Daily Archives: November 12, 2011

Different people have different ideas about cleaning their home and different ideas about why it is important. For some people having a home that looks bright and sparkling clean is important, for others it is all about how healthy a home is and making sure it really is clean but the two things aren’t always the same.

In reality you will probably want a home that both looks clean and is clean and healthy but the types of cleaning needed to make a house a healthy home may not be quite what you are doing.

With trying to make your home look presentable you may well have a lot of things tidied away, but do you still clean and dust these? You may also clean and polish the most obvious surfaces but worry less about those that can’t be seen.

Surfaces that can’t be seen can still affect your health, especially if mold starts growing anywhere.  Dust and bacteria growing in your home are serious but mold is perhaps more serious. Mold can grow anywhere in your home including cellars and lofts but the spores once airborne can get anywhere and you and your family can inhale them without knowing. Mold once in the lungs can cause chest infections, lead to asthma and weaken your immune system.

If you use a professional cleaning service you will have the advantage of having cleaners who know exactly where mold is likely to grow and what conditions mold likes, damp and certain sources of food, they will therefore seek out and remove mold and any sources of food for them, such as food debris under kitchen cupboards, that they could start growing on.

Dust is a problem as well of course and again not just that which can be seen; a cleaning service will give a home a thorough clean to remove all traces of dust. Getting rid of dust often involves moving furniture, and taking time dusting delicate items, you probably don’t have time to do this as regularly as you would like, at least once a week, with a cleaning service though you won’t have to worry about fitting cleaning into your busy schedule.

To really minimize dust and bacteria in your home you may want to get in a professional carpet cleaner once or twice a year: your vacuum cleaner can only suck up lose dust and dirt close to the surface, a professional carpet cleaner will penetrate deep into the carpet and underlay and also remove ingrained dirt.

If you are choosing a cleaning service another thing that is important to your family’s health is to choose a service that uses natural products where possible and minimizes the use of chemicals, which themselves can be bad for you. Vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda are all good cleaning products that are safe to breath and leave a safe residue. A chemical residue on kitchen surfaces can not only taint food but also be bad for health; excessive use of bleach and other chemicals leaves an odor that can burn the eyes and throat.