Posts about Cleaning

How to Clean Your Home After an Illness

While the idea of having to sanitize your entire home can be overwhelming, doing so after an illness can keep germs from spreading. Follow this guide to get your home back in shape after someone in your household has been sick. Clean and Disinfect When your household is healthy, simply wiping down surfaces with soapy water is a fine way to get rid of some germs and make things look tidy. But if someone in your home has been sick, you’ll also need to disinfect to destroy the illness-causing germs. To make sure you’ve got a product that will do the trick, look for a cleaner that specifically says “disinfectant.” You can also mix a quarter-cup of chlorine bleach with a gallon of hot water. In fact, the CDC recommends bleach to kill the stomach bug-causing norovirus on surfaces. If bleach will damage your surface , look for “phenolic solution” on the label of a concentrated disinfectant. Flu viruses can also be killed with hydrogen peroxide-based cleaners . Microwave Your Sponge Before You Start Because they’re often moist, your kitchen and bathroom sponges are perfect breeding grounds for bacteria. If someone’s sick, try cleaning with a microfiber cloth instead . If you really want to clean with a sponge, wet it and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes first . Doing so will kill 99.9% of the germs. Whether you choose a cloth or a sponge, be careful not to bring germs from one room to another on dirty cleaning tools. Use a different color for each room to keep them straight. Wear Gloves and Wash Your Hands Disposable rubber, vinyl, or latex gloves can help prevent the spread of germs while you clean while also protecting your skin from harsh products . When someone in your home is sick, toss the gloves when you're done so you don’t spread disease. Even if you’ve worn gloves the entire time you cleaned, make sure to thoroughly wash your hands when you’ve finished . Start in The Bathroom When your household is sick, your bathroom becomes even more of a germ hot spot. After a bug hits, disinfect this room with a mix of bleach and hot water. Don’t forget the toilet lever, shower faucets, cabinet handles, doorknobs, and light switches. While you’re in the bathroom, make sure to replace your toothbrushes after an illness . Disinfect The Kitchen Even when you’re healthy, the kitchen is the germiest place in your house , so it’s important to pay very special care to meal prep areas after someone in your home has been sick. Disinfect all the things you touch, like the refrigerator handle and inside drawers, coffeepot, microwave, faucets, and stove knobs. Wash dishes and utensils in 1 tablespoon of bleach per gallon of hot water. If you’re the one who’s ill, don’t cook until you haven’t had any symptoms for 48 hours . Reset The Bedrooms Wash dirty clothes, soiled linens, or stuffed toys right away with nonchlorine bleach in the hottest water possible, and dry on the hottest setting. Disinfect nightstands, bedposts, and changing tables, and look for things that could be germy. Wash pacifiers and hard toys in the dishwasher . Clean The Family Room When cleaning your living room or family room after an illness, don’t forget the sneaky hot spots like remote controls, computer keypads, doorknobs, light switches etc. Steam clean rugs and upholstery at 170 F for 5 minutes or 212 F for 1 minute to kill the stomach bug norovirus. Don’t Forget the Electronics To prevent damaging your electronics, make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning, but don’t neglect these germy hotspots! When a bug strikes your home, it can live on your surfaces for as days or even weeks! Following the steps above will destroy these left-behind germs and keep sickness from spreading.

10 Places in Your Home You're Forgetting to Clean

You’ve cleaned the windows and changed the linens. You’re in full spring-cleaning mode and your home is feeling fresher than ever. But is it really? We’ve curated a list of the spots in your home that are most often left off the spring-cleaning list. So put on your favorite playlist and open the windows! It’s time to get cleaning! 1. Washing Machine It seems like the washing machine should always be clean, doesn’t it? But over time it can gather build-up and cause your clothes to smell not-so-fresh. Every washing machine is different, so make sure to find the cleaning method that’s best for yours. For most washing machines, you can use a mix of white vinegar with baking soda on the machine’s hottest cycle. Always remember: to keep your washing machine fresh and clean longer, leave the lid or door open between uses! 2. Dishwasher Yet another appliance that seems it should stay permanently clean, your dishwasher can accumulate hard-water deposits, soap scum and clogged food debris. To clean out your dishwasher, run a cycle on hot with a cup of white vinegar on the top rack. 3. Under Your Appliances Those large appliances aren’t easy to move, which is why the areas behind and beneath them is so often overlooked. However, taking the time to properly clean under your appliances can help prevent pest and allergies . 4. Ceiling Fans Overtime, the blades of your ceiling fans collect a layer of dust (especially the ones in your bedrooms). To prevent that dust from falling onto tabletops, mattresses, and other surfaces, put an old pillowcase over the fan blade to wipe the dust off and into the pillowcase. This method is quick, easy, and mess-free! Repeat this process for every fan blade. Once most of the dust has been knocked off with the pillowcase, you might prefer to then go back over each blade with an all-purpose cleaner . 5. Shower Curtains Liners Plastic shower curtain lines can collect mildew, dirt, and soap scum. Instead of tossing a dirty liner in the trash and buying a new one, try combining it with a batch of towels, laundry detergent and baking soda . 6. Trash Cans Your trash can is host to hundreds of bacteria per square inch . Not to mention, it likely omits an unpleasant odor despite how often you replace the trash bag. Make sure to scrub and deodorize those trash cans as part of your spring-cleaning checklist! 7. Coffeemaker You may clean your coffee pot regularly, but what about the coffeemaker itself? To really give your coffeemaker a super deep clean, run a cycle of equal parts white vinegar and water through it. Then run another cycle with water only to eliminate any lingering vinegar. It might not be the most pleasant smell, but this process will also help decalcify the machine and keep your coffee tasting its best. 8. Door Frames & Baseboards The tops of your door frames can collect a lot of dust, and because the area is out of sight, many of us neglect to clean it. Your baseboards are another spot that often goes unnoticed. They might look perfectly fine from afar, but up close you’ll notice a different story. One of dust, scuff marks and grime. Make sure to give these areas some TLC when you’re doing your spring cleaning. Listen, if you are going to someone's house for Thanksgiving, compliment their baseboards. That is what they are spending today cleaning. — Simon Holland (@simoncholland) November 20, 2017 9. Curtains Most curtains are machine-washable and dryer-friendly, but double check yours just in case. Throughout the year, things like dust, pollen, and cat fur (it must be nice to sit in a sunny window all day) will build up on your curtains. Give them a good vacuum and then toss them in the wash! 10. Throw Pillows You likely wash your pillowcases and sheets as part of your regular cleaning routine, but how often do those throw pillows get washed? Just like any other linen in your home, throw pillows can collect dust, dirt, food, and dead skin. Vacuum up the dust or dander with a handheld vacuum and spot clean any stains. Some throw pillows are machine washable , so check to see the best care for yours! We hope this will help you get the nooks and crannies of your home extra clean and fresh for the spring!

5 Cleaning YouTubers You Should Be Watching

Spring Cleaning season is almost upon us and while the annual practice is known to have plenty of health and psychological benefits , sometimes the motivation to throw open the windows and give the home a good scrub just isn’t there. Enter the cleaning inspiration channels on YouTube! There are thousands of YouTubers who dedicate their time and energy to creating fresh cleaning and organization content for viewers just like you. If you are struggling to find the motivation to clean your home, here are five of our favorite YouTubers who can help! Love Meg Megan is a 29-year-old stay-at-home mom from Savannah, Georgia who makes videos about motherhood, organization, decluttering, lifestyle and more. Megan posts videos to her channel – Love Meg - several days a week. For some serious motivation, check out her Ultimate Cleaning Motivation playlist , which has over 280 videos to inspire you to tackle every task on your cleaning to-do list. Brianna K Brianna is stay-at-home mom of three currently living in Hawaii. In addition to cleaning motivation, she also shares videos about pregnancy, homemaking, decorating, and more. Brianna posts to her channel – Brianna K – every Monday. If you’re unsure where to start with your spring cleaning, check out her 2021 Extreme Spring Cleaning Series playlist! This Crazy Life Amanda is a stay-at-home mom who shares videos about cleaning, affordable room makeovers, cooking and more on her channel This Crazy Life. If a major decluttering is on your spring cleaning, checklist, check out her Whole House Declutter With Me 2021 playlist. Carissa Cleans It All For some serious cleaning motivation, room makeover inspiration, expert organization tips and more, look no further than Carissa Cleans It All. Carissa is also expecting baby number three, so there is plenty of baby and pregnancy-related content if that is something that interests you! Candis Halligan Candis is a military spouse and mom of two boys who shares lifestyle, cleaning motivation, organization, and home decor tips on her channel. Check out her Cleaning and Organization playlist for more than 90 videos ranging from cleaning routines for working moms to speed cleaning routines. Do you like to watch cleaning motivation content on YouTube? Who are your favorite YouTubers to watch? Let us know in the comments!