As the winter settles in, it becomes tempting to bundle up in blankets, pour yourself a hot drink, and leave all the chores for another day. However, cold weather brings more than just frosty temperatures, shorter days, and festive cheer. It's also a season of closed windows when we tend to spend more time indoors and turn our home into a hub of our activities. This impacts our indoor air quality, causes more clutter, leads to increased dirt concentrations, and makes our need to call on a trusted cleaning service with dedication to quality work even more pressing.
We all know about spring cleaning but is winter cleaning a thing? In today's post, we take a look at why winter cleaning is just as important as other seasonal cleanups in keeping us healthy, energized, and productive during the winter period when daylight is scarce.
Is there such a thing as winter cleaning?
Simply put, yes, winter cleaning is definitely a thing and it's here to stay! While it's slowly gaining in popularity, you can expect to hear more about winter cleaning in the future. The main reason is that winter cleaning focuses on maintaining a healthy and comfortable living environment during the period when we spend most of our time indoors. It's also a great way to set the tone for a fresh start to the new year.
During the colder months, we keep our homes closed up tightly to keep the heat inside. The drawback of this is that it traps dust, allergens, and stale air inside the home. Winter cleaning helps combat this by addressing specific areas to ensure that your home stays fresh, cozy, and healthy for all. Winter cleaning also keeps your place from becoming too cluttered and disorganized, leading to reduced stress, improved mood, and more energy and productivity.
One more reason why winter cleaning is practical is that it follows in the wake of the holiday season characterized by wet and unpredictable weather, muddy boots, holiday festivities, and family gatherings which can leave your home needing extra care.
How to clean your home in the winter?
Since the days are short and you have a shorter window to tackle everything, it's important to stress that it's better to take it slow and divide tasks than to exert yourself and do it all in one day. Of course, if you have a reliable cleaning service you can call, all you have to do is point out a few specific tasks and leave it all to professionals. Here's what you need to do:
Start with decluttering
Since the holiday season brings gifts and decorations, it's a good opportunity to go through your home and declutter each room. You don't have to go into detail too much, just get rid of things you instantly feel like you no longer need or you don't see yourself using anytime soon.
Indoor air quality is important
If you haven't got an air purifier, it's important to focus on indoor air quality and take steps to prevent a concentration of dust, allergens, and germs from conquering your living space. Make sure to ventilate as often as possible to let the breath of freshness in and improve air circulation. It's also important to dust the ceiling fans, light fixtures, and bookshelves as they can accumulate a lot of dust if left untreated for some time.
Deep clean the carpets & rugs
Carpets, rugs, and other floor coverings bear most of the brunt during winter with muddy boots, human hair, and pet dander. Talk to your house cleaning pros to schedule carpet deep cleaning to remove embedded dirt and allergens.
Tackle the windows
While most people can't be bothered to clean the windows during the winter, this is a mistake you want to avoid. Wiping your windows clean will maximize the amount of natural light coming into your home which is important for your immune system but also in keeping your spirits up and combating the winter blues.
Revive the upholstery & bedding
Couches with pillows and throws, upholstered chairs, linen and bedding are true dust magnets that will attract dirt if you neglect them throughout the winter. If you don't have an upholstery cleaner you can use a high-quality vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to tackle the upholstery. Take off the cushion covers and wash them with linen, bedding, blankets, and throws.
Keep high-touch areas sanitary
Last but by no means least, it's crucial that you pay special attention to often-touched surfaces throughout your home. Common colds, flu, and other viral infections are typical during the winter, so it's important to sanitize light switches, doorknobs, pulls and handles, remote controls, and appliance buttons at least once a day.
