Just glanced at my bathroom dorr next to me and the pins are up a little bit, no trouble opening or closing the door, though.

Grease trap? Aren't those for commercial use, not residential?

My house is 100 yrs old with a combination of original and newer doors. None of the hinge pins have ever needed pushed back into place. All doors open and close just fine.

Hinges shouldn’t move move, so I guess that’s why one could check from time to time, to see if something has gone awry.

chisue, apparently houses built around here in the 50s and early 60s could have them. When we had it cleaned in our last house, my aunt, who lived around the corner in a house slightly older than ours said, oh oh, you know you can have that taken out, it will make your life much easier. In this house, 1960ish. the seller actually exhorted us to clean it every two years ”and the next time is thiscoming October, don’t forget”. He was right. Several years later, when a pipe problem arose, we had it removed.

DH regularly blows out the smoke and CO detectors. We were both out of the house when the fire alarm went off, the police and fire came ... no fire thank goodness. All they could attribute it to was maybe a spider got in one of the detectors.

I have one hinge pin that has slightly gradually moved upwards maybe 2 times in 10 years. I put a rag on it, then tap with a hammer. It's the guest bath door. 1955 house.

This house had never had a drain clean out in the laundry room. And my last washing machine doesn't even have a lint trap that can be cleaned? The first time I found water backing up a bit into my laundry room sink, we had a drain cleanout installed. We've never had to use it but we do have one now.

In my former house, the filter to the cooling and heat were the same piece, part of a whole house air cleaner. It picked up a lot of dust, also pollen. I would hand it to DH who would hose it off, then I'd run it through the dishwasher (per owners manual). Bright and shiny clean every time. How I miss that air cleaner, I never had to dust other than very occasionally.

Vacuum the dust off your refrigerator coils periodically.

And more often if you have a husky, a golden, etc.

Funny, bpath. I used to have a husky. That dog was a shedding machine.

I'm sure everyone knows this, but I have to remind my brother to clean the filters in the dishwasher before (or after) he uses it. He runs it more often than I do. I clean the filters every time, just to be sure, and the dishes come out cleaner. Otherwise, the glasses can have spots. We always use Rinse-Aid, but with hard water, it is more difficult to get clean dishes.

In L.A. I sometimes use Method detergent because it has no fragrance and is more environmentally friendly, but it doesn't work as well as Finish detergent. Cascade Platinum leaves a horrible scent on the dishes that makes the food taste bad because I can smell the detergent.

Run bleach or vinegar down your central A/C drain line. Our builder told us to use bleach. Many people say to use vinegar instead as a better choice. Never had an issue using bleach.

I call it living and learning 😃

A couple of the old doors in our 1950s house have hinges that do that - one is a hollow interior door and the other is a solid exterior door.

And FWIW, I believe you're not supposed to use liquid/spray lubricants on locks. I use graphite powder - sold in hardware stores for precisely that purpose. In a pinch, I've used a soft leaded pencil to coat the key and keyhole thickly - sometimes it takes working the key in and out several times to get enough graphite in there to lubricate the lock.

The only time I use lubricant on a hinge is when it's making noise.

Also, FWIW, when it comes to things like that, adults don't always give that kind of info/practical education to girls as they will to boys. I was fortunate my dad shared his knowledge with my sisters and I, when we were growing up.

Lars, I had never heard of dishwasher filters until we got our latest one several years ago. I clean the filter every few days, which seems to be enough. When my sons moved into apartments, we checked the DW manuals and none seem to have filters.

Hinges all stay put here...never heard of a door hinge pin moving out of it's cradle.

No dishwasher filter in my Maytag. If there is any such thing, you would have to take the dishwasher completely apart to clean it.

For those who live in a house (as opposed to an apartment) it is a good idea to check (or have a professional check) periodically for termites.

The dishwasher I just replaced (vintage Kitchen Aid) had its own mini garbage disposal. A grinder, and no filter to clean. This new one does have a filter but the owners manual says it shouldn't need cleaning if scraping, never pre rinsing, dishes.

It was installed in January and I checked the filter for the first time this week. It was spotlessly clean other than one little bit of very soft 'something' that almost looked like a half length of elbow macaroni. Which I supposed it could have been. It wasn't in the filter, but underneath it and so soft I couldn't pick it up. I had to use a Q-tip to remove it.

My son is learning the gift of having a father that made sure his kids were told all these things! He wasn't a shop/ag kid so didn't take advantage of all the hands on classes while in prep school. Neither were the men he hangs with. BUT he had a father that taught him home maintenance so he knows how to change a light fixture/put new electric outlets in a home, install a new toilet, fix a leaky faucet yadda yadda...home ownership requires many skills. He grew up ASSUMING all parents were this diligent. He has found this not to be true. He is in high demand with his nerd friends. Oh and my daughter has recently replaced all the light fixtures in the ceiling of her new to her home, all by herself.

My parents rented houses when I was growing up and some of the doozy's that tenants called for help with:

. dryer was taking forever to dry the clothes...turned out she never cleaned the lint filter...could've set the place on fire the duct was so packed

. oven was smoking...she never cleaned it

. light in refrigerator is broken...Dad screwed the bulb in tighter

. vacuum isn't working well...she never knew you had to empty it

My 1-year-old Bosch bottom of the line DW has an easily reached filter, but I've yet to find anything in it beyond a bit of what looked like paper toweling. The directions say to merely scrape dishes, but because we only run it alternate evenings, I rinse anything that would start to stink (fish, milk).

Growing up without a father in the house, my DM and I did many chores to save money. DH grew up with 'help'. I'm the 'Handy Annie' in our marriage. (Getting Raggedy, too.) Always interesting to see the light dawn when a plumber, HVAC tech, etc. realizes he's explaining something to the wrong gender.

Clean out the hose from the dryer that goes outside. Amazing how much lint can clog it up

Karen, that was an eye-opener for me! I grew up in a house where the dryer vent was right at the outside wall, and my first two houses, same thing. It wasn’t until a friend’s condo building was cleaning all their dryer ducts that I heard about this. So in our current house, with a ridiculously-long and convoluted duct, I was amazed at what came out! Since my son grew up and out I haven’t done it, it’s a two-person job here, and two patient people at that, so I haven’t asked DH to help me do it in way too long. It’s on our current to-do list.

My old Bosch dw has a filter. i check it infrequently and have never found anything.

my washer drains into a utility sink. I have a lint catcher in the drain of the sink and that needs to be cleaned every week.

I have the duct from the dryer cleaned every couple years although i clean the lint filter every time I dry a load.

Dont forget to change the oil in the lawn mower every year.

I swear I never knew about the dishwasher filter until 2022. I was looking at the manual (purchased in 2020) and I saw it mention the filter. I checked youtube and it looked like I could do it so I did. I was shocked that it was pretty clean and clear, and mostly that I've had dishwashers for over 40 years and never cleaned a filter. The dishwashers all lived long lives as well.

I used to vacuum the coils under the fridge ( we have always had sheddy dogs) but I swear this one I can't figure out how to do it. I guess I m going to have to look at youtube and manual.

We have lived in 3 houses,(over 40 years) and I don't recall anything with door hinges.

It was almost 10 years after moving from my childhood home that I learned that one needs to lift up the top of an open burner stove and clean under there. I don't remember how it came up, but I was talking on the phone with my mother when she told me. I did not remember, as a child, seeing anyone clean under the stove top, and it just had not occurred to me.

filters in the dishwasher??? A /C drain line??? all news to me. I don't believe I have these.

If you have central air you have a condensate line. If you have a European dishwasher you've got a filter. Cleaning it after each use seems highly excessive. From my Bosch:

Thanks to this thread, I reminded DH to vacuum the fridge coils...eew what a mess...they sure needed it!

well, now I wonder about my dw filter. I clean it every few days or once a week, and I’m glad I do. Maybe there is something wrong with my dw, or my plumbing? I scrape, sometimes rinse and sometimes not, and there is definitely stuff on the filter.

googled this tidbit: "If your dishwasher is 10 years old or older, it probably has a self-cleaning filter," says Ciufo. Over the past decade, dishwasher manufacturers have moved away from that type, which is often equipped with a grinder, to quieter manual-clean filters.Mar 9, 2019"

I still am not used to cleaning the dw filter. Need to remember to do it more than once every five years!!!

bpath - For reference, I probably run mine 4-5 times a week, installed November, cleaned for the first time the other day due to a smell. Definitely needed it but wasn't totally clogged. I'll try to get on a bimonthly schedule to be safe. Confirm your detergent has enzymes.

@salonva I can't vacuum under my fridge either, so I bought something similar to this. I works great and fits where a vacuum attachment won't,

This is my dishwasher:

youtube video of how to clean my D/W filter

I'm sorry but there's no way I would feel comfortable taking all that apart! I'm not that handy! HAHA!

I just looked again at the manual re cleaning filter for DW. It really is a simple one that took maybe 3 minutes if that and I am not handy.

Here's another question-- you know those affresh tablets they sell? Do you use them? I guess I;m asking if it's valid and you do it. Even though I've bought them I somehow feel like it's not really needed.

I have done one or two with my front loading washing machine. I have a box DH picked up for the dishwasher but I never remember to do it.

Also re-checked manual for my fridge and it's so confusing. I think the coils are in the back and fridge would need to be moved and all... I do have those duster things so I might try underneath to see what it gets.

Some dishwashers have filters, some don't, depending on the design. Our first dishwasher, a 1975 KitchenAid, had a filter. Machines with a food macerator/grinder typically don't have one. Some are a drain pump protector moreso than a washing/rinsing filter. Some newer designs have smaller pumps for less water usage and quieter operation and thus have no physical room for a grinder (which also adds noise) so they have filters. Enzyme detergents are effective at dissolving the majority of residual food particles so the filters typically don't need to be cleaned very often.

Salonva, I use the Affresh tablets occasionally in my dishwasher and my washing machine. I have all white sheets and DH's bath all white towels, so I'm washing a load of whites in hot and sometimes with a little bleach weekly. I ignore the little electronic note that shows up on my washer control panel reminding me to clean with Affresh and do it maybe half as often as prompted. When I had a service person here once he remarked on how clean the washing machine was, said he didn't see that often.

Dadoes, I'm surprised at how hard the appliance salesmen stress the quietness of their machines. If my dishwasher is doing a good job of cleaning my dishes, I'm fine with knowing its running. If it were to make a little noise taking care of the dishes chore for me, I'm not at all concerned. But I seem to be in the minority, everybody wants silent ;) The one I bought in January has no grinder - it would have been fine with me if it had.

There are special brushes to clean the coils under a fridge. I always had to nag the cleaner at our Maui condo USE them. The condo association did an annual vent cleaning to prevent fires. A fridge will last longer and operate more efficiently with clean coils. There's usually a hard rubber plate across the bottom of a fridge that you can snap off to access the coils. Do this even more often if you have pets.

Our GE Monogram's coils are in a compartment on top of the fridge. I vacuum there once or twice a year.

I clean the filter inside our dryer after every load, but there's still a lot that gets past that, into the vent to the outdoors. We had mice inside the vent when we came home from Maui one spring. (Outlet should have a 'cage' around it to prevent access.)

Well, here’s one. My vacuum cleaner clogged. Someone (yeah, probably me) accidentally vacuumed up a little coil of floral wire, and it stuck in the hose, and over the last 4 months (because I think it happened when cleaning up after an estate sale), stuff gathered behind it until it clogged altogether.

So, today I opened up the vacuum, cleared the clog, unwound hair and thread from the roller, and thought oh, I’ll spray that Dust Off compressed gas air to get the dust out. Well, as soon as I sprayed it, something caused the clear plastic cover on the base to crack, lots of tiny cracks. The vacuum still works, I hope the cover doesn’t fall apart. It’s a Shark! Fortunately, not my favorite Shark (It’s a Navigator, I prefer my Rotator at home) and I got it to do light housekeeping at my parents’ house while it is on the market. But criminy!

The only warning on the can that I may have transgressed to cause the problem is, I wasn’t holding the can upright. Well, yeah, because the vacuum was on the floor.

None of our previous dishwashers had filters but they did have grinders. We now have 2 Bosch DW with filters and before buying them I had the salesman show me how to clean the filter. Surprisingly simple.

Most of our refrigerators had coils underneath the unit. One GE had the coils in the back and you had to pull it away from the wall to clean them.

My new Sub Zeros have the easiest ones. The filter is on the top so it doesn't collect dog hair and it is easy to reach - just lift up the grate and use the appliance brush.

My dryer's filter is on the front and I empty it every time. I check the dryer vent outside the house to make sure lint hasn't accumulated on the flap or around the opening. I also make sure there is decent air flow while it is running. . However Ido need to schedule a cleaning.

I use the Affresh tablets every now and then on my DW and Washing machine - I'm not sure if they do anything but it makes me feel like I did.....

My house always seems dusty to me so I change HVAC filters once a month.

"We had mice inside the vent when we came home from Maui one spring. (Outlet should have a 'cage' around it to prevent access.)"

If that cage is small enough to stop mice, it might be considered a screen which I believe is against code as it's a fire hazard. I know they're sold but I'm not sure they're legal. I just replaced the dryer exhaust at my mom's due to a mouse issue, but stuck with a free exit. A stuck damper was half her problem. I'm not 100% certain on this, but knowing someone who lost everything in a fire that started in a vent, I'm kind of cautious about this.

Dryer lint filters cannot catch 100% of the lint or they'd quickly clog during the cycle and obstruct the airflow. My dryer is unusual in that it has an auto-scraping filter of tighter mesh to catch more lint. The filter is round (like a ferris wheel), attached to and rotates with the drum. The airflow passes through from the inside. A scraper piece sits close to the surface, peels off the lint and drops it into a collection bucket that requires dumping when full, not after every load.

I am sure that I didn't know about the importance of keeping gutters cleared, until I started researching why there was water intrusion into my basement.

I really don't think that I learned so much from my parents, other than the importance of keeping things clean (so yes, I knew about lifting the stove top and cleaning under it). My dad wasn't a DIY-er that I recall and most def not my mother.

I loved watching "This Old House" (and Victory Garden) in the early years, and learned a lot from those shows. I think there was another show that covered some home maintenance too, & I must have picked up more from the newspaper and other sources. My brother gave me his old Reader's Digest books on home maintenance and repairs as well - outdated now, except for the fact that my house is also outdated in terms of wiring and such.

I have always read and kept my owner's manuals for anything I bought.

I obtained a free dryer a couple of years ago from curbside. It had a note taped to it that it needed a new heating element. The lint filter was full, and when I opened the machine up to access the heating element, the entire case was packed full of lint - I suppose that could be why the element burned out. A new element from the big A, as well as a new cord to fit my plug, and I got a larger, more deluxe dryer to replace my basic 20+year old one for about $25.

Here's the funny part: the dryer came from a house where lives a man with a big truck advertising his services as a handyman!

I also currently have 2 Sharks (which I really like) and my DD has a Dyson, all of which I "repaired" by cleaning out clogs and the filters - and the nooks and crannies where the dust went because the filters were clogged.

Raee, how did you clean the nooks and crannies? Mine had areas that a toothpick, toothbrush, qtip, etc won’t reach, so I tried the canned air with those unexpected cracking results.

I clean both my stick vacuum and roomba with my regular vacuum.

bpath, I use all of those things, but I also have some long narrow brushes (like those for cleaning reusable straws), skinny paintbrushes, and a long thin/flat tweezer that I use with a thin but sturdy piece of a wipe or alcohol sponge to get into the tight channels and corners. They also come in handy when I have to pull fur out of a motor!

You might be able to find a replacement cover on eBay if the cracks are lethal. Might still be available from Shark, too, or one of the on line vacuum parts stores - prices can vary wildly.

I wonder if the compressed air propellant comes out very cold & if that caused the cracking.

Oh, I was curious so I looked it up and found this:

The liquid is compressed difluoroethane, the dusting "gas" that can be easily compressed into liquid form - and it is a refrigerant. Besides being an inhalation hazard, it can also cause frostbite.

Talk about a "who knew"!!!

Here's a little tip I learned yesterday. You can use coffee filters as liners in your air fryer. Maybe everyone knew this, but I was planning on buying some to save on all the cleaning. I tryed it tonight and it works!

May baskets!

Raee, as I was using it DH warned me about the frostbite! I did get some on my finger (because I was, dumb me, spraying it sideways or even upside down, and my finger was in the way). Super cold!

The vacuum had been in the garage for a couple of days at about 40° so it was already cold, so I was surprised it caused cracking. That stuff must be REALLY cold.

I know you are supposed to empty some water out of the bottom of the hot water heater yearly. We’ve never done it in the 21 years its been here. We are going to replace it due to age.