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Here are 10 tips to make appliances a little more family friendly, because… well… I vote a good hack! Our appliances do much more than cook & clean for us… they have all of these little secret jobs that I want to share with you (AKA: Hacks!) Today, Sears & I partnered together in this sponsored post to bring you my favorite appliance hacks!
This first one is more to put ON the appliance than IN it, but I love it nonetheless.
1. Give your child a cup & put magnets on it, because if your kids are like ours, they go through 5 cups every day. Attach it to your refrigerator when not in use! This way, they have a cup, use it & put it back. Hand wash it at the end of the day. Thanks AdventuresinPinteresting for an easy little hack! 
2. Lifehacker tells us to “Throw a few tennis balls into the dryer when you are drying comforters, fluffy coats, pillows, or anything else that could use a good fluffing. […] Tennis balls can also help any laundry load dry faster—just throw two or three in the dryer and your clothes will be done quicker.”
You can pin that little hack…
3. Make your own detergent! I have done this in the past with our washing machine – just made my own detergent. The kids think of it as a science experiment & I love the smell!
- 1 bar (or 4.5 ounces) shaved bar soap (Fels-Naptha)
- 1 cup borax
- 1 cup washing soda
- Mix together & throw 1-3 Tablespoons in, depending on the load size.
4. This is a pretty awesome microwave hack from LifeHack. If you cut the ends off of your onion & then heat it up, it will be tear-free cutting for you!
5. I love this tip about how to keep your cans from rolling out of the cartons:
6- Hold all of your smaller appliances in one area: (be sure to build it with a lot of outlets like this one!) 
7. Design a pull-out drawer to go under your oven for easy transferring of food! Genius! Perfect if you are having a dinner party & need to prepare or remove multiple things at once!
8. Use your dishwasher to clean more than just dishes! 
9. Clean your microwave with Lemon & Water (I use lemon oil)
10. Find the BEST one for your family. Don’t rely on reviews & don’t take a guess. Go in & talk to someone that is an expert in appliances, like the Sears Home Appliances and Services Expert, to find the best appliances for you! Just stop by and they will give you ideas, tips & more about the best appliances. They can tell you what each one does, far beyond what you THINK that it does. 🙂 Sears has been a leader in the home services industry for over 50 years, so they’ve got it down to a science.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sears Home Appliances and Services.
great ideas! I am going to get that can of tennis balls that’s been sitting on the top shelf in my garage for 5+ years right now to put in my next dryer load!
Thanks for sharing. I LOVE hacks! When I have my 2 nieces + my 4 boys in the house we just put small paper cups (gasp) by the water cooler. I went through a long phase of making my own laundry detergent, you can use ivory soap instead of Fels-Naptha if need be. I clean my microwave and sanitize my dish sponge all in one…i fill the dish sponge with water and put in the microwave for two minutes. The steam cleans the microwave and all i have to do is wipe, and the heat kills the germs on my sponge. Reading about your hacks made me just want to share mine as well, thanks 🙂
Becky,
Thanks for sharing these tips. Being in the industry I am just focused on fixing appliances not hacks. I am definitely using the first 1 for my kids that is a great idea. I also wasn’t aware of the tennis balls for my comforter. Last but not least I wasn’t aware that cleaning your microwave with lemon or lemon water actually worked. I tried it last night and it worked like a charm. Thanks for all the great tips!
amazing post great information