When cleaning your home, you’ll come across a wide variety of stains and contaminants. As certain stains behave differently depending on the surface they’ve adhered to, it’s best to make sure you know exactly what you’re doing when removing each stain. You don’t want to accidentally set a stain in place for life!
Are you cleaning these common stains and pollutants from your home?
Mould: a fungus that thrives in moist environments like poorly-ventilated bathrooms. It’s important to clean away mould because it can spread quickly across different surfaces and in severe cases cause structural damage and health issues for your family. Mould usually grows in black or green spotty patches on food or inside walls crawl spaces, around showers, in carpets, under sinks, and on fabrics and clothing. Because mould penetrates surfaces, it’s best cleared up by a professional. You can prevent the growth of mould by keeping your home warm and dry and ensuring wet areas like bathrooms are ventilated.
Mildew: a specific type of mould that’s grey, yellow, or white in colour, often powdery, that occurs in patches on a moist area, usually fabric. It isn’t as dangerous as mould as it doesn’t penetrate surfaces, but it can cause health issues like coughing and headaches. Mildew can be wiped away with Living Green Multipurpose or bathroom cleaner. Keeping the house warm, dry, and well-ventilated will help prevent mildew appearing in the first place.
Dirt: As people move in and out of your home, they bring a little bit of their journey with them. The Carpet and Rug Institute estimates that over 80% of the dirt in a home is loose soil brought inside from people’s feet and bodies. Luckily, this dirt is easy enough to get rid of, provided it’s dry and doesn’t also contain oils. Regularly vacuuming and mopping floor surfaces and beating out rugs helps to keep dirt at bay and prevent floor surfaces becoming dulled.
Airborne pollutants: The air inside your home can also be a source of pollutants, carrying toxic fumes, cigarette smoke, airborne moulds and other problems through the home. To keep your air as clean as possible, air out your home regularly, close doors and windows to prevent fumes spreading, and choose natural cleaning products, as these don’t contain ingredients like ammonia that cause airborne fumes.
Dust: Throughout the day, we shed flakes of our skin into the air. These microscopic particles settle on surfaces as dust. By itself dust is relatively harmless, but it can cause sneezing and other reactions in people with allergies. Dust can be wiped off most surfaces with a damp cloth or a dry microfibre.
Spills and stains: No matter how careful you are, there’s still the occasional drink spill on the carpet or food smeared on the splashback. Most stains in the home are food-related, and if left alone will set into fabrics and finishes or become a breeding ground for mould. Clean up stains as soon as they occur – a good natural carpet cleaner will do the job for most. Be careful to dab at stains on the carpet instead of rubbing, or you’ll rub the stain deeper into the fibres.
For more great solutions for keeping your home clean and healthy, see the selection of home care products at Living Green.