Appliance care

Your appliances are the working heart of your kitchen. This page covers the everyday basics: getting set up, simple routine care, and the small habits that protect your furniture and worktops.

You’ll find the appliance manuals in your Redwood Kitchen & Appliance Care Folder – This guide gives you the practical maintenance habits worth remembering.

The manufacturer’s information remains the product-specific reference for operation, servicing and anything unique to your model. Where a product-specific instruction differs from the practical guidance on this page, follow the manufacturer’s instruction.

Registering each appliance with its manufacturer is one of the most useful things you can do in the first few weeks. Manufacturers usually require registration within a set period for promotional or extended guarantees to become effective, and registration can also make future service or warranty claims much easier.

Registration usually takes a few minutes online. You’ll need the model and serial numbers, which are on the rating plate, often found inside the door or on the door edge.

If something ever leaks or an develops a fault, knowing how to switch it off quickly makes all the difference. Be aware of where the main isolation points are for your property:

• Your water main stopcock – Usually its near the main kitchen sink. There is also one outside the house where the water meter is in the ground.
• Hot water isolator – If you have an airing cupboard with a water storage tank, normally a hot water valve is close by.
• Your electrical consumer unit – usually it’s near the front of the property in the garage or cloakroom or or in older style properties, under the stairs. If a ‘fuse blows’ it’s here that it is reset.
• Your gas meter – usually it’s near the front of the property in the garage, outside in a brown box at ground level, behind a cabinet door in an outside wall or in older style properties, under the stairs.

Redwood always labels and makes appliance isolation points accessible:

• Electrical switches – the switched spurs or isolator switches for your appliances, usually above the worktop or inside an adjacent cabinet.
• Water valves – the isolation valves for the dishwasher, washing machine, boiling-water tap and any plumbed fridge, usually under the sink or at the back of an adjacent cabinet.
• Gas – the isolation valve for a gas hob will either be under the hob or in an adjacent cabinet. If you ever smell gas, do not investigate the appliance yourself; follow the gas-emergency procedure:
  • If you smell gas: do not use switches, appliances, flames or cigarettes. Open doors and windows, turn off the gas at the meter if it is safe to do so, leave the property if you feel unsafe or the smell is strong, and call the National Gas Emergency Service immediately on 0800 111 999.

• Follow the manufacturer’s schedule for replacing the filter and descaling or servicing the tank. In hard-water areas, keeping to it protects performance and the warranty.
• Point the spout into the sink. Boiling water and steam can mark worktops and damage nearby furniture.

• Check and clean the filter about once a month. If you use the dishwasher heavily, cook with a lot of fats, or notice poorer washing or drainage, check it sooner.
• Keep the dishwasher salt and rinse aid topped up. In our hard-water area, salt makes a real difference to results and to limescale.
• Run an empty hot cycle with a dishwasher cleaner every few months, or sooner if the machine starts to smell or develop visible build-up.

• Wipe the door seals every month or so with warm soapy water, then dry them. Clean seals close properly and help the appliance run efficiently.
• If it has a furniture facia, check that the appliance door closes and seals properly. If it doesn’t feel like there is much resistance when opening the door it will likely need adjustment, which is a normal maintenance task.
• Leave space around food for air to circulate, and keep the internal vents clear.
• If your freezer isn’t frost-free, defrost it when ice starts to build up.

• Check the door seal from time to time. A worn or damaged seal lets heat escape onto the surrounding furniture, so replace it if it’s split or loose.
• Regularly use the self-clean or pyrolytic function as directed in the manual.
• Before a pyrolytic clean, remove the shelves, shelf runners and any accessories unless the manual says they’re pyro-safe, and wipe out loose food residue and fat. Heavy deposits can smoke or even ignite at the very high temperatures a pyrolytic cycle reaches.
• Let the oven cool with the door closed. Opening it wide to cool sends heat and steam onto the cabinets and panels nearby.
• Keep the vents around the oven housing clear.

• Induction and ceramic: wipe spills once the surface has cooled, using a suitable hob cleaner and, where appropriate, a manufacturer-approved hob scraper for anything baked on. Lift pans rather than sliding them to avoid scratches.
• Induction hobs draw in air from below. If there’s a drawer under your hob, avoid packing it right up to the underside.
• Gas: remove and wash the pan supports and burner caps as needed, and make sure they’re completely dry and correctly seated before use.
• Keep pans centred on the zones so heat isn’t directed sideways onto the worktop or splashback.

• Use the extractor every time you cook, and let it run on for a few minutes afterwards to clear lingering steam.
• Check the metal grease filters every month or two and clean them when grease is building up. Many can go through the dishwasher, but check that yours are dishwasher-safe first.
• If your extractor recirculates (does not vent to the outside), check the carbon filters every six to twelve months as a practical starting point. Heavy cooking, frying and frequent use can shorten that considerably; replace or regenerate them when required for your model.
• Wipe the canopy with a soft damp cloth and a little washing-up liquid; avoid abrasive or chlorine-based cleaners on stainless steel.

• Pull them forward. Kettles, toasters, coffee machines and slow cookers release heat and steam. Bringing them towards the front of the worktop when in use stops that rising onto the underside of wall units, where it can soften edges and finishes over time.
• Turn kettle spouts away from wall units, splashbacks and tall cabinets.
• Keep a little space around them so heat can escape, and stand anything that gets hot underneath on a heat mat.

• Clean taps with a soft damp cloth and a little washing-up liquid, then dry them to prevent water spots – especially for brushed or coloured finishes.
• If the flow weakens or sprays unevenly, unscrew the aerator and soak it in a cup of descaler, away from the worktop.
• Clean your sink to suit its material, and keep an eye on the silicone around it. See the Worktop care page for more.

If your project includes a utility room:

• Washing machine: clean the detergent drawer and door seal regularly. Check the pump filter every few months, or sooner if drainage slows, the machine smells, or you regularly wash heavily soiled items. Leave the door and drawer ajar after use to air.
• Tumble dryer: clean the lint filter after every load. On condenser models, empty the water tank as needed and check the condenser regularly for fluff build-up.
• Avoid overloading either machine; it strains the drum and bearings and increases vibration.

If you notice water where it shouldn’t be:

1. Switch off the appliance and turn off its water supply at the isolation valve.
2. Dry up any standing water, including inside the cabinet and under the plinth if you can reach it. Plinths are held by clips, so pulling them forward for access shouldn’t be too difficult.
3. Take a close-up and a wider photograph.

Appliance faults – an appliance not heating, cooling, draining or showing an error code – are normally handled by the manufacturer’s service team. The contact details are in your appliance information; the model and serial numbers needed for the call are on the rating plate (and hopefully, the front of your manual).

Installation or furniture concerns – a leaking connection we fitted, a door that has dropped, or water damage to the cabinets – please contact us.

Most day-to-day appliance care is straightforward and is covered on this page. If you’re not sure whether something is an appliance fault or an installation issue — Redwood can help you work out what is happening.

If you do contact us, a close-up photograph and a wider photograph will usually help us understand what is happening. You can email them to hello@redwoodkitchens.co.uk.

The Redwood Kitchen Care Guides:

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