When you look around your house, is it as clean and tidy as you’d like it to be? Have you been ignoring the small (or large) messes that have started to accumulate in the corners of your home?
We’ve been there. Cleaning is a lot of work, and if you’re making some common house cleaning mistakes, it’s even harder.
We’re here to talk about a few of those most common cleaning mistakes so you can get yourself back on track to a tidy home. Read on to learn more.
1. Not Doing Frequent Small Cleaning Sessions
This is one of the top mistakes that almost everyone makes when it comes to maintaining a clean home. They don’t have frequent short cleaning sessions.
This doesn’t mean your weekly cleaning session. You can have a full cleaning day every week or every other week (depending on your home and lifestyle), but you should take a few minutes out of every day to clean something.
Are there dishes in the sink? Clean them up and wipe the counter while you’re at it. If anyone has spent time on the carpet, give it a quick once-over with the vacuum.
Take a moment every day to pick up messes that you see. You can make it into a game if that makes it more appealing to you (and it may encourage children to help).
Set a timer for five minutes and clean as much as you can in that five minutes.
Cleaning daily might seem excessive, but it will make your life easier when you’re doing your “real” cleaning days.
2. Using the Wrong Cleaning Products
What’s in your cleaning product cabinet right now? If you’re like many people, you have one all-purpose cleaner, some bleach, and a toilet bowl cleaner. We’re not here to judge, but it might be time to upgrade your supplies.
All-purpose cleaner is effective for a wide variety of surfaces, but if you want to get rid of set-in grime, you’re going to want specific products for specific tasks.
Make sure that you have appropriate products for your wood floors, your metal, and your tiles. Instead of using an all-purpose cleaner on the tile or laminate floors (it works in a pinch), get an appropriate floor cleaning product.
3. Never Decluttering
Clutter makes even the cleanest home look dirty. Sure, your house is sanitary and you clean it every week, but you have so much clutter lurking around that it looks like a mess anyway.
At least once per year (seasonally if you have a lot of clutter), go through your things and get rid of items that are no longer serving you. Clothes, trinkets, old paperwork, and many other items can be donated or thrown away.
Your house will look far cleaner if you declutter every now and again.
4. Leaving Carpets Wet
Sometimes vacuuming isn’t enough. If you want to get deep into the fibers of your carpet, you’ll need different tools.
Most people choose to use a steam cleaner. This is an effective way to clean a carpet without leaving too much excess moisture. Leave a fan on or open your windows to make sure that the carpet dries out.
What you shouldn’t do is shampoo your carpets. This is bound to leave your carpets too damp and that can lead to mold growth.
5. Using Dirty Sponges or Rags
This is a common mistake that people make without thinking about it. When you’re washing the dishes or grabbing a rag to clean up a quick spill, are you using a clean one?
Sponges harbor bacteria. When they dry out, they still have whatever dirt or grime that was on them, it’s just not visible. Make sure you sanitize your sponges every few days to minimize that problem and replace them when they’re looking too dirty.
Routinely swap out your rags and dishtowels. Throw them into the washer with the rest of your laundry before using them again.
A side note: avoid using paper towels as a replacement for rags, even if you’re tired of them getting dirty. Using rags and microfiber cloths is more cost-effective and better for the environment.
6. Skipping the “Annoying” Cleaning Tasks
We’ve all been there. Cleaning the microwave, the shower, and the refrigerator is a pain. Even when you clean the rest of the house, those things often go untouched until they’re too difficult to ignore.
If you just cleaned them when you took care of the rest of your tasks (or at least once per month), they wouldn’t be unbearable. You’d be able to get them clean and keep them clean.
Make a habit of cleaning your microwave with a bowl of hot water and soap at least once per month (and wiping down messes as soon as they happen). At least once a month, go through your fridge, wipe the walls, and remove anything that’s no longer edible. Wipe down your shower walls and faucets (and remove any hair).
When you do these tasks often, they won’t be annoying anymore.
7. Never Deep Cleaning
Deep cleaning is crucial if you want a clean house! We recommend that you have a full deep cleaning session at least twice per year (though some people choose to do it seasonally).
When you deep clean, you get into all of the hidden nooks and crannies. You give yourself a blank slate for your weekly cleaning sessions.
If you don’t want to do a full deep-clean on your own, hire house cleaners to do it for you. You won’t regret it.
Do You Make These House Cleaning Mistakes?
Everyone has made these house cleaning mistakes at least once. Now that you know better, it’s time to make your home sparkle. You deserve to live somewhere that’s clean and tidy!
Is cleaning your home too much work? We get it. Living a busy lifestyle and returning to a messy home is frustrating.
We’re here to help. Request a quote for our maid services so we can make your home cleaner than the day you moved in.