The Importance Of Keeping Your House Clean
Keeping your home clean is more important that you may think. Keep reading to find out why!
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Ever since you were a little kid, someone’s been telling you to clean up your room. Of course, part of the source of this advice was the desire to keep things presentable for guests and to ensure your parents didn’t lose their minds in the chaos, but it turns out there are a ton of stellar benefits to keeping your house clean. The following will explore some of the vital reasons you might want to think about keeping things spick and span.
Mental Health Concerns
In a busy world where many of us are just barely keeping things together, any little boost to our mental health can have a drastic impact on our day-to-day experience. Studies have linked depression and anxiety to being surrounded by clutter and mess. We all have absurdly long to-do lists, and it seems like part of our minds are always working on the many problems we face, meaning we all feel overworked and overburdened. Coming home to a clean house means not coming home to another ten things you need to get done, and this can make a big difference on those rougher days.
Clean Air Is Critical For Health
Indoor air is far more polluted than outdoor air due to things like cleaning products, VOCs, paints varnishes, inflammable textiles, dust, mould, mildew, hygiene products, and other particles. Air that is full of contaminants can result in congestion, respiratory problems, lack of focus, lowered levels of creativity, allergies, asthma, weakened immune systems and many other negative outcomes. While, at first, you might not think you can influence the cleanliness of your air, you can. Cleaning your ducts and fans is the first step. You’re also going to want to dust before you vacuum and address any mould or mildew growth, as well as deal with any dampness that is causing the growth. Perhaps you even want to look into the air-cleansing benefits of houseplants and beeswax candles.
You can help reduce the pollutants within the air in your home by avoiding products high in VOCs and making the switch to non-toxic cleaning products. Fragrance and paraffin wax, in particular, are ingredients you want to avoid in candles and cleaning products, but it’s always a good idea to do a little research on sources of indoor air pollution before bringing new products into your home. If you want to take things to the next level, or you live in an area where the air is particularly polluted outside, like a large city or near a factory, an air filter can help your space feel infinitely cleaner and can do wonders for your concentration, focus, and respiratory health.
Pests Are A Problem
Another reason to keep your home clean is the idea of rodents, ants, pests, and other infestations. Yes, some kinds of infestations you can’t prevent; you get lucky, or you get unlucky, but many others you can. Critters and bugs like crumbs, they like unsealed food packages, they like easy-to-access meals. Just like us, mice and other rodents want to minimize the effort required to make ends meet, and this means, if you don’t keep things clean, you’re sending the message to the critters of the world that your home is the perfect place for them to be. Clean up any spills, leaks, or food-related messes as soon as they occur to reduce the risk of an infestation. It is far easier to prevent an infestation than it is to get rid of it, and once you have this sort of problem, there are increased risks of sickness as most pests carry serious bacteria with them.
Allergy Sufferers
Allergies are no joke. If you have them, you know, if you don’t, just imagine having a brutal cold whenever you’re at home. This means you can’t sleep well because congestion has reduced the oxygen you’re taking in, it means your face is always itchy, it means you feel gross and sick, and it means you’re constantly battling between having these frustrating symptoms or taking allergy medication that makes you feel like you’re thinking half the speed and kills all your good gut bacteria meaning it harms your overall health. Even if no one in your household has allergies, a friend or extended family member is likely to suffer from them. Do the allergy-sufferers in your life a massive favour and clean up allergy-causing messes (and, for goodness sake, if anyone in your household sleeps with their mouth open, get them tested for allergies).
Allergy messes are a bit different than standard messes as often; you’re cleaning things you can’t see. Think about curtains, carpets, sofas and other textile-based items that you don’t clean often. Teddy bears can be thrown into a wash-safe bag and put through the washing machine. Small rugs can be carried outside and shaken. Larger rugs and carpet flooring can be washed with the use of special carpet cleaning devices. If you don’t have one at home, you might be able to rent one, or you can reach out to a local cleaning service. Simply search your location and carpet cleaning in your preferred search engine. If, for example, you’re in Glasgow, simply search for: carpet cleaning services in Glasgow. It is critical that when you’re cleansing for allergies or having a professional come in and clean for allergies that you specify fragrance-free products as fragrance can cause allergies. Please note that “scent-free” does not mean fragrance-free; it usually means that additional fragrances were added to cover up the natural scent of the product.
Home Value And Maintenance
Messy houses don’t only impact your mental wellbeing while you’re living in them; they can also impact your bank account when you go to sell them (or your damage deposit if you’re renting). Poorly cared for homes deteriorate faster than well cared for homes, and if minerals are left building up on your taps and bathtubs, or the wall behind your stove or garbage can is never wiped down so it slowly discolours as crud builds up on it or water isn’t mopped up straight away resulting in water spots or water damage, potential home buyers are going to see a long, expensive to-do list that will make them want to offer less money for the property.
The above information should have indicated why it is so important to keep your home clean. If you’re really struggling to catch up on the housework, there is no shame in asking a friend or family member for help. Sometimes all you need is an extra pair of hands.
