Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Cleaning your Appliances

cleaning your appliances
In my last post, I have mentioned about the tips on buying home appliances in the best way. After having these pieces of machines to your homes, you will have to make it stay longer. If you are looking into various methods for cleaning appliances, then you are probably inundated with abrasives, chemicals and natural products.

Get the lowdown on different ways to clean appliances like your fridge handle, dishwasher, microwave and toaster. You can make your appliances surfaces look like new. This will be expensive for you if you will not do it regularly. Cleaning your home appliances most often will help its life longer. Check and learn these important cleaning methods of your appliances.

  • Unplug appliances before cleaning them. When you're cleaning appliances, it's easy to accidentally hit a knob and turn it on so it's just a good idea to make sure that there's no way to burn or cut yourself. Be safe always and unplugged it from the outlet.
  • Wipe all solid debris from the surfaces of your kitchen appliances. This is the easy part. Simply dampen a rag with hot water and vinegar. If you prefer, you can use an all-purpose cleaner. Wipe away the solid debris leaving behind the appliance surface that probably has brown gunk in between the nooks and crannies of the surface texture. Advanced cleaning techniques are in order for this type of surface.
  • Moisten a microfiber sponge with water. Sometimes the sponge can be damaged through the use of chemicals including mild dish soaps. Be sure that your appliance is free of soaps or cleansers and wipe gently with a microfiber sponge. If you may ask why they are called "magic" you will soon find out. In just a few gentle wipes, the textured surfaces are clean and free from gunk. Wipe the gunk away with plain water and enjoy your appliances looking like new.
  • Dip a damp dish sponge into baking soda. The baking soda is a gentle abrasive that can be scrubbed into the textured surface to release the gunk that's deep in the crevices. Rinse the baking soda from the surface by wiping with a damp sponge until you no longer feel the slipperiness of the baking soda. Baking soda cuts minerals, and makes the water very alkaline; this also helps to release the gunk.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Guides on buying Home Appliances

Your homes will surely be a replica of yourself. This is where you star building your dreams. Dreams of having to fully decorate based on what your taste and the budget dictate you to do so.

Your home decorating plans will surely be accompanied by these appliances you may want to have. Appliances that will complete the lifestyle you want to achieve in your homes. But remember to buy appliances wisely and with a little study before you make a purchase. Check the internet for comparisons, check the companies for literature relating to the appliance you are interested in, and check your needs as to size and options as this will affect the design of your homes.

A little thinking ahead may save you money and get the appliance most workable for you.

If you are choosing a refrigerator, freezer, stove, washer, dryer, dishwasher, microwave or anything else, the following will surely be of big help. Check these out!

1. Look on the internet for information about the appliance. Check consumer buying sites for discussions about the quality and performance of the appliance you are interested in purchasing.

2. Go window shopping: Collect literature from different home improvement stores or appliance stores before buying appliances. Review this literature in relation to your needs and the appliance specifications. If you have a choice of electric or gas, compare the difference in cost per year.

3. Look for bargains. There are often sales, discounts, and the Stimulus Bill has a Rebate for Appliances that are Energy Star that replace an older more inefficient unit. Watch for the rebate terms and see if your appliance can qualify. There are also scratch and dent sales, last year models, and going-out-of-business sales to watch for.

4. Read the warranty information. Many of the new appliances require that you ship the item at your cost to a center they approve, if repairs are necessary. Of course, you would prefer to find an appliance warranty that will support local service.

5. Understand the Service Contract. Most service contracts are not worth the cost, and add expense without benefit. This is particularly true for a freezer and appliances that routinely have little maintenance and a long life. Some of the service contracts are the same coverage as the Limited Warranty.

6. Compare brands, size, Energy Star information, and options for the appliance you may buy. It is never recommended to purchase an appliance larger than needed because of the added energy cost of operation. Certainly do not purchase an appliance that will not fit in the space you have available. Measure to be sure.

7. Save your money. While you are deciding what appliance is best for you, save your money so you can pay cash or pay off the credit charge without paying the interest. This is the smart way to shop to buy appliances.

8. Take your time. Shop smart, and buy only when the price is the best. Once you find the appliance you are most interested in, compare the internet price with the local prices. Find the bottom price and if it is not local, negotiate. Do not let your emotions enter into a purchase of an appliance. Do not make a decision on the spur of the moment, and do not let high pressure salesmen affect your decision.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Gadgets for your garage

Your garage is one of the coolest places in your homes. If you do spend a lot of your time at home in your garage or if you want a clean and well-arranged garage you need a few gadgets. Garage gadgets come in many forms and for different purposes. The following maybe useful to you:

1. A stop light for parking may come in handy for someone who has a problem with depth perception or for someone who comes home late from work and is very tired. If you have such problems, you need this tool. It is easy to install and use and it helps you to park the car in the same spot every time when the motion sensors are triggered.

2. If you need space on the walls next to the door, you can mount a garage door opener on the ceiling above the door to eliminate chains.

3. Bike storage is ideal in a garage for “hanging” your bike on a wall so you have easy access to it with the advantage of having more clear space in the garage.

4. Having a lot of items in your garage than you really have and the walls are full of shelves and cabinets; you definitely need additional storage devices like an overhead storage system mounted directly on the ceiling.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Garage doors

Each home with cars has a garage. Obviously it has doors right? This is a large door on a garage that can either be opened manually or by a garage door opener. Even though of many designs, most garage doors are upward-acting, sectional, and self-storing. Garage doors are necessarily large to allow passage of your automobiles and/or trucks (or similar).

There are four basic types of garage doors and three types of materials commonly used to construct these doors.

1. Thus, if a traditional look is desired for the garage, then the side hung garage door is the usual solution. Side-hung doors can be fitted directly or straight on a wood frame or on bricks.

2. Another type of garage door is the sectional garage door. These doors are perfect where the space in front of the garage is limited because they open vertically. They are perfect for a new garage that is intended to have an aesthetic appeal.

3. Similar to sectional garage doors are the roller doors. The door rolls up inside a drum above the opening of the garage door. Also there is no need to allow any room inside or out to operate the door so it would be well suited for limited space in front of the garage.

4. And finally, the last type of door is the most common one, up and over garage door. This is the most popular type. They can be manufactured from timber, steel and GPR materials. They can also be manual or automatic and they are relatively easy to install.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

6 easy ways to set up your garage door opener

You can expect that there are a lot of collections of garage doors openers on the market each using different mechanisms to raise and lower your garage door. The following instructions offer general steps most people will follow while installing a chain or belt style garage door opener.

First: Check your existing garage door for opener readiness and safety. Begin by checking the garage springs. They should support the weight of the door and open and close easily by hand. Also, make sure the door is well lubricated and that all hanging cords have been removed.

Second: Construct the opener. Begin by putting together the rail (or tube) that guides the trolley (or traveler) along the belt or chain. Then attach the trolley onto the rail according to the manufacturer's specifications. Finally, attach the rail to the power unit (opener motor) on one end of the rail and idler unit to the opposite end.

Third: Mount the idler bracket on the wall directly centered above the garage door and attach the idler unit to the idler bracket. The power unit will remain on the floor during this step.

Fourth: Raise the power unit so that it is above the garage door, and then open the door to its maximum position. Next, adjust the power unit to its required height. A step ladder and scrap pieces of board make an excellent prop for fine tuning the height of the power unit. Finally, attach the power unit to the ceiling using the provided brackets.

Fifth: Close the garage door and slide the trolley toward the idler unit. Attach the door bracket near the top of the garage door. Next, attach the straight bar to the trolley and the curved bar to the door bracket. Finally, attach the curved bar to the straight bar.

Sixth: Install the controls inside and wireless keypad outside (if provided). Install the electric eye units toward the bottom of the door.

I hope you have followed all the steps and performed it well. Good luck to your new garage door openers.