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Housekeeping Tips: The Ultimate Guide for House Cleaning

Do you like to be surrounded by dirt and mess at home? Experts say that housekeeping plays a significant role in our lives as opposed to the negative impacts of clutter and mess. If you are considering working as a professional cleaner or starting a cleaning business, you can take part in some form of training to give yourself the knowledge for success in the sector. Thousands of people have taken cleaning courses online and started a career in the cleaning sector. In this article, we will discuss housekeeping cleaning tips.

Working as a cleaner or running a cleaning business demands background knowledge of professional practices in the sector. You might require comprehensive knowledge of cleaning procedures, chemical safety for your job. As a business owner, you will need to follow a process for hiring professional cleaners or even for writing a proposal for your business. A British cleaning course can educate you thoroughly in your career as a professional cleaner or a business owner in the relevant field.  

Here are some crucial cleaning tips listed by Sarah Crow for housekeeping. These useful hacks will make life easy for you saving your time and achieving good impact in cleaning. 

  • Brush your bathtub using grapefruit and salt for better impact
  • Use a machine-washable mop that can be washed properly to prevent bacteria contamination
  • Soak dirty cookie sheets and pans in warm water with dish soap and dryer sheet
  • Place your sponges (without metal scrubbers) in a microwave to disinfect them
  • Get rid of fabric stains using a bit of shaving cream.
  • Use a paste of baking soda and water to eliminate scratches from plates
  • Scrub the coating inside cast-iron pans with half of a potato and coarse salt
  • Sprinkle baking soda on your mattress to control bacterial contamination and dust
  • Rub your wooden cutting boards with lemon and salt to remove stains properly
  • Put a microwave-safe bowl filled with white vinegar and water to clean it efficiently
  • Use a sticky lint roller to dust surfaces
  • Use a toothbrush and vinegar solution to clean your keyboard
  • Rinse the reservoir of your coffee maker with a mixture of white vinegar and water
  • Use a 50-50 solution of vinegar and water to eliminate water stains on your glasses
  • To control bacteria contamination in your bathroom’s showerhead, soak it overnight in white vinegar
  • Avoid overloading the dishwasher to save it from getting dirtier in the long term   
  • Clean your blender using a solution of warm water, a little dishwashing liquid and a bit of baking powder

Guidelines for Housekeeping

The clean and tidy environment at home or office can cut your stress level considerably. The following guidelines would be the best way to clean your house or workspace.

Know where your tools are

It helps a lot if you know where to find the tools when you need them. If you are at home, it is your responsibility to store the cleaning products, brushes or even the rags at the right place.  In your workplace, you might be assigned to a new workstation for a certain event. The priority would be to ask your team leader or supervisor the location of the tools. In the process, you will know where to find your tools, and you can ensure that fresh supplies are in for the future.

Ensure stock of essential supplies

When you are in a rush, you might not have the time to buy a new box of protective rubber gloves or blue rolls needed for cleaning. From my experience of cleaning, I find it essential to have spare rubber gloves with you as you might need to touch unpleasant stuff in your job. Beth McGee emphasizes the use of rubber gloves to perform ‘icky’ cleanup tasks. The use of rubber gloves aids you to handle hot water or dirty cooking pans safely. You can use specialized latex gloves if you are cleaning utensils in a kitchen using a running dishwasher. 

Plan and create ‘slices’ of the total space

Jan M. Dougherty shares a concept of dividing your room or workspace into “slices”. In her concept, she shares the idea of separating the space according to a piece of furniture or the length of your stretched arms.

Then, you must start cleaning from the top and gradually move to the bottom. In the process, the dust from the higher positions falls on the lower surface. Similarly, you can move from the back of the room to the front. In short, you are moving forward gradually in a systematic way.

When you are cleaning different segments in a house, don’t panic. Start with the more challenging tasks like cleaning the kitchens and bathrooms, and gradually move to the living rooms. 

However, you should clean the bathroom at the end to minimize the chances of spreading bacteria if you are working in a hotel’s housekeeping team. You need to give the cleaning products some time to work. For the deep stains in the toilets, apply the cleaning liquid in advance and come back later to finish the cleaning. It would be a good idea to have a small toothbrush with you when you are trying to reach the tiny cracks in washrooms and kitchen. Make a routine so that the overwhelming tasks look controllable. 

Tips for Cleaning Your Kitchen

  • Follow the ‘clean as you go’ formula: The spills can lead to accidents under different circumstances. To ensure safety at home and workspace, you need to keep blue rolls or microfiber clothes handy to get rid of spillages. According to Health and Safety Statistics 2014/15, ‘slips, trips and falls’ is one of the major risk factors at your workplace.
  • Stop procrastinating: At home, we might procrastinate about cleaning our kitchen regularly. It is a good idea to take out the bins every day and do the dishes after every meal. The cleanliness of the kitchen encourages us to spend quality time in cooking or having dinner with the family members.
  • Using baking soda for greasy surface areas: To clean greasy areas in your kitchen, baking soda is quite handy. You can sprinkle some soda on a piece of cloth and wipe the greasy surface. After wiping the dirty surface, wait for a couple of minutes and wipe the area with a clean and damp cloth to remove the residue.

Some Helpful Tips for Cleaning Your Bathroom

Like kitchens, bathrooms are used frequently, and it helps to clean the bathrooms on a daily basis. In case of toilets in your office, it is mandatory to clean them on a regular basis to keep the toilets as germ-free as possible. 

  • Cleaning the bathrooms frequently: You have to clean the most-frequented areas of the toilets a few times in a week at home. Use a squeegee after taking bath several times a week.
  • Don’t miss faucet aerators and toothbrush holders: These are crucial points in a bathroom where germs reside. You might easily miss these areas, but it is vital that you clean them regularly. As it is mentioned earlier, an old toothbrush would make life easier for you when you try to reach the nooks and crannies in your bathrooms and toilets.

Tips for Cleaning the Living Rooms

Living rooms are the places where you spend most of your time. Naturally, it is the space where your guests are also spending a lot of time. 

  • Use a microfiber duster: Although feather dusters are classic dusting tools, they are practically useless as they only move the dust around. The alternative in this case would be a microfiber duster or fabric.
  • Move furniture to reach all areas: While you are dusting and vacuuming the room, the furniture has to be moved as well. In the process, you can clean the floor underneath every furniture thoroughly. 
  • Cleaning the textiles on a regular basis: Regular cleaning of upholstery, mattresses, carpets, curtains and linens will help reduce and control dust mite populations significantly. Apparently, the main challenge in the cleaning process of a living room is the textiles which draws dust. You need to vacuum the curtains at least once a month and wash the curtains at least twice annually.

Cleaning Your Bedrooms: Useful House tips

  • Frequently wash your bedsheets: When it comes to bedrooms, you have to focus on washing linens and pillows on a regular basis. You must wash the bedsheets quite frequently, every week to be precise. It will help to drive away all the allergens and germs. 
  • Wash pillows in washing machine: You will want to put your pillows in the washing machine, and do not forget to turn the fast-spinning mode in the machine to wring out as much water out of the pillows as possible. 
  • Cleaning other areas in your bedroom: The surface areas of your ceiling fans, storing cabinets and baseboards are to be cleaned as well. 

Some Common Cleaning Mistakes You Must Avoid

Cleaning sounds a daunting task to most of us. But a few basic habits may help our cause substantially. 

1. Do not buy the best cleaning products based on the results of your search engine. You need to ask your friends and go through some customer reviews to figure out the best product that suits your requirement. Besides, you need to test a few times to find the right cleaning products available in the UK.

2. Try not to use the cheapest tool you can buy on sale. Are you using the right vacuum cleaner at home? Can you use it for soft furniture, stair treads, curtains etc.? It might be a good idea to do some research before buying one. On top of this, take some time to know your tools. Go through the manual or watch some video online regarding the product. If you know how to take care of your vacuum cleaner or dishwasher, you will be able to use it for a long time.

3. A habit of making your bed every day or cleaning the surface-tops of your kitchen would save you a lot of troubles in the long run. We usually find it difficult to maintain a regular routine for small cleaning tasks. However, the regular cleaning saves you from the overwhelming mess piled up over the time.

Finally, it is not ideal for anyone to take responsibility of all the cleaning tasks on their shoulders. You should try to engage the other family members so that the whole situation is more manageable. Most importantly, the kids should get involved in small cleaning tasks and make it a habit. 

Toxins in Your Cleaning Product

Jessie Sholl, in her article in Experience Life, lists some hidden toxic elements in the cleaning products we use:

Name of toxinFound inNegative Impacts
1. Phthalatesfragranced household productsKnown as endocrine disruptors that reduce sperm counts
2. Perchloroethylene (PERC)dry-cleaning solutions, carpet cleaners, spot removersCauses dizziness, loss of coordination etc.
3. Triclosanmost ‘antibacterial’ dishwashing liquids and hand soapsPromotes the evolution of drug-resistant bacteria.
4. Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QUATS)fabric softener liquids and sheets labelled as ‘antibacterial’Causes skin irritation and helps the breeding of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
5. 2-Butoxyethanolwindow, kitchen and multipurpose cleanersCauses sore throats if inhaled. Could be responsible for narcosis, pulmonary edema, severe liver and kidney damage.
6. Ammoniapolishing agents, glass cleanersAffects people with asthma, elderly people who have lung issues and breathing problems.
7. ChlorineToilet cleaners, laundry whiteners, scouring powders, mildew removersHealth risks in the form of respiratory nuisance, thyroid disruption. 
8. Sodium hydroxideoven cleaners, drain openersAs a corrosive chemical, likely to cause severe burn and sore throat.

If you are thinking of starting a cleaning business or even working as a professional cleaner in a reputed organization, you can go through the course outline of the accredited course we provide

 

 

November 24, 2023