DIY Home Cleaning Myths You Should Avoid

Keeping your home clean can equate to having a good, healthy life. Studies have shown that a messy place can contribute to stress and bad mental health. In these trying times of pandemics, we want to be more functional and productive to compensate for the stresses that working indoors gives. So, one way to achieve this is to ensure that the place where we stay is organized and clean. However, most people keep up with the cleaning myths that can be counterproductive if assessed objectively and thoroughly, and trying to do all things, and avoiding hiring Portland professional cleaning services 

Since we care about your well-being, we want to share with you some of the things that most people do that are ineffective and inefficient. Avoid all the following: 

1. Using newspaper for house cleaning – homeowners in the past use newspapers for glass cleaning. While this may be effective and a cheap material to use before, things have changed and the thick newspaper before has become thin. So, this can leave stains and mess on your glass instead. For a more effective alternative, use a microfiber cloth.  

2. Smelling dirty socks to assess if they are still clean – it is obvious given that smelling socks may irritate your nose. However, aside from this, you need to understand that just because it does not smell like stinky garbage, it is clean. A more effective and safe approach is to wash used socks. No extra advice. Remember that while a certain cloth may look clean, it still surely has bacteria on it. 

3. Being deceived by air fresheners – a lot of people rely on their air fresheners to have that clean-smelled home. A clean smell does not always equate to a clean house. Ensure that you clean thoroughly your home by getting rid of stains, dirt, and other elements that may be causing foul odors. You can use some sir fresheners, of course. Just do not entirely rely on them to mask dirt and odor. 

4. Using baking soda and vinegar mixture to clean everything – For certain, baking soda and vinegar is a good combination to use when you want to do some cleaning. However, not all surfaces and materials react positively to these ingredients’ properties. For instance, putting this mixture on your clothes for washing can be harmful to the garment. Purchase some detergent for this purpose. Another example is using vinegar to clean stone surfaces. Vinegar properties can react negatively to stone surfaces, so avoid using them.  

5. Polishing wood – we surely love the glistening wood that we see after polishing our wood. However, too much polishing can harm and wood and build wax, which can make your wood dull. To get the best of both worlds, there needs to be a balance. Polish your wood when it is necessary or when it is recommended; otherwise, avoid the urge. 

6. Using cold water to wash clothes – your grandma has probably told you to clean your clothes using cold water. However, some garments react to cold water, and this will cause them to tear.  

Tips to Clean Your House in a Short Time

For busy people like us, we only have time to clean whenever we don’t have a job or during the weekends when we’re free. It means all of the week’s mess will be cleaned once, and honestly, it’s going to take a while. You can always opt for house cleaners to do the job for you, but when the time comes you feel like cleaning the house will lessen your stress, there are a few simple hacks we can share with you to do it in a short time.   

  

Stick to the Plan    

You won’t spend too much time cleaning if you don’t have any mess, except for dust and small trashes around. One way of lessening cleaning time is keeping your house organized and clean. Also, consistency is the key. If you want to clean the house once a week, the next few weeks will become easier. If it’s your first time planning a cleaning schedule, you will find a lot of dust in the corners. No matter how clean it looks, if the house hasn’t been touched by a duster for quite a long time, it’s going to be dusty.    

Start in the Bathroom    

Start cleaning all the bathrooms at once. Remove everything from the showers, tubs, and sinks and spray with cleaning products. Do the same with the toilet. While soaking the bathroom with cleaning products, empty all the trash baskets.    

 3. Clean the Ceilings and Wall    

While the bathroom is still soaking with the products, you can leave it and clean the corners, ceilings, door jams, and walls. Use a flat microfiber mop on the floor and ceiling. Clean the fan blades and light fixtures. If it’s full of bugs or dirt then it might take you more time until you clean it.    

Finish the Bathroom    

Once you get the dust and webs, finish the bathroom. Use a tool called “Magic Reach” to scrub and reach the whole shower. Once you’re done, put the things back like shampoo and conditioners in the shower. Next to clean is the toilet. Use rubber gloves for cleaning, bleach solution for disinfecting, and brush for final cleaning. The last one to clean is the floor. Use a rag for this job.    

Do the Dusting    

Dusting is one of the hardest cleaning jobs especially if you dust the furniture. Start at the top of the furniture or windows then down to the bottom. Wipe every vase, frame, lamp, or any other thing at the top of your table.  

Clean the Floors    

 Once you’re done with the dusting, you’re now ready to do the floors. The best way to clean it is by using a vacuum. Start at the edge or corners of the floors then clean the carpets and rugs next. If your floor is made of tile or linoleum, use a sponge mop and a bucket. But, if you have carpet flooring, we suggest that you consider reaching out to experienced carpet cleaning companies near you.