You’ve been keeping up with your house and making weekly, monthly, and annual cleaning checklists. However, we know wanting weekly house cleaning and being able to keep up with the weekly house cleaning are two entirely different things. You may be thinking it’s time to look into a house cleaning service. But are there any benefits to having a recurring cleaning service?
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What Does a Housecleaner Do?
When you are first considering a recurring cleaning service, it’s critical to think about what a house cleaning service does. What should you expect from a weekly house cleaning? Housecleaners fall under the umbrella of the hospitality industry, and they are hired to come to a private residence or commercial business to clean.
The primary role of a housecleaner would be to cover the recurring cleaning of the following:
- Floors
- Dusting
- Kitchen
- Common rooms
- Bedrooms
- Bathrooms
Clean Your Flooring
Your house cleaning service would cover cleaning your flooring, whether that would be vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, disinfecting, or handwashing. They will generally clean your entire house first and then finish with the flooring so that they can leave you with a freshly washed floor.
Dust Furniture
Recurring cleaning will always include dusting your furniture and items around your house. Dusting is critical, not only because it keeps your house looking good, but it also is essential for your well-being and the health of your furniture.
How Do I Minimize Dust in My Home?
Dusting continually tops the list of least-favorite recurring cleaning chores to do in the home. So, what can we do other than throwing our hands in the air and avoiding it during our weekly house cleaning? Here are six hot tips to minimize how much dust you create so it isn’t as much of a chore when you do have to dust.
1. Keep the Outside Dust Outside
Why add to your workload? Make sure people wipe their feet before they come inside on a high-quality doormat before they enter your home. When choosing a mat, select one of a thick fiber, such as coconut coir, so that it will effectively trap and remove dirt and debris from shoes. Choose a “no shoes in the house” policy, and you’ll instantly reduce excess dirt from entering your home.
Shake off outerwear and hang it by your entrance. Next, examine all windows, doors, caulking, and window screens and repair them as necessary. Reducing the amount of time you leave the windows open will also limit the excess of allergens and dust allowed in from the outside and will reduce your dusting during your weekly house cleaning.
2. Stay on Top of Your HVAC
Your HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning) system is critical in filtering out allergens, but only if your air filters are high-quality and clean. First, check to see if your HVAC air filter has a high MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) rating; higher ratings are better at capturing more and smaller particles. Most homes can rely on filters with MERV ratings solidly between 5 and 8; however, those with allergies may want to look for ones with MERV ratings of 10 or higher. It is always good to visually inspect your filter every month as part of your recurring cleaning task list to see if dust has clogged it.
3. Hygiene Matters
It may seem intuitive, but showering for humans helps, as it washes off dead skin cells. Also, don’t forget to bathe your pets. Whenever possible, brush and bathe them outside, or take them to a groomer. The more dander and hair you can remove outside of the home, the better. Add in brushing your pet family members to your weekly house cleaning tasks.
4. Get Rid of Dust Mites
Dust mites, tiny as they are, can cause significant problems. Dust mites are a common, if not the most common, allergy and asthma triggers inside of your home. They cause allergy symptoms such as sneezing and postnasal drip, as well as the possibility of skin rashes.
They multiply in humid conditions, so by adding a dehumidifier, you may reduce the dust mite population. If possible, you want the humidity levels in your homes to be above 40 and yet no higher than 60 percent.
Make sure during your weekly house cleaning to wash your bedding in hot water that is at least 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and remember to wash not just your sheets but all of your bedding – comforters, duvet covers, pillow shams, throw blankets, and anything else you use on your bed. Utilizing allergy-reducing mattresses and pillow covers is a wise idea. Of course, don’t forget your loyal pet’s bedding, as well! Make this part of your recurring cleaning routine.
5. Dust Wisely!
When you do your weekly house cleaning, ensure you aren’t just pushing the dust around. Using a microfiber cloth or a 100% cotton rag, dampen it with our DIY eco-friendly dusting spray to pick up the dust. Remember to dust from top to bottom.
Pro tip: Exhausted by trying to dust a pleated lampshade? Use a clean, small, lightly moistened paintbrush.
DIY Eco-Friendly Dusting Spray
These everyday ingredients can be used to make an eco-friendly dusting spray that can remove dust and also can be an all-purpose cleaner during your weekly house cleaning!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 drops of essential oil of your choice
Directions:
Mix ingredients in a spray bottle. Spray on dust or dirt on any surface in your home. Additionally, you can use this spray as a way to shine hardwood floors.
6. Attack the Grease
Grease attracts dust, so remove the sticky stuff before it can do so. When cooking in the kitchen, keep the exhaust fan running. If you are applying furniture polish during your recurring cleaning, first put it sparingly on a cloth and then onto the furniture, rather than spraying it directly onto the furniture, which may overdo it and allow it to attract dust.
Reconsider Décor with a Critical Eye
Look over your decorating choices and see what you may be able to remove. For example, excess fabrics, such as accent pillows, heavy drapes, and stuffed animals, can be dust magnets. Also, rethink wall-to-wall carpeting, as hardwood floors can be swept and mopped during weekly house cleaning, and you can take area rugs outside and shake them free of dust.
When considering window treatments, your heavy drapes can be replaced with vertical blinds, and honeycomb shades can replace even vertical blinds. If redoing all window treatments is cost-prohibitive, consider having them professionally cleaned several times a year.
Conquer Cleaning Your Kitchen
When your house cleaning service comes in to clean your kitchen, they take care to cover every aspect. Your kitchen, being the place where your food is prepared, needs to be sanitary and safe.
Included in their attention would be the following:
- Counters
- Floors
- Appliances
- Sink, including garbage disposal
Picking Up Common Rooms
House cleaning services will clean your common rooms, family rooms, living rooms, and dining rooms. These rooms tend to require recurring cleaning in the form of dusting, vacuuming, and mopping. Your house cleaners can even do light pick-up, depending on what you require and what your agreement states.
Bedrooms Ready for a Solid Night’s Sleep
Weekly house cleanings will keep you on the recommended schedule of changing your sheets once a week, as suggested by Medicine World Council. Additionally, your house cleaner will vacuum and dust your bedroom, keeping allergens and dust mites to a minimum.
Why Is It Important to Change Your Sheets Once a Week?
For most people, we spend anywhere from 49-60+ hours sleeping a week, and that’s a lot of time spent on our sheets. So not only are our bodies rejuvenating, but we are also shedding skin cells, sweat, dirt, oil, and various other things that we need to wash away to keep our bodies healthy. In addition, without regular washing, our dirty sheets may contribute to allergies, skin breakouts, and respiratory ailments like asthma.
As mentioned above, experts recommend that your sheets be changed once a week, during your weekly house cleaning. For the pet lovers among us, if you let your pet sleep with you, it is suggested that you wash your sheets every three to four days. Allergy and asthma sufferers may try cleaning their bedding on a more frequent recurring cleaning basis to see if that alleviates their symptoms.
Say Good-Bye to Germy Bathrooms
Recurring cleaning will keep your bathroom sparkling. With the bathroom being one of the germiest areas of your home, you will be relieved to have a house cleaning service covering your:
- Sink
- Toilet
- Bathtub/shower
- Counters
- Mirror
- Floors
Once you’ve had a house cleaning service do your bathroom, you’ll see why people prefer to have professionals come in. The attention to detail and use of appropriate eco-friendly cleaning products is terrific!
7 Benefits of Hiring a Housecleaner
Having a clean home is an obvious benefit that should be recognized. But what other advantages might you gain by having a housecleaning service?
- Entertaining-ready home
- Relaxation
- Productivity
- Creativity
- Time gained
- Psychological well-being
- Better Health
Entertaining Opportunities
When utilizing the services of a house cleaning service, your home will always be in entertaining-ready condition. Want to invite friends over for a Game Night? Open the chips and let the wine breathe because your house is in perfect shape!
Relax After Work
Rather than spend time on the weekend cleaning your house from top to bottom, book that tee time on the golf course or head out for a hike in the woods. It is time for you to give yourself the gift of relaxation when you are home from work, not spend all your free time scrubbing and wiping down your surfaces! Having a recurring cleaning service gives you the peace of mind to enjoy your off hours.
Watch Your Productivity Soar
We have all been told that it’s easier to be more productive in a clean and organized environment. Time to put that theory to the test! Watch what having a house cleaning service can do for you when you’re operating in a home with weekly house cleaning.
Clean Homes Spark Creativity
It has been said that clean homes spark creativity. How? With your home in top shape, you can envision new layouts for your living room, new painting configurations for your wall, and more. Let your imagination go wild!
Gain Time to Do What You Want
We all wish to have more time to do what we want, and when you hire a house cleaning service, that is the gift that you give to yourself – more time. Remove the burden of weekly house cleaning and utilize those precious hours for things that matter more to you. Spend time with family and friends, or perhaps utilize it by taking a class, whether it be academic or exercise.
Proven Psychological Benefits
It has long been known that a messy environment can bring you down mentally and that a tidy home can help make you feel better. When your home is in order, you can feel confident to tackle the more complicated things in your life.
Improved Health and Well-Being
As we have seen, there are many reasons to keep a house neat and clean besides cosmetics. Germs, dust mites, and allergens can all compete to keep us feeling congested and ill. Having your house cleaned on a recurring basis will ensure that the dust mites and allergens are kept to a minimum and that germs are never given a foothold.
Even if you don’t have a house cleaner come on a weekly house cleaning schedule but, instead, on a bi-weekly or monthly rotating basis, you could do speed cleaning in their off weeks. Even having them come to do a deep cleaning seasonally will show you and your house a benefit.
The benefits of having a house cleaning service come to your house on a recurring cleaning basis are immense. Luckily, Pure House Cleaning is available in the communities in and around Seattle, Bellevue, and Kirkland, to assist you in keeping your home looking its best with cleaning that works with your budget and schedule. Please visit our website to discover more about our cleaning process, prices for cleaning in Seattle and other coverage areas, and more information.