Owning a dishwasher is heavenly. Most North American households now have one, and they help families save time, water, and money. As our appliances and technology advance, they often become tougher on food stains, but also harsher on our dishware. Some of us have gotten so used to loading a dishwasher, it’s been a long time since we’ve stopped to question what exactly is dishwasher safe anymore. This article is a gentle reminder of what you can use in the dishwasher, to protect your dishwasher and your heavenly appliance. You really can’t put food caked dishes in there. Your dishwasher is not a garbage disposal and putting too dense of food in the dishwasher can clog the drain line of the washer and that would require a plumber’s removal. Scrape all the food off of your dishes before putting them into the dishwasher. Sauces are okay because they will become liquid enough, but fats and grease will not. Follow the same guidelines you do with your drain, with your dishwasher. Don’t let paper labels go in the wash. Labels from jars or on plates and dishware are not safe for the dishwasher for the same reason you can’t put food in there, they can clog the drain line. Don’t place any glued dishware in the washer. If once you broke a dish and tried to repair it with glue or an adhesive, this dish is no longer dishwasher safe. The heat can undo the glue or adhesive and wreak havoc inside. To save this dish, you’ll have to wash it by hand and still avoid keeping it in hot soapy water for too long. Don’t put hollow plastics inside the dishwasher, such as plastic straws. Unfortunately, putting hollow plastic in the dishwasher can lead to mold growth if water gets inside and stays too long without drying. It’s best to wash these items by hand and make sure they adequately dry out. Insulated travel mugs should not go in the dishwasher. Insulated travel mugs should not go in the dishwasher for the same reason hollow straws shouldn’t. They, too, can be penetrated with moisture and promote mold growth. No wood should be placed inside the dishwasher. Wooden spoons, cutting boards, and anything made of wood are not permitted for dishwasher use. To keep them in good working condition, you should always wash these types of items by hand and let them dry out quickly in an open air environment. There are even oil products marketed to keep them long standing, this is because they can warp, swell, and crack and lose their protective finishes if placed in the dishwasher. Any dishes with metallic accents or actual silver flatware should not be washed in a dishwasher. Because dishes are subjected to bouncing around and clanking together in the dishwasher with the force of the water, you will want to hand wash all these fine dining items to preserve their pristine quality. Just one cycle can ruin a dish with a silver accent. Cast iron is not dishwasher safe. Pots and pans made of cast iron need to be cleaned gently and carefully because the very use of them (for cooking) preserves them, and washing them in a harsh dishwasher could strip this coating that protects it.
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You know the tabs, the toilet tabs. Some are made of bleach and others, with blue dyed cleaning products. Visually they appear to be cleaning without your effort, but they are quite dangerous and threaten the integrity of your toilet’s inner workings. Not only are they dangerous to your home’s plumbing, but they aren’t effective at cleaning either. Your plumber would be happy to know you’ve quit using these nuisance products. Dangers of Toilet Tabs If these products could be more controlled, they might be helpful, but they are too concentrated with corrosive chemicals and stay in what place, corroding your flapper, tubing, and any other rubber pieces involved in the mechanics of a toilet. Because of this causing misshapen toilet flappers, these tablet products contribute to water loss as well. The blue dyed chemical cleaning toilet tablets are only responsible for disguising iron deposits and ugly marks inside your toilet, not actually sanitizing. The product also gunks up the toilet’s jets underneath the rim and will prevent the toilet from flushing toilet properly over time. The Safe, All-Natural Alternative A safe alternative that automates your bathroom cleaning is to use distilled white vinegar. Pour 1 cup inside the back toilet tank, half designated to the overflow, the small rubber pipe that stands up in the middle of the tank. This piece is responsible for sending water through the aforementioned under-rim jets. The natural acids inside distilled white vinegar will gently dissolve the same lime, iron, and other deposits and ugly marks that you were only disguising with the harmful competitors. Using distilled white vinegar not only cleanses your toilet bowl with little effort of yours, it gently cleanses the mechanics of the toilet, making it run optimally. The best practice is to use distilled white vinegar in the toilet tank once monthly. Other Uses for White Distilled Vinegar White distilled vinegar has hundreds of applications in the home because of its miraculous natural cleaning ability. A common way to further automate your bathroom cleaning is to spray down your faucet and shower fixtures with the vinegar mixture and then rubber band a sandwich bag of vinegar to it. Leave it for hours and it will clean and polish your metal fixtures. When mixed with baking soda, it fizzes and provides a little bit more abrasion for tough to clean debris. It also cleans wine stains with ease within the stain’s first 24 hours. Any material responds well; including cotton and cotton polyester. The post Stop Using Drop In Toilet Tabs appeared first on Knoxville Plumbing | Plumber in Knoxville | Plumbing | Tennessee. from https://knoxvilleplumbing.com/stop-using-drop-toilet-tabs/ Cleaning an undermaintained bathroom is hard work and unavoidable hands-and-knees scrubbing; tubs, tile and grout, floors, and toilets, mirrors, countertops, and sinks. With these suggestions, you can start implementing bathroom cleaning maintenance that will minimize the deep cleaning you’ll need to do occasionally. All of these suggestions are keeping in mind professional housekeeping and plumbing advice, and opt for the safest and most natural but effective cleaning methods. All Natural Monthly Drain Cleaning Marthastewart.com offers this all natural drain cleaning method to keep your drains from draining slowly over time as build up occurs. Remove your sink’s stopper and as best you can, pour ½ cup baking soda into the drain, followed by ½ cup of white distilled vinegar. The mixture will foam and dissolve fatty acids and gunk. Let the mixture work its magic for 5 minutes, and then pour boiling water down the drain to force out the mixture and the unclogged material. Do this every month or two to maintain your pipes naturally! Clear Shower Clogs and Shine Metal Fixtures You’ll quickly realize that white vinegar is a miracle. This trick is one you may have already heard of! Pour some white vinegar into sandwich bags, spray some onto your metal shower and sink fixtures, and rubber band the bag over them as well. Let them sit for a few hours and they will deep clean your faucet and shower head for you! The vinegar will shine the metal gently, and actually loosen any mineral deposits and grime that has clogged the openings of your showerhead. The Truth About Toilet Tablets Professional plumbers say the only use for the fun, blue toilet tablets is for toilets in drug testing facilities (so that testees don’t dilate their urine with the water). Not only the blue tablets, but other tablet products put into your toilet and tank are known to quickly corrode your toilet’s important mechanisms and are made of a lot of harmful chemicals. Vinegar to the rescue! You can pour vinegar into your tank, and into the small tube part inside the back of the tank to put it to work cleaning not only your bowl, but the inner parts of the machine that is your toilet. Shower Cleaning Machine Some people swear by shower cleaning machines that suction cup to the inside of your shower. You can find a Scrubbing Bubbles machine in store or online at Amazon for under 20 dollars. If the machine is not your taste or you do not have an enclosed shower it works best in, you can kind of employ the same concept by keeping shower cleaner in your tub and spraying it down the walls after every use. Minimize Mold and Moisture A lot of the work that your bathroom requires over time is cleaning and disinfecting mold and mildew caused by a lack of ventilation. Installing a better ventilation system in bathrooms is often the first task set forth by homeowners during a renovation. Most ventilation is just not adequate enough to prevent mold completely. The best thing you can do is amplify the exposure of light in your bathroom, increase airflow such as through a window or installing a better system, and always keeping the fan on for a full 30 minutes or longer after you’ve showered. The post Automated Bathroom Cleaning appeared first on Knoxville Plumbing | Plumber in Knoxville | Plumbing | Tennessee. from https://knoxvilleplumbing.com/automated-bathroom-cleaning/ Making your bathrooms cozy for winter months is a priority for some. If you live in a place that stays cold for over 3 months, you need all areas of your home to make you feel secure and “held”. Here are 4 great concepts for “warming” your home’s bathrooms and in turn, your spirit. Log Cabin/In The Woods There’s something timeless and classic about a log cabin bathroom that keeps people decorating their bathroom this way. Wooden walls or items, black bears, rustic signs, pine trees and greenery, plaid, fur, and antiques are great ways to solidify this theme. Ensure the space is warm, inviting, and even romantic, by stocking it well with candles or lanterns. Literally Warm It Up Affordably, you can purchase very cozy-feeling rugs or replace your lights with heated lights during the winter. There are also some amazing investments that can be made to warm up your bathrooms in the winter including the installation of heated towel bars to keep your towels warm, heated floors, or a fireplace. You can also visually warm up the space, with colors like red, brown, and orange. Rather than doing the obvious and purchasing items that are this color, such as the shower curtain and accessories, consider taking the leap of painting the wall! Textures and Material Choices If you are completely renovating a bathroom and live where it gets cold in the winter, consider getting the best winter materials. Materials such as copper, brass, soapstone, and volcanic limestone are well-known for keeping water warm. Test for air leaks by lighting an incense and walking around your bathrooms. The smoke should flow vertically, and when it flows horizontally, you know that air is escaping. Use heavy drapes for large windows to block further air leaking, but use a layer of sheer curtains to take advantage of the sun when it is shining. You might also consider the warm look of a cloth shower curtain that is multi layered and pulls back the same way a curtain wood, so that when you are enjoying a bath, you feel like you are in a special enclosed space. Spa Theme Another way to encourage your comfort in a cold winter bathroom is to make it feel like a spa. Purchase lush towels of every size and display them around the bathroom. An essential oil diffuser that delivers aromatherapy and a pleasant looking steam can instantly warm your spirit. Great oils to diffuse during winter are clove and bergamot. These oils in your bathtub will also warm you. Consider stocking your droors with plenty of baking soda boxes and epsom salt for muscle soaks. Proper lighting for relaxation is a must. Candles are obvious choices, but you can also play with others. Ambiant color therapy machines, especially those with sound therapy options are also a great contendor. The post Wintery Bathroom Themes and Decor appeared first on Knoxville Plumbing | Plumber in Knoxville | Plumbing | Tennessee. from https://knoxvilleplumbing.com/wintery-bathroom-themes-decor/ Are you a new home owner? Newly fledging your parent’s nest? Recently divorced or made single? Creating a new work space in your garage or craft room? Having a basic tool set for yourself is a must and also makes a great gift for any loved one who finds themselves in one of these situations. First, you’ll want to begin with a medium sized tool box to fill with these helpful contents. Screw Driver Set Building and tightening furniture screws, and unscrewing and screwing battery compartments when changing batteries are some of the tasks that will have you needing various sizes of screwdrivers regularly.You might also considering getting a glasses repair kit to obtain one of the smallest screw drivers available, and a small sewing kit for small alterations. Tape Measure Tape measures can be especially helpful for re-arranging and decorating your home. You can measure a space’s dimensions to know a piece of furniture will fit or to know how large of a wall space is needing art. A tape measure can also help you ensure you are hanging pieces perfectly parallel to each other. You can also use a tape measure to measure your children’s height and record them on the wall as they grow! Hammer and Assortment of Hanging Supplies Having a hammer is a must-have, but just as important, is keeping an assortment of hanging supplies. Different sizes of nails and screws, as well as “anchors” for heavier pieces are all handy when you have unexpected hanging to do and you want to do it now. Gorilla Tape Gorilla products are great to have on hand for quick and reliable repairing of almost anything. Gorilla tape can help make mean-time household repairs, such as leaks or broken windows, until a professional is able to come, as well as repairing broken household tools like shovels and broken buckets. Flashlight Although you might not need a flashlight to make home repairs, when you need a flashlight you need to know exactly where it was you last put it! Keep a flashlight in your tool box, the small but powerful magnum kind are best. Assortment of Pliers You never know when you might need to get a grip on something during a project and there are many different sizes of pliers to choose from. If you can find a kit of various sizes and shaped noses, you’re in shape. Utility Knife and Wire Cutters When you receive a package that’s hard to open, purchase something in theft-proof pakcaging, or need to unexpectedly invent a contraption, you may need a utility knife. Another handy sharp tool you may need is a wire cutter for some of the thickest ropes and chain type materials. It’s best to purchase these items with sheaths included to protect yourself and any children who might come across your tool box. The post Tools Every Household Needs appeared first on Knoxville Plumbing | Plumber in Knoxville | Plumbing | Tennessee. from https://knoxvilleplumbing.com/tools-every-household-needs/ Purchase Scented Pine Cones A popular tradition around the holidays is keeping scented pine cones in a bowl or around the house. Typically they are sold smelling like cinnamon, but many shoppers can’t stand the smell. In that case, you’re in luck! Scented pine cones are very easy to make. First, clean the pine cones to the best of your ability. If you use water, make sure they completely dry before taking the next steps. Make a mixture of water and your favorite essential oils, one or more, and spritz them liberally. Keep them in a plastic bag for the next 24 hours to set the scent. Give your Home a Signature Scent this Holiday Here’s an even easier suggestion, that’s light on the wallet. You can distribute a scent throughout your home in a number of ways, so why not do them all? Choose one scent that you love. An easy, agreeable scent is vanilla. Then, purchase candles, scented plug-ins, reed diffusers and oil, and any other scent facilitator you can think of and place them around the home practically. When placing these items throughout the home, think about babies and children that might be visiting for the holidays and keep them out of reach. Make a Pomander Pomanders have been around for centuries to fight odors in the home! They can be a fun craft to do with the children, and serve a purpose effectively. Purchase some apples and/or oranges and plenty of fresh whole cloves. Once home, poke the cloves into the fruits in any design you like! The cloves act as small reeds to distribute the scent of the fruit! You can take your scent creation a step further by rolling the fruit in an additional mixture of any essential oils you love. More Essential Oil Uses Essential oils are sweeping the nation with their holistic physical and mental health benefits. This holiday season is the perfect excuse to get into them. Peppermint has a wide variety of medicinal uses, but doubles as a holiday scent because when sprayed around the home, it smells like candy canes. You can purchase a essential oil diffuser that plugs into an outlet, or just make a home spray in a medium sized squirt bottle. Fresh Greenery Pine is another scent that people love around the holidays. This is why real Christmas trees are so popular! You can purchase pine in an essential oil, or decorate your home with fresh pine greenery. This can be in the form of a tree, garlands, or wreaths. Call your local nurseries or tree farms to see if they carry these products, or make them on your own! Simmer Pot Recipes It’s fun to distribute a scent through the home on the stove top. Hundreds of recipes for combining water, fruits, herbs, and spices and warming them on the stove can be found Google. Not only is it comforting to your nose, but it’s appealing to the eyes as well. The post Easy Ways to Celebrate this Holiday with Home Scents appeared first on Knoxville Plumbing | Plumber in Knoxville | Plumbing | Tennessee. from https://knoxvilleplumbing.com/easy-ways-celebrate-holiday-home-scents/ Easter, Christmas, or any other large dinner party ordeal can be stressful for one cook to handle. Here are some suggestions to make the holiday a breeze for you, so you can also enjoy the holiday and be in the moment. Damage ControlPrior to recruiting buddies and making cooking arrangements, there are a few things you can do to prevent accidents from further stressing you. First, you may want to walk around your home and put away any breakables and valuables. Bring out games for children to stay occupied and create an inviting environment for people to “hang out”. You might decorate the table and display drinking glasses. Buy ice. Chill a bottle of wine or be sure a variety of beverages are ready and available. Because dinner parties and extravagant holidays are a major contributor to plumbing issues, follow some of these guidelines to keep your pluming in proper working order. Purchase garbage cans with lids for the kitchen and all bathrooms. Most people flush or put items in the garbage disposal to send them away before their smell permeates the atmosphere. Sanitary napkins and even “flushable” wipes should not be sent down the plumbing, but may be out of embarrassment. Garbage cans with lids offer a safe place to put unwanted discards. Also equip each bathroom with a great scented product, a toilet brush, plunger, and an adequate, visible supply of extra toilet paper. If you do use your garbage disposal while cooking, be sure to turn it on frequently to keep it from clogging. RecruitRecruit the help of little ones. One or two children, 7-16 can be really helpful in carrying out little tasks that keep you in the kitchen monitoring your food. Children can set the table, entertain guests and give house tours, and serve appetizers. Store-made ItemsPre-made desserts, appetizers, sides, anything you can get that won’t sacrifice quality but will save you time is extremely helpful. Your main priorities should be preparing and checking on the protein of the meal (which is traditionally ham or lamb), a casserole or two, and any other oven baked items. Take Care of YourselfThe best holiday hosts are those who seem relaxed and are enjoying themselves as they do it. Make sure you have everything you could want and need for the day, including your favorite beverage, an outfit that you feel good in, and an apron. Sometimes aromatherapy can be helpful, if only used in times of stress. There are several essential oils you can choose from, often at the grocery store, that claim to relieve anxiety and stress. You can purchase one at the same time as all your other dinner items, and put some on a cotton ball or handkerchief to keep in your pocket on Easter Sunday! The post Tips For Easter Dinner At Your House appeared first on Knoxville Plumbing | Plumber in Knoxville | Plumbing | Tennessee. from http://knoxvilleplumbing.com/tips-easter-dinner-house/ There are two kinds of people in this world: bath enthusiasts, and now, shower enthusiasts. Taking a bath or shower after a long day of work is often the perfect start to a relaxing evening. It can signal the brain that work has ended and play has begun. Here are 4 cool shower head products you should consider enhancing your shower experience with. Light TherapyRamon Soler brand offers a shower head that offers much more than light therapy. It also uses music to provide the ultimate relaxation experience. The line is called Hidrocrom and the therapy is called hydrochromotherapy. What makes this product superior from the others is the extent of research and thought that was put into the modern chrome design and its functions. There are three programs to choose from; Wellness, anti-aging, and play bath. Wellness is designed to increase mental and physical well being. Anti-aging is designed to promote energy and balance. And Play Bath is a playful program with rainbow colors. You can also play all three programs one after the other for maximum benefit. The best part for music lovers is that the radio transmitter can pick up signal from a nearby radio or mp3 player. Low Flow FixtureA water conservative, low flow shower head can reduce your water usage by up to 5 gallons per minute. Those who are trying to time their showers can conserve as much as 20 gallons when shaving 5 minutes from their shower time using an older shower head model, but an inexpensive water-saving model can afford you more time in the shower with its efficiency. If you like timing your showers, especially in large families where water needs to be conserved and shower time is hogged by particular members, there is the Shower Manager, a timed shower head. Full flowing shower time settings include 5, 8, and 11 minute showers. A 60 second alert goes off, and the water is reduced to 1/3 its stream to allow you to finish rinsing before the flow is completely stopped! Temperature GaugingDelta has come out with a new model of shower technology called the Temp20. A digital display on the shower head tells you exactly the temperature of the flow, accompanied by the visual led color display that can tell you whether or not the temperature is safe for you and your family members. This is especially great for children, the elderly, people who are sensitive to hot and cold water, and those who really enjoy hot showers or use hydrotherapy in different ways. The LED shows blue when the temperature is below 80 degrees Fahrenheit and red when the temperature is above 110. A shade of light to dark magenta will show how hot the water is between, but the red indicates an unsafe temperature. The great thing is that the technology is employed on several designs to choose from and is not only one shower head for purchase. The technology can also be applied to tub spouts. This is one way to upgrade the home on its journey to becoming a smart house! The post Upgrade Your Shower Head appeared first on Knoxville Plumbing | Plumber in Knoxville | Plumbing | Tennessee. from http://knoxvilleplumbing.com/upgrade-shower-head/ A drought is a period of time that is drier than normal. There are three kinds of drought; meteorological drought which is lack of rain, agricultural drought which is lack of moisture in the soil, and hydrologic drought which is reduce water from bodies of water, either below ground water sources or streams. Places like California are under drought regulations regularly. Here are some tips to ensure you know what to do during a drought or an emergency situation that requires you conserve the most water. Water Saving Plumbing FixturesConsult your trusted plumber to give you the best recommendations for replacements and upgrades to your plumbing that will not only conserve water on your water bill today, but well into the future. These innovations will effect the following generations to come and help you feel your best about the efforts you made to save valuable resources in your lifetime. Also be sure to fix leaks as quickly as possible. Leaks are responsible for a lot of unwanted water spending. You can also flush your toilet less or place a brick in the tank because filling completely up between flushes is not necessary. The internet is full of countless other tips for saving water in your bathroom. Water Lawns at Opportune TimesIf you are going to water your lawn, do it less often and cut your grass less often so it will retain the water you do give it. Be sure to water your lawn in the early morning or late evening to insure it soaks up the most moisture before it gets evaporated with the help of the sun. Rain Water CollectionCollecting rain water in specifically designed rain barrels is one of the most effective ways to save water in the event of drought or emergency. This water is safe to use on virtually anything but drinking, including to water your plants and lawn or wash your car. You can also devise your own collection from the run off of your home’s gutter system. Water can also be collected from your water supply in your home, below kitchen sinks. A bucket can collect your water waste and be used on your outdoor plants. In the coming years, common knowledge on defining a drought and regular water regulations will need to be employed. In other countries, drought is considered the normal condition or clean drinking water is not at all available. We are fortunate we have the water we do today and should do all we can to protect it. Employ these three things in times of drought, or just on a regular basis, to be a responsible citizen of earth. The post Water Use Basics During a Drought appeared first on Knoxville Plumbing | Plumber in Knoxville | Plumbing | Tennessee. from http://knoxvilleplumbing.com/water-use-basics-drought/ Although from state to state the requirements for becoming a plumber can vary, there are usually two ways to obtain your plumbing license. One way is to go to college for 2-3 years to obtain the knowledge and experience necessary to work in the field and the other is to do a much longer apprenticeship beneath a “master plumber”. Both ways are respected in the trade and matter only to the aspiring plumber, to choose the option that best fits his lifestyle and resources. Formal EducationTo best prepare for the field, an aspiring plumber should first get their high school diploma or GED. If they know they want to be a plumber they will need a solid background in science, math, and computers. If they are able, in high school or college, taking courses in drafting and blue print reading is very helpful in the trade. Trade school, vocational school, or technical schools all offer plumbing programs that will give you the foundation in more advanced plumbing studies such as water supply and drainage systems and piping equipment. Schooling can take 2-3 years. After you’ve received your diplomas you will want hands-on experience with an employer willing to mentor you your first few years of work. ApprenticeshipDoing an extensive apprenticeship program that may last as long as 5 years under an experienced plumber in place of going to school for a formal education is another option available to aspiring plumbers. The steps following are the same, 2-3 years experience after your apprenticeship has ended will qualify you for what they call your journeyman’s license. Journeyman plumbers can go onto become master plumbers after they’ve received 1-5 years more experience in the field (depending on the state) by taking another exam. LicensingAfter you’ve completed one of the two routes listed above to gather all the knowledge and experience necessary for licensing, you will probably take an exam. The exam will include a lot of the information you learned in school, on the job, and will likely include local codes as well. As previously mentioned, journeyman can continue onto becoming master plumbers by continuing to work in the field and then taking the master plumber’s exam. Job OutlookPlumbers average 20.00 per hour and have been staying around 5% unemployment rate which is good. The trade is expected to remain the same into the future. Newcomers will likely have job openings when they are ready to fill them, as plumbers retire. Most plumbers find their work in construction, but there are a number of job applications for plumbing. The post Credentials and Education Needed To Become a Plumber appeared first on Knoxville Plumbing | Plumber in Knoxville | Plumbing | Tennessee. from http://knoxvilleplumbing.com/credentials-education-needed-become-plumber/ |
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