[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house. This is where bacterial contamination is far more common than even your bathroom. Great example. Those kitchen rags, towels, and sponges are some of the most notorious offenders in your kitchen. You know that towel that's been sitting there all week and now that's just got nasty stuff growing on it.

[00:00:25] Eric Goranson: Maybe it got a little bit of chicken juice, splashed on it, whatever. Guess what? That is one of the nastiest things. And when was the last time you cleaned? That sponge some people and outrun it through their dishwasher to sanitize it. But really watching that is one of the dirtiest places around. So make sure you're taking those.

[00:00:45] Eric Goranson: I like to run the kitchen towels through a, uh, sanitizing rinse in the washer when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home. There is a lot to know, but we've got you covered. This is [00:01:00] around the house. Welcome to Around the House Show. This is where we. Down your home through information and education.

[00:01:05] Eric Goranson: Thanks for joining us today. We have a lot of things to talk about today. Well, today, since we are cruising through into summertime, and it's gonna be a hot summer, I think anywhere here in the United States, I wanted to share about some of my tips and tricks on keeping your house cool. Now, many people live in a climate where it's not that big a deal, or you've got a great H V A C system that keeps your house.

[00:01:31] Eric Goranson: As cold as you want it, and hats off to you for having that. That is not what most people are dealing with out there. You know, many people have an EC system that will get it close, but it's not perfect. And there's plenty of people that don't have one in dream of having one someday and wanna try every little thing they can.

[00:01:53] Eric Goranson: First we jump into that head to, uh, for more information around, around the house, you can head over to around the house online.com. Make sure you follow us [00:02:00] on social media, on Facebook, which is around the House Show. And while you're over on Facebook, if you are a purveyor of that. Make sure you hit us up over there at Around the House Nation.

[00:02:09] Eric Goranson: That is our close group where people share up projects and things like that. And, uh, that is where we have some fun with all the new little things going on over there. Well, let's get into some of the obvious stuff first that you wanna do around your house to keep it cool, you know, keep those curtains closed, shutters blinds.

[00:02:28] Eric Goranson: When you're not at home, you basically do what? Do what you can do to keep those sun rays from coming in. You know, if you've got opaque curtains that will, uh, you know, block the sun without trapping in heat, that's a good one too. You know, those are all things, if you've got low e windows, which are newer windows that are required, many areas, that does help filter out that heat radiation that comes through and that will help you.

[00:02:56] Eric Goranson: Another tip that I've got as well, this is a, a good one [00:03:00] for, you know, sleeping at night, making sure we do this at my house. Is swap out the bedsheets, make sure you're using a lighter fabric that breathe like cotton, linen, those kind of things. And if you've got the heavy flannel or those kind of things, cruise it out, put it away, that'll be great in the wintertime.

[00:03:23] Eric Goranson: So here's another one here too. And this is one that you've gotta be careful with. And I talked about it on the TV show a little bit. But for instance, uh, my house is in the shade all the time, so I don't get direct sun. But if you've got a white house and you turn around and paint it black, guess what?

[00:03:39] Eric Goranson: That dark color loves to suck up the heat and it will make for a hotter house. So that will give you a little bit of a different heat load than that. So watching those colors on the roof surfaces in the house, if you're in any direct sun, can be a big one. So that's another one there that, uh, anything you can do to reflect heat and keep it away.

[00:03:59] Eric Goranson: Is [00:04:00] good. Now, if you've got Central Air, here is something that I've used. I put in a brand new H V A C system in a couple years ago. It works awesome, but you know, you only have 30 or so degrees where that thing works, you know, flawlessly. And when it gets so hot, it can overheat the entire system where it won't keep up.

[00:04:22] Eric Goranson: You know, there's a part where you know it's just not gonna work when it's. Hundred 17, 120 degrees outside, like we had that one time. So here was my secret. This is my little secret for your outside condenser. Now I want a big caveat here. First off, asterisk, whatever you want to call it, do not If you have hard untreated water at your house, do this to your outside unit.

[00:04:52] Eric Goranson: If you have really clean. Water with no mineral content. That's gonna create buildup, then this will work. But what I've [00:05:00] done is I took one of those, I went down to Lowe's and bought one of their misters that goes on the end of a hose, and I put that near my H V A C unit. Here's the thing, those misters work really well to keep you cool because that misted water transfers heat.

[00:05:19] Eric Goranson: Energy better than the air does. So that mist over the coils made it so it worked more efficiently. Now, if you have hard water or minerals or things like that, Make sure that, um, you know, you're not doing that because you'll build up minerals on it and make it less efficient. So you don't want to do that.

[00:05:39] Eric Goranson: When in doubt, contact your H V A C professional. But these units are meant to be outside, so if you've got a little water going, it's not gonna herded a few times a year. I wouldn't do it every day, but it's one of those things if you want to get it into, you know, hyper charge for a day or two. Many times you'll be fine doing it that way.

[00:05:58] Eric Goranson: On my unit I could do it. [00:06:00] Not a problem. Most units you can, but again, when in doubt, contact your H V A C professional before you do it. But that was a great little trick. And make sure also guys, that you've got that well maintained. So make sure you have somebody coming out each year and taking a look at that.

[00:06:15] Eric Goranson: That's a big one. So another trick too is if you've got that heat wave coming up, put in a fresh air filter, you want the most airflow. You can get. And if you've got one of those like Merv 13 really heavy duty air filters, maybe going to a lighter air filter for a couple days for a heat wave might move air a little bit more.

[00:06:42] Eric Goranson: So take a look at your system. If you've got an older system putting in a lighter duty air filter for a couple days and then swapping back in your heavy duty one could be better off. And so that's another one. Any one of those things can really help. Now, here's another big one too [00:07:00] that I wanted to talk about cuz this is another great tip.

[00:07:02] Eric Goranson: Your body feels humidity at the same as it does temperature. This is why when you walk into a home and you go, wow, it's 70 degrees, it is cool in here. That is because it is 70 degrees and probably a low dew point. If you walk into a house and it's 70 in high humidity, you don't get that same feeling. You go, wow, it's warm in here.

[00:07:27] Eric Goranson: Your body's not really feeling the warmth. It's fueling the humidity and reading it that way. So you wanna make sure you've always got low humidity in the house. Not too low, but under 60%. If you've got 60%. And that's mold. So when in doubt, if you're in a human area, a. Dehumidifier will save you money as well cuz your AC unit don't, won't work as hard.

[00:07:49] Eric Goranson: So that's another good one as well. Make sure you're controlling humidity. I would like to see it in the summertime under 50%. That's gonna work out pretty well and do that. Another [00:08:00] trick too is if you've got an older home and you've got incandescent or those ugly, compact, fluorescent, the curly cube bulbs, swap those things out to LEDs.

[00:08:08] Eric Goranson: They will put and make a. Cooler light source, anything you can do to cool that light source. So get rid of the, uh, compact fluorescent, cuz those put out heat or incandescent bulbs. It will help you out. Now here's an easy one too, before we go to break. You wanna make sure you've got the ceiling fan going the right direction.

[00:08:34] Eric Goranson: You want it to run counterclockwise at high speed. So make sure you're going the right way. And then be a little, you know, particular when you pick out a new ceiling fan, those new energy star rated fans are 10 to 20% or more, more efficient than the standard fans, which means it's using less energy, less heat, and it will lower your energy bills as well.

[00:08:58] Eric Goranson: So make sure that [00:09:00] you've got the, the right fan in there and those energy star ones do make a difference. So that does help a lot. So, uh, anything you can do like that to, um, do that. And of course with that humidity, I forgot to mention this, make sure that you're using the bathroom and kitchen exhaust Fans like you should be not too long, so you don't wanna be drawing in hot air from the outside, but you do wanna get that humidity and bad air outside, so don't stop using them.

[00:09:27] Eric Goranson: But if you do use them a lot and use 'em too much, you're now grabbing that air. From outside and dragging it in. If stir the heat of the day might not be the best time to do that. All right. More tips to keep you cool just as soon as around the house returns.

[00:09:58] Eric Goranson: What's up? This is stick and [00:10:00] satchel from. Stihl Panther and you are listening to Around The House with Eric G. Yeah. We love Eric G and you should too.

[00:10:23] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round the House Show. Now if you wanna find out more about my videos that I've been doing out there, it's part of my round. The House Northwest. Doesn't matter where you're are. Head over to YouTube. Look at Fox 12, Oregon. And then finally around the House playlist tab, and you'll see our, uh, about 60 videos we've got up there of home improvement projects, new products.

[00:10:43] Eric Goranson: We've got great interviews. It's all packed in there, all at once, all in one spot. Just head over to Fox 12, Oregon at the, uh, YouTube and then just look for the around the house playlist. We'll be talking about some of my tips to keep you cool during the summer. And let's get into the bedroom for a [00:11:00] minute because this is a big one because everybody wants to sleep well, right?

[00:11:04] Eric Goranson: Part of it is if you've got a hot house, it's really hard. So there's some tips to do if you're out mattress shopping. One of the easiest ones is look for one of the cooling mattresses. Here's what happens when you sleep on a mattress, and this is where it's key if that body temperature, if your body temperature changes and.

[00:11:26] Eric Goranson: The mattress stays at a warmer temperature and doesn't cool as your body. It seems hot, and that's what a lot of the mattresses do. So they have these cooling ones which end up feeling cool to the touch, so it tricks your body. It thinks well, it changes quicker. So you, when your body cools off, it's cooling faster, so it always feels cool.

[00:11:48] Eric Goranson: That will help a ton on trying to get sleep. So that combined with some really good light sheets could be a key right there. Now, one trick that I've done, and this was just an old school way [00:12:00] of doing it. Back in the day when I didn't have AC and I lived in a hot area, I would take my blanket, I would take my sheets, I would throw 'em in the freezer or fridge for a bit before bed and cool 'em off.

[00:12:13] Eric Goranson: And, uh, that would help a little bit. I even took ice packs and tuck 'em to bed, so I. It's not really the best, you know, but sometimes that works and it's not gonna save you much energy. But hey, it does help. And the other thing too, is taking a nice, cool shower before you go to bed sometimes getting that extra stickiness off your body will help.

[00:12:32] Eric Goranson: Now, one of the tricks that I do when I don't have AC is really trying to use the temperature outside. Sometimes in certain areas, depending on the heat, it can get 65 degrees, 60 degrees at night. Open up the basement windows. Open up the top ones. Get some convection flow. Turn on the bath fans. Turn on the kitchen fan.

[00:12:54] Eric Goranson: Do anything you can do. Try drag that cold air in and as soon as you [00:13:00] got it, equaled out to the temperature before it heats up. Then you can go ahead and close it back up again, and that will help you do that. So that does help and that does help you save energy cuz you're putting that hot air back outside.

[00:13:14] Eric Goranson: So using that convection power of your house, of getting the hot air out and the cool air in at the bottom will help. So that's something to do that can save you some money too, cuz that really, except for maybe running the bath fan is free. And that's a key, you know, they say to set the thermostat five or more degrees higher when you're away from home.

[00:13:35] Eric Goranson: But here's the problem. This works great if I'm on vacation for a week, but really I wanna have my house try to get ahead of itself. Earlier in the day. So they say to set your thermostat five or more degrees higher, you know when you're gone. I'll be honest, I get mine in the morning. I try to get that thing when it's cool outside and there's less heat load, I try to get the house cool and see how well the house can be [00:14:00] kept.

[00:14:00] Eric Goranson: Cool. So I'm a little bit farther ahead. If my AC is not keeping up, I'm trying to get that as cold as I can in the morning and then later in the day when it's trying to keep up, it will do a better job of getting me starter five or two degrees cooler in the morning. That could end up being five or 10 degrees, you know, better at night.

[00:14:19] Eric Goranson: So starting early is big. And guess what? Anytime you run an AC like that, especially with the window ones or that, guess what, they are inefficient. Save up with all the new heat pump stuff out there. Now is the time if you're looking to take a look at those rebates and see if a mini split heap up or something like that can help you out if you're in a home or if you're in apartment.

[00:14:39] Eric Goranson: That's the tough part. Sometimes that can be a real problem. And so some of these are really cool. Now, some of the ones I've seen out there, there have been a lot of different ice box fan kind of swamp cooler type solutions out there. Yeah, they kind of work. They'll drop a few degrees. But the [00:15:00] problem is you can cause a bigger problem with humidity cuz you're adding all that humidity to the house.

[00:15:05] Eric Goranson: That humidity can cause mold, and if you do have an air conditioner, it can actually push that farther to ice it up or something like that. So keeping the humidity lower is key, and doing one of those ice tricks with the fan and stuff. If you have AC, that can be more headache because that water has to get shed and come outta someplace, and so you're kind of fighting yourself going back and forth.

[00:15:27] Eric Goranson: And then really the last one I have on this one today is gonna be to do as much cooking as you can outside that oven in your kitchen. That cooktop is not your friend as far as heat that is warming up that room five to 10 degrees easily, and now you're fighting that you're pan to heat and you're pain to cool.

[00:15:47] Eric Goranson: When in doubt, get that outdoor kitchen going. I don't care if you go a barbecue and you're gonna boil water out there, you might be better off. If you could, if you can get that cooking done earlier in the day, you're gonna be better [00:16:00] off. Because that way you have a chance to recover that evening, cook when you get home, turn the oven on, throw in that, uh, that dinner, the lasagna, the pizza, the whatever you're gonna do.

[00:16:11] Eric Goranson: You are fighting it and giving all that heat load at the same time. So that is something to do. Think about where you're pulling that heat when you're putting it into the house. And you might be, uh, surprised if you can move that cooking to a different part of the day or outside. You'll be much. More comfortable.

[00:16:28] Eric Goranson: One last little tip before we wrap up this subject. Make sure you're watching those parents elderly, maybe it's aunt and uncle, grandparents, whoever in your life. If they're over the age of 70, make sure that you're watching in a seventies, young, don't get me wrong. But if you're over 70, watch to make sure that they're living in a cool environment, because the last thing you wanna do is lose a loved one to heat stroke.

[00:16:49] Eric Goranson: So make sure that you're watching them and keeping an eye on making sure that things are doing well. All right, well, if you're ready, I'm ready. Let's talk about some of the grossest place in your [00:17:00] house with the most bacteria. And the dirtiest stuff that you're probably not even thinking about. And I found a study from the National Science Foundation in their germ study, which is fascinating.

[00:17:13] Eric Goranson: Which room, first off, is the nastiest place out there? What is it? It's the kitchen that is your ger place in the house. This is where bacterial contamination is far more common than even your bathroom. Great example. Those kitchen rags, towels and sponges are some of the most notorious offenders in your kitchen.

[00:17:40] Eric Goranson: You know that towel that's been sitting there all week and nah, that's just got nasty stuff growing on it. Maybe it got a little bit of chicken juice, splashed on it, whatever. Guess what, that is one of the nastiest things. And when was the last time you cleaned that sponge? Some people I out run it through their dishwasher to sanitize it, but really [00:18:00] watching that is one of the dirtiest places around.

[00:18:04] Eric Goranson: So make sure you're taking those. I like to run the kitchen towels through a, uh, sanitizing rinse in the washer cuz that really ends up making it so it's nice. And that way that steam cleaning the washing machine gets 'em clean for next time. Then of course that dryer running through the high heat sure keeps 'em clean as well, but washing those more frequently.

[00:18:24] Eric Goranson: If that towel's been sitting there for a week in the kitchen, I bet that thing is nasty. And that means you could be spreading contamination across the entire kitchen. All right, we come back. We got so much more about some of the dirtiest places in your home, just as soon as a route in the house returns.

[00:18:57] Eric Goranson: Hey, this is Ron Keel, the middle cowboy [00:19:00] for. From Keel, the Ron Keel Band and Steeler, we are rocking around the house with Eric G. Ray is you. Welcome back to The Round the House Show. We've been talking here today about the Well first segment. We talked first couple segments. We talked about how to keep your house cool.

[00:19:16] Eric Goranson: If you don't have ac now we're talking about the dirtiest places in your home that you're not aware of. What is the title of the Germiest Places? What's got the Most Bacteria hanging around in your party? Let's talk about that. Before went to break, we were talking about kitchen rags, towels, and sponges.

[00:19:31] Eric Goranson: That's a brutal one. The next one coming up is the sink drain sink countertops. Those are actually more frequently contaminated than even your bathroom. How gross is that? When was the last time you kept those things sanitized? And then the next one down the list is cutting boards, coffee filters.

[00:19:51] Eric Goranson: Dishwasher and fridge seals. When was the last time you wiped down the dishwasher seal that had all that food and drippings on it? It's all nasty down there. [00:20:00] Those are also the top locations. Four contamination in your home. You know, if you're seeing a trend here, areas that are frequently damp in contact with hands and food are the most likely place to hide that bacteria.

[00:20:18] Eric Goranson: You should clean those areas much more often. Now, if you're getting into the bathroom, that is not, you know, that is not off the hook here, shall we say? That is one of those that when you look at it, Ooh, buddy, up to a third of toothbrush holders may harbor bacteria, bathroom faucet handles are also a high place of it.

[00:20:41] Eric Goranson: Think about it. Use the bathroom. You touch the faucet to turn it on, to wash your hands. And you touch that same dirty faucet handle after you've washed your hands. Yeah, that faucet's a problem. When's the last time you cleaned that? One study recently showed that even soap dispensers can be a perfect environment [00:21:00] because you're hitting them with that dirty hands before you wash 'em.

[00:21:04] Eric Goranson: So somehow viruses, uh, including who, uh, the human papillomavirus and human herpes viruses have also been identified. On bathroom surfaces, so be careful. Other high contact surfaces, you know, here's the thing, while fewer bacteria colonized dry, solid surfaces, areas in the home that have contact with people are commonly contaminated.

[00:21:28] Eric Goranson: So these are things, even bedding, counters and lights. Now we all know that our cell phone and other gadgets that we're touching all day long are the most contacted item we own. Right? Maybe the earbuds. Maybe it's that cell phone. Cell phone case. So there's dozens of studies out there that show cell phones are frequently covered in bacteria.

[00:21:54] Eric Goranson: Same with your tv, remotes, you know, all of those kind of things, including light switches. [00:22:00] Don't forget. But now note, you know, all germs are not the same and some are actually more healthy than others. Here's the thing. Let me give you some of your best practices here, which I'm tired of talking about this.

[00:22:15] Eric Goranson: So because we hit about it with Covid and I'm still sick of tired and adhering about it, but I'm not gonna get into the frequent hand washing stuff. We've heard that way too much, but those rules do apply. But as far as cleaning those high contact surfaces, like the toilet countertops, sinks in the bathroom and kitchen.

[00:22:37] Eric Goranson: If you do that and then change the towels and sponges and clean them every three days is a really effective, you know, step to keeping that clean. So any place where moisture collects, make sure you disinfect it and keep it clean. And then make sure you watch those mobile devices. If Caroline was [00:23:00] in here right now, my friend, she'd be sitting here saying, use the UV cleaner on that.

[00:23:04] Eric Goranson: Because that is one of her favorite things. But you use a lin free cloth and you know, make sure you disinfect it if you don't have one of those, and that will be a good start to really keeping it clean. Now, there are other rooms and stuff in there as well that you need to be careful. Think of the doorknobs in your house and then one of the worst places, your floor, if you walk around your house.

[00:23:34] Eric Goranson: With shoes on. Think about this. You're walking around with shoes on. You've walked through the areas where the dog took the pee or wherever. Guess what that is going to be? Adding that to probably one of the germiest places around. So here's another one on another study that I saw, which was interesting.

[00:23:55] Eric Goranson: Um, when he goes around, um, what are in the NSF [00:24:00] International top 10. So scientists swab 30 surfaces in 22 homes, 660 tests at all to come up with gauges of yeast. Mold, coliform, bacteria, you know, which is like salmonella, e coli, stuff like that. Staph germs, like those can create dangerous mesa infections.

[00:24:18] Eric Goranson: And so here's where you're at. You know, the cutting boards were key stove knobs, 27% harbored mold in yeasts. So make sure you're cleaning that 32% of kitchen countertops, harbor coliform, bacteria. Which is wow pet toys. 33% of pet toys were found to harbor potentially David dangerous staph bacteria, yeast, and mold infested.

[00:24:45] Eric Goranson: 55% of pet toys in 14%. Also harbored coliform bacteria. And now you wanna let the dog lick your face? I know. Gross, huh? So make sure you hit those, uh, hard toys with soap and water [00:25:00] and soft toys. Just check 'em in the washing machine. Put 'em on a gentle cycle. Let it go. And then faucet handles. We know coffee makers can be rough.

[00:25:10] Eric Goranson: So just again, uh, a key to that good clean technique is to add four cups of vinegar into the reservoir. Let it set for 30 minutes and brew the vinegar. Then run two or three, maybe four cycles of freshwater through until the smell is gone. It's a good way to clean that. When was the last time you cleaned your pit bull?

[00:25:28] Eric Goranson: Yeah, that's a good one. And then, um, you know, the number one, of course we talked about this, but the germiest is that dis sponges and rags. NSF Foundation found out that 70 cent, 77% harbor coliform bacteria, and another 86% contained yeast and mold, 18% contained staph bacteria. So there's a key right there.

[00:25:55] Eric Goranson: So just keep those things clean and you'll be much better off. Now there [00:26:00] are things out there, like in my house I have one of those air scrubbers that clean the air and the surfaces around and it makes me a little nervous cuz it does kick off hydrogen peroxide particles and I'm not sure if I wanna be breathing that.

[00:26:12] Eric Goranson: So, uh, even though I installed that a few years ago, it has been a concern of mine. So what I have done is when I'm having. Friends come over, like we had a house filled last weekend for Mother's Day before they come over, I plug it in, I make sure that it's sanitized the house, and I let that go for 24 hours and then I unplug the unit until next time.

[00:26:33] Eric Goranson: And then every couple weeks I'll plug it in for 24 hours to to do its desani sanitizing in the house, and then I'll let it go again. And so I'm just kind of using it as an air scrubber, but I'm not keeping it 24 7, especially times like this. When I really have the AC running in the summertime, and so that's one of the, one of the keys right there.

[00:26:54] Eric Goranson: So just make sure you got that. Now, another tip that I want to say, do not go taking your [00:27:00] toilet and pour bleach down it. Do not use bleach on any pure bleach on any hard surfaces like that because toilets, bathtubs sinks, you will etch them. So do not, do not do that because that will make it harder to clean next time.

[00:27:17] Eric Goranson: And then you're gonna be in deep, deep trouble because you've ruined the surface. You've made it rougher. You've etched it, which means dirt loves to get in there, and that's gonna be tough. All right, we come back. I'm gonna give you some of the tips inside your home. Now that we're talking about this stuff here.

[00:27:33] Eric Goranson: I'm gonna talk about some tips to making sure your appliances are running in tip top shape. What are you doing wrong? What are you doing right? Are you maintaining 'em? Are they working great? We're gonna go through some appliance maintenance tips when we come back. And if you wanna hear more information about around the house, head over to around the house online.com.

[00:27:55] Eric Goranson: If you've got a question or a concern or you just want to say, Hey. Head over to there [00:28:00] and fill out to contact us. Say hello or hit me up on any of the social media platforms. I am the one that responds back on those. Love to hear what you have to say. And if you got a topic you'd love to hear me talk about, make sure you bring it up over there as well.

[00:28:13] Eric Goranson: I'd love to put it in a future episode of the show around the house. We'll be right back after these important messages. Don't go anywhere. We'll see you on the.

[00:28:57] Eric Goranson: Gets the end of the show now. Drinking down [00:29:00] people, it's time to go. Welcome back to The Round the House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. When this last segment, I wanted to give you a bunch of tips on making sure your appliances are running correctly, and this is one of those things that uh, well, It has been a tough one out there, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna talk about this one here first, your dishwasher, to make sure that you're operating it correctly.

[00:29:23] Eric Goranson: And we're gonna get, you're rid of some of the myths out there that are wrong, that are completely wrong now that we talked about it in a, in a previous midweek special podcast, but on the radio, you guys didn't hear this and I just want to touch on it, but new dishwashers right now are working better than a 10 or 20 year old dishwasher.

[00:29:45] Eric Goranson: They just are. They're quieter, they clean just as well. But you have to follow the same rules of the soaps and detergents that you're using. So first off, if you've got a decent dishwasher, you get [00:30:00] what you paid for. If you went and bought a three or $400 dishwasher, it's not gonna work. Well, I'm sorry, it's not.

[00:30:05] Eric Goranson: And so you're always gonna have issues once you get above the $500 range. It used to be 300, but now with inflation it's 500. You start to get into decent dishwashers that'll clean things, and it's not a fault of the government, it's not a fault of anything else. That's just what it takes to buy something decent.

[00:30:22] Eric Goranson: If you buy something cheap, it just doesn't work well. I don't care what it goes in your house. It's pretty much the same rule. Now, here's the key with this, and this is where I kind of like. What this is, if you scrape your dishes, if you put the dishes in the dishwasher, run 'em through the proper cycle and have a good quality detergent, like one of the main brands you know, and run it through the cycle.

[00:30:48] Eric Goranson: That dishwasher, if it's working correctly, will clean the dishes. One of the biggest mistakes you can make with new dishwashers is to clean the dishes and pre rinse them before you put it in there. That [00:31:00] soap has to be activated. Buy food particles. So make sure you're not pre rinsing dishes before you put 'em in there.

[00:31:07] Eric Goranson: That is a problem. Your dishes will be less clean when they come out when you do that. If you have to wash another dish, cuz maybe you didn't get one that had some baked on stuff, that's fine, but you're better off doing that on one or two dishes and rewashing those on the next load. Then you are to pre rinse because pre rinsing makes the rest of the dishes more dirty On the flip side.

[00:31:28] Eric Goranson: So that's a key right there. If you have hard water in your home and you are not treating it minerals, things like that, you are going to have dirt to your dishes and you'll reduce the lifespan of your dishwasher, your washing machine, your refrigerator, if it has an ice and water dispenser and your hot water heater and every faucet, shower valve, and any valve in your house that controls water, you are reducing the lifespan of that and the plumbing.

[00:31:58] Eric Goranson: So I want to make sure [00:32:00] one of the keys to good appliance care is making sure that you're giving those appliances good conditioned water, and there's no sense to be running around and having a house that has bad water. Or high mineral content, water ruining things. If you do have a high content mineral, here's some of the things that I wanna see you doing.

[00:32:24] Eric Goranson: First off, of course, I want you to get a water test and then treat it, but if you haven't been able to do that or can't afford to do that, here's some of my tips. First off, turn off the gas or or power to your water heater, and I want you to drain that thing every six months to a year. Drain it completely.

[00:32:45] Eric Goranson: Now, if it has not been done and that in that water heater is a 10 year old water heater, you could be opening a can of worms there. So I will say if it's over 10 years old and you can usually look on it and see if it's over 10 years old, I would recommend not doing [00:33:00] this. But if it's a newer water heater, flush it every year, every six months.

[00:33:04] Eric Goranson: If you have really hard, well water, get that all cleaned out. That will make that more efficient. And it will make it cleaner to run because I have had, I've been on a well that had hard water before. I had to do my 40 gallon water heater every six months, cuz if I waited two years, it was 90% full of sediment and I had no hot water.

[00:33:27] Eric Goranson: So you want to keep that stuff flushed out. Now. The other one is, is grab your oven temperature. You, you know, the oven thermometer, like uh, something you'd use out maybe barbecuing or an oven temp thermometer. You can put inside the oven that's rated for it. Turn it on and set at a bake for 4 25 and see if your oven actually gets to 4 25 or higher.

[00:33:47] Eric Goranson: You can fine tune almost every oven out there. The only one that I know that has a problem doing it without having to call service, I think is beta zoni. But just about everybody else out there, you can fine tune your oven with a thermometer. [00:34:00] But here's the thing, if you do that, be prepared. You'll have to relearn those recipes cuz you'll go, oh, I usually bake it at uh, not two hours.

[00:34:08] Eric Goranson: I'm making it for two and a half cause it needs it. You might be closer to two again, so when you change it, remember that you're going to be changing all of those. And then remember, before the major holiday, before you have a bunch of people over, don't go hitting the self-clean up, you know, function on the range with an oven or a range like that.

[00:34:27] Eric Goranson: Because first off, that is the highest risk thing you can do if that ranges on its last leg self-clean. Can tear that thing up. All it takes is for wiring to not be covered right or anything else. And you can burn the range up on the inside pretty easily. So don't do that. And don't do it before you have gas coming over, cuz maybe that next time you go to bake something, you'll notice a little charcoal taste, even though you wiped it out after the self-cleaning function.

[00:34:54] Eric Goranson: After it was cool. You could still have a little taste of that. So you're [00:35:00] better off, you know, baking some other stuff in between there before you have company and making sure that's good. Now, one of my little things for keeping the garbage disposal clean is I will run a mixture of ice and lemon or orange down there, even lime.

[00:35:17] Eric Goranson: I like the citrus, the acid kills things and then the ice really cleans it up. But one of the things that's nice with the garbage disposal, next time you do it, Make sure you get one that has antimicrobial technology on the inside, cuz that will keep it from smelling bad. So those are my tips to, you can also go out and buy little lemon capsules that have lemon oil in 'em to run through there as well.

[00:35:41] Eric Goranson: But, uh, I just use, you know, the, uh, natural peels that I have around the house. Maybe I'm having an orange or cocktail hours or something like that. I'm using those in there to really clean that up. And get it dialed in. So that's a good one right there. Now, washing machines, if you have a front load washing machine, [00:36:00] make sure you clean that filter out.

[00:36:02] Eric Goranson: There is a filter that's right in front of the drain, and if you go through, most have it that gets filled up with bobby pins, screws, nails, screwdriver, bits. Trust me, I've done this. Anything that was in your pocket, we'll get caught up in that. If it made it through the, the, uh, the, the filter on the inside of the drum.

[00:36:23] Eric Goranson: That will keep to protect the pump. But what happens is if you know that, you're like, wow, I just ran a load of towels, and it's just way wetter than it normally is. Check that filter first. That filter. If you haven't changed it in a year, get outta pan, follow the directions, empty it, and it's gonna give you a better performing one.

[00:36:42] Eric Goranson: You know, thing in there as well. Refrigerators and freezers. Make sure you get underneath it and behind it and vacuum out all the coils. Do not bounce around and hit the coils cuz you can break them or cause a leak. So just make sure you get down in there close, but don't get all in them. And, uh, if you have to use compressed air, [00:37:00] that will also work on blowing 'em out.

[00:37:01] Eric Goranson: Just make sure you have the vacuum going to keter that so you don't get it all over the house. Doing that and making sure it's wiped down is key. And then, uh, that's really one of the things to do. Change the water filters. I know the water, it seems that refrigerator companies want you to change that filter way more times than you need to.

[00:37:18] Eric Goranson: And I'm a, I'm a guilty conscience on that one too. But there are air filters on some of the new lgs and stuff. Make sure you're changing those, those air filters actually doing a, a good job of, of, uh, taking odors out of things and keeping it so, you know, you're, um, Your bean dip doesn't end up in your ice cubes later, if you know what I mean.

[00:37:37] Eric Goranson: So those are all keys right there. And then your dryer. Make sure that you're cleaning out that dryer lint outta the tube every year. Go in there, clean that out. Uh, making sure that you don't have one of the white. Look behind your dryer. Two things. Look, make sure you don't have the white vinyl ducting back there.

[00:37:56] Eric Goranson: If you do change it out to a metal one and they're corrugated. And then if [00:38:00] you have the dryer hoses back there that are rubber and not braided, change those out to a braided. That is one of the most common failures in a house. Are those hoses last about five years and then they burst and then you have now have a major insurance claim because you basically took your garden hose and turned it onto the house.

[00:38:17] Eric Goranson: And why does it always happen when you're gone? It seems to, and I've seen hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage from that. So those are some of my keys there, you know, range hoods, keep 'em cleaned down, make sure you, when is the last time you cleaned out those vents there. And of course, just make sure the microwave is working well and cleaned out in in all the seals on everything.

[00:38:38] Eric Goranson: Are nice, in clean and good to go. All right, everybody have a great rest of the weekend. Enjoy it man. We are cruising up on Memorial Day weekend. We're gonna have some great show coming up next week as well. If you're listening on the radio, catch us on the podcast. Just look for around the House show.

[00:38:53] Eric Goranson: Thanks everybody. I do appreciate you turning in. And I'll see you next time. Thanks for tuning in Two Around The House[00:39:00]