Everyone knows about doing a spring clean, but have you ever done an autumn clean? Experts say it can be an essential way to ensure a healthier winter.
When the temperatures go down and the heating gets turned on, fabrics in the home can become a haven for the germs, bacteria,mites and even mould, and it takes just a few simple steps to keep seasonal bugs at bay and increase the chances of a healthy winter. If the busy holiday season doesn’t allow a lot of time for a deep clean, Cleaning Service London is always here to help and take over.
Follow these steps to get the most from your autumn clean.
- Winter wipe down
Winter time is the moment where most of us suffer from a cold or two so to prevent winter bugs being passed through germ-ridden hands, ensure that all surfaces are properly cleaned with an anti-bacterial cleaning fluid. Doors in particular are a nest for all sorts of germs as they are used by everyone in the house, so just wiping down the kitchen and bathroom counters won’t suffice. Cleaning all surfaces in the home is especially important if children are around.
- Fresh Air
The main problem that plagues winter homes the lack of ventilation and warm moist air (due to indoor washing and drying). Also, household members are more likely to bring germs into domestic spaces on their hands or breathed in within enclosed unventilated spaces.This is an ideal environment for germ transmission.
To combat this, try to ventilate your home as much as possible. Opening the windows to let some fresh air in can lessen the likelihood of coming into contact with the tiny drops of mucus that are sneezed out or coughed into the air when people are ill.
While it's tempting to make the most of the energy used for heating the house by drying clothes on a radiator that may cause unwanted moisture in the air. Using a dehumidifier can offset the moisture particles thought to increase the spread of germs in the air, but it's worth thinking about alternative ways to dry clothes.
- Sanitize floors, furniture and fabrics
Think about the food crumbs, spillages, dead skin cells and sweat that accumulate in these materials over time. Carpets, sofas, pillows and duvets/mattresses are another hotbed for mites and bacteria, and as such should be regularly cleaned.
- Empty the bins
In the season of cold and flus another good tip is to ensure bins are emptied out daily – especially if there are tissues in there.
- Don't let the bed bugs bite
We all have different bedtime habits and bodies – whether that's being partial to drinking a cup of tea in bed or nighttime sweating. On average, however, everyone sweats 200ml of bodily fluid and sheds hundreds of dead skins cells every night – and of dust mites can live in unwashed bedding. For this reason it’s best to wash them often and with the help of a washer and dryer they can be back on the bed in the same day.
For those suffering from allergies a top tip is that it’s generally accepted that synthetic pillows and duvets are non-allergenic. Even so, always read the care instruction on duvets and pillows, as some products need to be professionally cleaned and handled in specific ways.
Like duvets and pillows, mattresses are another haven for the mites! If the recommended weekly mattress vacuuming seems too much just doing this during an autumn and spring clean is better than not at all.
