When it comes to keeping your home clean, there’s nothing more important than ensuring you maintain a sanitised and hygienic atmosphere for both you and your family. We spend a large portion of our lives indoors, and our homes are often our safe havens from the crazy outside world. That’s why it’s vital that we keep our homes healthy and hygienic for everyone who lives there. 

Keeping your home not only clean and tidy, but free of harmful bacteria and other pollutants may seem like a tough job, especially for those with children or pets. Yet maintaining a germ-free environment can be easy if you have the right tools for the job. 

Our Ultimate BISSELL Guide To Home Cleaning will offer you tips and tricks on how to quickly and effectively clean every room inside your home. This easy to follow, room-by-room guide will teach you how to clean like a pro and make your home as safe and sanitary as possible for you, your family and your pets. 

Before You Get Started 

If you want your home cleaning process to be as quick and efficient as possible, then there are a few preparatory steps that you can do which should help you to complete the job in no time! So, before you get out your vacuum, mops and formulas, simply complete the following first:

1. Clear The Area

Firstly, remove any items that are cluttering the chosen room/s you plan on cleaning. Simply spending 5 - 10 minutes on a quick clean up before you start, such as moving furniture and tidying away stray items, will make a world of difference when cleaning areas like floors and bench tops. 

2. Make A Home Cleaning Checklist

Secondly, develop a game plan before you start and have a clear vision of how you intend to break down the bigger jobs into a list of smaller tasks, this should make the whole job seem more straight forward. Plus, if you’re a ‘clean-freak’ (like us), then you’ll probably also find that ticking jobs off of your checklist is super satisfying - especially when it’s about as long as your arm. List each room you want to tackle and then break the work down into small manageable tasks. If the whole job feels overwhelming, then simply spread the work out over a couple of days. 

3. Organise Your Supplies and Equipment

Having everything you need close by before you begin will reduce the risk of you having to stop half way through a job and getting distracted by something else. Fill a box or basket with whatever you need for each room such as cleaning products, formulas, cloths, dusters and rubber gloves and take this with you as you go. It’s also a good idea to have any equipment such as the vacuum cleaner or carpet washer outside the room so it’s there ready for when you need it. 

Kitchen

The kitchen is an area of the home that gets used constantly throughout the day and therefore requires daily cleaning. Cleaning little and often is a great way of maintaining an orderly kitchen, but every now and again it’s a good idea to give the whole area a really deep clean. Knowing where to start in your kitchen can be the main challenge so we suggest picking a spot and working clockwise around the room until everything is sparkling. It’s also best to work from the top down, there’s little point cleaning the floor and then wiping down your benchtops afterwards and accidentally getting crumbs everywhere. 

Walls

Start at the very top with the ceiling, and remove dust that may have accumulated using a duster or your vacuum cleaner. The ICON cordless vacuum comes with a crevice and dusting brush attachment that makes getting into those hard to reach areas an easy task.

 

Kitchen walls can get greasy over time, so you may wish to wipe your walls down every few days. Dishwashing solution and warm water on a soft cloth is often all it takes to break down, and remove grease without damaging your walls. 

Surfaces

Harder surfaces such as tiles and splash backs can handle a little more moisture, we recommend using our PowerFresh Slim. This slimline steam cleaner will destroy up to 99.9% of germs and bacteria, leaving shiny surfaces streak free. The longer extended reach attachment will make it easy to clean even the most hard to reach areas of the kitchen. 

 

Be sure not to forget about disinfecting the fronts of cabinets, cupboard handles and knobs, light switches and other areas that get handled often and can therefore accumulate grime and look grubby. 

Once you’re happy with everything above the worktops, it’s time to thoroughly wipe down your bench tops, paying particular attention to the areas where you prepare food. Don’t worry about dirt and debris falling onto the floor - you’ll deal with that later. Spray everything with a good all purpose disinfectant, give it time to work it’s magic and then remove with a clean damp cloth.

Appliances

Your microwave, fridge, oven and white goods can be the perfect place for unwanted germs and bacteria to thrive. As we touch these areas whilst preparing food, it’s vital to keep these areas as hygienic as possible. Although there are many specialised home cleaning products available for these appliances, a good quality, all-purpose home cleaner is often just as effective (and works out a lot cheaper too).

 

As well as giving the inside a thorough clean, be sure to pay attention to the handles and any knobs or buttons. To deal with stubborn, baked-on food inside the fridge or microwave without using harsh chemicals use a steam cleaner such as the Steam Shot or PowerFresh Slim. It’s important to remember to stay safe when cleaning any electrical appliances, items such as toasters and kettles should always be turned off and unplugged prior to cleaning.

Floors

Finally it’s time to tackle the floors. Start by using your vacuum cleaner to remove crumbs and anything else that came from the countertops, paying particular attention to the corners of the room. Then it’s time to disinfect the area, BISSELL has a range of hard floor cleaners that are both quicker and more effective at cleaning hard floors than a traditional mop and bucket.

To really save time and make your floor cleaning as effective and efficient as possible use the CrossWave Cordless. for superior cleaning. This revolutionary 2-in-1 tool vacuums and mops your floors at the same time, making it perfect for those who want their kitchen floors looking spotless as quickly as possible. Suitable for hard floors and rugs, our CrossWave Cordless is perfect for cleaning up both wet and dry messes with consummate ease to save you time and effort.  

 

Alternatively, a steam mop will make light work of even the dirtiest kitchen floors, eliminating up to 99.9% of germs and bacteria using microfibre pads that are easily removable and washable.

Summary

Breaking your home cleaning routine into sections similar to those above will help you to focus on one area at a time and make each task seem more manageable. Planning which areas to tackle and in what order will also speed up the process, meaning less time cleaning and more time enjoying all of your hard work. Having peace of mind that your kitchen is clean, safe and sanitary will not only make spending time there more enjoyable, but also keep you, your family and your guests protected against germs and other harmful bacteria.

~

Part 2 of The Ultimate BISSELL Guide To Home Cleaning will be available next week, so keep your eyes peeled as we divulge our home cleaning tips and tricks on a different area of the home!