This Saturday, I’m getting a new stove. One them fancy self-cleaning dealies. Unfortunately, this means cleaning the vinyl flooring UNDER the current stove, a vintage avocado-gold Magic Chef that’s at least 20 years old. It still works, but not very well. The stove came with the house which had belonged to my wife’s grandparents. She’s lived here about 15 years and she says she’s never cleaned under it. Luckily, I work for a company that sells all manner of cleaning chemicals. I just don’t want to see what kind of super-crud has collected.
The fridge (a 1982 GE) also came with the house and has never been cleaned under or behind. I know you’re supposed to remove and clean the drip pan and brush off the coils on the back, but it’s a major bitch to move. It’s scheduled to be replaced at tax time next year.
Am I the only one to let this facet of housecleaning go unchecked?
My stove is hard wired to the back wall. In other words, the gas pipe is solid not one of those snakeyones so cleaning is out. the refrig gets cleaned if its dirty in back so that it works better as the coils have to be clean to work best.
I’ve had a few incidents that required moving the stove for cleaning - most recently involving hard boiled eggs, so the areas under, behind, and around the stove are clean. The fridge is on wheels and easy to move, but we’ve been in the house over a year already and have yet to move it. In our last place, we cleaned under the fridge when we had a glass shatter and send shards thither and yon.
My cat George cleans under the stove for me. He likes to run his arms under the edge and pull out dust bunnies made of his own hair. I haven’t gotten him to try this with the fridge yet, though.
I just wish he wouldn’t do it while company is here. It’s like he’s making a pointed comment on my housecleaning habits.
Nah. The stove is built in to the counter so it can’t really be moved. The fridge is in an alcove. It has sealed coils, so those can’t get dusty. We moved the fridge this summer to re-finish the floor, and there was nothing too disgusting back there.
