Whether you love it or hate it, spring cleaning is one of those things most of us do. It’s amazing just how much you can accumulate in one year. And it never fails to surprise at just how dirty things can get. But there are a few spring cleaning mistakes almost everyone makes.
Being Too Liberal with Water
Water is the foundation of your cleaning in most cases. A handy tip to know is that bleach works better with cold water. But back to the point, you probably use too much water when you spring clean. You should keep water to a minimum when cleaning, especially on floorings such as natural wood and laminate. Water can cause damage, and you may need water damage repair services if you overdo it. So always fill a bucket just enough, and always wring out your mops.
Spring Cleaning Mistakes Includes Wrong Products
Finding a good cleaning product you love is the key to making cleaning most things easier. But many people use the wrong products for the job. For example, you may use abrasive chemicals when cleaning your chrome taps or sink. At first, it can appear like it’s doing a good job, only to peel off, chip, or crack over time. If you aren’t sure, always read the directions on the cleaner. And you can also just Google what cleaners you need for different types of things in your home.
Doing Everything All At Once
Even in a small home, a year’s worth of dirt, grime, and excess stuff is a large job to do alone. You can enlist some help, of course. But good luck with that. Therefore, you need to break your jobs down with a plan of attack. And don’t try to get everything done all at once. A proper spring clean can take between one and three days on average. And you may even have to hire extra help, such as a skip to get rid of an excess of stuff or take a trip to your local recycling center.
Cleaning with Dirty Accessories
The things that do the cleaning, need to be cleaned. Using dirty cleaning accessories such as cloths, sponges, and scrubbers will only spread germs around your home. And in some cases will damage your stuff. For example, you will regret it if you wipe down your shiny new 4K HDTV screen with a dirty microfiber cloth. OLED and LCD screens are notoriously difficult to clean once they have smears. It’s best to stock up on cloths so you can use fresh ones as needed.
Not Cleaning in the Right Order
Many people aren’t aware of it, but there is an order for cleaning. You can make a plan for cleaning and attack your home that way. A good rule of thumb is to work from the top down. This works well for the kitchen and bathrooms. And don’t forget about dusting and vacuuming:
- Remove clutter from a room so you have bare surfaces and furniture.
- Always dust a room first to avoid smears and spreading it around.
- Work your way from the top of a room to the bottom when dusting.
- Spray cleaning products, such as on tiles, at the top and wait for them to work.
- Wipe down wet surfaces in a top to bottom, left-to-right pattern.
- Use fresh cloths for drying surfaces on which you have used wet products.
- Vacuum and then mop or steam your flooring and leave it to dry naturally.
It is vital that you clean in the right order. If you don’t, you risk the chance of just making your surfaces dirt again while you are cleaning. You should also ensure you use fresh and clean cleaning supplies such as J-cloths, microfibers, and scrubbers to avoid dirt smears and germs.
Mopping Instead of Steaming
Mops are essential when cleaning hard floors. But you can make mistakes with them. For example, you may clean your home top to bottom with just one mop head. If you do this, you will just spread bacteria all over the place. So, you need a mop with switchable heads, just like switching cloths for surfaces. But you can also avoid the chance of germs altogether by using a home steam cleaner. These kill 99.9% of known germs, but be careful not to burn yourself.
Cleaning with Your Jewelry On
When you are eager to get cleaned, you may begin wearing your favorite jeans, an expensive top, or even your jewelry. Jewelry, especially, is a mistake for various reasons. First, you will probably damage the items themselves. Gold, silver, and other precious metals can be damaged by cleaning chemicals. But there’s also the danger of catching your jewelry on something, like a curtain and falling as a result. Or you can scratch surfaces while wiping down.
Spring Cleaning Mistakes Includes Removing Pipes
Cleaning the kitchen and bathroom is a chore in itself. And when you spring clean, you might want to give them a deep clean. And this can extend to the pipes. Cleaning pipes is all well and good. But you must be careful not to knock some of them. Additionally, it can be tempting to take a pipe system apart to clean them. But be careful when doing this. First, make sure you know how to put them back together. And make sure you switch off your main water supply.
Not Ventilating when Cleaning
One of the most common mistakes when cleaning is not ventilating your home. Even organic cleaners are still chemicals. And almost all cleaning products can be dangerous if you breathe them in. So if you use them liberally, which you probably do with a spring clean, ventilate your house. Fortunately, this is pretty easy. All you need to do is open all of your windows. Which, even in colder spring, won’t be an issue since you will get hot with all the vigorous hard work!
Summary
Spring is well underway. And for many of us, that means getting stuck in and giving it some elbow grease to clean the home. However, there are some spring cleaning mistakes you might make. These include using too much water, cleaning in the wrong order, and not ventilating.
Meg is an author at Cinnamon Hollow. She writes on a variety of topics sharing tips and ideas for daily life.
