Who doesn’t like a spring clean? There’s no better feeling than walking into your home when the tables are polished, the air is fresh, and the vacuumed carpets put a spring in your step. But could cleaning too much be damaging your home and your health?
You may have heard a few rumours about cleaning your home too much and what its effect may be. We’ve been told that a bit of dirt isn’t a bad thing. But can a living space that’s too clean lead to worn-out furnishings or even be bad for your health?
Here, we explore popular house cleaning rumours and investigate if too clean is really a thing.
Do vacuums suck the life out of carpets?
After laying a new carpet, it can feel like you’re walking on a cloud. But how do we protect their quality and strength? Of course, we know that a quick run with a vacuum cleaner will help pick up dust and dirt, but can you vacuum your carpet too much?
Vacuum cleaners will often use a beater. This is the spinning brush in the head of the vacuum cleaner that pulls up stuck dirt from the carpet before being sucked into the chamber. However, some people would suggest that this beating action can damage carpet fibres, leaving a weakened pile that decreases in quality after every run.
Well, the truth is, while carpets decrease in strength and quality over time, it’s probably not your vacuum cleaner’s fault. In fact, a lack of vacuum cleaning can lead to a deteriorating carpet or rug. This is because dirt and grime sitting on top of the pile will work their way down the fibres over time, especially with people walking over them. This dirt should be vacuumed regularly to prevent it from getting stuck in the carpet. A powerful bagless vacuum cleaner should be able to remove any stuck dirt and pull up the height of the carpet pile, leaving it feeling as good as new again.
Can your home be too clean for your health?
Building a strong immune response is important, and many people believe that this should start at home. But can a house that’s too clean weaken the immune systems of your family? Or is it just a silly misconception?
In the 1990s, the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ pointed to over-cleanliness as a leading reason for rising rates of allergies. It suggested that children should be purposefully exposed to a range of microbes to build a better immune defence.
A survey by the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH) found that 23 per cent of people agreed with this hypothesis and thought that children needed to be exposed to harmful germs to build up their immune systems. However, if you’ve not been fooled by this idea, you’ll be glad to know that it’s a load of poppycock! The RSPH say that it’s “a potentially harmful belief”, where exposure to bacteria and germs could lead to dangerous infections. Ultimately, a clean home is a safe home.
Polish up on your cleaning
When do you do your weekly house clean? Do you enjoy a Sunday morning blasting music and running around every surface in the house with a yellow dust cloth and a can of furniture polish? A quick spray and wipe down of furniture polish and your coffee tables and side units can shimmer with wooden shine. However, are you cleaning your tables too much? Are you really protecting your furniture?
While furniture polish is a staple of many homes’ cleaning kit, it turns out that it is not really a necessity. Wood spray polishes, while they add a clean sheen, don’t do much in terms of cleanliness. In fact, the spray can actually trap dust – the opposite of what we intend it to do.
A build-up of too much furniture polish can also lead to dulled furniture, and even its residue can become sticky over time.
Excess polish can be removed with mineral spirits. However, the best practice for cleaning your tables is just by wiping them down with a dry cloth. If you need to use wood polish, use it sparingly and don’t spray directly onto the surface.
We all have our own ideas about how to keep our house clean, but sometimes, those ideas can be wrong or cause even more damage. From wiping tables to vacuuming floors, simple solutions are often the best. Ultimately, there’s no such thing as too clean.
