How often should a house be deep cleaned is a question we often get from our customers. Other commonly asked questions are, “how often should you dust?” and “is house cleaning once a week enough?”
The thing is, even when we give readers this advice, not everyone follows it.
For many, the thought of giving the house a deep clean is worse than the dreaded Sunday morning hangover. You know it’s coming, and you know it’s a whole day’s work ahead of you. You may even wonder what part of the house should you clean first?
What could be worse than the thought of deep cleaning your kitchen cupboards or dusting the entirety of your house? You should include your glass top stove while you are on this mission to deep clean your home. It just doesn’t scream fun, does it?
But unfortunately, your house won’t clean itself, and it is a chore that you must do to live a hygienic and comfortable life.
You wouldn’t think it, either, but your house breeds more bacteria than you realize. Not just around the toilet seat but living on everyday household items like your computer keyboard and television remotes.
If that doesn’t give you the motivation to whip out your rubber gloves, change into your old sweat pants, and tie your hair up in a scruffy bun, then read on.
How often should a house be deep cleaned, we hear you say? Let’s take a virtual house tour and find out room by room.
Kitchen
Microwave: Make sure that you are cleaning this appliance weekly. Your microwave is a breeding ground for germs and bacteria, so when you’ve reheated last night’s lasagna, make sure you wipe down the food splatters, moisture, and condensation left over.
Cleaning your microwave weekly will eliminate the chances of these unwanted germs forming.
Refrigerator: You should clean this appliance monthly. Nobody’s perfect, and we can all say that we’ve left that salad at the bottom of the drawer for a little too long. Food spillages, rotting fruit and vegetables, and especially meat packaging have great bacterial contamination potential, so wiping down the drawers, sides, and shelves with antibacterial wash is vital.
Oven: This is probably the least favorite of all the kitchen jobs, but alas, it has to be done. When you start to get a whiff of food you’ve cooked previously, or your oven starts to give off a smokey smell, you guessed it: it’s time to get down to it and deep clean the oven.
Obviously, make sure that your deep cleaning isn’t the only time you clean your oven. Be sure to keep on top of spillages and splashes, and use an antibacterial wash to remove any leftover food.
Countertops
How often do you clean countertops? Well, it should be every day! Probably more than once, too. You will most likely use your kitchen to prep and cook food daily, so the likelihood that you’ll need to wipe regularly is very high.
Be sure to focus near the sink area, however, as experts say that your dirtiest area is in this region. This is because cloths and sponges are left near this area and are contaminated with food. Bottom line – swap your sponges on the regular and wipe your counters down daily.
Work Station
You probably have a couple of snacks at your desk during the day. You’ll make crumbs, and they’ll nest in your computer keyboard.
You probably didn’t know that your keyboard collects five times more bacteria than your toilet seat, and you probably don’t clean it as much as your toilet seat, either.
Why not set yourself the target of cleaning your workstation once a week? Make sure you get right in there and disinfect between those pesky keys.
Bedding
Mattress: Every two months is ideal. People often forget about the mattress and focus on just washing the linens, but why not give your mattress some TLC while the rest of your bedding is in the wash?
A great hack for cleaning the mattress is to sprinkle baking soda over it, which absorbs any odors. Vacuum it away and spray it with some scented antibacterial spray to kill any remaining bacteria.
Pillows: Every three months is ideal. Your pillowcase protectors do a great job of shielding your bed from dust, mites, and grime, but make sure you don’t forget to clean your pillows, too. Some say that pillows should be replaced every six months; however, it is not crucial.
Carpet Cleaning
How often you should clean your carpets depends on how much you enter those rooms, but we recommend every six to twelve months. But you must know that vacuuming doesn’t count as cleaning your carpets. Anyway, who vacuums their house once a year? If you do, take our advice and clean more often!
If you don’t clean your carpets regularly enough, it could be detrimental to your health. According to Doug Berjer, product manager for the Code of Federal Regulations, indoor air quality can be between eight to ten times worse than the quality of outdoor air if you don’t clean your floors enough.
Bathroom Towels
We recommend washing your towels after every third use.
Most people admit to washing them around every one to two weeks. However, studies show that it should be more.
It has been proven that if you wash your towels after three uses, you will be eliminating millions of dead skin cells. Gross, but it’s true.
When it comes to your hand towels, make sure you are washing them every three days. Nobody likes that musty, damp scent lingering around their bathroom and kitchen, do they? It might be helpful to clean the bathroom mirror while you are at it.
Bottom line
So, what are you waiting for?
Put down your computer and give your home some love with a big old deep clean.
If you are in the Sacramento area and are in need of a deep clean in your home, give Wonderful House Cleaning a call and get your free quote.