Creating a clean house is all about smart practices. However, some households are guilty of habits that sometimes make cleaning up ineffective.
A good example of this is using a stained and smelly kitchen sponge for a long time. This is one terrible habit at home. Many use and hold on to this nasty cleaning tool until it breaks apart, neglecting the possibility of spreading mold and bacteria around the kitchen.
There are still a lot of bad habits to address, here are five more of them as well as how to correct them.
1. Letting spills on stove tops and countertops accumulate.
There are people who see spills and splatters on stovetops and countertop and decide that “later” is the best time to wipe them up. This is such a bad habit because, on stovetops, spills and splatters can cook (due to the heat from the stove) and harden right away, which can lead to discoloration of surfaces. The same can be said of countertops and it’s not pretty to look at.
According to professional home cleaning services, spills and splatters should always be wiped right away and to make this job easier, keep a tub of Clorox wipes nearby. Or, have a cruet filled with equal parts of water and white vinegar, and paper towels in the area.
2. Not disinfecting the dishwasher.
Just because the dishwasher is where you clean your kitchen and dining utensils does not mean that it does not accumulate dirt or develop mildew. When your dishwasher starts smelling a little funky, it is time to disinfect.
All you have to do is place a cup of white vinegar in a dishwasher-safe dish on the top rack of the machine and set it on a hot water cycle. This will get rid of grease and the bad odor as well. Do this not only when the dishwasher starts smelling musty, though. Disinfect the machine once or twice a month.
3. Always taking the same route with the vacuum cleaner.
Using the same route with the vacuum cleaner may seem like an effective strategy in making sure that you vacuum the right places all the time. However, this can also mean that you always move the vacuum in the same direction every single time, which makes it a less effective cleaning activity.
For a vacuum cleaner to pick up more dust and other debris from carpets and even upholstered furniture, it is important to run the machine in different directions or angles to suck up more ground-in dirt.
4. Forgetting to disinfect remotes and phones.
Any device that is constantly handled or put against the face can harbor a lot of bacteria and germs that can lead to skin irritations such as rashes or pimples. So, if you (or another member of the family) still keep on getting zits in the same part of your face despite getting acne treatments, among the likely culprits are the dirty devices you frequently hold and put against your face.
The easiest way to clean these devices is by wiping them down with a disinfecting wipe every day and making sure to clean the crevices, too, by using a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol.
5. Letting clothes sit in the dryer for too long.
This habit outworks some of the benefits of using a dryer for your clothes such as making clothes smell fresh and getting rid of wrinkles (from the permanent press setting of the machine).
To tackle this bad habit, create an established time for doing the laundry. This way, you will be present every time the buzzer goes off.
If you have such a hectic life, though, and you cannot be around for the end of the drying cycle, put the dryer on extended tumble. Doing this will toss clothes without heat for a preset amount of time, which will prevent wrinkles from forming on the clothes.Those are just some of the bad practices to address and home cleaning tips from the pros to clean up your act at home. All the tips are super-easy tweaks, and for sure, they will become your new habits in no time.
