Everyone knows cleaning is important. It helps you keep your house nicer for longer and can alert you to areas of your home that need maintenance before they get bad enough to need expensive repairs. But did you know that cleaning really matters for your health? Cleaning has a lot of important benefits, both in terms of your physical health and your mental health.
Lets You Concentrate Better
With more people working from home this year than ever before, it’s become ever more apparent how distracting our homes can be. Our homes tend to be full of clutter and things tend to have a way of not being in their proper place. Regardless of whether it’s because you moved it or your kids were just being kids, it can still be distracting. For so many of us, cleaning is often a necessary combination of organizing and sanitizing. Getting rid of clutter and maintaining a neat, organized home helps you concentrate better on whatever task is at hand. Being able to concentrate better means you’ll be in a better position to accomplish more. You’ll feel empowered to tackle tasks with a greater degree of effectiveness and will be more likely to view adverse events in a more positive light. This positive mindset shift boosts your mental health and can give you increased mental resilience.
Removes Hidden Dangers
When you think about cleaning, sanitation is likely one of the things you think about most. It’s especially understandable right now, considering the ongoing pandemic. We’re all a little more aware of some of the hidden dangers that may be lurking in our homes. Viruses, mold, and bacteria skulking about in the home isn’t anything new, and neither are the dangers they present to your health. Your HVAC can circulate particles such as mold and bacteria from other areas of the house and cause some serious breathing issues. Microbes in your kitchen found in your sink, on filthy countertops, on the dishes you use to prepare food, and in the food itself have the potential to give you food poisoning, especially if you don’t practice proper food handling techniques. Cleaning boosts your physical health by helping you eliminate these threats. Target high touch surfaces and high traffic areas in your home with more regularity than others to reduce the particles being picked up and spread around.
Alleviating Allergies
If you have allergies, you know firsthand how annoying they can be. It doesn’t help that these days people tend to look at you funny if you cough or sneeze, even if it’s something as benign as a photic sneeze reflex. Some people with allergies may find that they get worse when they are at home. In-home allergens often include things like dust, dust mites, pet dander, mold, and even pollen, which can make its way into the house through open windows and on clothes, hair, and shoes. Regularly cleaning your home can help reduce the number of allergens present in your home, which in turn should reduce your allergy symptoms.
To combat your allergies, focus on sources of the allergen. If it’s mold, your efforts will be best spent on areas of your home that tend to be damp, like bathrooms, basements, and even under kitchen sinks. Things like these can not only trigger allergies but also damage your internal organs. For dust, mite, and dander allergies, your vacuum may become your best friend. Carpet is a home’s biggest filter, so if you have carpeted floors, make sure to give them some TLC. Aside from your carpet, it’s important to change your filters regularly. You may find that changing them on a more frequent basis helps alleviate your allergy symptoms, as does purchasing higher quality filters.
Keeps You Active
The most common advice given to people who want to maintain their health is to eat a healthy diet and exercise. Did you know that cleaning can be a way to increase your physical activity levels? While it’s not the most conventional form of exercise, it does tend to require a significant amount of elbow grease, especially for tough messes. Cleaning requires you to move around and put some effort into your movement. Think about the last time you deep cleaned your kitchen. You probably had to climb up to clean your cabinets and get down low to scrub the floors and baseboards. And cleaning the appliances? A veritable workout in and of itself. You probably worked up quite a sweat. Considering the number of calories you can burn while cleaning, it’s not surprising. Increasing your activity is incredibly valuable to your health, especially when you take into account how sitting negatively impacts your health and how much more of it we tend to do these days.
Releasing Endorphins
The increase in your activity levels doesn’t just benefit you physically. Physical activity releases endorphins, which give your mental state a boost. The 100% natural way to experience a high, endorphins can help relieve pain, reduce emotional stress, boost pleasure, and provide a sense of well-being. Low levels of endorphins have been linked to things like depression and anxiety. Combat that by regularly cleaning your home. You’ll enjoy the endorphin release generated from the physical activity which can heighten your sense of accomplishment from a job well done.
Tracks What You Have
Everyone’s looked into their fridge at some point and realized that they have food somewhere in the back that’s turned into something more closely resembling a science experiment than something edible. Conversely, we’ve also all found ourselves looking for something and realizing that we’re out. This can be stressful and negatively impact your mental health. If you find yourself throwing food away because it’s gone bad or you are often out of various supplies, you may find more regular cleaning around your kitchen to be helpful. It’s a lot easier to keep track of what you have when it’s all clean and organized. You can easily see what you need to stock up on and what you have plenty of. For best results, adopt a first-in, first-out method of organizing things so you use the oldest stuff first.
Reducing Stress
If a dirty home makes you feel stressed, you aren’t alone. Dirt and clutter are a constant, in-your-face reminder of all the cleaning you should be doing but haven’t gotten to yet. It’s harder to keep track of things and find them when you need them, which can increase your levels of frustration. The human mind likes organization and order. Protect your mental health and reduce your stress by cleaning your home and keeping it orderly. You don’t have to spend all day cleaning. Just taking 15 minutes to clear some clutter or wipe something down can be enough to start chipping away at your list of cleaning tasks.
Regularly cleaning your home can have a really positive effect on your physical and mental health. It helps you concentrate better, gets rid of hidden dangers, alleviates allergies, keeps you active, releases endorphins, and helps you reduce both waste and stress. If you feel dissatisfied with your home, try cleaning it on a more regular basis. You may find that the benefits of cleaning offer you a mindset reset in regards to your home.
Let us take some of the load off of you by taking care of your cleaning needs for you. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.