Month: July 2016

No longer just for popping popcorn or heating TV dinners, the microwave is a kitchen staple both at home and in the office break room! Microwave ovens are so quick and efficient because they channel heat energy directly to the molecules (tiny particles) inside food. Yet, there are many items that are not safe for your microwave. To keep your microwave working longer, NEVER try to heat these items:

1. Paper Bags. Not including popcorn bags, your standard paper lunch sack can catch fire in the microwave! Did you know that popcorn bags have special susceptors in it that keeps the bag from burning? This thin layer of plastic created to handle the radio waves produced by the microwave! The fumes and toxins released from a regular paper bag during the heating process can potentially cause a fire.
2. Aluminum Foil. It’s easy to forget this cardinal microwave rule when restaurants often box up your food in an aluminum container! The metal interior of your microwave is made to reflect radio waves that warm up the food. Aluminum foil and other metal reflect the waves back. This will result in sparks and potentially a fire.
3. Non-Microwave Safe Mugs. Did you know that most plastic travel mugs should not be microwaved? Plastic cups that are not specifically labeled “Microwave Safe” may release carcinogens when heated in the microwave. Also, any mug that has a metallic graphic on it can also cause sparks similar to heating aluminum foil.
4. Eggs in its shell. You can cook eggs in the microwave, but always crack them out of their shell when doing so! Eggs will explode when they are heated to a certain temperature, making a very sticky mess! There have also been cases where the egg will stay intact until taken out of the microwave and can cause damage or harm when exploding in one’s hands.
5. Styrofoam. It’s easy to microwave leftovers straight in its styrofoam container or to reheat a hot drink in a styrofoam cup. Styrofoam is a type of plastic that releases harmful toxins when microwaved. The material is also prone to melting onto your food when it reaching high microwave temperatures.

For more information on what you should or should not microwave, refer to your user manual before microwaving anything that is not explicitly labeled “microwave-safe.” If your microwave is broken, call Westside today to schedule your repair at 515-276-8899.

It is recommended to rinse off your dishes before placing them into the dishwasher. Failure to do so will eventually accumulate old food particles down below into the sump housing. Food will clog up the passage ways, preventing proper water pressure to spin the spray arms. When the spray arms don’t spin, the water will not properly to clean your dishes. Not only will this affect cleaning, but it will leave dry crusty spots on the glass. You may also notice that the dishwasher has a bad odor inside.

You may be surprised that there is a “right” and “wrong” way to load your dishwasher. When loading your dishes incorrectly, this will cause your dishes to come out dirty.

Load small dishes and cups on the top rack.  Position the bottom rack so the big dishes gradually get smaller as you work your way up to the front part of the rack. The reason it’s important to load bigger dishes in the rear is because it will allow the water to spray along the inside front panel where your dispenser flap with detergent is. If you load the bigger dishes in front, it will take most of the water spraying around the dispensor flap area preventing the detergent from mixing in well. It can also prevent the flap from opening causing no detergent to release.

Lastly, make sure you run the hot water from the sink before you run your dishwasher. This will allow your machine to inject hot water immediately into the dishwasher. Some houses take longer for the water to heat up, and if thats the case your dishwasher will not clean properly with luke warm water. The water temperature should be around 120 degrees farenheit and no more than 150 to wash normal. Ignore this if you have instant hot water feeding to your machine.

Your dishwasher DOES NOT have a grinder like a sink garbage disposal… So please don’t used it like one. Rinse off your dishes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean clean them.  Remove any chunky food particles when throwing left overs in the garbage and rinse off lightly any sauce or grease. Also check to make sure your glassware or tupperware are dishwasher safe. If the glass breaks or the plastic melts it can break the propeller inside.

Please read your user care manual for helpful tips you need to know about your machine. This blog is just basic tips on how you can get the most out of your dishwasher and make it last. Refer to your manual for more in-depth information.