When people think about having a healthy home, their mind goes to what’s in their fridge. Having a proper diet can prevent your family from getting sick, as long as you follow it up with good cleaning practices.

If you let your home get too messy, it will attract harmful pests and cause a drop in air quality. It’s hard to find time in your busy schedule to tidy things up, but it’s necessary.

You can either hire a maid service or take care of the chores on your own. We’ve got a few cleaning tips that will help you take care of your entire house. Keep reading to learn more.

Leave Your Shoes by the Door

When you walk into your home, always take your shoes off by the entryway. You don’t want to track dirt and germs throughout the house because that means you’ll have to clean a lot more often.

Keep a cubby by your door where you can store your shoes. You should also keep a microfiber rug on the outside of your front door. This will give you something to wipe your shoes off on before you walk inside.

Sponges and Dish Towels

Your sponge is a breeding ground for bacteria and germs. In fact, it packs more contaminants than your bathroom toilet. There are ways for you to cut down on the germs a bit.

Place your sponge in your dishwasher and run it through a full cycle on high. If you don’t have a dishwasher, wet the sponge and put it in your microwave for a few minutes.

Of course, these practices will keep bacteria to a minimum, but they won’t eliminate it in its entirety. You’ll need to replace the sponge every two weeks or so.

Your kitchen rags can get about as dirty as your sponges. Throw them in the washing machine whenever you do your regular laundry.

Kitchen

After you’re done cooking dinner, give your countertops a good wipe down. All it takes is a few stray crumbs to bring in unwanted pests. Cockroaches and other insects carry pathogens that can trigger allergy symptoms. You can sanitize your counters by using a mixture of chlorine bleach and water.

When you’re done with your countertops, move on to your dishes. Place your utensils in the dishwasher as soon as you’re finished eating.

Don’t leave your leftovers out. Store them in an airtight container and pop them in the fridge.

Take out your garbage when it’s ready to go out. If there are any holes in the bags, it could attract unwanted pests. You should also invest in a trash can with a lid.

Keep two different cutting boards. You should have one for fruits and veggies and one for meats. This will cut down on your risk for cross-contamination.

Bedroom

Do you find yourself waking up with the sniffles more often than not? The reason for this is your bed. It’s full of dust mites, pet dander, and other allergens.

To keep these contaminants to a minimum, put a plastic cover over your mattress. Wash your bedding at least once a week to kill those unwanted dust mites.

While you have your bedding off, do yourself a favor and vacuum the mattress. Don’t use a steam cleaner on it. The moisture will destroy your bed.

Bathroom

Your toilet is one of the germiest places in your bathroom. To keep bacteria away, apply toilet bowl cleaner and swish it around with your toilet brush.

While you let the cleaner soak, spray the outside with an all-purpose house cleaner. Don’t forget about the handle. Scrub down the exterior of the toilet before you move back to the interior.

Mold thrives in dark, damp places. Your bathroom fits the bill in both circumstances. If you don’t get rid of the fungus, it can make your family seriously sick.

You can buy a disinfectant designed to get rid of mold and mildew. When you finish showering, wipe down the walls with a towel to get rid of the moisture.

Carpets

The main problem with carpets and rugs is that that the fibers hold in odors and bacteria. Vacuum your floors to soak up the allergins.

If you’ve had your carpets installed recently, open a few windows. This will ventilate the room and stop the VOCs from affecting your air quality.

Doorknobs

All it takes is one person to get sick to make everyone else in your home ill. It’s because everyone is touching the same doorknobs. When you go out, wash your hands before you come home and put your hands on a knob.

When a member of your family comes down with something, be diligent about spraying every doorknob with disinfectant to get rid of the contaminants.

Dust

Nothing can drag down your air quality quite like dust. It’s full of allergens that can trigger asthma symptoms. Make dusting part of your normal cleaning schedule.

To stop the dust from coming back as fast, keep your home well ventilated, and change your air filter every two to three months.