Home cleaning: is it absolutely necessary?

When I was young, people used to tell me that cleanliness was next to godliness. I suspect that when the phrase was used in a sermon by John Wesley in 1791 it was referring to the cleansing of the mind and not to a person's body or environment. But people still promote cleanliness as important and especially at home.

Working in the cleaning industry for almost 20 years has given me the opportunity to see the interior of many people's homes. I have seen properties so clean that you are afraid to enter the place and quite the opposite, where it is difficult to find a way through the rooms.

I admit that people who live in the mess are ashamed to show me everything, but they are very happy to live in such conditions. I do not think these people are lazy and do not clean, because their kitchens and bathrooms are not dirty. They clean the areas where hygiene is necessary, but they are accumulators and cannot discern what should and should not be thrown away.

In the meticulous house where everything is in its prescribed place, the owner of the house is a person who cannot bear to live in a disaster. This doesn't make them cleaner than the person living in the clutter, it just means they work harder to keep their home clean.

Now of course these two scenarios that I have described are the extremes. Most people survive happily somewhere in between and strive to keep their home in reasonably clean condition. Some ritually clean every week, others do it when they can no longer cope with dust and dirt. But what is the happy medium and how often should you clean up?

Much of the answer to this question depends on where you live. If you live in a city near a main road, or in a country with a lot of dust, you will find that your home will need dust more often than if you live near a forest or river. Dusting will always be necessary, because fine particles of pollen and soil float in the air and eventually settle. Over the years, I discovered that after about ten days you start to see dust on furniture, and especially shiny surfaces. So dust off if it's probably only required once every fortnight.

When it comes to bathrooms and kitchens, it's a different matter. Cleaning in these areas is more for reasons of hygiene than aesthetics.

With the kitchen, the benches, the stove and the sink must be cleaned at least once a day to stop contamination. A good quality cleaner is all that is needed. Even a washcloth with detergent and hot water is enough, provided it is done every day. All you are doing is removing leftover bacteria that could contaminate your next meal during preparation, so cleaning with an antiseptic is overkill. It is advisable to clean the closet fronts and splashes around the sink and stove at least once a week. This will not only make the kitchen look cleaner, it will stop the build-up of dirt in those areas.

Everyone believes that toilets are not hygienic. This is currently not the case. Because you are cleaning in that room, the cleaners you use keep most of the area Santa Monica Sanitation services. But there is a soap buildup and that needs to be removed. Plus, heat and humidity are a perfect breeding ground for mold, so regular cleaning helps control it. Bacteria builds up in the toilet bowl and that is due to the standing water in it. A couple drops of a good quality cleaner and brushing around the container at least twice a week will keep the area cool.

The main problem in a bathroom is dust. Generated from towels as it dries, it adheres to moisture-covered surfaces created by condensation. This means that a weekly or biweekly spray regularly and wipe over the tile cleaner and cloth and the outside of the toilet will keep dust out and make the bathroom shine.

Bathrooms, sinks and showers should be thoroughly cleaned at least once a week. Soap buildup needs to be removed. A good cream cleaner on the surfaces will lift the slag and dirt away. In both the bathroom and the sink there may be a land line called a tide mark, if it is not removed regularly this line can become quite noticeable.