Most of us don’t think of cleaning as fun, it’s a chore and we only do it because we have to. And in order to cross it off our to-do list as quickly as possible, we create shortcuts to cut down on the time we spend on these household tasks. But it turns out, some of our strategies may not be the most effective and some of them may even leave things dirtier than before we “cleaned.”
If you take the time to clean, you might as well do it right, which means avoiding these habits:
- Going overboard with cleaning products - If a little works, then a lot must work really well, right? Not so much when it comes to cleaning sprays and liquids. Using more than you need doesn’t get the job done faster and the excess can even form a residue that actually attracts and traps dirt and dust.
- Using your dish sponge to wipe down the kitchen - In case you haven’t heard, that sponge is covered in bacteria and kitchen sponges frequently contain more bacteria than anywhere else in the house … including the toilet. So it’s not the ideal tool for wiping down your counters and tables and the same goes for using a dish towel to clean all of your kitchen surfaces.
- Overloading your dishwasher - Even if you’re doing it with good intentions, like saving water, sticking as many plates, bowls and silverware as you can in the dishwasher isn’t a good idea. That’s because when they’re overloaded or not loaded properly, the dishwasher doesn’t function like it’s supposed to. And the worst part? The dishes can come out dirty and you have to do it all over again.
- Saving dusting for the end - This task may seem like the finishing touch for a room, but waiting until you’ve already cleaned and vacuumed a room to dust means you’ll just be spreading dust around, making everything dirty again. So it’s better to clean a room top to bottom, with vacuuming the floors as a last step.
Read the article at Lifehacker