10 Common House Cleaning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Do you ever cut corners whilst cleaning?

If you do, you’re definitely not the only one! Everyone wants a clean, tidy home in the quickest time possible, but this isn’t always a smart move for the longterm.

In fact, by cutting corners and avoiding certain tasks, you might make cleaning your house much tougher in the future! But, if you avoid common house cleaning mistakes and get everything right the first time, you might find future cleaning actually becomes more efficient.

Find out more with these common mistakes you should avoid.

Not Cleaning Your Cleaning Equipment

You probably have tons of house cleaning tools around your home, but are you cleaning them? It might seem a little OCD to start cleaning your cleaning equipment, but it’s actually a very good habit to get into that can make your cleaning more effective! For example, by learning how to quickly clean your dishwasher, you’ll make it much more effective at washing your dishes for years to come.

You can also clean out the tube of your vacuum to make its suction more effective, and clean out the dirt from your mop to stop old dirt from being spread around your home. Remember to clean dirty cloths after using them, too!

Using the Wrong Tools

If you’re not using the right tools when cleaning your kitchen, cleaning living rooms, or working on any other part of your home, you’re not going to get the job done properly. For example, rather than using a cotton cloth to dust down surfaces, you should always opt for a microfiber cloth instead that won’t leave any lint behind. 

There are also a lot of cleaning gadgets out there, which can make it hard to know what you need and what you don’t. A blind-cleaning brush is a gadget that could speed up your house cleaning routine, but only if you’re having trouble cleaning yours. In general with cleaning tools, live by the motto that if it doesn’t fix a problem, you don’t need it. 

Spraying Your Furniture With Polish

A lot of people spray polish directly onto their furniture. Don’t feel bad if you do this; even a lot of polish brands tell you to spray onto the surface! But this can actually leave behind a residue that’s hard to remove and can attract more dust than you started with.

Any house cleaning service professional will tell you to spray the polish onto a cloth instead. Then, wipe the cloth over the surface. This will leave less of the polish on your furniture whilst still getting rid of dirt and dust. 

Not Cleaning Your Shower Straight Away

If your shower isn’t cleaned frequently, you can be sure that soap scum, mold, and mildew will build up quickly. Cleaning a shower that’s incredibly dirty can be a real chore and take a lot of time! But, if you clean it straight away, you can reduce the need for those deep-cleans and save yourself a lot of trouble.

As this article explains, you should always keep a squeegee in your shower. Before you get out, wipe down the shower with the squeegee to remove excess moisture, and give the surfaces a quick wipe over with a sponge. This’ll quickly become a habit and make cleaning your shower much easier! 

Overloading Your Dishwasher

It can be tempting to try and cram every last utensil into your dishwasher before you put it on, but this could affect how well your items are cleaned. If there’s too much in your dishwasher, the soap and water are going to have a hard time reaching every utensil! If you’ve pre-soaked your dishes, you might not even notice they’re not clean.

Instead, load your dishwasher so that it isn’t overflowing. If you have leftover items, wash them by hand or wait until the first load is done to pop them in. 

Not Emptying the Vacuum

If you’ve just vacuumed the house, the last thing you want to do is empty out all the dust you’ve just collected, right? But this is actually essential to keeping your vacuum working efficiently. If the bag becomes clogged or too full, your vacuum won’t work as well.

So, after cleaning your home, always take an extra minute to empty your vacuum. It might be a hassle now, but it’ll save you time in the future!

Let Your Cleaning Products Work

A lot of cleaning products, like tile cleaner or disinfectant sprays, need time to work. If you wipe them off as soon as you spray them, you’re not going to get the results you want and will quickly have to do the same chore again! So, spray the cleaner, leave for a few minutes, and then wipe away.

Not Cleaning From Top to Bottom

If you’re not cleaning from top to bottom, it’s time for a change! By cleaning the floor first, the counters next, and dusting surfaces last, all that dust and dirt will be falling straight back onto the floor your just cleaned. To make your cleaning more efficient, always clean the floor last and dust first. 

Using the Same Cloth Everywhere

Using the same cloth in multiple places is bound to make your cleaning more difficult. An overused cloth is far more likely to leave streaks on your surfaces and could be spreading germs. Instead, replace your cloths after they’ve been used on high-traffic, very dirty areas for a cleaner home. 

Avoid House Cleaning Mistakes

These are just scratching the surface of the many house cleaning mistakes people make! You might not even know that your routine is actually leaving you with more work to do. 

If you think you need some help with your cleaning to avoid these mistakes, make sure to take a look at the cleaning services at Vantage Point.