Having been in the house cleaning industry for a while now, I’m always surprised by some of the mistakes I see people making in their cleaning. What really surprises me is that it wasn’t oh so long ago that I was making these same mistakes! Luckily, I have learned and improved my cleaning and you can improve yours too! Here’s how:
Cleaning In The Wrong Order
If you are doing a whole-house cleaning, the order in which you clean will affect the outcome of how your home looks when you are done. For instance, I see many people vacuum their floors just to go back through and, for example, clean their kitchen, knocking lots of crumbs on the floor they just vacuumed! Always start high and work your way down. Dust the high areas, moving to lower surfaces, wipe off counters, vacuum and then mop. If your baseboards are dirty, vacuum them, wipe them and then pull out your mop.
Missing Things
If I go into a home, I can usually tell what kind of a housekeeper they are by looking at the bottom of their toilet. Just about everyone will scrub their toilet bowl. A lot of people wipe down the outside of the toilet, but hardly ever do people wipe the very base of the toilet—the flat part that screws onto the floor. Make sure you hit that and you will be doing better than most!
Cleaning With The Wrong Products
Do you pay attention to the back label of your cleaning product that says what its uses are? A lot of people don’t. They think it won’t matter if you use something differently than what’s intended once or twice. Usually that’s right, but not always! Repeated use of an incorrect cleanser will break down the surface it’s being used on and lead to unalterable damage. What are a few of the common ones?
- Windex on shower doors—don’t do it! Try distilled vinegar mixed 50/50 with water instead.
- Hard cleaners on granite. You need your cleanser to be gentle—and pH neutral. Try sticking with simple dish soap and water!
- Polish on surfaces that don’t need it. It is okay to occasionally wax or polish your real wood floors, but surfaces, like a dresser or china cabinet, don’t need to be polished regularly if you are not constantly using them to wear down the polish. Repeated waxing of a seldom-used surface, or using a real wood floor wax on faux wood floors will build up overtime leaving surfaces dull, and sticky in some instances.
Lazy Vacuuming
What is the number one thing people skip when they are vacuuming in a hurry? The edges. Especially on carpet. But the edges are where most of the dirt hangs out! For hard floors, vacuum the entire floor, then take your crevice tool around the edges. For carpet, get all the dirt out of the corners first by using the crevice tool then vacuum the main carpet area.
Skipping Dusting
It may be true that the dust doesn’t really accumulate (all that quickly) but it still will accumulate! This is especially true of furniture near a door that you use frequently and also if you have pets. You can get away with taking a quick pass with a Swiffer duster every other week or even monthly but if you try to stretch it out much longer than that, you are increasing the amount you will have to do later—and remember, if some surfaces get too dirty, they will never come as clean as you want them!
I hope this helps!
Disclaimer: All of these cleaning tips have come from my personal experience and that of the clients whom I serve. While the information here should be applicable and safe in most circumstances if you have any doubts be sure to check with the manufacturer for the product which you are cleaning and always test a cleaning product or procedure in an inconspicuous area first!
Disclosure
Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!