While we typically use a variety of tools and appliances when keeping our homes, and the things inside them clean, it can be all too easy to forget about cleaning those things, too.
While it might seem like unnecessary extra work, when cleaning is already tough enough, wouldn’t you want to be sure that when you are putting the effort in to clean your home, that your tools and appliances aren’t letting you down and wasting those efforts?
Here are some of the top tools and appliances commonly neglected when it comes to cleaning, and how to keep them hygienically clean:
Your kitchen sponge (or bathroom, or both)
Sponges are simple little items that make cleaning a breeze when used with a little elbow grease, but what if that elbow grease meant that you’re spreading germs and grime all over your kitchen or bathroom surfaces?
Sponges pick up all manner of things when they’re used in home cleaning, and if not cleaned themselves, can harbor bacteria and filth that then transfers to other surfaces throughout the cleaning process. To keep your trusty sponge hygienically clean, soak it in a quart of warm water with half a teaspoon of bleach added, and then rinse it thoroughly. Do note that sponges should still be replaced following heavy use, or after longer periods of use.
Your dishwasher
Most homes wouldn’t be without a dishwasher, and while they are a remarkable invention, they too, need to be cleaned.
Sediment from the water can gradually make your dishwasher underperform, so to prevent this, place a glass cup filled with a quart of vinegar on the top rack and run it on a hot cycle. Alternatively, you can place some baking soda into the tablet compartment and run it on a half cycle.
Your washing machine
As with the dishwasher, repeated use without cleaning can mean that it begins to underperform due to sediments, so once you’ve gotten rid of any visible gunk or debris caught in the rubber rim, run a cup of white vinegar through it on a hot cycle. Leaving the door of the machine and the compartment drawer open following every usage, can help prevent black mold from building up, too.
Your toilet bowl cleaner
While you don’t need your toilet to be clean enough to eat off of, you do need it to be hygienically clean, and this includes the bowl.
Toilet bowls invariably get pretty grubby, pretty quickly, and more often than not, we use the same old toilet brush to scrub them clean, without giving any thought as to the germs likely clinging to it after every use. To keep your toilet bowl cleaner hygienically clean, rinse it under the water from the flush after every use, or dry it completely before it’s returned to its holder. You can also soak the brush in bleach or vinegar inside the toilet, and then allow it to drip dry by propping it over the bowl.
Keeping your cleaning materials and equipment clean is just as important as cleaning every other item in your home, and shouldn’t be neglected if your home is to be hygienically clean at all times.