As life happens, unless you are as practically perfect as Mary Poppins, it can be easy to let the little things go unnoticed. However, the little things going by the wayside will snowball if left behind. Home cleanliness is too often one of those neglected items, yet it’s easy to maintain by implementing these simple switches and important to remember tasks.
1. Go with the Airflow
During the winter months, you are left without the luxury of opening your windows to make way for a refreshing rush of outdoor air. Instead, there is a blustery blizzard of wind that makes you want to shut up in your house all season long. As a result, you must rely on other ways of making space for airflow. By increasing airflow, you are reducing dust buildup, preventing mold, and cycling out pollutants. This can be done as simply as keeping your fans running, vacuuming with a high efficiency particulate air filter, minimizing the amount of upholstery in your living and bedrooms, and changing out your ac filters every 3 months. If you set reminders for yourself, these tasks can be tackled quickly and without the hassle of holding them in the back of your mind.
2. Sealed and Dry
When trying to keep a clean home, it can be an uphill battle if the foundation you’re working from is cracked. Protecting your home from leaks that lead to mold and pest infiltration can save you time and costly repairs later on. To keep your home dry, you should ensure a tight seal on your roof and proper drainage from gutters and your interior plumbing. This can be done with ease by calling your local professional roofers, gutter inspectors, or general home inspectors. Another way mold can invade your home is when you allow moisture to sit still in high humidity rooms such as your bathrooms or kitchen. An easy fix for these is running the exhaust fan to eliminate steam buildup. Sealing cracks and openings as well as storing your pantry foods in tightly sealed containers creates layers of natural protection against pests. Further measures include setting sticky traps with bait and a low toxin pesticide. If you can check off these foundational inspections and self-installed protections, you should find that your cleaning will be quicker and require less of your attention.
3. Go Green to Make Your Home Clean
When you invest in and maintain a few plants around the home, it’s like having a Roomba for your air. There are a variety of plants that naturally remove toxins such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and benzyne; these elements can cause reactions like persistent headaches, tremors, and asthma. Plants that fight against these use a photosynthesis type of process to absorb and filter gases through their leaves. Some of the best plants for clean air are gerbera daisies for the warmer months, English ivy for a bit of whimsical versatility, mother-in-law’s tongue for those harsh colder months, and many more!
4. Maintenance and Upkeep
It doesn’t take daily sterilization to sustain your healthy home. There are small once a day or once a week actions you can adopt to ensure less frequent deep cleaning. Taking your shoes off at the front door can prevent tracking in leaves, dirt, and “who knows what else” you stepped on during the day. This habit can be made easier by placing a cubby or shoe rack by the front door or, if you are so inclined, creating a mud room. In this area, you can have both a section where your outdoor shoes are left and a section with indoor shoes or cozy socks. Every other day habits should hit the components of your home that are most likely to attract bacteria or unwanted creatures. These chores include taking out the trash, microwaving your kitchen sponge, and quickly wiping down doorknobs and other shared items with antibacterial wipes. Taking out the trash wards off any critters whose sole mission is to get to your week-old lasagna. Microwaving your kitchen sponge, according to scientists, has been proven to kill 99% of bacteria. This should be done by placing the wet sponge, never a dry sponge, on a microwaveable plate and turning the microwave on for two minutes. Make certain you let it sit to cool for a minute before removing it and wringing it out. Finally, disinfecting your shared spaces, especially the doorknobs, takes very little time and can spare your household from the common colds that stem from bacteria passed around.
With this list of tasks to remember as well as little tips and tricks, you’re already on your way to a cleaner home. By divvying these items up in a manageable way, you’ll be able to adequately cover a significant portion of your cleaning necessities. Maintaining these will not only keep your home healthy, but your entire household will stay healthier. 
Hailey Marston
Home & Yard Magazine
