Often, people end up with bad habits because they don’t realize how it’s impacting their life. It’s easy to fall into bad cleaning habits when you’re busy, but these behaviors can be very frustrating and create unnecessary stress.
The following are some bad cleaning habits that you should stop for a cleaner and more relaxed home:
1. Ignoring Dirty Dishes
One of the most stressful habits I see around the house is people who don’t keep up with their dishes. This can be for any number of reasons, but the main two are because they don’t enjoy doing it or they don’t know how to do it. Either way, it’s stressing them out.
Everyone has times when they have too much on their plate. Sometimes dishes just get pushed to the side or forgotten about, which can create a very messy kitchen. When you have dishes piled up, it affects your usage of the sink, your interest in cooking, and creates an unpleasant smell in the entire kitchen. It is important to always put dishes in the dishwasher or scrub them clean right after your meal.
2. Not Tidying Up The Small Messes
Clutter and dirt have a life of its own. Once they start growing, you need to cut it out immediately before it loses control.
Small piles of clutter makes the whole house look and feel dirty. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your mess, start small. Start by picking up one item on the floor and putting it in its proper place. If it’s a larger piles that takes more than one minute to clear, leave it for now. Once you’ve done this, keep going until you’ve tackled all of the smaller messes. This will motivate you to move onto the next pile, and creates a calmer and cleaner environment so you can tackle the bigger tasks later.
3. Not Tidying Up The Big Messes (too much work!)
Sometimes a small cleaning task is left alone for too long until it becomes so much harder to get clean. A simple cleaning task like mopping won’t take more than 15 minutes when done weekly. Once it accumulates however, you can find yourself having to scrub the kitchens and toilet floors to remove stuck-on dirt and grime. After a huge party, the wreckage may be tough to handle alone. In these situations, it may be wise to involve others, such as your family members or professionals to help reset your home back to tip top shape. Cleaning is one of those chores that can be hard to make time for, but is so necessary.
4. No Cleaning Routine
Cleaning your home is tough work. No one’s doubting that. And while it may feel like an endless job, it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of ways to make your cleaning routine easier. Create a weekly cleaning schedule. Take the time to plan out your weekly housekeeping duties, and designate specific days for things like wiping down kitchen counters, mopping the floor, and scrubbing the toilets. Keeping up with chores is so much easier when you only have one small part of the house to clean each time.
5. Overusing Cleaning Products
There are two main reasons why people sometimes use too much cleaning product, and both are fairly easy to fix.
The first reason is that they want to get rid of an excess amount of dirt quickly, but if you’re simply trying to remove some dirt residue there is no need to overuse a product. Instead, use an appropriate amount for each area or spot that needs to be cleaned, and then wipe with a damp cloth or mop.
The second reason people sometimes use too much cleaner is because they don’t read directions carefully enough – so make sure you always read the recommended quantity. Excess cleaners that are not rinsed off properly becomes a dirt magnet, which means you will have to clean again really soon.
6. Inefficient Cleaning Systems
It is a common mistake that people clean aimlessly from room to room. In some cases, this might be effective but it’s not always the best way of doing things.
In this section, we will talk about how to clean from top to bottom. First, you should use a duster to remove cobwebs from the ceiling, dust, and dirt on your ceiling fan blades and vents until they are all cleaned. After that you can clean surfaces with a damp cloth or sponge after that dry them off with a dry cloth or paper towel. The last thing you should do is to vacuum your furniture and carpets. This will remove any hair or pet dander on your floors and helps with dust mites as well as other allergens in your carpet.
7. Using A Dirty Rag
Using the same dirty cloth for an entire room will take you more time and there is a chance that it might leave some stains on the surface that we want to clean. The dirtier the cloth, the more it’ll leave streaks. It’ll take you more time to clean up those streaks too. Using a fresh cloth will leave your surfaces streak free and be done in half the time!
8. Declutter As You Clean
There is a misconception that when you clean, you need to declutter. Some think that cleaning and decluttering are the same things. In reality, when you clean your home, it’s best to avoid decluttering at the same time. By separating both tasks, you’ll be able to clean up much faster and easier than if you did them together. You’ll also be able to use your time more efficiently and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Declutter all surfaces before starting to clean. Toys, paper, utensils and other knickknacks will create more work for you while you try to clean up. Imagine try to vacuum a floor with toys, coins, and paper everywhere. You would need to bend over every few seconds to pick them up.
9. Wearing Outdoor Shoes Indoors
The practice of removing one’s shoes before entering someone’s home is an old tradition that has many benefits. By removing your shoes, you are avoiding the dirt and germs on the ground from coming inside. You are also avoiding dirtying up other people’s carpets. Having a pair of indoor shoes for guests means you are stopping mud or dirt at the door; dirt which can be very hard to clean off. Wearing outside shoes indoors affects the floors, carpets, and the family members who share a home. Keep the icky mess outside!
10. Hoarding
Buying clothes and gadgets on discount during the holidays is amazing. However, sometimes we buy too many and forget to donate or properly dispose of the old ones. Clothes that we don’t usually wear or use anymore tend to pile up in the closet which makes it difficult to find what’s in there. Separating clothes into 3 piles will help 1) to keep 2) to donate 3) to dispose.
The way we store our items can also lead to hoarding behavior. If you have plenty of space in your home, then you might not notice that you’re buying more than you need or that your belongings are taking up space in your home.
Seeking Help
If you do not have time and want some help with a full cleaning of your home, hire a professional cleaning service as they will do all the hard work for you!
