A Professional Cleaner Has Tips On How To Keep Your Home Clean, Hygienic and Virus-Free
It’s never been more important to keep your home spick and span, and free of germs and nasties.
We’ve been washing our hands with soap non-stop, trying not to touch things that don’t need to be touched (like lift buttons and handrails) and made hand sanitiser our best friend. Staying clean and hygienic when you go out is important, but how about when you go home?
How not to bring the germs from outside into your abode, and how to keep your home clean and free of nasties with the Covid-19 situation? Virus outbreak or not, 8days.sg has some great home-cleaning tips, courtesy of the folks at Helpling Asia Pacific, an online household services marketplace.
According to James Lim, Managing Director of Helpling Asia Pacific, his company has seen a 60 percent increase in bookings and enquiries over the past three weeks, with something called the “surface disinfection” service — where cleaning experts wipe down all external surfaces in your home with a baby-friendly and pet-friendly disinfectant that kills off 99.9% of germs — being particularly popular.
“People are more conscious of hygiene and personal cleanliness during this period,” James tells us. “As such, people turn to professional cleaning to safeguard their family from all kinds of dirt and germs that could be brought in from the outside. Professional cleaners, or cleaning experts as we call them in Helpling, are trained in managing multiple house chores in an efficient manner. They have the skills and know-how to clean and disinfect a house more effectively and productively.”
Wanna clean your own house better? Here are some tips from Jingjing Zhong, Head of Operations at Helpling Asia Pacific.
Cleaning tips aplenty, plus how you can avoid bringing germs home.
Top 5 tips from a home cleaning expert
1. Make cleaning and tidying up a regular habit
2. Vacuum and wipe-down high-traffic and high-contact areas
3. Sanitise tech gadgets with alcohol wipes
4. Disinfect the often neglected areas in the house
5. Wash and disinfect pillows and mattresses
Dirtiest place in a typical home
The sofa. It is a piece of furniture that sees heavy use but is often overlooked in daily cleaning. In fact, many of us plop down immediately on the sofa when we get back home in our dirty clothes. Nasty things that can lurk in your sofa include dust mites, mould, grease and oils from your dinner-time Netflix binge, and of course, bacteria and viruses.
Germiest place in a typical home
High contact areas like doorknobs are typically the germiest place at home, as everyone’s hands will touch it at some point. They are teeming with bacteria and viruses and should be cleaned often.
Germs lurk on your devices — don't forget to sanitise often with alcohol wipes.
With the Covid-19 outbreak, should we spray alcohol-based cleaners over everything at home?
Alcohol-based cleaners are recommended but be sure to avoid delicate items/furniture.
What additional measures should be taken in this period when we clean our home?
Always ensure that all used cleaning cloths and tools are washed and disinfected after cleaning. If not, you might just be transferring germs from one part of your home to another.
Are there special things to do if you have young kids or elderly persons in your home, or pets?
It is important to check that the disinfectant you use is child and elderly and pet-friendly. Some cleaners can have harmful chemicals or cause certain allergies to act up.
Suck up all the nasties: Wash and disinfect pillows and mattresses regularly, and make cleaning a regular thing, not just when there's a virus outbreak.
What are the top things to remember when trying to keep your home virus-free?
Always be conscious of the things you do first when you come back home, as germs can be brought into your home via your clothes, shoes, hands, and more. Wash your hands, take a shower, and change into clean clothes before relaxing on your sofa or bed. Make sure to put away your bags and shoes in their designated spots and not just anywhere at home.
Home cleaning should be done regularly and systematically, and not just in a haphazard manner whenever you have free time. If you need help, you can get professional cleaners through platforms like Helpling, who can accomplish a lot in your home in just an hour or two.
Last but not least, always have an alcohol-based disinfectant on hand as they are high in efficacy and they work for most surfaces.
What are a couple of strange things you’ve been asked to clean or do, but were outside your jurisdiction?
Religious items and effigies, and military helmets! Definitely not your run-of-the-mill cleaning for those items.
More info about Helpling and its services here.
