Holiday House Cleaning Tips

We take for granted that a clean home is a healthy home. But appearances can be deceiving. Contaminants (the stuff that can make us sick) can be everywhere because they occur naturally both inside and outside our homes.  

Especially now, with the holidays upon us and friends and family visiting, let’s ensure our homes are truly clean and healthy. Here are ten things not to do, along with ten things we should do to make this happen. 

Top 10 Things Not to Do:

1. Smoke in your house. It increases the amount of time to clean your house, plus it hurts your health and the health of others.

2. Ignore moisture. Water leaks are more common than we realize and can cause mold and mildew problems over time.  Mold and mildew in our homes is definitely not healthy.

3. Forget to maintain your ventilation system. When was the last time you changed your filters?

4. Leave food and crumbs around. Food crumbs attract pests. 

5. Use poor-quality vacuums. When it comes to indoor air quality and the health of your home, a quality vacuum cleaner is your best friend.

6. Use traditional cleaning solutions. Some traditional cleaning products can be unhealthier than what you are trying to clean. If you’re not using Green Cleaning solutions at home, you’re not protecting your health or the health of your family and friends. 

7. Mixing cleaning chemicals. Hey, you’re not cooking an omelet or baking a cake. Never mix cleaning solutions.

8. Burning candles. They may add mood and fragrance, but most candles can fill your house with soot.

9. Forget to ventilate when cleaning.  Many traditional cleaning solutions release fumes that can be harmful to you and your family.

10. Neglect to keep outdoor trash areas clean. Soiled, they attract pests that can invade your home.

Top 10 Things You Should Do:

1. Fix water leaks whenever and wherever you find them.

2. Change ventilation system filters, at least twice per year.

3. Install entry mats at all home entries. They really do help keep soil and moisture out of the house.

4. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum with a quality vacuum cleaner.

5. Clean the carpets. Carpet absorbs soil and contaminants, but eventually, those soils must be removed. Cold water carpet extraction twice per year will do the job.

6. Clean up spills quickly.

7. Wash your dog. Oh, and wash your cat too!

8. Teach kids to wash their hands and faces.

9. Switch to Green Cleaning solutions.  We’ve already mentioned this, but it needs repeating.

10. Buy recycled toilet tissue and paper towels. Let’s start making our homes more sustainable.

 Just a few more tips:

1. Minimize clutter. It allows you to clean faster and gives dirt fewer places to hide.

2. Keep humidity below 60 percent to reduce the chances of mites, mold, and other allergens to develop.

3. Regularly wash blankets and mattress and pillow covers, where millions of dust mites may live. 

4. Minimize the use of pesticides. Fight pests by keeping the house clean, eliminating food waste, water sources, removing clutter, and sealing cracks and torn screens. 

Let’s keep our homes healthy for the holidays.

Stephen P. Ashkin is president of The Ashkin Group, a consulting firm specializing in Green Cleaning and sustainability. He is known as the father of Green Cleaning and the industry’s leading advocate for sustainability. Steve can be reached at steve@ashkingroup.com.