This Is How You Can Keep Your Home Clean and Tidy

When we’re at home, we feel safe and comfortable, free from the spread of outside germs and viruses.

But is your home as clean and tidy as you think it is? The chances are good that it’s not.

Don’t just take our word for it, either—check out these statistics.

Over 75% of kitchen sponges have either Salmonella or E. coli. Our computer keyboards and remote controls could be harboring yeast and mold. Even our pets aren’t free from this swell of bacteria, with pet toys commonly hosting staph, yeast, and mildew, and pet bowls having the fourth-most amount of germs in a home setting.

That’s only three of the many considerations when it comes to your home’s cleanliness. If you’re freaked out by those numbers, don’t fret. Instead, take charge.

Keep reading to see how you can make your home as pristine and bacteria-free as possible.

Consider the Kitchen

According to the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), the kitchen may have more fecal remnants and bacteria than any other room in your house. With that in mind, we suggest you start there!

One expert cleaning tip is to start from the top—the top of the fridge, cabinets, fan, etc.—and work your way down. This practice allows dust, dirt, and other contaminants to settle on the ground, which you can sweep up and then mop as your final step.

Pay special attention to your daily-use items, such as your coffee grinder, cutting board, countertops, and others. This point includes your refrigerator: When was the last time you gave it a thorough cleaning? Throw out any expired foods and then get to work on the white space!

Deep-Clean the Bathroom . . . And Maintain It

A bathroom is an ideal place for bacteria and mold to form. It’s moist, and it’s where you rid your own body of dirt and grime. Because of this, it’s essential for you to deep-clean your bathroom regularly (say, once a week or month), but maintain its cleanliness daily, too.

Focus on the parts of your bathroom that are most often touched, such as the faucets, door handle, and toilet handle. Consider cleaning the shower tub regularly, including in that process the drain. If there are tiny crevices you want to reach, use an old toothbrush.

And speaking of toothbrushes—keep yours guarded behind some type of barrier, such as in the medicine cabinet. Doing so can prevent contaminants in the air from quickly landing on it.

While you’re there, disinfect countertops, the floor around the toilet, and any other surfaces.

Keep Shoes Outdoors

Consider the following scenario.

You’re in a public restroom, about to flush, and you don’t want to use your hands. Many people solve this dilemma by flushing the toilet with—you guessed it—the bottom of their shoe. Then, you walk into your home without a second thought as to what’s on the bottom of your shoes.

Science says: our shoes are absolutely covered in germs and bacteria. One study found that the average sole hosts about 421,000 bacteria, 90% of which easily transfers to a clean floor on its first contact. Another cites that over 26% of shoe soles test positive for things like C. diff.

Our advice?

Keep the shoes outside where they belong. Consider placing a shoe rack by the front door, under a cover to prevent weather damage. If that’s not feasible for you, set the shoe rack right next to the front door inside your home so shoes can get taken off right away.

Use Natural Cleaning Products for Your Benefit and the Environment’s


Some cleaning products do more harm than good and are full of incredibly harmful ingredients. The toxic ingredients found in your everyday cleaning products include things like the following:

  • Ammonia
  • Sodium hypochlorite
  • Ethylene glycol monobutyl acetate
  • Trisodium phosphate

. . . And the list goes on. These chemicals can be irritable at best, and fatal at worst.

Consider your cleaning products. Are they chock-full of ingredients you’ve never heard of, unpronounceable things you couldn’t possibly begin to comprehend? If so, it’s time to make the switch to something less harmful, such as these Purbloc eco-friendly cleaning products, which don’t just benefit you, but the environment, too.

Pay Attention to Surfaces

Bacteria knows no bounds—it can spread from person to person, and surface to surface.

When cleaning the home, focus on every surface around it: the kitchen, bathrooms, bedroom vanities, coffee tables, refrigerator, and more. If you skip this step, you could risk an object or person getting bacteria from a surface and then spreading it throughout the home.

Cleaning your surfaces is simple enough. Use a disinfectant wipe daily if possible. This point is especially important if someone in the household is sick.

Focus on the Pets

Fido is cute and cuddly, but he’s dirty, too.

Wash your dog often, as well as items he or she uses frequently. If possible, wash the food and water bowls daily with soap and water. Clean the toys (hard toys weekly, soft toys monthly), and add an extra bath if they get dirty at the dog park.

Develop Good Cleaning Habits

And of course, make these cleaning tips a habit. It’s not enough to deep-clean your home once a month and call it good-to-go. Certain cleaning practices should be done daily, some weekly, and others monthly.

Develop a cleaning schedule and maintain it. Stick it on the fridge as a reminder if you have to. Doing so can not only prevent the spread of germs and bacteria in the home, but can also make those monthly deep-cleanings that much more straightforward.

Keep Your Home Clean and Tidy Using These Tips

If the thought of germs in your home has your skin crawling, use this advice to guide your next deep-cleaning. If you follow these clean and tidy best practices, your house won’t necessarily be perfect, but it’ll undoubtedly be better than it was!

Do all these chores seem overwhelming? Share this information with your family, and be sure to include some of the more cringe-worthy statistics for motivation. Divvy up the duties and make the process more manageable.

While you’re focused on home care, keep scrolling our blog for more tips, tricks, and actionable advice.

Monica

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