Spring cleaning is a great way to start off the season of renewal. Starting it with a big clean and decluttering your space gives you that fresh new feeling. Organising and keeping your home clean has great benefits on your health including mental health.
What is spring cleaning?
Spring cleaning involves a thorough deep cleaning of your house during spring time. Although even in winter or summer time people metaphorically use the term spring cleaning when having a clear out and deep cleaning. People find after having a long winter that in the spring time their house is in need of a freshen up.
Benefits of spring cleaning
Boost your immune system
Spring involves the blossoming of plants outdoors which is great and beautiful. Although a lot of people suffer from hay fever which could be an issue. Cleaning your house will keep your allergies at bay. Not also that but a clean home can help your breath better and prevent respiratory issues as well as supporting your immune system. Things like mould, dust and mildew along with other things can affect the immune system of those prone to allergies. Without a clean home it can gather pollutants most commonly in winter months.
When cleaning for immune health you should aim to clean regularly to avoid triggers that affect the immune system. Spring cleaning is an opportunity to get a deep clean in, including things like dusting legs of furniture, tops of picture frames and mirrors. Also dusting light, baseboards and window sills. These are things that may be out of reach and you wouldn’t normally do on a daily/regular clean. Another thing that can help with immune system is vacuuming rugs, floor, ceilings, cobwebs and also curtains. This will get rid of any dust allowing the air to be clearer. It’s important you wash all bedding and blankets and you can also put pillows into the dryer for 10 mins this will kill any dust mite. Taking shoes off at the door is a great way to stop any dirt and dust from outside to be carried into your home.
Help with stress and depression
Your mental health will benefit from having a clean and tidy home. Whether you spend a lot of time at home, work from home or are temporarily stuck at home. With a clean and decluttered home, you may find that you can feel, think and sleep much better. It can be very therapeutic and refreshing during the process of decluttering, sorting through your stuff and cleaning. Cleaning up clutter and getting rid of, donating or recycling things you no longer need can clear your mind almost as if you’re decluttering your mind. It is known to have a positive effect on your mood and focus when you have a calm clutter free home.
Many people admit that when their home is messy and cluttered it can affect their mood and focus. This is because they are always concentrating on the mess that surrounds them and find it hard to engage into conversations when their mind is elsewhere. This is why people feel less stressed and more focused when they have a clean home.
Here are some tips on how to clean for your mental health,
- Don’t keep things you do not need or wear. A lot of people will just stack up items they don’t need or put clothes they don’t wear stored somewhere. This is how clutter begins, you need to sort through your items and clothes and get rid of unwanted items. This gives you room for things that bring you joy.
- Keep things that are only essential on your bedside table. It’s easy to just throw whatever on the bedside table as it’s just there but this can affect your sleep. If you find it hard to sleep and you have a cluttered bedside table this could be one of the reasons. Try cleaning the table and only keeping things on it that are essential.
- Use cleaning as a way to help your de-stress, cleaning can allow you to practice being mindful. As you do your cleaning tasks it can allow you to be mindful and promote a clear mind and positive attitude.
Avoid illness
Cleaning high traffic areas of your home and most touched items can help you to avoid illness and lower the risk of spreading bacteria and viruses. It’s important to also prioritise getting rid of foodborne illnesses. By cleaning high traffic areas of your home, you are minimising the spread of any bacteria or viruses that many people may come into contact with. Also keep your surfaces and sinks clean as well as other items such as cutting boards. This will ensure food safety within the home which helps prevent foodborne illness. You should clean them with alcohol-based cleaners.
Make sure to clean items that may come into contact with your mouth for example your phone, towels and remotes. Several parts of your kitchen should be kept clean such as the fridge, freezer, pantry, ovens and cupboards. Although this can be too much to deep clean at once so you could keep a list and plan out when you will deep clean each of them. Sinks need deep cleaning daily as they can hold more bacteria than a toilet. When you have done a food shop ensure to wash all produce before putting it in your fridge. This will prevent any foodborne illness and is good for your health. rooms that are shared with family members should be cleaned more often, for example the bathroom.
Prevent injury
Spring cleaning is a great opportunity to make improvements to your home to reduce the risk of injury. Most commonly in older people aged 65 and older more than 1 in 4 adults have injuries from falling. This is why it is important to reduce the risk by keeping the home organised and less cluttered. A clean home ensures less risk of tripping, falling and slipping over. It’s important to have clear floors without the clutter as you are more likely to trip and fall if for example you have shoes covering your hallway floor. Remove any obstacles that may be in the way like bags, shoes and coats.
You should make sure all rugs are flat and are not a tripping hazard. Also fix any loose floorboards and anything else that may be a hazard. Another tripping hazard are leads and wire. You should make sure no lead is loose and on the floor. You can take them around the baseboards or tuck them away neatly ensuring they are out of any walk way.
