All homeowners eventually settle into a cleaning routine. That routine is often a combination of what your parents taught you and tips you’ve heard from friends over the years.
However, did you ever consider that those handy tricks you inherited might not be the best options? What you might think is the best way to clean a floor could, in fact, be making the mess worse. If you have vintage furniture that you believe to have value, understand these factors that can affect your antique.
At Brilho Luxury Home Services, we offer house cleaning services in the Greater Toronto Area. Give us a call at 416-923-3300 if you are looking for reasons to hire a professional cleaning service.
In between your professional cleaning visits, however, you should keep these common cleaning mistakes in mind to ensure that you avoid them in your household routine.
1 – The Gross Toilet Brush
No one enjoys cleaning the toilet. Most people try to get the chore over and done with as quickly as possible. However, placing the toilet brush back into its holder as soon as you have finished your cleaning job can pose a significant health hazard.
Think about it: You’ve just used that brush to clean a bowl full of germs and bacteria. Putting it straight into the holder allows those germs to breed and then go right back into the toilet the next time you use the brush.
Some cleaning product companies have addressed this issue by selling toilet brushes with disposable heads. You can also thoroughly rinse your brush and leave it to dry before putting it away.
2 – The Lonely Rag
No matter how often you reapply the cleaning product of your choice, your single cleaning rag is going to get dirty after use. Utilizing the rag in multiple locations without laundering it first will move the dirt and germs from one area to the next.
A better option is to designate specific rags for each area of your home or use disposable towels. Leave the towels in prominent locations so that you always remember to use them instead of the same old kitchen rag each time you want to dust off the coffee table or use on windows.
3 – The Careless Dishwasher Toss
Not everything can go in the dishwasher. It’s easy to remember that individual plates or fancy glasses can’t go in, but tools like your cheese grater or garlic press may not immediately come to mind.
It’s not that they can’t go in. It’s that you shouldn’t rely on the dishwasher to get all of the food particles out of the small areas. Over time, leaving old food in there will cause it to rot and make your favourite kitchen implements smell awful.
It might be more work for you, but cleaning out the tiny bits of leftover food is worth it to ensure that you don’t contaminate any food in the future. Remember to use soap and water when you clean kitchen tools by hand.
4 – The Dirty Vacuum
Everyone knows that you need to empty the vacuum canister when it gets full. However, not everyone knows that vacuums also have other parts that clog with grime.
Dirty vacuums usually suffer from decreased suction and can even blow out dust during use. The hose, vent, and other attachments all interact with dirt as you use them, and the trapped dirt can come back out into the cleaned environment when you least expect it.
Most vacuum manufacturers provide instructions for replacing or cleaning their vacuums, filter and attachments, as well as telling you how often you should do it so that your device will continue to work correctly.
5 – The Grimy Sink
Of all the places in your house where you clean, the sink likely slips your mind. After all, it’s a place where you clean things! Washing all of that soap down the drain means the sink itself doesn’t need to be cleaned, right?
Unfortunately, the sink should be one of the most critical items on your cleaning list. Even if it doesn’t have a garbage disposal, plenty of bacteria get washed down the drain when you rinse dirty dishes and kitchen implements. Consider the dish soap tray or areas under the countertops where mold may accumulate but out of sight.
Food particles and other nasty things in the drain, making the sink smell bad and drain slowly. We recommend scrubbing the underside of kitchen sink countertop and applying a disinfectant, rinsing out your drain with baking soda once a week to help with the smell and keep your sink functional.
6 – The Furniture Crumbs
Many people make the common cleaning mistake of going from bottom to top. They will begin by sweeping, vacuuming, or mopping the floors before attending to the higher surfaces like tables and chairs. This routine can be counterproductive in the long run.
When you start by dusting or cleaning higher surfaces, the crumbs or dust fall from the furniture to the floor. In this order, you are essentially spreading dirt back onto your freshly cleaned floors.
Instead, you should always clean a room from top to bottom. If you need to sweep the crumbs off your sofa before vacuuming it, you know that you’ll be able to come back to the crumbs when you clean the floor later.
7 – The Washing Machine
Like the sink we discussed above, the washing machine is another appliance that most people forget to clean because we assume it stays that way with so much soap and hot water sloshing through it.
Your laundry is loaded with dirt, dust, skin particles, and sometimes other things that become trapped in the washing machine. After a while, you might notice that your clothes just aren’t getting clean anymore or that your laundry smells funky coming out of the washer.
With all of that gunk in your washing machine, it’s no wonder. To clean a washing machine, start it on its highest setting.
Halfway through, pause the cycle when it’s filled with water. Add one cup of baking soda and one litre of vinegar before letting everything sit for a minimum of one hour. Then let it finish for a fresh and clean washing machine.
You can also purchase washing machine cleaning solutions or tablets.
8 – The Feather Duster
The feather duster is great for your Halloween costume as a French maid, but it’s not the best tool for cleaning. Dusters are supposed to pick up dust and food particles from a surface and trap them. Instead, the feathers simply spread the dust around the area.
It’s no wonder feather dusters often make the user sneeze! A better option is to use a paper towel or a cleaning cloth dampened with soapy water or an oil-based furniture polish, depending on the surface you’re cleaning.
Check out our cleaning services by Brilho Luxury Cleaning & Services to see how we can keep your Toronto house in pristine condition. Call our experts at 416-923-3300 or email [email protected] to learn more about our service and schedule an appointment with us today. We guarantee exceptional results.
