The holidays can be stressful, and not just on you, but also on your house. Hosting various holiday parties, with an abundance of wrapping paper and other semi destroyed holiday items or decorations, can really lead to a reason to deep clean and sanitize your home. The New Year is a great time to start this process since its right after the holidays; even some cultures consider the start of the New Year as the ideal time for that deep cleaning. Many families find that cleaning their house at the start of the New Year dispels any bad luck accumulated over the year and a way to start afresh. Either to dispense of bad luck or simply because the holidays are over, here are a couple pointers for tackling that much needed deep cleaning:
- Where to Start? - The first impulse is to start with the part of the house with the most traffic – the hardwood floors or carpets. However, most house-cleaning experts insist that a top down approach is idea for house cleaning. They suggest starting with the blinds or curtain, so that if dust or germ particles fall while cleaning you can get them in one swoop and not have to sweep or vacuum twice.
- What Order? - Experts do not have a particular suggestion of what rooms to clean first nor in what order, however, they do suggest that homeowners clean an entire room first, from top to bottom, and then move to the next room. This allows homeowners to focus on the unique needs of each room. Also if the homeowner allocates cleaning supplies for each room, i.e. clean washcloths or dustbins, then they can prevent cross-contamination of germs.
- What Can I Do Right Now For a Better Year? – After a thorough cleaning of the entire house, a couple of things can be done today to help keep your house clean. First consider changing out air filters. Checking the filters for heaters and air conditioning systems on a regular basis can help control dust in the air and improve your energy efficiency. Also since most household dirt is tracked in from outside, adding a doormat outside and inside of a door, will help keep outside dirt at bay.
With a couple of pointers in the right direction and some planning in advanced, homeowners can clean their houses in an efficient way that also prepares them for the upcoming year. Now get out and conquer that dust.