YOUR TIME… IS QUALITY TIME
It’s a cleaning machine so why does it need to be cleaned? Seems somewhat nonsensical but you should know that regularly cleaning your dishwasher is one simple way you can extend the life of the appliance while making sure your dishes really are getting clean.
If saving the planet isn’t enough to convince you to put down that bleach bottle or abrasive bathroom cleaner, consider this not so fun fact: household cleaning products rank #2 on the list of most common poison exposures according to the National Poison Control Center’s 2017 annual report.
Ever walk into a room and wonder “why’s it so dark in here?” The answer may not be in the quality of your lighting but rather the quality of cleaning. No shame in admitting it, many of us selectively ignore light fixtures which can be challenging to clean — especially delicate fixtures such as crystal chandeliers or globed items.
Let me preface this by saying that cleaning — in and of itself — is not necessarily my idea of finding bliss. I know I’m far from alone on this one. We push through loads of laundry, folding and furiously vacuuming, sweeping — sweating — in a futile attempt to get to some forever-out-of-reach finish line.
Full disclosure, I have entitled this blog “Bathroom Safety for Dummies” not to be insulting but rather in keeping with my own personal experience. I, myself being said dummy, took a nasty and yet easily preventable fall in my bathtub recently after slipping on an unsecured shower mat.
I am a procrastinator by nature. If there’s a big job looming large for me, guaranteed I’ll find a half-dozen other less-pressing but suddenly super important things to do instead. Typically those “other things” involve cleaning, which ironically I might avoid any other day of the week.
Housework for many of us is a necessary evil that interferes with so many other “I’d rather be…” you fill-in-the-blank options of choice. My “I’d rather be” is almost always working out, which is to a fault as my housekeeping over the years has suffered during bouts of marathon training and some serious spin class sessions.
It never fails. I see the mesh hamper gradually filling and OCD sets in. I just can’t let it reach the top! So, time to toss in a load — but there’s no room for the hamper-full…uggh, that means two loads! Now I have to empty the dryer because yesterday was change-the-sheets day, making room for the first load of wash, in anticipation of the second. Wait, wait — what?
While the flu shot and vigilant handwashing are your frontline defense in smiting seasonal sickness, maintaining healthy home hygiene is just as important in the fight against the flu, cold and other viruses.
Summer cleaning — if I’m being honest — is just a step above non-existent at my house. The longer, sunny days seem to effortlessly melt away at the beach or poolside with the kids, hiking, picnicking, attending parties and — all too often — sneaking off for an evening ice cream cone.