills immediately after the meal. If you don’t get to a spill right away, a general, all-purpose cleaner, like our All-Purpose, Handy-Dandy Cleaner (see Chapter 20), will cut through the crud. For tougher cooked-on spills, you need a cleanser with a little more oomph, like our DIY Cleanser Scrub (see Chapter 20) or a commercial cleaner that cuts through grease. Let the cleaners sit for a while to soften those really tough stains and hardened spills.

  No matter how burnt on, dried up, or crusty your cooking crud gets, never, ever, ever use an abrasive cleaner. You’ll scratch the glossy surface, and it’ll look lousy forever.

  When food spills occur, immediately sprinkle them with table salt, which absorbs the moisture and makes them easy to clean up later when the stove top cools.

  Whatever cleaner you use, do a thorough job. Look for nooks and crannies where crud and crumbs gather. Make sure you remove that grease film from all glossy or shiny surfaces. (You can use full-strength white vinegar or lemon juice for that.) Remember to wipe off the burner elements (when cool) and the grates. Heck, put the grates in the dishwasher every now and then. And don’t forget the knobs! Pull them off and wash them in warm, soapy water. Air-dry the knobs thoroughly and completely before replacing them. Use a hair dryer to remove moisture from nooks and crannies, if necessary.

  Maintaining your electric range and cooktop

  There are several kinds of electric ranges and cooktops, and what you can repair and replace depends on the type you have. Here are the three types of electric ranges and cooktops:

  Plug-in burners: Most electric ranges and cooktops have plug-in burners, which have a tendency to collect grease and moisture down at the tips where they go into the power receptacle. This buildup leads to minor arcing that slowly builds and eventually ruins the burners. To prevent this problem, remove the plug-in burners and carefully clean the surfaces and tips with a damp rag or stiff nylon brush. If those don’t do the trick, use a soapy steel-wool pad.

  Never fully submerse plug-in burners in water. Even though the metal prongs may appear to be fully dry, trace amounts of moisture usually remain on the plug-in tips and electric receptacles, which contain porcelain, an extremely porous material that absorbs water. The result: You’ve brought water and electricity together for a potential electric shock — and a serious zapping.

  Most ranges have two 6-inch and two 8-inch interchangeable burners. When removing them for cleaning, always mark their origin so you can put them back in exactly the same receptacle.

  Fixed-unit burners: Another kind of electric burner, the fixed unit, is hard-wired and generally lifts up for cleaning underneath. The advantage to this type of burner is that the tips never corrode or burn out from dripping grease, so you don’t need to concern yourself with that possibility.

  Euro-style cast-iron burners: The coating on Euro-style solid cast iron burners (also called hobs) wears off with use. To prevent rusting, manufacturers and dealers offer a special cleaner/sealer that you apply to a cold burner (it burns off when the burner heats). You can also use a light coat of mineral oil or cooking oil to prevent rusting, but oil smokes a bit when the burner heats. Turn on the vent fan to remove any light residual smoking or burning odor.

  Always keep lightweight, inexpensive aluminum drip pans under the heating elements to prevent grease, liquids, and burned pasta from getting into the works of the range. Besides keeping a spill from shorting the burners, they also increase the efficiency of the burner by reflecting heat upward. (That’s why they’re shiny!)

  Clean the drip pans using baking soda, rather than soap, to keep them reflective. Don’t use an abrasive cleaner — you’ll create a billion little scratches. Also, never line your drip pans with aluminum foil. The heat reflected off the shiny-but-wrinkly foil creates hot spots underneath a burner that will quickly end the useful life of an electric element.

  Keeping your gas range and cooktop in tip-top shape

  Gas burners need a little TLC, too. Very little. Cleaning and maintenance is easy — and much safer than cleaning and maintaining electric burners, because you don’t have to deal with electricity.

  Cleaning removable gas burners

  Take out removable gas burners periodically, and clean them with a stiff nylon brush, using baking soda and hot water to keep the ports (gas jet holes) clean. You can remove most burners simply by lifting them out of the opening in the cooktop; you don’t need any tools. If you aren’t sure whether your burners are the removable type, refer to your owner’s manual.

  Never use any kind of soap or put your removable gas burners in the dishwasher. The chemicals in soap and dishwasher detergent trigger corrosion on burner housings, which are made of aluminum.

  Cleaning nonremovable sealed gas burners

  You’ll know if you have a sealed gas burner — the drip pan that surrounds each burner is anchored securely to the cooktop, or the cooktop is one big piece with indentations surrounding the burners For these types of burners, the only components that can be removed for cleaning are the burner cap (which evenly distributes the flame) and the burner grate (the part that rests above the flame, on which you put the pots). Both just lift off.

  Clean the burner caps with a small brush and a solution of 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1 quart of warm water. Be sure to thoroughly wipe the burner caps clean, and remove all water from the gas jet port openings — first with a soft cloth, and then using a hair dryer to remove all moisture, if necessary. You’ll need to up the ante when it comes to cleaning burner grates. Use an all-purpo
se cleanser scrub (like our DIY Cleanser Scrub — see Chapter 20) to clean these components.

  Cleaning the connector tube

  Between the burners is a connector tube (technically called a flash tube) with an opening and a pilot light or electric spark igniter. This tube is where the gas is actually ignited and carried or drawn to each burner. If you notice that one flame jet shoots farther out than the others, the opening is partially blocked and needs cleaning. In most cases, this configuration is part of the burner assembly and can be cleaned the same way the burners are (see the preceding sections).

  A proper gas flame burns clear and blue. If yours burns yellow and orange, it probably is starved for air. The burners should be cleaned with a wire brush.

  Opening the Door and Rolling Up Your Sleeves: The Oven

  Whether your oven is gas- or electric-powered, it’s going to get dirty. Really dirty. That’s just how it is. And cleaning your oven will be a drag, so just take a deep breath, roll up your sleeves, and do the job right. In this section, we tell you how. We also fill you in on two other oven maintenance tasks: checking the temperature control and replacing the oven light.

  Cleaning your oven

  Aside from saving you embarrassment when company comes calling, a clean oven operates more efficiently by providing more even heating. A dirty oven can also prevent the door from sealing properly, which allows heat and smoke to escape.

  The interior

  You can clean oven interiors with commercial cleansers, steel-wool soap pads, or our People-Friendly Oven Cleaner (see Chapter 20). (Note: Don’t use commercial cleaners on self-cleaning ovens; see the “Self-cleaning ovens” bullet, toward the end of this section, for details.)

  Here are a couple of tips to make oven cleaning easier:

  To loosen up tough, baked-on spills, preheat the oven to 200 degrees, turn off the heat, and then put a bowl of ammonia in your oven overnight. This strategy works well as long as you don’t mind the smell of ammonia in your kitchen the next day.

  To make it easier to reach all the way into the oven, open the door 8 to 10 inches and try lifting the door up and out. Most ovens have special hinges that allow the door to lift right off. You can then easily clean deep into the oven interior without stretching over the lowered, open oven door. You also can comfortably clean the glass and inside surface of the door on top of a towel spread out on the countertop.

  If a commercial cleaner says you must wear rubber gloves and avoid breathing fumes, it’s probably very caustic and possibly toxic. It may give off harmful gases even after the cleaning is complete and the oven is again heated for use. Thus, we suggest that you avoid using commercial oven cleaners whenever possible. If you must use a commercial cleaner, follow label directions to the letter.

  If the wire oven racks are severely caked with food spills, put them in a plastic trash bag, add some ammonia, and seal the bag well with a twist tie. Leave the bag outside overnight, and then either hose the racks off, hand-wash them, or run them through your dishwasher.

  Here are some specific tips for the various types of ovens:

  Electric ovens: In electric ovens, you find two heating elements: one for broiling (above) and one for baking (below). In some models you can lift the bottom bake element for easier cleaning of the bottom of the oven. (If you’re in the market for an oven, look for this handy feature.)

  Many people believe that they can simplify oven cleaning by lining the bottom of their electric oven with aluminum foil to catch spills. This is a no-no! A layer of foil causes an electric oven to heat unevenly. It also shortens the life of the element by causing it to superheat in certain locations.

  Gas ovens: Like most ovens, the bottom of the gas oven is the object of most cleaning attention. Remove the bottom panel of a gas oven by lifting it out or by removing a couple of screws that hold it in place. Doing so lets you work on it in a deep sink or bathtub. It also enables you to inspect and clean the gas burner.

  Over time, the bottom panel of a gas oven can become corroded or cracked. If this happens, you can replace it. Just get the proper part from the manufacturer or your local appliance parts dealer. Remove the old piece, and put in the new piece. Voilà!

  Uneven heating, poor baking, or an odor of gas when the oven is on are telltale signs of a clogged burner. Your best bet to determine how the burner is working is to turn it on with the bottom panel off. If the flame isn’t continuous along both sides of the burner, some of its holes are likely clogged. To set your burner free, turn off the oven control and carefully use a wire — such as a coat hanger — to unclog the clogged holes. Works every time!

  After the gas burner is clean, check to make sure that it’s burning efficiently — with a steady, blue, 1-inch cone, with an inner lighter-blue cone of about 1/2 inch. Adjusting the air shutter controls the air mixture and, in turn, the color of the flame. Consult your owner’s manual for specific information on how to adjust the burner flame in your gas oven.

  Self-cleaning ovens: Never, never, never use commercial oven cleaners on a self-cleaning oven. They can pit, burn, and eat into the special porcelain surface. The result? When you reach the normal 850- to 900-degree level for self-cleaning, you can actually pop chunks of porcelain as large as 6 inches across off the oven walls. Instead, let the intended high-heat action turn food spills into carbon, which all but disappears with complete combustion, and then wipe up any minor dust-like ash residue with a damp cloth, paper towel, or sponge when the oven cools.

  Manufacturers recommend removing the racks during the self-cleaning process to prevent them from turning brown. To clean these racks, use the process mentioned earlier in this section. (We strongly recommend that you consult your owner’s manual for specific information on how to use your self-cleaning oven.)

  When using the self-cleaning feature, don’t open the oven door if you notice a flame-up or smell something burning. The oven is just doing what it’s supposed to do. If you’re really worried, just shut the oven off. The lack of oxygen in the closed and sealed oven and diminishing heat level extinguish any burning in a matter of minutes.

  You can clean the area surrounding the oven door gasket with any type of mild abrasive, such as our DIY Cleanser Scrub (see Chapter 20) or a commercial silver polish. Use a wide spatula or paint scraper to lift the gasket edge up to prevent rubbing up against it and possible fraying.

  Many heavier-weight, porcelain-coated drip pans can be put into the oven during self-cleaning, making the cleanup of drips and spills a snap.

  Continuous-cleaning ovens: These ovens have a special rough-texture porcelain interior. Spills gradually burn off as you use the oven. A speckled surface helps hide foods while they burn off, but these ovens may not always look clean in the process.

  Combusted foods tend to remain on the oven walls. To avoid this situation as much as possible, always wipe up large spills — especially sugary or starchy foods — as soon as the oven cools. These models work best on greasy spills.

  Never use harsh abrasives, scouring pads or commercial oven cleaners on continuous-cleaning ovens. These cleaners damage the special lining. Gentle cleaning by hand with baking soda and warm water works best.

  The window glass

  Ammonia and commercial window cleaners that contain ammonia are great for cleaning browned and discolored, oven window glass. You can also use mild abrasives and scouring pads for tough spots.

  Behind the range

  Occasionally you may want to clean and vacuum the back of your range and the areas behind, on either side of, and below it. On the back of a range is a metal panel that can be removed (by a professional) for service or repair. You can clean dust and grime off this panel, but don’t remove it.

  To clean behind the range, pull it away from the wall. If the range is electric, the cord should be long enough for you to move the appliance out and then unplug it. Gas models should have a flexible gas line that enables you to pull out the appliance.

  Don’t move a gas range that h
as a rigid gas pipe — instead, call a service professional.

  To avoid damaging flooring in front of an appliance when moving it, turn an old piece of carpet upside down and place it under the appliance, or use an appliance dolly or an appliance skid pad (both available from an appliance service company).

  Checking the oven temperature control

  A poorly calibrated control can make it virtually impossible to conform to heating instructions on recipes. Thus, you end up with a dish that is either under- or overcooked. Yikes!

  To check the accuracy of oven temperature control, put an oven thermometer on the middle rack. Set the thermometer for 350 degrees and heat the oven for 20 minutes. Write down the temperature. Check three more times at ten-minute intervals, noting the temperatures. The average temperature should be within 25 degrees of 350.