Cleaning your place may not be one of your favorite activities, but it’s still essential.
If not done the right way, then your place will likely end up a lot dirtier than you initially started. We’ve all been there. There might be several cleaning steps that you also might miss, which will create more work for you later.
In this post, we’ll walk you through some of the seven most common cleaning mistakes you might be making.
1. Starting at the wrong spot in a room
No one wants to spend more time cleaning a particular spot in their home than you have to. If you start at the wrong spot when cleaning, you might be backtracking and repeating it repeatedly.
So, make sure you declutter first by picking things that don’t belong in the room. Then, you can either discard or return them to their proper space.
2. Overusing paper towels
Paper towels can be handy for cleaning your place. However, overusing them can be wasteful in the long run and not as effective since they tend to leave bits of lint behind. They also don’t do a lot in preventing streaks.
As an alternative, use rags and microfiber clothes instead. You can purchase them just about anywhere. Similarly, you can also buy them online. Avoid using your old shirts as they don’t do an excellent job cleaning and could also scratch surfaces.
Excellent cloths might cost more, but they also do an excellent job cleaning and polishing surfaces.
3. Mixing cleaners
Don’t mix bleach with any other cleaner. Mixing it with vinegar, rubbing alcohol, or ammonia causes a dangerous chemical reaction. This, in turn, can give off harmful fumes and irritation to the skin and eyes.
Thus, we suggest that you shift to natural alternatives instead. You can easily make your DIY cleaning solution. All you need to do is to combine lemon juice, vinegar, and common household items with essential oils. This helps you create the right cleaners that you and your family can feel good using and safe, too.
4. Not caring for cleaning tools
If your old cleaning tools aren’t doing the job anymore, then it’s highly likely that they’re not getting the TLC they need.
Cleaning tools such as mops, steamers, vacuums, brushes, and brooms should be regularly cleaned. Make sure that vacuum filters are periodically washed, clean the canister and the brush bar, clean your brushes, or purchase new ones. It would be best if you also stored your tools properly to maintain their use.
In the same way, don’t use the same tool to clean all your home areas. This can cause you to cross-contaminate, spreading germs around. You can opt for color-coded cleaning rags to make it easier to differentiate what you’ll use to clean specific areas of your home.
5. Disinfecting before cleaning
When spraying cleaners on a surface, ensure there aren’t any crumbs or dirt. Although disinfecting can kill germs and viruses, it doesn’t eliminate crumbs and food particles.
Not to mention, kids and pets may also eat these chemical-laden morsels that cause them to be sick.
6. Storing wet toilet brushes
Wet toilet brushes can also be a perfect breeding ground for unwanted bacteria.
So, you can set it across the seat rather than drop it directly into the holder. This lets you drip-dry it over the bowl before you can eventually put it away for good.
7. Cleaning windows during a sunny day
When washing windows on a sunny day, it’s more likely that you will do more work. Since your eyes are constricted due to the bright sun, you’ll likely miss out on lines and dirt on the window panes.
You also couldn’t clean streaks on windows since they dry up fast. We suggest that you clean your windows during cloudy days.
8. Starting from the bottom and then moving up
It would help if you always cleaned from the top down. Otherwise, you’re creating more work for yourself than you need to.
Make sure you start on the ceiling corners, windows, sills, and walls, then move on to furniture and floors. Moreover, dusting after vacuuming will only push more dirt into the floor you cleaned.
At Maid Sailors, home cleaning services NYC, we always tell clients that cleaning the room from the top down makes your cleaning routine much easier.
It also helps you feel more organized. It also allows you to truly finish cleaning the room. You don’t have to find those annoying cobwebs in the ceiling!
Over to You
So there you have it. At the end of the day, it helps that you’re aware of these cleaning mistakes to avoid them. Furthermore, it will always help if you approach cleaning with a plan to stay organized and on top of things. Good luck!