How to Break Bad Housekeeping Habits Efficiently

Regular maintenance will keep your home working well and looking good longer. Two golden rules for keeping your home clean are: allot a place for everything and constantly rid yourself of unwanted stuff. Once you inculcate the habit of designating a spot for everything coming into your home, you can see that the clutter will automatically disappear.

Let’s now discuss some bad housekeeping habits to avoid

• Wearing shoes inside: Shoes scuff floors, stain your lovely carpets, and deliver dust, dander and even diseases into your home. A research paper published by University of Houston states that 39% of shoes contained Clostridium difficile (C. Diff), a type of bacteria which causes a potentially life-threatening infection. A good idea is to place comfy slippers at the entry door for you and the guests to use inside your home.
• Putting cleaning tablets in the flush tanks of toilets: you may find it a handy shortcut to clean your toilet, but these tablets contain chemicals that will slowly corrode the plastic parts in the flush mechanism. Read Select Cleaning blog to get easy home tricks to keep your toilet clean and hygienic.
• Using closets to hide clutter: Clutter makes your house less organised and messy. You need to break bad habits such as letting the mails accumulate, keeping clothes you no longer require, old magazines you won't read again, and dishes you don’t need any more. Learn easy storage tricks that will make even the smallest closet in your home, a well organized and functional space.
• Neglecting small maintenance issues: A continuous musty smell in the bathroom area or basement could mean mould is growing. Hiring professional home cleaners occasionally can prevent mould growth in your house. However, if you avoid such warning symptoms in the beginning, things may complicate further, forcing you to go for major repairs.

Environment-friendly home cleaning tips for 2017

Add one tbsp of cornstarch to a litre of lukewarm water and your glass cleaner is ready. Now spray this liquid and wipe with newspaper, cloth or a squeegee to get your windows sparky clean. Remember to dampen the squeegee before cleaning and use it from the top down, wiping its edge after every stroke.

Naturally clean your window traps with vinegar. Dip a cotton bud in distilled white vinegar and run it along the filthy cobweb- and dust-ridden frames to perfectly clean the window traps.

Vinegar can also be used to deodorize your garbage bins and eliminate odours. Spray the bin inside and out with white vinegar. Scrub the bin with a toilet brush or other convenient long-handled brush before rinsing out with a hose. Allow the can to air dry and you’ll find that the terrible smell has gone.  

Do you dust the floor before vacuuming? If not, make it a habit because this way you can suck up any dirt and debris that you dislodge.

Remove rust stains from your tiled countertops or floor tiles with the help of a tomato. Acid elements contained in the tomato work with the rust stain and loosen it. Rub a cut piece of tomato onto the stain, add a little rock salt and use a toothbrush to clean the rust completely. Another method to remove rust is using bleach: smear a little bleach on the rust cylinder stain on your floor tiles, and after 15 minutes, sprinkle a little water and brush it away to get a clean surface.

Leave odour removers, such as a bowl of oats, a cup of distilled white vinegar, baking soda, charcoal briquettes, or a dish of dried coffee grounds, open in your fridge and they will suck in all the bad smells.

Call Select Cleaning verified home cleaners today on 0800 000 907. Your home cleaning tasks in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch are carried out by local, dedicated owner operators of Select Cleaning who bring all the cleaning materials, tools and equipment for the job.