When cleaning becomes bothersome and gets bumped off to the bottom of your to-do list, you slowly lack the motivation to lift a finger to get things done.
No one can blame you. Sometimes other things just become more important than cleaning and this is completely understandable. However, having a clean home contributes to a healthy environment and to our overall well being that it is simply too hard to ignore its benefits.
Regular Cleaning Keeps Stress and Fatigue at Bay
You know the feeling you get when you’ve just arrived from a day of hard work and you find your house looking like a hurricane just came without warning? It is usually a mixture of frustration, fatigue, and your cortisol levels rising.
Seeing a house that has clutter can cause stress more often than you care to admit. In fact, there have been studies of women who tend to have higher cortisol levels simply because they live in an environment that needs a whole lot of cleaning.
When your house is clean, there is no visual reminder of the many chores you need to do: dust the tables, mop the floor, pick up the toys… you get the picture. When your eyes rest on a surrounding area that is organised and neat, there is no doubt that you will feel relaxed and calm.
Any time you keep your stress levels at a minimum is a good thing. Stress has been linked to many diseases and ailments so if there is one area in your life that you can manage to keep stress at bay, make it a point to do so. Tick off any cleaning chores you have been delaying and see how manageable it actually is to keep your house clean.
Money becomes an issue when it causes you stress. For example:
- Imagine not having to pay the bills on time (because the mail is chucked somewhere in the house);
- you go out and buy an item that you already have in the first place (only to find that it’s just hiding within the clutter); or
- you and your family tend to eat out or have food delivered because the kitchen is in disarray and cooking just isn’t possible.
Imagine all the money you will be saving when you have cleaned up your home. You may not actually feel the change in your bank account just yet but once cleaning becomes a regular activity, you will begin to see how much cash you have been throwing away simply because your house was a mess.
What happens when most people are stressed out? They tend to eat unhealthily, indulging themselves with junk food. Unsurprisingly, a messy and cluttered environment causes stress and the effect? You reach out for that bag of crisps. Having a clean home environment just might motivate you to eat healthily, since you are not as stressed out anymore with your surroundings.
Cleaning also promotes calm and reduces anxiety, as well as promotes thankfulness. Whenever you reach out for an item to clean, a sense of gratitude fills you. Cleaning also encourages mindfulness and keeping in tune with the present times.
Nothing beats having a good night’s sleep but when you have thoughts of the pile of dishes in the kitchen sink as your head hits the pillow, your stress levels begin to rise again causing you to lose precious slumber time. Knowing that your house is clean will help promote a restful sleep. Admit it, waking up to a clean house doesn’t sound so bad either.
In summary:
- A clean home is always a less stressful environment
- A clean home helps you save money
- A clean home may promote healthy eating habits
- A clean home gives you a sense of gratitude
- A clean home lets you sleep better
Regular Cleaning Maintains Control of Your Allergies
Consistently dusting surfaces and furniture will help keep those pesky allergies at bay. Dust mites and dirt are very common causes for allergy attacks in both children and adults and who would want to deal with a runny nose and watery eyes all day?
Upholstery, carpets, and bed covers are common hiding places for dust mites. The basement and garage, two places in the home that are naturally damp, also harbor common allergy triggers that only make allergic attacks and asthma worse.
Pet dander and molds can easily find their way in between any cracks or surface areas and can accumulate over a short period of time if you are not handy with the duster. As you might have guessed, these two are also common causes for allergies. One other reason for making dusting a part of your daily chores: it helps improve the quality of the air you breathe.
Keep your home as dust-free as possible with these tips:
- Organise your closet as they are a dust haven. The dust comes from your clothes and though you can’t stop them from shedding their tiny fibers (yes, they shed), simply lessening the culprit is all you need to do.
- Always change your bedsheet every week, unless you want to wake up next to a dust bunny. Aside from the fibers that the bedding sheds, your skin does so too. Washing the bedsheets and pillowcases will lessen the accumulation of dust on your bed. Comforters and blankets don’t need a weekly trip to the washing machine, thankfully. Simply shaking them is enough.
- Simply vacuuming the rug or carpet isn’t enough. You need to use the right kind of vacuum. Owning one that has a powerful agitator can suck those pesky dust mites out easily from in between the fibers.
- Using the right cleaning materials also matters. You don’t want to be spreading the dust around. Dry rags and feather dusters don’t do much in terms of cleaning. It is always best to use a damp piece of cloth to wipe away dust and dirt.
- Sometimes a bit of rearranging every now and then won’t hurt. Give your room a breath of fresh air by moving some key pieces of furniture from time to time. Doing so allows you to check hidden areas that have accumulated dust. Usually underneath couches and behind cabinets are places we tend to overlook when we clean.
Safety Becomes a Priority
As soon as the house gets cleaned, you get to see how many safety hazards are actually staring at you in the face.
Two of the leading causes of death in a home are fires and a fatal falls. Tripping over objects can cause injury to the head and to your limbs, as do floor surfaces that have not been properly cleaned and maintained. Avoid a trip to the emergency room simply by cleaning!
House fires are pretty scary. Many of the items we have at home can either cause a fire or spread it. As you begin cleaning, wires that resemble a ball of yarn can overload and cause a fire. A piece of furniture that was placed awkwardly can easily pose as a fire hazard as well, possibly blocking anyone’s way from escaping.
Stacks of items like boxes or magazines and newspapers can topple over and injure anyone in the head, especially small children. Set them aside in a place that is out of harm’s way or simply get rid of them.
Speaking of safety, you get to keep you and your family safe from pests by maintaining a clean home. Rodents and insects like cockroaches are easily attracted to food leftovers, liquid spills, and unemptied food dishes. If you have pests as pets, then that could easily spell trouble. Bacteria and parasites that cause all sorts of diseases can spread with minimal effort, putting everyone in your home at risk. Regularly cleaning the kitchen and dining area and keeping food in an airtight container are two measures you can employ to minimise the appearance of these pests. Make it a house rule to limit eating to the dining area as well. Containment is another way to help you manage cleaning on a regular basis.
How A Minimalist Approach Can Help Keep Your Home Clean
Are you ready to get your house clean and tidy? Be prepared to appreciate the beauty of a minimalist home.
Decluttering your home will be an adventure in itself. You will soon realise that there are so many items lying around your home that you either don’t need or needs to be replaced. Here are some things to ask yourself if an item is worth saving or letting go:
- Does it work? If so, how often do you use it?
- Have you used the item (especially if it is a piece of clothing) in the last six months?
- Does it need major repairing?
- Is it a seasonal item?
- Does the item fit with the current lifestyle you lead, or want to live?
- Will it inspire you to reach any goals you may have at the moment?
When you begin to (perhaps quite literally) see the light in your home, you will quickly discover how much junk you have been holding on to for so long. Convert those items into cash by holding a garage sale. Now that you have decluttered your home, you can now specifically pinpoint what other items you may need (not want).
When you have all the essentials you need, invest in some containers where you can organise anything in your home. Keep art materials in an area that is easily within your child’s reach. Not only will she learn to be independent and get stuff on her own, this will be the perfect opportunity to teach her to be responsible for her belongings and help out with the cleaning.
We have more tips to get your home organised here (link to other article).
You’re Ready to Welcome Guests
The doorbell rings and when you take a peek it’s your parents surprising you with a quick visit. You look around the house and what do you see? A clean home.
There is nothing more mentally and emotionally soothing than confidently welcoming guests into your home that is neat and tidy. Having a home that is in awesome shape can give you the freedom to play host or hostess at any moment’s notice.
You Become Physically Active
If you can’t find the time to go to the gym because of your busy and hectic lifestyle, don’t worry. Cleaning counts as an exercise!
No matter the activity — whether it’s scrubbing the walls, sweeping the floor, or organising the kids’ toys — counts as exercise. The fact that you are exerting effort to produce work counts a form of calorie burner. You can easily incorporate cleaning into your fitness routine.
Cleaning is a good cardio workout and can even be a good form of interval training and resistance training. Just imagine the potential number of calories you can burn just by cleaning. For example, 200 extra calories can easily be burned when you do moderately difficult housework like vacuuming and dusting. If you are blessed with a garden, heading out to do some gardening can burn another 200 calories. If it is snowing upwards of 275 calories is lost when you shovel.
Cleaning may not take the place of a traditional work out or a visit to the gym but any sort of physical activity is always good for the body. Don’t expect to develop muscle mass or believe that cleaning will have any effect on your cardiovascular health. However, it will contribute to controlling weight gain and will undoubtedly give you a sense of gratitude.
It is always a win-win situation when you have a clean house and you get to burn calories too!
Benefits of Hiring Home Cleaners
Raising awareness about how cleanliness plays an important role in our overall health and well-being is one of the many reasons why we recommend families to implement a cleaning routine that works out for everyone at home. Professional cleaners from Pristine Home are happy to deal with the larger, more difficult cleaning tasks so you won’t have to worry about them anymore.
At Pristine Home we encourage everyone to live in an environment of cleanliness and orderliness. We are all for the benefits of living in a clean home. Book a cleaner on a weekly or fortnightly basis easily through our website and say hello to a healthier you.
