Cleaning Myths Exposed – A Guide to What You Shouldn’t Do

If you are the type of person who likes to follow old wives’ tales when you clean your home, it’s time for an upgrade. What may have been true decades ago is not necessarily true today. In other instances, the advice has been blown out of proportion and is not quite as useful a method as you may think. Let’s consider some of the cleaning myths and the cleaning habits you should avoid, below.

1. Bleach Is Your Best Friend

While bleach is an inexpensive disinfectant and a practical product to use when your white laundry is looking a little dingy, it is not the miracle cleaning agent that it is made out to be for home cleaning. If you have ever tried to clean areas that are contaminated with animal waste only using bleach, you’ve surely been overwhelmed by the fumes and sadly disappointed with the lackluster results. Today, there are specially formulated cleaners that contain enzymes which break down organic matter like cat urine and other odors. If bleach is the toughest thing in your arsenal, you need to run for cover and call the cleaning companies when kitty comes out of hiding.

2. Whip Out the Feather Duster

While feather dusting may remove the obvious evidence of built-up dust layers from miniblinds and television screens, they are not really effective at removing dust. If you are looking for more than aesthetic home cleaning, try using a vacuum or a damp cloth to actually eliminate the dust. The cleaning companies use special microfiber dusting cloths that have a magnetic attraction to dust. Because dust is mostly made up of dead skin cells and fabric particles that have worn loose, it makes sense to eliminate them entirely.

Beds are a common place for dust to accumulate because of the skin cells you shed over the 8-hours or more you spend in it each night. If you let the dust build up and don’t change your bedding materials every week, you are likely to end up with bed bugs and dust mites. For some people, it is not the dust that they are allergic to but the dust mites that live in it. Keeping the humidity low in your home will also reduce the populations of these critters that thrive in dusty beds.

3. Using Vinegar to Clean

The fact is that you need to apply vinegar at nearly full strength to reap its dirt-busting antibacterial properties. When you dilute the acidic vinegar in with water, you take the teeth out of it. The obvious problem with vinegar is that once you apply it, you then have to use another cleaner to remove the smell. Unless you want to live as though you are at a fish and chips restaurant all day, it might be a good idea to pass on the vinegar.

While this is just a short list of cleaning myths and cleaning things you should avoid, we hope that you have better insight into tackling the common cleaning issues presented.