How to avoid common cleaning mistakes when cleaning your home?
Common cleaning mistakes happen so often in homes that they don’t even realize they are doing something wrong with the house’s cleanliness. Keeping a clean and tidy home is not only a matter of aesthetics, but also of health and well-being. However, when it comes to cleaning, we often make mistakes that can affect the effectiveness of cleaning or even damage our belongings if we use inappropriate chemicals.
In this article, we will introduce you to the most common mistakes when cleaning your home and offer you practical tips to avoid them. Keep reading and discover how to improve your cleaning habits and protect your home from dust, dirt, bacteria and germs that can end up making you sick!
1. Using the wrong products
Each surface and material in your home requires specific products. Using one cleaner for everything can damage certain items and not provide adequate cleaning. For example, abrasive cleaners can scratch wood or metal surfaces, while bleach-based products can discolor fabrics.
Solutions: Read the labels on cleaning products and make sure you use the right one for the task. If you are unsure about doing it yourself, consult with cleaning specialists such as our Service Providers Association by making an appointment or, search the Internet for general product information.
2. Not following a logical order
Many times, when cleaning, we forget to follow an order. Making all the dirt or dust that you removed inadvertently go to areas that you cleaned with so much care. For example, if you vacuum the floor before dusting the furniture, the dust will fall on the clean floor and you will have to vacuum again.
Solution: Establish a logical cleaning order and always follow it. A good strategy is to start from the top down and inside out. Preventing dirt from falling on the surfaces you have already cleaned.
3. Forgetting the nooks and crannies
Nooks and crannies and hidden areas are often the most neglected, accumulating dust and bacteria. This is especially true in places like under furniture, behind appliances and in the corners of rooms.
Solution: Make a list of these places and be sure to clean them regularly. You can use a vacuum cleaner with a nozzle to get into the most difficult corners, making it much easier to clean that way.
4. Using too much water on wood surfaces
As is well known, wood is especially sensitive to water, and too much water can permanently damage it. The explanation is that water causes the wood to swell and deform; absorbs water. We don’t want that!
Solutions: Use a cloth and be sure to immediately wipe away any water residue. You can also use a specific cleaning product to protect and care for the wood.
As an extreme case and if you do not want to buy or change furniture, if you use or have small or large fans (for air circulation), this can serve as an endogenous dryer for the wood (this if the wood has not been so affected, only when the furniture can really be saved).
5. Not disinfecting properly
Cleaning and disinfection are two different things. It is possible for a surface to look clean, but still harbor germs.
Solution: Use disinfectant products with special attention and care on frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs, light switches and faucets. Following the respective instructions for use.
6. Do not clean cleaning utensils
It is important to keep cleaning utensils clean to avoid bacterial growth. This includes sponges, rags, brooms and vacuum cleaners. This is one of the common cleaning mistakes in the house.
Solutions: Wash sponges and rags with hot soapy water after each use. Shake and dust brooms and vacuum cleaners more frequently. Store cleaning tools when they are completely dry.
7. Using very harsh chemicals
We have talked about this before, in other publications. It is something that should already be well known; Harsh chemicals can be harmful to health and the environment. Additionally, they can damage some surfaces in your home if you don’t use the right one on the right surface.
Solution: Opt for organic or homemade cleaning products. There are many recipes available on the internet that use natural ingredients such as vinegar, baking soda and lemon.
8. Not ventilating the house
It is important to ventilate the house during cleaning to remove fumes from cleaning products. This will also help prevent moisture buildup, which can promote the growth of mold and mildew. Not just in the walls or holes in the house, but in your lungs.
Solution: Open windows while cleaning and let fresh air in. If you use products with strong odors, you can turn on a fan to help eliminate them.
9. Not picking up laundry
Dirty clothes can harbor dust, dust mites and other allergens that you don’t know you’ve brought in from the street. It’s important to pick it up before you start cleaning to prevent it from being spread around the house.
Solutions: Put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket before you start cleaning as soon as you get home, take a shower and change your clothes; please do not sit on the furniture and even less on the bed where you sleep with the clothes you were in on the street. If there are dirty clothes on the floor, pick them up and put them in the hamper where they belong before sweeping or vacuuming.
10. Not having a plan
If you don’t have a plan, the cleaning in your home will most likely be a disaster (and even more so if you get a last minute visit). Your home is a temple that should be treated with the best cleaning possible.
Don’t fall into the common cleaning mistakes when cleaning your home and discover the benefits of an excellent professional cleaning, if you don’t have time to do it yourself with a prepared and trained team in residential cleaning services; and this way, you won’t have to worry about anything else, only about receiving the visitor.