"Make Appliances Clean Themselves!"

I'll admit, I know I'm far from famous for keeping a clean home. But hey, mine's got that "lived-in" look! Okay, I'll use excuses 'til the cows come home! It is something I'm slowly striving to learn how to get a grip on. At least I've finally figured out one major point: if it took me 30 years or so to master this behavior, why would I think I can change it overnight? I have to learn new behaviors. That's where my FlyLady motivator will help me. I digress... this is not what I came to talk about! I was reading some info on AOL news the other day, and I thought this was worthy to share (but don't believe the "Cheat at Cleaning" title there... there's no such thing!). The following are excerpts from the book "How to Cheat at Cleaning: Time-Slashing Techniques for Cutting Corners and Restoring Your Sanity" by Jeff Bredenberg. Yes, in a perfect world, every machine we had would clean itself. But at least there are some easy things we can do to help them along...

Garbage Disposal

Empty an ice tray into your sink & push all of the cubes into the garbage disposal. Then push a few lemon rinds down there, too (any citrus rinds will do). Turn on the cold water, turn on the disposal, and grind away until the ice and rinds are gone. The disposal will be clean and lemony (or orangey) fresh.

Microwave Oven

Pour 2 cups of water into a microwave-safe bowl. Set it in the middle of the microwave and cook on high for 5 minutes. The steam generated will soften any cooked-on food splatters inside. Remove the bowl using oven mitts. Wipe down the interior with a damp sponge.

**I've also added some lemon slices (or lemon juice) to add a pleasant smell to the microwave... it works!**

Blender or Food Processor

Rinse to remove most traces of food, then fill halfway with water and add a squirt of dishwashing liquid. Close the blender or processor and turn it on for half a minute. Rinse again, then let the blades spin for a few seconds to throw off any remaining water.

Coffee Grinder

Here's the easy way to clean your grinder after each use: Run 1/2 cup of uncooked white rice through the grinder and throw it away. If you make a lot of coffee, just give your grinder the rice treatment once or twice a week. Other times, wipe it out with a damp paper towel.

Coffee Maker

Put a new filter in the basket to catch any loosened mineral deposits. Fill the coffee maker's tank halfway with white vinegar and the rest of the way with water and run it through its cycle. Turn the machine off and let it sit for 5 minutes (to help clean the glass). Pour the water/vinegar out, wipe out the carafe and run through the cycle again.

Dishwasher

Cleaning the interior of a dishwasher usually isn't much of an issue - unless you happen to have those white mineral deposits building up, indicating a hard water problem. Use a product such as Glisten or Jet Dry dishwasher cleaner often enough to keep the white streaks at bay. Put the cleaner in the washer and run the water through a cleaning cycle.

Oven

If your oven isn't trained to clean itself, it can still come pretty close: Pour 1/2 cup of ammonia into a glass bowl and leave it inside your closed oven overnight. Then pour out the ammonia and use a damp sponge to wipe up the grime loosened by the fumes.