Your home has two main hubs – the kitchen and the lounge. These rooms are where the entire family congregates to eat, discuss their day, do their homework, catch up on the latest TV shows, and just lounge. How can you truly relax in your lounge when it’s cluttered and dirty? Your lounge sees a whole lot of living which means it should see plenty of cleaning too.
The Benefits Of A Clean Lounge Area
To start with, your home will be clean, organised, and enjoyable. But that’s not all. Other benefits include:
- A clean home can improve your mental health. Clutter can heighten symptoms of anxiety and depression. It can also increase your stress levels, tension and lead to disorganisation. Therefore, keeping your home clean and clutter-free helps you take control, boosts your mood, improves focus, and can even benefit your physical health as well.
- If you stay on top of things, your lounge will always be clean, which means you will have less cleaning to do. It can be harrowing to deal with a big job, but once it’s done, it’s just a case of maintaining it.
- Clutter and mess attract pests of all kinds, so keeping your lounge clean will help you prevent infestations.
- Your furnishings and fittings will last longer if you look after them.
- It will be a safer environment for the whole family. It promotes health and hygiene, as you keep dust and allergens under control.
- Nothing feels better than walking into a clean, organised living room after a stressful day at work. It’s your happy place, somewhere you should be able to relax and unwind.
The Hidden Dangers of Clutter
The more stuff you have in your lounge, the more difficult it is to clean. If your home was organised, you would regularly clean your remote control, video games controllers, phones, cushions, throws, curtains, and upholstery. It’s difficult to do, though, when you’re surrounded by old stuff.
According to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, bacteria can divide and multiply in as little as four minutes under their preferred conditions. One study, taking samples from 30 objects throughout the home, found almost 250 different bacteria present. Aside from the kitchen and bathroom, there are a few other danger zones. The doorknobs, light switches, and handles are the big hitters. These are the biggest cross-contamination risks as household members travel throughout the house with germs. In the lounge, there are phones, controllers, carpets, keyboards, remote controls, and more. These are the hotspots where germs and bacteria breed.
Your air quality also matters, and poor indoor air quality means the heightened presence of dust and dander.
You love your pet, but they also present a danger. After they spend time outdoors, they bring all of the bacteria inside with them. Their bowls and toys, if not cleaned properly, can carry mould, yeast, and Staphylococcus. In addition to the potential presence of Staphylococcus, other germs and bacterium commonly found in your home include E.coli, yeast, mould, faecal matter, and salmonella.
What Can You Do?
Bacteria don’t just spread from person to surface, it can also spread from person to person. How quickly it spreads will depend on the type of surface, the habits of the home, the practices in the home, as well as cleaning procedures. If everyone in your home washes their hands regularly, bathes regularly, cleans regularly using the correct equipment, and generally looks after themselves, then you will reduce your risk.
Think of the many items in your lounge that are shared by everyone in the home and perhaps even guests. Your keyboards, game controllers and remote controls can grow mould and even Staphylococcus. A carpet can help you reduce the amount of dust in the air of your home, but only if you stay on top of hoovering. Otherwise, it can hold as much as eight times its weight in dust, dirt, and germs.
Use disinfectant wipes regularly to clean high-touch hotspots like doorknobs, handles, doors, windows, surfaces, gadgets, and controllers. As soon as you return home from outside or in public, be sure to wash your hands or sanitise at the very least.
Have a routine for washing your dog’s food bowls and toys. The bowls should be taken care of daily, soft toys weekly, and hard toys as required. Additionally, get into the habit of wiping or washing your pet’s paws before they come in from outside.
Your personal items can also contribute to the problem. Your shoes, wallet, clothing, headphones, lunch box, water bottle, purse, and anything else that leaves home with you daily are exposed to a host of germs and bacteria. Disinfect these items daily.
The Disadvantages of Clutter
The hidden dangers above are a pretty big disadvantage of clutter. If you have old couches, broken furniture, and old possessions lying around, they are simply gathering dust. Not only do they present trip hazards, but they are also giving bacteria a home.
If you try your best to keep on top of cleaning, you’re adding more to your plate by not simply getting rid of old furniture you no longer need. Perhaps you have a large area rug you replaced, but rather than ditch the old one, you just dragged it to another part of the room? Maybe you got a new couch but pushed the old one to the corner of the room for the dogs to take over. It’s all contributing to poor indoor air quality.
Cheapest Load of Rubbish Can Help
Building good habits around cleaning and disinfecting will help keep your home clean and prevent germs and bacteria from spreading. There are plenty of benefits to keeping your home clean all year round, mainly that your family will be happy, safe, and healthy. What more do you need?
Old furniture, disused possessions, and broken furnishings contribute to an unhealthy home. If you need rubbish removal Sydney, you have come to the right place. Cheapest Load of Rubbish can help you spirit rubbish of all kinds away. We can assist you with office or residential rubbish, as well as construction rubbish removal and much more.
