5 THINGS TO CLEAN MORE REGULARLY AROUND THE HOUSE

It is important to clean regularly to enjoy living in a clean and healthy home. If you can’t do it every day, you’ll have to do it at least twice a week.

But during the weekly or biweekly cleaning sessions, certain objects tend to be left aside, simply because we don’t realize how dirty they are. And yet, they need cleaning just as much as other objects.

Focus on the 5 things to clean more regularly in the home, and the products to use.

Sponges

Sponges, whether used in washrooms or kitchens, are nests of bacteria. Therefore, they must be cleaned and disinfected regularly to prevent them from contaminating other objects with which they are washed.

To avoid this inconvenience, we strongly recommend that you disinfect your sponges often by applying the following tips:

• White vinegar: Soak your sponge in a mixture of white vinegar and hot water for 2 hours. Then wring it out and dry before use.
• Bleach: you may use this product to disinfect the sponges you use in your washrooms. You’ll need to make up a solution of 10% bleach and 90% water, then soak your sponges in it for 5 to 10 minutes. Then rinse thoroughly with clean water and dry. To apply this trick, make sure you choose a quality product such as Impec concentrated bleach.
• Microwave oven: sponges can be sterilized by soaking them in water and placing them in a microwave oven at 100°C for 2 minutes.

Switches

You’ll notice easily that the switches are particularly grimy, which is perfectly normal since we touch them on a regular basis, with more or less dirty hands.

As switches are electrical components, a few precautions need to be taken when cleaning them. Washing them with water is out of the question, because of the risk of electrocution and damage.

To clean switches, you can rub them with a soft, clean cloth, and when they’re really dirty (which is very likely if they haven’t been cleaned often), with a cotton pad soaked in alcohol.

Potatoes are also effective for removing yellowish and black stains from light switches. To that end, cut a potato in 2, rub over the surface of the switch and finish with a dry cloth. Find out more about the cleaning properties of starch on this website.

Door handles

Remember to scrub your door handles with a cloth soaked in water and white vinegar every time you clean. Soapy water is also effective for restoring the metal’s shine. Be sure to use a clean, disinfected sponge for this purpose.

To complete the disinfection process, you can also wipe the handles with a disinfectant wipe after cleaning. This ensures that all microbes and bacteria are effectively eliminated.

Shower curtain

While it’s customary to clean the shower after a bath, we don’t necessarily think about the condition of the shower curtain. Simply wiping it down with a sponge isn’t enough; you need to soak it in detergent and wash it from time to time. You can add half a cup of baking soda or white vinegar to your detergent to help remove mould.

Since the shower curtain doesn’t need ironing, simply dry it in the sun and you can hang it up again.

The remote control

The remote control is also a real breeding ground for bacteria, as it’s passed from hand to hand every day.

Here again, cotton pad  or a cloth soaked in 70° alcohol (available from chemists) will help. For a thorough cleaning, you can dismantle the remote control, as the buttons are separated from the printed circuit board. Normally, you’ll need to have the casing on one side (front and back), and the buttons and circuit board on the other.

You can clean the casing with soapy water, then wipe the buttons with a cotton bud soaked in alcohol. Then dust off the circuit board and reassemble it.