Today I cleaned 2 kitchen appliances.

[amerikat]

The first was my counter top water distiller the second was A juicer.

Every so often these appliances get to the point where they need
to be disassembled to be cleaned properly. I'm not a clean freak
by any means. But sometimes just wiping them down just doesn't
really get them clean. I guess most people just buy a new one when
they get too gross. Not me. A new distiller is $300 and a juicer is
maybe $100.

The distiller has a bottom section which is pretty much a stainless
steel pot, a heating element and a plastic cover. I didn't need to do
much with that part. The top half contains a motor/fan assembly and a
condenser coil, the fan sucks in air and blows it across the condenser
coil. This is where the dirt is. The air inlets suck in pet fur and
greasy kitchen air. Over a couple of years it gets pretty gross.

So the condenser unit had to be broken down into it's separate
components. Down to the basement workshop it goes.
I have a deep sink between the washer and dryer. Big enough to hold a
5 gallon bucket of hot water with a bit of bleach.

Taking the condenser unit apart only required a phillips screw driver
and a large needle nose pliers. I stripped it down to it's component parts(7) and washed all the plastic parts in the bleach water using a long handled artist paintbrush to get to the really tough dirt in tiny spaces. I set them on a towel to dry. All the parts were clean......like factory
clean. I dried some of the parts with a dish towel prior to reassembly.

Got it back together with no leftover parts. Am I rambling?
As of now the water distiller has cranked out about a half gallon
in the last 2 hours and looks and works like new. I call this a success
An appliance brought back to like new condition for an hours work.

The juicer went about the same way and took about the same time.

So I got 2 rebuilt appliances for 2 hours work. Saved 2 appliances
and $400 with 2 hours work. Not to mention the amount of landfill space
not used or the amount of new plastic not used.

Tomorrow I will clean the food processor, the blender and the coffee pot.

Recycle, reuse and re task.

I wish I had taken pictures.

amerikat

[trud]

1. and then there's the dryer

I replaced the lint filter in my dryer because the old one had a smallish hole in it. In the process, I took a good look down underneath it. Holy crumb, An unbelievable amount of "felt" dust down in the machine. So much for thinking cleaning the filter itself was sufficient.

[Paper Roses]

2. Have you cleaned out the dryer exit hose? I pull out the dryer

from the wall every now and then, get out the vac with a brush on the end, detach the hose and clean it out. I also go outside with an ice pick and remove the lint that builds up around the flap hinge of the hose cover. A build up of lint keeps the flap from closing properly.
I use a radiator brush to get into the slot where I have removed the filter. When all these steps are done, I run the dryer for a few seconds. Amazing how much lint comes flying out.

[NMDemDist2]

3. and if you don't clean like that, expect to replace the heating element

every few years, or worse, deal with fires