Even if you’re a self-proclaimed clean freak, germs are somewhere in your home. They’re lurking in your bathroom or kitchen. They’re on your remote control and inside your cupboards. They’re on pet toys and throw rugs. It’s not that germs are intelligently evasive; instead, they tend to have a talent for hiding in places we forget get dirty.
According to the Society of GeneralMicrobiology, and per Healthline, certain bacterium has the ability to divide itself every twenty minutes under the right conditions. That’s why your apartment possesses the potential to make you sick: household germs contaminate to their heart’s content. The most common ones in any home include staph, yeast, mold, salmonella, and E. coli.
This doesn’t mean you need to walk around wearing a hazmat suit. But, deep cleaning frees your apartment of germs for a lengthy period of time (much shorter, of course, if you have children).
To get started, consider taking these three steps:
Think outside the baking soda box: The most contaminated items in your home may be the ones you think of the least. Faucets, for example? Shouldn’t those be self-cleaning? But, if you want to deep clean, the never-thought-about place is a good one to begin with.
According to Prevention magazine, these areas include the garbage disposal, welcome mat, dish towels, refrigerator seals, the vacuum cleaner, soap dispensers, and your cellphone. Other areas known for harboring germs include door knobs, makeup bags, and light switches. The laundry room is a hot zone, too, if you tend to leave wet clothes in the washing machine for more than a few minutes.
The barbecue located in the courtyard of an apartment community may also harbor germs. Before grilling, it’s a good idea to give it a thorough wash.
Clean the window treatments: Window treatments in your home love to collect dust; in fact, they’re one of the first places dust lands. They collect germs, as well. From the cat that climbs your window screen to the time you had ketchup on your hands and couldn’t find a napkin– don’t assume they’re microbe-free because they’re dormant.
Fortunately, cleaning these isn’t difficult. According to Real Simple, drapes and fabric shades can be vacuumed then washed (however, certain fabrics can’t get wet so check the tags), and generally spots can be removed with baby powder. Metal and wooden blinds can be scrubbed with soap and water; however, make sure the wood is sealed first.
Scour the appliances: Per the Huffington Post, the kitchen typically gets dirtier than any other room in the house…including the bathroom. The remedy for this is simple: sanitize. If you want to go green, replace your soap with an eco-friendly brand or vinegar.
Among the areas worthy of a good scour include the can opener, microwave, coffee pot, stovetop (especially under the hood), tops of cabinets, knife block, dishwasher door, blender gaskets, knobs of cabinets, and reusable grocery bags.
Cleaning your home or apartment for a few hours a week is different than deep cleaning; one touches the surface, the other digs deep into the couch cushions. You don’t need to deep clean often, but you should do it regularly. A good, thorough wash helps keep germs at bay.
Image courtesy of Pixabay under Creative Commons 0 license