Who doesn’t love having a clean home? But when it comes to doing the actual work — mopping, washing the dishes, or vacuuming the carpets, we just tend to push it to another day.

In the process, we end up inviting even more work and problems in the long run. Think about it! Cleaning the dishes after you had your dinner will take 15 minutes but if you let it stay in the sink for tomorrow, it will take even more time to remove all the food particles that get stuck to the dishes.

Imagine going to a meeting after that frustrating experience!

From not postponing cleaning to not vacuuming in the right direction, here are 10 big cleaning mistakes you’re definitely making but should avoid.

1. Not using the right tools

Imagine painting your wall with a small-sized brush as opposed to a professional paint roller tool. Wouldn’t the latter make your job far easier and faster? That’s why making use of the right cleaning tools is so important.

Here are a few mistakes you might be making with your cleaning tools:

• Vacuuming your carpet or rug without a carpet attachment could damage it.
• Using an abrasive pad on stainless steel appliances may lead to scratches on their surface.
• Using bleach on rust stains aggravates the problem as bleach works via oxidization which feeds the rust.

Pro-tip: Always read the labels on your cleaning tools and solutions so as not to cause damage to your furniture and clothes while cleaning.

2. Not cleaning your cleaning appliances

Have you noticed a weird smell coming from your freshly-washed dishes or freshly-laundered clothes? Blame it on the appliance? Nah! While your cleaning appliances are designed to do a great job at cleaning things, they also need to be regularly cleaned.

Be it your dishwasher, washing machine, or vacuum cleaner, they all need to go through cleaning rounds. Here are simple ways to do that:

• A full vacuum will not provide enough suction to thoroughly clean your carpets and other surfaces. After emptying it, make sure to clean the hose and brushes too.
• Place a cup of vinegar on the top rack of your dishwasher and it will rinse the dishwasher effectively.
• Order cleaning tablets for your washing machine that dissolve all the residue hidden in your machine.
• Clean and dry out your cleaning rags, toilet brushes, and kitchen rags after use so that they don’t breed bacteria.

3. Don’t just use any rag

Do you see some scratch marks on your furniture? Are you wondering how those came to be? You might think that the culprit is your pet’s nails? But let me break it to you: while dry rags and cloths prevent polish or detergent residue on furniture, they may also leave scratch marks on your shining surfaces.

Why is this the case?

When you dust with a dry rag, you’re just moving those dirt particles and dust around and thus causing scratches on your furniture. The best way to avoid that is using a damp cloth or a microfiber cloth that picks up all those fine dirt particles.

4. Using too much water

Less is more when it comes to cleaning. Many times, when we are on a cleaning spree, we tend to use too much water, be it for mopping our floors or washing our clothes. This tends to damage certain fabrics and even cause rust on some metal components.

It’s also recommended to not have a sopping wet mop to clean your hardwood floors as it can damage your floors. Instead, have a lightly dampened mop and follow it up with a dry cloth to get rid of any standing water.

And guess what? You do the environment a favor too by not using a lot of water when it’s in fact not required.

5. Scrubbing off stains

Whenever something spills down on our carpet or rug, we can’t help but scrub those stains first, right? But in the process, we do more damage to the carpet fibers and fabrics and even spread that stain further unnecessarily.

Instead, blot the stain with a paper towel or a clean cloth until it’s dry. Then, rinse it with water and blot dry again. You can even use a stain remover by following the directions given with the product if the stain is not going away.

6. Keeping all the cleaning for one day

Research says that when we think of our future selves, the part of our brain activates that correlates our future selves with strangers. What does that mean? It means that we are likely to keep postponing our cleaning chores to a later date because we don’t realize that it would be us that will have to work that much harder later.

The things that could have been done in less than 15 minutes today could take an hour a week later. That’s why it’s so important to have a cleaning schedule. You could even follow the 2-minute rule that says, “If anything takes less than 2 minutes, do it now instead of later.” Cleaning the kitchen top, soaking the dishes in water, putting back the utensils, these all could be done in 2 minutes and so it’s better to get them off your checklist immediately.

7. Washing windows on sunny days

You might be tempted to bring out your window cleaning supplies when the weather is too sunny outside. But the cleaning products will get evaporated very quickly because of the high temperature and result in streaking.

Instead, wait for a pleasant day when the temperature is not too hot and you can clean your windows without leaving any marks.

8. Not vacuuming in the right direction

There might not be a wrong way to vacuum but there surely is a better way to vacuum. Instead of vacuuming perpendicular to the baseboard that just pushes the dirt under the baseboard, vacuum parallel to the baseboard at the edges of the room.

If you want your home or a particular area of your home to be super-clean, ensure to vacuum up and down in rows, and turn 90 degrees to vacuum side-to-side and all your extra effort will be worth it in the end.

9. Not cleaning from top to bottom

What if you were to first vacuum the carpet, then dust the ceiling fan and wipe out the cobwebs? All that dust and cobwebs would inevitably fall onto the carpet, wouldn’t they? Doing extra work especially when it comes to cleaning isn’t a happy experience but making this mistake would guarantee just that.

That’s why it’s recommended to clean from top to bottom. For example, if you are cleaning the kitchen, start by dusting the upper cabinets and shelves, and wiping the kitchen counter before you move to lower surfaces and floors.

10. Not hiring a professional cleaning service

In every home, there are a few germ hot spots that people don’t know about or tend to ignore. While we may not be able to know how to clean these spots, a professional cleaning service takes care of all such requirements.

Not only do they clean your house thoroughly, but they look into specific needs such as deep cleaning the fridge or performing stain removal.

While you may be working on having a clean home daily, it has become an utmost necessity to also deep clean your home on a regular basis.

If you're looking for the best house cleaning service in New York City, Homero is the right place to be.

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