Bills are up, time is tight, and appliances don’t whisper when they’re struggling. Yet most fixes are hiding in plain sight, waiting for a spare hour and a cloth.
You look at the plug jungle behind the toaster and think: I’ll sort it one day. Then the dryer leaves towels a bit damp, and the dishwasher door sticks with a sandy crunch around the seal, and one day starts to feel expensive.
There’s a small kind of triumph in doing it yourself. A torch between your teeth, a soft brush in hand, the click of a panel you didn’t know opened. You start to hear the house—fan whirr, drain gurgle, door seal sigh—and once you hear it, you can’t un-hear it.
What if the best savings are sitting behind the fridge?
7 easy maintenance wins you can do by Sunday
Start with the fridge. It’s the quiet worker that never clocks off, and a dusty condenser makes it run hot and hard. Pull it forward, switch it off, and gently vacuum the grille and coils at the back or base with a soft brush. Wipe the door seal with warm soapy water, run a tissue under the lip, and dab on a little petroleum jelly to keep it supple. A cooler, calmer hum is your reward.
Now the washing machine. Pop open the little flap near the floor and twist out the filter—have a tray and towel ready, because a surprise puddle is part of the rite of passage. Coins, hair grips, that missing screw: they all live here. Rinse the filter, check the tiny pump propeller spins freely, then run an empty 60°C cycle with soda crystals or a washing machine cleaner. Your laundry will smell like laundry again.
The kettle is Britain’s heartbeat, and limescale strangles it. Half fill with warm white vinegar, top with water, leave for an hour, then boil once and rinse twice. For stubborn scale, a tablespoon of citric acid works like a charm. The element will shine, the boil will quicken, and your cuppa tastes cleaner. Let’s be honest: nobody does this every day.
Small jobs with big payback
Dishwasher duty. Lift out the bottom rack, twist and lift the filter, and give it a proper wash in the sink with a soft brush. Pop off the spray arms and poke the nozzles with a cocktail stick—bits of pasta and seeds love to camp there. Check the salt and rinse aid, wipe the door seal, and run a hot cycle on empty with a cleaner if it’s been a while. Plates will sparkle without you pre-rinsing everything to within an inch.
Tumble dryer, the fluff factory. Empty the lint screen every time, then go deeper: for a condenser, slide out the heat exchanger and rinse it until clear; for a vented model, detach the hose and shake or vacuum out the lint; for a heat pump unit, brush the fine filter gently. We’ve all had that moment where the laundry’s still damp and time has run out. Five quiet minutes here can shave a cycle.
Oven TLC that doesn’t stink. Remove racks and soak them in hot water and washing-up liquid with a sprinkle of bicarbonate of soda. Wipe the door glass with a paste of bicarb and water, leave for 15 minutes, then polish it off with vinegar. Check the door seal for gaps—heat escaping is money escaping. Unplug first if you’re delving near elements or bulbs, and let everything cool. The kitchen feels lighter when the glass turns clear.
“Most breakdowns start as tiny annoyances—smells, rattles, longer cycles. Catch the small stuff and you rarely see the big bill,” says Tom, an appliance engineer from Leeds.
- Fridge: clean coils and door seal
- Washing machine: clear filter, run a hot maintenance wash
- Kettle: descale for a faster boil
- Dishwasher: scrub filter, free the spray arms
- Tumble dryer: de-fluff filters and vent/heat exchanger
- Oven: soak racks, refresh door glass and seal
- Vacuum cleaner: wash the filters and snip hair from the brush bar
Your weekend, your kit, your rules
You don’t need a garage’s worth of tools. A soft brush, a thin nozzle, old towels, mild cleaner, and a bit of care are enough for most of it. Spread tasks across the weekend—two in the kitchen on Saturday, two in the utility on Sunday—and set a phone timer to stop it ballooning. Set a 20‑minute timer and treat it like a sprint, not a slog.
There’s a deeper gain, too. When you tune in to how appliances sound and smell, you spot drift early: the fridge that runs longer than it used to, the washer that takes ages to drain, the oven door that doesn’t quite kiss the frame. These are whispers from things you rely on every day. Fixing them feels like taking back a slice of calm.
Share the wins with your street WhatsApp, trade tips with a neighbour, swap a filter-clean for a borrowed Torx bit. The house becomes easier to live in when you’re on speaking terms with it. Five minutes now beats a £150 call-out on a wet Tuesday.
| Point clé | Détail | Intérêt pour le lecteur |
|---|---|---|
| Clean, then listen | After each task, power on and note the new sound or speed | Teaches you what “healthy” feels like, so you catch drift early |
| Work safely, simply | Switch off at the wall, cool down, and use gentle tools only | Reduces risk while getting pro-looking results |
| Little and often | Rotate tasks monthly with calendar nudges | Prevents grime build-up and keeps bills steadier |
FAQ :
- How often should I do these seven tasks?Filters and lint screens: weekly. Descaling and maintenance washes: monthly in hard-water areas, every 6–8 weeks elsewhere. Coils and oven seals: every 3–6 months.
- Is vinegar safe for all appliances?Use white vinegar for kettles and shower heads, not inside washing machines or dishwashers with rubber parts if your manual advises against it. Citric acid or branded cleaners are gentler alternatives.
- Will I void my warranty?Cleaning filters, seals and external parts is routine care and expected. Don’t open sealed panels or touch internal electrics—leave repairs and parts replacement to a pro.
- My fridge has no visible coils—what now?Many modern fridges hide the condenser underneath. Pull the kick plate and vacuum dust there, and wipe the door seals. If airflow vents are clogged, clear them carefully.
- What’s the fastest single win if I’ve got 10 minutes?Empty the tumble dryer lint screen and rinse the washing machine filter. The difference is immediate and you’ll smell it on the next load.
