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Home appliances are some of the greatest innovations of the contemporary age. From clothes dryers to toaster ovens, they help save us time and keep our home lives running smoothly.

Even though modern appliances have numerous safety features, it’s still important to remember that they can be dangerous if not maintained or connected properly. Read on to learn about which appliances are most prone to fires—and to get a better understanding of how to avoid them!

Top Five Appliances that Pose a Fire Hazard

Due to built-in safety measures, appliance fires are the exception, rather than the norm. They do still happen, though, which is why you should be aware of the potential danger before it occurs.

The majority of appliance-related fires in the U.S. involve:

• Stoves (gas and electric)
• Clothes dryers
• Microwaves
• Refrigerators
• Toasters and toaster ovens

All appliances pose some degree of fire risk, but these are the main culprits when it comes to appliance-related home fires.

What Causes Appliance Fires?

In some cases, like with stoves and toaster ovens, the danger of fire primarily comes if a heating element is either left on or turned on accidentally. Clothes dryers, on the other hand, are susceptible to fires from accumulated (and highly flammable) lint.

Microwaves present a major hazard when they are turned on without anything inside, while refrigerators are a danger if they short-circuit or if the interior light somehow stays on even after the fridge is closed. There won’t necessarily be a fire every time these things happen, but the risk definitely goes up!

Appliance Repair, Service, & Maintenance

So, what can you do to decrease the risk of fire when it comes to these and other appliances? There are two key actions that you can take:

1. Operate appliances as instructed

and

2. Stay on top of appliance maintenance, service, and repairs

Using your appliance only as it’s meant to be used is essential when it comes to fire prevention. Keeping it clean and well-maintained is also vital.

If your appliance is obstructed with dust or debris or if there’s a faulty part, the danger of fire increases. That’s why it’s so important to keep your appliances clean and in working order. That also means calling for appliance repair service when you see an issue. In some cases, a timely repair can mean the difference between an appliance that’s helpful and one that’s a danger.

If you need appliance repair services in Rockaway, Chatham, or the surrounding communities, call the team at Morris County Appliance Repair. We’re your local appliance pros with over 50 years of experience—You Can Count On Us!

Food can be messy—there’s no way around that! However, this doesn’t mean that your refrigerator needs to pay the price. Follow these four key refrigerator cleaning steps from the Morris County Appliance Repair team to maintain a tidy, grime-free fridge and prolong its longevity as a key kitchen appliance.

Five Steps to a Sparkling Clean Fridge

1. Set a regular cleaning schedule

The key to getting your fridge clean—and keeping it that way—is to clean it regularly. The frequency will depend on your specific situation but doing a deep clean every three months or so is a good rule of thumb.

2. Prepare your space

Doing a refrigerator deep clean means that you’ll need to take all the things that are in the fridge out of the fridge. Set yourself up for success by arranging where you’re going to put everything once it’s out. If you don’t have a lot of kitchen space, you can work shelf-by-shelf instead of doing it all at once.

If you think you’ll have things out of the fridge for more than a few minutes, it might be a good idea to prepare a cooler to keep things chilled while you clean. You’ll also want to make sure your sink is clean and empty so you can use it to wash down containers and/or refrigerator fixtures if they need a little extra TLC!

3. Gather your cleaning supplies

It’s way easier to clean your refrigerator efficiently if you have all your cleaning supplies at your fingertips. You’ll want to have on hand:

• Sprayable cleaning solution
• Sponges, cloths, and scrubbers
• Drying towels

A white vinegar solution is a great food-safe choice to dissolve grease and grime from fridge shelves. You can make your own or buy a pre-made option.

4. Empty, clean, dry, and repeat!

Once you have everything set up, you’re ready to get down to some serious fridge cleaning! Let’s assume you’re working shelf-by-shelf. You’ll want to take everything off the shelf and move it to the staging area you prepared so that you can reach every nook and cranny of the shelf you’re tackling.

Next, clean the shelf surface by spraying on the cleaning solution. If the shelf is extra-grimy, you may even want to take it out to be able to scrub it down in the skink so you’re not leaving your fridge open for more than a few minutes at a time.

Give the cleaning solution a few moments to start dissolving any caked-on mess, then use your scrubber of choice to scrub it clean. Wipe down with a damp cloth, and then dry the shelf so that you’re not introducing any extra moisture into your fridge.

5. Triage your food

Next, it’s time to deal with your food items. Give them the same treatment as the shelf—cleaning solution, scrub, wipe down, and dry. Also, go ahead and toss anything that’s past its expiration date!

Once the shelf and the food are clean and dry, put the items you’re keeping back in and move on to the next section. This same process can be repeated for drawers, door shelves, and any other areas in your fridge. Don’t forget any seals or the door gasket either—those all benefit from a good wipe-down too!

A Clean Fridge is a Healthy Fridge

Keeping your refrigerator clean isn’t just about getting rid of those sticky rings at the base of your condiment bottles. It’s also about optimizing your refrigerator’s performance and extending its lifespan.

Regular refrigerator cleaning lets you keep an eye on any parts that might be acting funny so that you can get the appropriate refrigerator repair help you need before it becomes a major issue. Removing any extra grime or buildup also ensures that your fridge doesn’t end up working harder than it has to.  

When you do a refrigerator deep clean, you get a sparkling clean fridge and you get to feel great about taking care of your investment in that appliance. It’s a win-win!

Did you know your dishwasher can do so much more than wash dishes? 

In fact, here are four ways you can hack your dishwasher and make your life a whole lot easier right now. They might surprise you!

1. Disinfect Toys

If you have small children, then you have countless plastic toys that are covered in germs, dirt, and who knows what else. (Seriously, how did they get so sticky?)

Arrange the toys according to size: big toys on the bottom rack, medium toys on the top rack, and small toys in the utensil holder. 

Use the lightest wash setting possible, and avoid the heat/dry setting so nothing melts.

This also works for your pet’s chew toys!

2. Clean Tools

If you have any metal tools that are covered in dirt and gunk (e.g. trowels, shears, hand cultivators), you can clean them in your dishwasher.

As long as you don’t include any tools with wooden handles, feel free to use the highest and hottest settings to blast away all of that caked-on dirt. 

3. Rinse Fruits and Veggies

This dishwasher hack surprises the most people. 

When you have a lot of produce to wash (think: Thanksgiving meal prep), you can save precious time by tossing it all onto the top rack of your dishwasher! Simply use a setting with minimal heat, skip the heat/dry cycle, and definitely omit the detergent. 

4. Use as a Warming Station

This dishwasher hack will come in surprisingly handy when your oven is full (again, think about Thanksgiving).

Set your dishwasher to the heat/dry cycle with no water, cover your food nice and tight, and place onto the racks. Keep it there until you’re ready to eat!

You can also do this to keep your plates and bowls warm before the meal is served.

We hope you have fun trying out these dishwasher hacks on your own! If you come up with any new ones, let us know.

In our last blog post, we outlined the most common washing machine settings and their uses. This time, we’re going to do the same thing for dryer settings.

With the exception of the self-explanatory “regular” or “normal” setting, it may not be immediately evident which dryer setting you should use for a given load of laundry. That’s why we’ve decided to quickly break down the most common dryer settings and when you should use them. Keep reading for more details!

1. Delicate/Gentle

Using low to medium heat, the “delicate” or “gentle” dryer setting is meant for the same articles you washed with the “delicate” or “gentle” washing machine cycle. In other words, it’s for lightweight or sheer fabrics, sweaters, blouses, dress pants, activewear, embellished and/or embroidered fabrics, and so on. 

2. Permanent Press

Using medium heat, the “permanent press” setting is great for your everyday, casual clothing–the items you wouldn’t want to wrinkle, but also would never want to whip out the iron for. The secret to “permanent press” is that it switches off the heat a few minutes before the cycle finishes, so the clothes can cool down and better resist wrinkles. 

3. Timed Dry

When you use the “timed dry” setting, you get to manually select how long the dryer will run for and, usually, at what temperature. However, unlike the pre-determined dryer settings, it will not use dryness sensors and will remain at one consistent temperature the whole time. 

4. Heavy Duty

Using the highest heat, your dryer’s “heavy duty” setting is intended for sheets, towels, and other thick, durable linens that require extra heat to dry thoroughly.  

5. Air Dry

This setting is unique in that it uses no heat at all. Therefore, it should only be used for articles that are already completely dry. Ideal for blankets, pillows, and coats that have just been taken out of storage, it tumbles your articles in room-temperature air with the primary purpose of freshening or fluffing them up. 

6. Steam

If you have a few dry items that are wrinkled or musty, use your dryer’s steam setting to revitalize them. Instead of using dry heat, this setting will produce steam that releases wrinkles and refreshes stale clothes. 

Today’s washing machines have a lot of sophisticated cycles and settings that may not be self-explanatory to the average user. So, here’s a quick guide to what some of those mysterious cycles do, and when you should use them. 

Cleaning Variables to Consider

Each wash cycle has its own unique combination of three variables:

• Cycle length
• Spin speed/agitation
• Water temperature

The material of your items, their soil level, and their size will all determine which type of cycle you use. 

Delicate/Gentle

Quick description: short cycle time, low spin, cold water.

This cycle is meant for lightweight or sheer fabrics, sweaters, blouses, dress pants, and anything else that requires a gentle touch. If you’re unsure about a specific garment, the care instructions on the tag will let you know if it requires the delicate/gentle cycle. 

Rinse & Spin

Quick description: extra rinse without detergent.

You can add this cycle to a regular wash cycle if your garments need extra rinsing, or you can use it as a stand-alone cycle for garments that don’t require detergent (for example, bathing suits). You can use this with any water temperature and spin speed.

Permanent Press

Quick description: medium cycle time, medium-to-low spin, warm water.

Use the permanent press cycle for clothes in which you want to prevent wrinkles. You’ll want to wash your professional office clothes on this cycle. 

Heavy Duty

Quick description: long cycle time, high spin, hot water.

For items that are heavily soiled and/or ultra-durable, wash them on the heavy duty cycle. They’ll get extra agitation, hot water, and an overall intense clean. Large bath towels and yardwork clothes are a good match for this cycle. 

Bulky/Bedding

Quick description: medium cycle time, medium-to-low spin, warm water.

Sheets, blankets, comforters, and coats are best washed on the bulky/bedding cycle. The washer will fill up with extra water to sufficiently soak your bulky items without spinning too aggressively.

Did you know you can get more convenience and functionality out of your everyday appliances? By thinking outside the box and using your appliances in unconventional ways, you can clean, heat, prep, and get mundane tasks done in a fraction of the time.

Check out these brilliant hacks and see what else you can think of on your own! Don’t forget to call Morris County Appliance Repair and let us know what genius ideas you came up with. 

1. Wash Baseball Caps in the Dishwasher

Baseball caps aren’t easy to wash in the machine, which leads many folks to buy special gear to keep them intact during laundering. But did you know there’s an easier way to get those dirty, sweaty caps clean? 

Simply place them on the top rack of your dishwasher, secure them to the pegs with a clothespin, and run it. Be sure to skip the drying cycle! Once they’ve been washed, reshape them with your hands and lay them on a flat surface to air dry.

2. Use Your Waffle Maker to Cook Bacon

With a waffle maker (or panini press), you can cut the time it takes to cook bacon in half! This is because the bacon cooks on both sides at once, so it cooks faster and comes out super-crispy and delicious.

3. Use Your Freezer to Remove Gum

Did your kid get gum stuck on their shoe or toy? Throw it in the freezer! After a few hours, you’ll be able to chip away at the frozen gum and remove it much more easily. 

4. Soften Solidified Sugar in the Microwave

We’ve all had our brown sugar turn into a hard brick at one time or another. To soften it, put your sugar in a sealed plastic bag with a few drops of water, then microwave it for 10-20 seconds on medium power. (Alternatively, you can place the sugar in a microwave-safe bowl and cover it with a damp paper towel.) Repeat as necessary until all the lumps are out.

Isn’t it incredible that Morris County Appliance Repair has been in business for 50+ years?

While this achievement may have given us certain bragging rights over our competitors, it’s much more than that. It forms a strong foundation that empowers us to give our customers the best possible appliance repair service. 

So, with that said, here are four ways you’ll benefit from our vast experience. 

1. We’ve Seen It All

With 50+ years in operation as an appliance repair company, we’ve seen virtually everything there is to see. It would be nearly impossible for you to present us with an appliance problem we hadn’t already encountered a dozen times before. This gives you a much better chance of having your appliance issue resolved for good.

2. Well Honed Skills

As a result of our decades of experience, our technical skills and handiwork are second to none. We’re factory authorized and able to work with all makes and models. When you call on Morris County Appliance Repair, you can rest assured you’re being taken care of by a true expert.

3. Long-Lasting Repairs

Thanks to our unmatched expertise, we’re able to provide all homeowners with a 90-day labor warranty and a 1-year parts warranty. This enables you to get the most out of your appliance repair from our team. 

4. Quality Customer Service

Beyond our technical expertise with appliances, we’ve also developed a deep understanding of what it means to provide customer satisfaction. We know how to show our customers we care through actions, not just words.

What does that look like? It’s our team arriving on schedule, going out of our way to find certain parts, accommodating special requests when possible, being mindful of your time, and more. 

 

Ready to book your appointment with us? Availability is limited, so call now!

Do you have an electric stove?

Depending on the make, model, and how long you’ve owned it, you might be familiar with some of these common problems with electric stoves. However, even if you’ve been lucky enough that you haven’t dealt with any of these issues yet, it’s smart to educate yourself on what could possibly go wrong down the road. 

So, without further ado, here are the top five most common electric stove problems. 

1. Constant Clicking or Popping Sound

If your stove makes a clicking or popping sound every time you turn it on, the problem could be caused by a few different things, namely the infinite control switch making electrical contact or the metallic components of your stove expanding too quickly as they heat up. 

2. Burner Won’t Turn On

When one of your electric stove burners won’t turn on, it could be caused by a defective burner, a faulty electrical connection in the burner socket, or a failed switch.

3. Burner Won’t Turn Off

An electric stove burner that won’t turn off could be related to a number of defects: broken knob, control pad error, shorted surface element, or bad surface element switch. 

4. Burner Not Getting Hot Enough

There could be a wide range of underlying issues that are preventing your electric stove burners from heating up sufficiently, but they mainly boil down to the following: damaged heating element, problematic power source receptacle, loose or burnt wire, or defective selector switch.

5. Cracked Glass Stovetop

People sometimes forget that their glass stovetops are still glass—meaning, they’re not invincible. Your glass stovetop can crack due to high impact, a buildup of micro-scratches, excessive heat, hot spots created by cooked-on food, or thermal shock. 

If you’re facing any of these or other issues with your electric stove, call Morris County Appliance Repair! We’re standing by to help customers with oven and stove repairs in Morris County and beyond. 

Refrigerators make lots of noises during regular operation. Sometimes, it can be difficult to tell which noises are a normal part of a fridge’s cycles and which noises are signs of trouble. 

To help you understand when it’s time to actually worry and call a refrigerator repair technician, Morris County Appliance Repair put together this quick guide. If your fridge isn’t making one of these sounds, then you can breathe a sigh of relief.

Refrigerator Noises to Watch Out For

Sounds like something is hitting the fan blades:

• Grinding
• Scraping
• Knocking

These noises mean something is blocking one of your fridge’s two fan blades (one is a condenser fan, one is an evaporator fan in the freezer). 

Sounds like something is trying to run but isn’t connected properly:

• Recurring clicking
• Recurring buzzing
• Recurring vibrating

These noises likely mean that the water line isn’t connected to the ice maker correctly. The ice maker is turned on and attempting to make ice, but there is no water supply. 

Sounds like something is rattling.

This rattling noise could be caused by one of a few possible scenarios:

• Your fridge may be coming into contact with another surface nearby.
• Your fridge may not be level.
• Your fridge’s drain pan may have fallen out of place.

Sounds like normal humming has gotten louder.

If the usual humming of the compressor has gotten exceedingly loud, there is likely a problem with the compressor.

Sounds like… total silence.

Your fridge should always be emitting a faint hum. If no noise is coming from your fridge whatsoever, that means your fridge has been cut off from power or your fridge’s compressor has malfunctioned.

Have you noticed any of these troublesome noises coming from your refrigerator? Call Morris County Appliance Repair ASAP! Let us get your refrigerator repaired today. 

Just in case you forgot, Morris County Appliance Repair is not only an appliance repair company. We also have a full appliance parts store!

This means added convenience and efficiency for all of our customers. Whether you’re hiring our technicians to perform an appliance repair or you’re doing the repair yourself, you’ll feel the benefits of our in-house parts store right away. 

To find out more about the advantages of our appliance parts store, keep reading.

It Makes Our Repair Service More Efficient

Having immediate access to a full catalog of appliance parts enables us to deliver a super-speedy turnaround for our customers.

When repairing a fridge, dishwasher, or oven, for example, we don’t have to order new parts and wait for them to arrive. Instead, we have a complete selection of parts right at our disposal. This means we can finish your repair with the required parts much more quickly than our competitors.

It Helps DIY-ers Complete Their Projects

If you’re a skilled handyman and feel confident enough to repair your appliance on your own, we won’t stand in your way!

In fact, we’ll help you out by providing you with a convenient way to speak with a professional and get the exact part you need for the job. Simply give us a call and let us know the model number and part you’re looking for, and we’ll get it right over to you ASAP. 

You can find more info about our appliance parts store on our website. Give us a call today to get started!