Generally speaking, cleaning one’s home is seen as a good habit. It’s one that many people try to work into their daily schedule but fail to do so. However, not all of the things we do while cleaning are necessarily great for our home or the environment. Here are some of the bad cleaning habits we tend to fall into over the years and how you can break them.
Using too Many Chemicals
Using too many cleaning products is one of the most common bad cleaning habits. A lot of people rely heavily on chemicals to leave their homes smelling lemony fresh. However, this can be bad for the environment, both within our home and outside. Inside, we breathe in the vapors that rise off our beautifully polished floors and furniture or in the mist created by our next shower in a freshly cleaned bathroom. Outside, we pour the soapy residue and wash away chemicals down the drain, where they enter the sewer or septic field and pollute the earth.
There are many different eco-friendly cleaners on the market. Alternatively, you can go back to basics and use things like baking soda, vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and essential oils. Made With Oils has various blends and recipes you can use to clean your home safely.
Not Cleaning the Cleaners
Your cleaning job is only as good as the tools you use– even if the main tool is the functional power of good old elbow grease. We spend all this time trying to make our homes cleaner, but neglect taking care of the apparatuses we use to clean. Every time you vacuum with a dirty filter and filled bag, you’re leaving dirt on the floor or spewing it into the air. Whenever you use an old sponge, you’re effectively spreading germs around.
Take a couple of minutes to empty your vacuum every time you run through the house with it. Schedule a filter cleaning or change once every month or so, to ensure you’re doing a thorough job. Rather than using sponges, use reusable rags and throw them into the wash with hot water as soon as you’re done cleaning. Dishcloths should go in the wash daily.
Cleaning Too Much
Some things in your home don’t need to be cleaned as much as you think. Consider your favorite pair of jeans or your hair: they last longer if they aren’t washed every day. One of the things that is often cleaned too much is wood furniture. Wood has natural oils that help it last for so long. Like hair, too much cleaning can strip the wood of its natural oils and cause cracking and breakage in the long run.
Dishes are often over cleaned as well. Rinsing or soaking dishes beforehand is effective for removing tough stains, but contrary to popular belief, does nothing to disinfect them. However, if soaking is the excuse you need to put this dreaded task off for a little longer, you keep doing what you’re doing.
Clutter
Clutter, even when well organized, is still clutter. We tend to let our sentimental or frugal side overpower logic when cleaning. As a result, we hang onto something that we never use “just in case” we need it eventually. Even when we have well-organized storage, with all our spare papers in neat piles, and boxes upon boxes on shelves, allowing for too much clutter is one of the to bad cleaning habits.
Make it a scheduled item to fill a box with donation items once or twice a year. Many choose to do so before the holidays, as they know new items will be entering the home. Other than seasonal items, if you haven’t used it in the past year, send it on its way. Clutter is often subjective. One person may think five tote bins of holiday decor is necessary, while others may think only one tote bin is fine. If something brings you joy, keep it. Otherwise, say goodbye.