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5 Home Cleaning Myths Busted.

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Antonelli Realty 3137972

It is a wonderful thing being a homeowner, but there are so many tasks to keep up with. Laundry, dishes, mopping, you name it. We have heard cleaning tips our whole lives, but 

Cleaning myths debunked

 

1. Bleach is the best cleaner for your bathroom

Leslie Reichert, cleaning coach and author of "The Joy of Green Cleaning." says Bleach “does disinfect, but before you can disinfect a surface, you have to clean it with something that will lift off the dirt,” (Imagine trying to clean muddy feet with hand sanitizer.)

You should first actively clean the area first then disinfect with a diluted bleach solution. If you think that a combo cleaner will help, you may want to save your money. Reichert states that they are less efficient because the bleach is too diluted by the cleaning agent. She says, “bleach has to stay on the surface for 10 minutes to kill germs, so washing with a cleaner that has bleach in it is like trying to add hair color to your shampoo."

 

2. Washing machines clean themselves.

Many people tend to leave clothes lingering in the machine beyond its cycle. Unfortunately, this can cause a muggy smell.  Debra Johnson, home cleaning expert at Merry Maids, recommends that you ‘run a cleaning cycle every month to maintain your washer's functionality and keep it smelling fresh’. However, not all machines have this function. If yours does not, you can still keep it fresh by adding a half-cup to 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup baking soda to the detergent dispenser, then run a small cycle with hot water. Johnson advises.

 

3. Washing clothes in cold water doesn't get them clean.

It’s all about the detergent. The detergent will have the biggest effect on how clean your laundry comes out, Johnson says. However, as a side note, cold water is typically better for washing clothes than hot. "Cold water preserves clothes both in quality and color better than hot water, which can also cause certain types of stains to set in the fabric," she says. And to top it off, using cold water saves you energy, so it's a win all around!

 

4. Mopping just pushes dirt around.

If you invest in a mop that is made up of high-quality microfiber, you should be fine. Get rid of the old traditional rope mops, where all you are doing is spreading dirty water all over your floors again. "It picks up the dirt and holds onto it," Reichert explains. "There's no cross-contamination because once the mop head's dirty, you remove it and put on a clean one."

 

5. Hand-washing dishes is more effective than a dishwasher.

No matter what your mother or mother-in-law (in some cases) told you, it doesn’t matter how much scrubbing in hot water you do, the dishwasher will still top your performance. Typically, our hands cannot sustain the heat at the temperature of a dishwasher puts out. Plus, the soap is on the dishes a lot longer.  "and if you use a 'drying cycle,' you're also sanitizing your dishes," Reichert points out.

 

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Comments (1)

John Pusa
Glendale, CA

Paul Antonelli Those are very good list of home cleaning myths to avoid.

Sep 25, 2017 04:16 PM