Cleaning ‘must do’ tasks that you may be missing for a germ-free home
As the spring cleaning frenzy begins, you may have started giving your home a deep clean, or at least started thinking about your spring cleaning checklist. Also, if you have started flashing in your house, you may have found spots that are not as clean and spotless as you would like.
Fortunately, with a few quick fixes to your weekly cleaning routine, you can ease the burden of spring cleaning and ensure that those pesky corners and crevices aren’t left to linger for dirt to build up.
Here are four hidden areas to address during your routine cleaning.
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1. Changing the light
Changing lighting is known as ‘high touch areas’, which means it is touched many times a day. However, although they can be a breeding ground for bacteria, they are rarely cleaned. In fact, according to Martin Seeley, chief sleep expert at MattressNextDay, they’re among the most dangerous places in your home.
“Changing light is one of the first things we touch in the morning and one of the last things we touch before bed,” Seeley said.
“Despite changing the light is an important part of our sleep routine, they are often not cleaned regularly – if at all, which means they can harbor skin bacteria such as Staphylococcus and Streptococcus and E. coli if hand hygiene is neglected.”
Instead of waiting until you clean, Seeley recommends wiping down wall switches regularly with a disinfectant spray.
And while you’re cleaning your light switches, don’t forget about those other ‘high touch areas’, such as door handles and remote controls.
2. Floor boards and floor edges
I know for sure how dust can accumulate around the edges of my rooms and on top of my floorboards. Instead of waiting until I clean my house, it’s one chore I do each week, even though it’s easy to miss or forget.
I use one of the best vacuums to get to the corners of my rooms, but I also use a crevice attachment to get into any nooks and crannies. Besides wiping down my baseboards with a damp microfiber cloth, I also use a vacuuming hack to remove dust from the surface. And it’s very easy to do. I simply attach a dryer sheet with a hair band to the end of the crack tool on my vacuum.
If you can’t fit cleaning all your baseboards into your weekly cleaning schedule, I recommend making sure you find time to clean your hallway. This is one area with high footfall, and dirt and scuff marks will be greater than in other rooms within your home.
3. A dish sponge
You might think it’s strange that your dish sponge needs to be cleaned, since it’s always in hot water, but it can be a breeding ground for bacteria. A seemingly innocent cleaning aid can contain up to 290 million bacteria per square inch, similar to what’s inside your toilet!
A simple solution is to change your dish sponge every 1-2 weeks, but if you prefer to extend its life, you can give it a weekly deep clean. In addition, it requires very little effort. Nancy Emery at Tap Warehouse suggests putting it in your dishwasher and running it on the highest heat cycle, “The steam and heat should kill any bacteria in there,” she says.
You can also clean it in your microwave as long as the sponge has no metal parts, “Make sure the sponge is wet, then put it in a microwave safe container with a little water. Heat the sponge on high for about 1-2 minutes,” he says.
4. Windows
I’m not suggesting you clean all your windows every week, frames and panes and all, but there is a quick job that will help keep them looking good. I always wipe the bottom parts of my window frames with a damp microfiber cloth in the cooler months, and continue to do so until spring.
Doing this job every week, rather than leaving it clean in the spring, keeps my windows in good condition because every week I remove the dirt and grime that collects from the turns. And while I’m wiping them down, I can also look for mold that might be lingering, and clean it up before it becomes a big problem.
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