The safest place on Earth is your Sweet Home, say Yes or No? But in reality, it may not be so unless you keep your home germ free and hygienic! It is almost everyone’s dream to own a beautiful, tidy, peaceful, and hygiene house. Nobody wants to live in the untidy and unhygienic place. However, no matter how neat and tidy your place is, it can become the harbour of germs and bacteria if you don’t exercise the care.We all know that germs are everywhere; in your trash, kitchen sinks, curtains, beddings, dishwasher, etc. They are ready to infect you when you come in contact with them. Once they enter your body, they can cause countless difficulties to you. Thing is you cannot disinfect every place on Earth, but the least what you can only do is to keep your sweet home and its surrounding area germ free!
Beat all the Germs & Make Your Home Germ Free
Keeping your home germ free has the highest importance for your health and wellbeing! The fact is, there are more chances for you to get sick from the bacteria or germs of your own home. The home bacteria affect the health of the occupants of the house adversely. However, not to worry we have here tracked down few points to take care during construction and also after moving in your new home. Implementing following steps rigorously, you can keep your home germ free!
01. Ensure the Proper Ventilation to Keep Home Germ Free!
Enclosed spaces are devoid of air or sunlight and are also prone to germs and bacteria, so one of the most important tips on how to get rid of bacteria from home is by ensuring the proper ventilation, air circulation and sunlight. Good air flow is crucial to get rid of germs and fumes. Additionally, it also encourages a healthy living.
Make sure your every room has proper ventilation, especially in the kitchen as cooking creates hot steam which increases extra moisture. Moisture helps germs to grow on the surface. Also, you must make a habit to open your doors and windows daily at least once to allow the natural sunlight and air into your home. It will purify the atmosphere within your home.
02. Sanitize your Living Room & Keep it Germ Free
Germs accumulate on most touched spots of your main family gathering room i.e. living room like cell phones, TV remotes, coffee tables, electronic gadgets, TV screen, etc. Clean these surfaces with sanitizer or use a damp microfiber cloth to wipe the germs. Vacuum the dust right away so that bacteria do not grow in your carpets and furniture.
Note: Your Living room is one such place which is part of getting most of the surfaces touched be it TV, TV remote, Coffee Table, Flower vase, Sofa and many such things. So, here’s the way to sanitize the most touched surfaces and make them Germ-free:
03. Clean Curtains & Ceiling Fans to Get Germ Free Home
Many people do not bother to vacuum and wash-off the curtains and drapes and dust-off their ceiling fans! Do you know, all these areas can trap a lot of germs and dust that are not easy to even visualize. These window curtains are homes for herms and bacteria.
Try to wash your celling fans blades and curtains frequently to make your home germ free and allow yourself to be healthy. You must follow a regular cleaning schedule for your house. And if you need to make House cleaning schedule, No worries We have already done that for you & it is right here for you to read & follow:
Let us know is this schedule really helpful to you!
04. Clean Knobs and Railings to keep it Germ Free
Germ spreads quickly on railings, light switches, handles of cabinets, doorknobs and lamps. Sanitize these surfaces once a week and frequently when someone in your family is unwell or when you have guests visited at your homes.
05. Keep the Home Dry not Humid!
We all know that the high content of moisture and humidity are the most favourable conditions for the germs like fungi, bacteria, virus etc. to breed and so you have to be very careful especially in rainy & summer season. The easiest way to deal with this problem and to keep your home germ free is by properly utilising the fans.
Whenever you clean your floors or feel that there is lot of moisture inside the home, simply switch on your fans and open-up your windows. It will make your rooms dry and will also decrease the occurrence of moulds, stink etc. Don’t forget that the ultimate goal is to keep your home dry all the time.
06. Avoid Filling Home with Unwanted Stuffs!
One of the important tips to keep your home germ free is to avoid overstuffing your home. Too much of congested places are more prone to spread germs and pests. They find easy places to hide!
Always understand, a spacious home should have only the necessary things and only few decorative items are preferable as it can be easily cleaned which can keep your home germ free!
07. Maximize the Use of Dustbin for Germ Free Home!
Make sure you have dustbins at the important corners in your home and that they get utilized properly. Any kind of residue that falls on your floors should be immediately picked up and thrown into the dustbin. However, keep in mind that using the same dirty dustbin for a long time is unsafe. Keeping the wastes for a long time turns it into a breeding ground for germs. It also stinks badly and infect the air and make your home foul smelling. Therefore, never forget to clean and disinfect your dustbin before using it again. Still, if your dustbin stinks, then its high time to buy a new one!
Make sure you empty your dustbins frequently in the corporation cars which are specially meant for dumping garbage or you can throw them into your common community garbage bin.
Note: If you want to use your kitchen waste know the steps to make the Organic Compost. With the time & little patience, composting at home will become the second nature for you!
08. Do Laundry on Regular Basis!
We are exposed to thousands of germs daily by going out on daily basis. Our clothes carry a lot of germs. Hence, while you return back home, it is necessary that you immediately dump the clothes in the laundry bag so that it gets cleaned the next day in your washing machine. Underclothes mostly contain a greater number of germs, which if not cleaned thoroughly, may contaminate the other clean clothes. Once you wash the clothes in washing machine, dry them in the sun so that they get dried properly.
In addition, the washing machine you are using must also be kept clean after every usage otherwise it may become the home for the germs.
In this rainy season, want to dry your clothes easier??? Here are some tips to dry your clothes indoors:
09. Wash Your Bedding Frequently to Get the Germ-Free Sleep!
We literally spend abundant time in the bedroom, actually one-third of our life. After work, we spend lots of time in our bedroom and if it is not cleaned especially the bedding, then that can lead to the growth of germswhich can definitely make you ill.There is no doubt that we shed dead skin cells on the bed, floor, side tables, and sometimes in those sweaty clothes. Sometimes due to those dead skin cells, we might get the staph infection (germs commonly found on the skin or in the nose of even healthy individuals). Additionally, most of people have the habit of tossing off their dirty clothes on the bed after reaching home. By doing so, it will introduce the greater number of germs inside your bedroom!
Therefore, if you want to know how to get rid of bacteria and keep your home germ free, wash all of your bed sheets, towels, and other bedding materials regularly in hot water. Mop the floor and clean the furniture surfaces with germ-killing cleanser and home disinfectant every day. Therefore, always choose the tiles that can easily get cleaned. Make sure that there won’t be any joints in while laying tiles and also make sure that there won’t be any tiling defect.
10. Clean Your Kitchen Sinks, Counters & Sponges to Get Rid of Germs!
There are plenty of corners where germs can hang out in your kitchen i.e. kitchen sink, drain of the kitchen sink, counter tops, door knobs, welcome mat, sponges, rags, scrubbers, etc. As per Health magazine, the drain of kitchen sink usually accommodates more than 50,000 bacteria per square inch. The study shows that roughly 70% microbes like E-coli are found in the kitchen which is responsible for urinary tract infection. Hence, cleaning these drains be it kitchen or toilet is a must and if you need to do so, here are some tips for you:
Always clean the sink and counters immediately after cooking, with soap or an antibacterial cleaning agent. Usually, water washes the germs away, however, cleaning agents with bleach can kill almost all the germs. To completely disinfect the kitchen sink and drain, clean them once in a week with bleach or drain cleaner powder which is easily available in the market.
The sponge or rags you use to clean utensils should also be cleaned with either hot water or in the dishwasher. Using dirty infected sponge will simply make your kitchen appliances look even dirtier than before. And, if you find it in bad condition, then change it immediately!
11. Chopping/Cutting Boards
There is a catchphrase “washing your food before eating removes germs and cooking meat kills dangerous bacteria”. However, it’s wise to have two separate chopping board for vegetables and meat. Raw meat contains dangerous bacteria like salmonella. Although bacteria are eliminated when the meat is cooked, but they can still survive on the cutting board. Therefore, it is important to use a separate cutting board for raw meats. Generally, pathogens are usually hidden in the foods like berries, leafy greens, and potatoes. Even though food-sickness outbreaks and they are simply because of kitchen mistakes, for example, using contaminated chopping boards.
If you are using wooden chopping boards, change it to either glass or plastic. As glass or plastic chopping boards are nonporous and more resistant to germs as they don’t get cut on the surface. Wooden chopping boards get easily cut while chopping food. Consequently, bacteria or germs can hide in knife-cuts notches.
Once you finish with chopping board clean it with hot soapy water and then spray bleach mix solution on board. Wash it again with hot water and rinse well. It will help to keep your chopping board disinfected.
12. Keep Your Bathroom Clean!
Whenever you take a shower you tend to remove lot of bacteria, germs and viruses from your body. However, all those germs don’t easily slide down the drain or die on the floor. Conversely, some of those germs get flourished if floor stays wet or moist.
Bathroom is the most favourite place and breeding grounds for the germs because of the moist environment. Hence, clean the bathroom at least once a week with a good disinfectant.
Provide proper slope towards nahani trap on the floor of the bathroom so that water doesn’t get stagnant on the floor. Also, clean the floor every day with home disinfectant and bleach-based cleaning agents. After shower, properly rinse and dry the sides or the shower curtains. Try to clean your toilets at least once a week. Always make the habit to close the toilet seat led before you flush. Never keep the wet mats on the floor. Wash those wet mats with hot water and make sure it is dry before using it again. If you need tips to clean your bathroom, here you go:
Also, while planning your house ask your architect to plan dry and wet area concept for all the bathrooms.
13. Clean Your Toothbrush
As per RDH Magazine “The human mouth contains about 100 million microbes per millimetre of saliva”. These microbes eat the same food as you do. When you brush your teeth, food particles and microbes get stuck on the bristles of the toothbrush. This leads an overgrowth of bacteria on your toothbrush.
To know how to get rid of bacteria from your toothbrush, after brushing, rinse your brush with hot water and keep it up in the holder to air-dry. Never put your brush on the counter as it might catch other bathroom germs and spread germs in your other rooms too! Also, during travelling never keep wet brush directly in the travel case. Therefore, always plan to install the various types of bathroom accessories for properly placing your required accessories.Do not keep your toothbrush near the WC because when you open the lid of the toilet seat, the bacteria tend to sit on your toothbrush.
14. Don’t Forget Your Pets
This note is for the families who have pets at home. You must be more cautious because pets carry a lot of germs which can make your whole home dirty, if not looked upon quickly.
The very first thing which you must do is to keep your pets clean. Also note that many of the pets don’t like to take bath, but you have to trained them to take a shower at least two times a week even if they do not want to.
Also, whenever you take them out, make sure that you wash their paws properly with water before bringing them inside your house. And, their food bowls must also be cleaned every day.
There are few more points that also need to be taken care either during the planning stage or during construction or after you moved into the new house.
- On the terrace maintain the slope and waterproofing, so all the water easily gets wash out and drain easily.
- You can plan some indoor plants in the kitchen which will keep the air quality maintain. But do clean all the leaves regularly to get rid of dirt.
- Regularly clean the filters of the vacuum cleaner, water purifier, air conditioners, etc…
- Regularly clean the cell phones, tech devices, and all the toys with cleansing agents.
- Regularly clean your doors & windows to remove dust.
- Usually dust do not contain the germs as they don’t have moisture. However, if the dust comes in contact with moisture then it might develop the mites. So, if you find dust in any corner of your house clean it immediately.
Have you tried any of these tricks before? What else do you think, you can do to make your home germ free? Feel free to share your own cleaning ideas and tricks by simply commenting below!And before you leave, here I give you some house cleaning tips that has already been beneficial to our valued readers, and I really hope that it would be helpful to you in saving time and cleaning your home as a PRO!!:
Cleaning Tools that are Used for House Cleaning
House Cleaning Schedule: The Power of Cleaning Routine
15 House Cleaning Tips that can be Beneficial to Every Homeowner!
Please share your feedback as a comment that how all these points were beneficial to you!!
Image Courtesy: Image 1, Image 3, Image 4, Image 6, Image 7, Image 11, Image 15