londondcleaners

Spring is the season you usually give your home that long-deserved refreshing cleaning makeover. It is meant to make your home spring-ready and more tailored for the good weather spring usually brings. While many people are actually eager to start their spring cleaning chores, you may be of the group that would rather make excuses, but postpone cleaning all the same. Maybe some of the excuses you don’t even realise you are making. In any case, the following are some of the most popular excuses that a few common groups are making: 

1. Renewed Activities with Friends

Some people are looking forward to spending more time on social activities with friends in spring. You see them getting the patio table set up first thing when the weather picks up. You’d think that the group is focused on cleaning too, but that is often not the case. These people are more focused on other activities they can resume in spring, instead of cleaning. The most common excuse is: I have no time, as I am going out with friends. People who fall under this category spend so much time outside their home that it is no surprise they would rather not waste time cleaning. 

2. Cleaning is Mostly a Way of Making Things Look Like New

If you have ever done a good spring clean session, you know well enough that it is so much more than just making your kitchen look gleaming. There is dusting in places you haven’t touched in months involved, as well as many chores that simply involve getting seemingly clean areas of your home sanitised, as they are full of bacteria. Be that as it may, many people view spring cleaning as a way of showing off their home. Thus, instead of doing a thorough clean, which is what spring cleaning is all about, some people would just do a quick tidy-up. If you are part of these people, remember that cleaning is not a way to boost the appeal, but refresh your home in a way that is not just visible to the eye, but can be felt with all of your senses. 

3. You Focus on Decluttering and Forget about Cleaning

Some people love spring for the fact they can finally ditch their winter apparel and go for the lighter clothes in their wardrobe. However, that is not a process, which just happens, but usually requires some decluttering. Overhauling your closet is a fine thing since you are removing stuff that doesn’t belong there. But using that as an excuse to avoid some actual cleaning work is hardly an ideal scenario. 

4. Getting Some Workout for the Summer

Many people spend more time worrying about their weight, which supposedly they gained during the winter, and completely ignore cleaning. They engage in workouts and running and whatnot. But don’t forget that cleaning is a workout too. It involves a lot of physical activity, which can burn calories, just like a normal workout. In fact, you can make spring cleaning feel like a workout by setting a timer or adding ankle/wrist weights. It won’t be long before you feel just how engaging it can be. 

As you can see, there are many excuses for avoiding spring cleaning. What matters most is that you find a way to do some part of the chores, if not all. If things prove too difficult, you can always resort to booking the services of a cleaning company. 

Find out other great tips with London Domestic Cleaners. 

© London Domestic Cleaners 

If you enjoy the prospect of living in a healthy environment, you have to put in the effort of keeping all items in your home clean and tidy. The more often you clean, the quicker and easier your subsequent sessions will become. So far, so good, right? There is, however, one item which often gets overlooked – the mattress. This all-important piece of bedding is directly responsible for the quality of your rest at night, as well as the overall air quality in your bedroom.

“But my mattress doesn’t seem dirty” – one might argue. But this argument is flawed – just as with everything else related to cleaning, you simply cannot afford to wait for your mattress to get visibly dirty before getting around to cleaning it. Dirt and germs build up 24/7 but only become visible to the naked eye once an item is completely covered by a thick layer of dust. By that point, you’ve already been exposed to their damaging influence for days or possibly – even weeks! So, remember – just because your mattress looks comfy and plushy doesn’t mean that it can’t use an extra cleaning session!

Still not convinced?

Here are 3 reasons to clean your mattress right now:

1. Improved air quality – we spend about a third of our entire lifespan asleep, and most of that is in the confines of our bedrooms. Therefore, maintaining good air quality should be one of your first priorities, especially if you are a health-minded individual. If your mattress isn’t properly cleaned, every time you turn in your sleep, you will be pushing dust particles in the air and breathing them in.
3. Keep allergies in check – closely related to the above point, allergies are often irritated by poor air quality and dust mites. And seeing how dust mites are very likely to pick your mattress as their base of operations, you should be twice as motivated to clean it as often as possible, lest you give in to the allergies. Dust mites have also been linked to ailments like asthma, rhinitis, eczema and more!
5. Protect your investment – good mattresses don’t come cheap. Neglecting the cleaning needs of your mattress can drastically shorten its expected lifespan, cause staining, bad smells, or, in some extreme cases - even pest infestations.

How to Clean your mattress – a Step-by-step guide

Step 1 – Strip the bed

Begin your mattress cleaning session by removing all pillows and decorations and working your way down – toys, blankets and linens. Take a minute to evaluate the state of your linens and pillowcases and decide whether they need washing – chances are that they do. Put them in the washing machine, as per the label instructions.

Step 2 – Vacuuming

Take out your trusty vacuum cleaner, snap on the upholstery attachment and get to vacuuming. This will ensure that you get rid of the larger debris as well as the majority of dust and dirt on the surface of your mattress. Don’t forget to vacuum the edges of the bed, as well as the mattress piping.

Step 3 – Check for spills

If there are any fresh spills on your mattress, you want to get them out immediately. Grab a clean cloth and some water and start blotting. Just as with carpet and upholstery cleaning, you want to blot instead of rubbing to avoid pushing the stains deeper into the fabric.

Step 4 – Spot cleaning

To get rid of any spots on your mattress, you can use a mixture of 2 tablespoons hydrogen peroxide to 1 tablespoon of dish soap. Grab an old (but clean!) toothbrush and gently scrub the stains. After you’re done, wipe away any leftovers with a clean and damp cloth.

Step 5 – Deodorise

Now comes the time for odour removal. This is best done with the help of baking soda – no need for fancy commercial cleaners! Liberally sprinkle your mattress with baking soda and let it do its thing for about half an hour. You can use this time to check on your linens in the washing machine. Then, simply vacuum the soda away.

Step 6 – Air it out

Let your mattress breathe some fresh air by opening the windows. This will ensure that there’s no remaining moisture as well as aid in further deodorisation.

Keeping your mattress safe

There are a few more tricks to keeping your mattress safe beyond simple cleaning sessions. Here’s what you can do:

• Mattress protectors – these protective covers serve to protect your mattress from stains, spills, sweat and, to a lesser extent – odours. If your mattress didn’t’ come equipped with a protector, it’s highly recommended that you invest in one. Very easy to apply and maintain, a protector will ensure that your mattress will serve you for years to come!
• Flipping – If your mattress doesn’t have a designated upper side, it’s a good idea to flip it every now and then. Experts agree that the average mattress should be flipped once every three months to avoid excessive wear and tear.
• Change your linens often – the longer a given set of linens remains unwashed, the more time sweat stains and odours have to afflict your mattress. It’s recommended that you wash and change your linens every week, or, if you’ve got pets or young children, twice a week at the very least.

The finishing touch

Once your mattress is thoroughly cleaned, and you’ve got your fresh set of linens and pillowcases, you’ve only got one last check to perform before you put your bed back together. Take a couple of minutes to feel your mattress for moisture carefully – excessive moisture can lead to mould formations and permanent damage.

If everything’s in order, then it’s time to put the bed back together. Start from the fitted sheets and work your way back up, reversing the procedure in Step 1.

© London Domestic Cleaners

There are few things in life as inevitable as the fact that your home will continuously be in need of cleaning. Whether it is an immediate mess that you need to address or perhaps just the regular domestic cleaning round, you will have to invest the time and effort to restore the conditions in your place back to normal.

Without a doubt, you wish to spend as little time cleaning as possible. After all, it is not the best of activities. To do that, you need to look into a few ways that keep your home clean for longer and minimise the need to clean it all that often.

• You should think fast – when you create a mess in the kitchen countertop, do you often think to yourself that you will deal with it the first thing in the Saturday/Sunday afternoon? While it is completely normal to want to wait till the time you have more free time on your hands, it is not always the best strategy. The more you let a stain linger, the more difficult it becomes to remove it later on. Instead of doing that, you should get right onto it. That way it will be easier to remove, and you will be sparing yourself a lot of future effort.
• Scrub areas selectively – if you are not familiar with the concept of spot cleaning, you have to consider it now. The idea is that you don’t always have to clean everything around your home. Some areas and items can do with just a routine wipe. However, some items require specific attention. For instance, when you are cleaning a door, do you wipe the whole of it from top to bottom? That is a waste of time and effort because the thing you should be concentrating on is the door handle. It is the one part that accumulates grime the most, because of the human activity associated with it.
• You should take precautionary measures – if you wish to clean less, you should take some preventive actions. For instance, you can place a doormat and an area rug near the entry area. That way dust and dirt will never have a chance to enter your home. You should also insist on everyone leaving their shoes at the door so that they don’t track in dust and dirt.
• Teach your children to clean – people often complain about how difficult it is to keep their home clean with children around. What you should do is try to make little ones part of the cleaning solution. Teach them about the importance of cleaning and even show them how to address a few chores. The earlier in their lives you do this, the more they will learn to take responsibility and adopt useful skills, such as picking up clutter and not making a mess of the place.  

There is little doubt that these tips will help you keep the mess at home under control and reduce the amount of effort you have to invest in the job.

At London Domestic Cleaners we always try to teach our clients how to clean at home with ease and expertise. Be sure to contact us on 020 3907 7267 for further details.

©  London Domestic Cleaners