Hug Your Home Challenge – March Tips

Two months down and only ten to go in The Property Geeks 2018 Hug Your Home Challenge. We’re working our way through a year full of home maintenance tips and tricks. If you haven’t signed up, there’s still plenty of time. Join in here!

If you’ve been keeping up, it’s time to tackle March’s list right now. We’ve got a few tips and tricks to take on those tasks. Let’s get started with one of our least favorite jobs… cleaning out the oven!

“Give Your Oven Some Lovin'”

Do you know anyone who loves to clean their oven? Sure, they enjoy it once it’s clean, but does anyone ever look forward to scraping the baked on goo and grime off the bottom of their oven? If you know of someone, send them our way! For the rest of you, this is one chore where the anticipation is actually worse than going through the motions. Follow these steps and your oven will sparkle with minimal effort:

1. Fill your bathtub or a large basin with warm water and a scoop of dishwasher detergent. (If you’re using your bathtub, you may want to put an old towel down first so it doesn’t get scratched.)
2. Remove your oven racks from the oven and let them soak for several hours in the tub.
3. Make a paste with baking soda and water.
4. Spread the paste over the inside of your oven with a nylon scrubber or sponge.
5. Let it sit for several hours or overnight.
6. Wipe off the dried paste with a wet sponge.
7. Scrub the oven racks, rinse and let dry before returning them to the oven.

“Return the Spring to Your Shower”

Even if you don’t have hard water, mineral deposits and sediment can build up on your shower head. Your water pressure can be affected and you might even see a rogue stream of water shooting off in a random direction. Never fear. Cleaning off your shower head is super easy and you probably already have everything on hand.

1. Fill a plastic bag with white vinegar.
2. Slip the bag over your shower head, making sure it’s submerged in the vinegar, and secure in place with a rubber band or tape. (Make sure you don’t get tape on the metal.)
3. Leave in place overnight.
4. Remove the bag and scrub around the shower head, especially the holes, with an old toothbrush.
5. Run clear water to rinse and ta-da — you’ve got a sparkly, free-flowing shower!

“Clean Up Those Coils”

Your refrigerator is probably one of the hardest working appliances in your home. It doesn’t require much maintenance, but if you can remember to dust or vacuum the coils every so often, it will improve the efficiency of this much-loved appliance. The first step to cleaning up those coils is to figure out where they are. Typically, coils are located in a massive grid on the back of the refrigerator. If that’s the case with your model, simply unplug it from the wall then gently vacuum or dust any build-up from the coils. Some models may have the coils on the bottom. Again, unplug your appliance from the wall then look for either a plate in front of the refrigerator or one in back. Remove the cover and carefully dust or vacuum the coils. Once your refrigerator is dust-free you can plug it back in and pat yourself on the back for crossing another home maintenance task off your list.

Be sure to join us on our Facebook page where we’ll share other tips and tricks for tackling your home maintenance tasks! Until next time, keep hugging your home!