Hygiene and Household Regime

Hygiene

    My mother was right when she said “A dirty house will be consumed by its own grime!” Hygiene in the home is imperative to happiness and health. There is a lot of truth in the age old adages, ‘Cleanliness is godliness’ and  ‘A clean home is a happy home’.   My mother always kept a clean, tidy, and organized home. She always insisted on cleanliness and tidiness.  Every morning she’d spring out of bed and the first thing she’d grab instead of the coffee cup was her broom. I’d laugh about it at the time.

 I never saw a lady who after waking up dashed to sweep her kitchen instead of taking an hour out to gather her thoughts, have a spot of breakfast and then proceed with the housework.  Every week she would scrub her cupboard cabinets out and put each item back neatly.  All her food items had to be placed with their labels facing forwards.  She’d cringe if any of the labels were facing east or west.   Every week she’d empty the fridge and freezer and clean the fridge religiously. 

 

I agree with my mother’s philosophy about a clean home; although, I hate to admit, I’m not as ferocious as she was about the regime.  I am a bit more laid back; but I still like to keep a clean and tidy house as best as I can.  My health and energy levels keep me from cleaning as much as I feel I should...but I always try to keep a regular cleaning routine.

 Once a week I clean the bathroom thoroughly.  I swear by boiling water.  I boil a kettle and pour it over the sides and inside of the tub.  This will kill any germs lingering in the surface.  I then turn the hot water tap on, cover the plug hole, and pour a capful of bleach in the tub.  I leave the bath soaking for fifteen minutes to half an hour.  Then I come back with a rag and bathe the bathtub clean.  I do the same thing with the bathroom basin.  After draining the water, I go over it once more with a clean cloth.  Incidentally, I use different cloths for each job.  I normally clean the toilet with kitchen roll.  It is more hygienic.

Kim and Aggie have persuaded me to ditch the toilet brush which isn’t a very hygienic tool to have.  The germs cling to the brush and dirty your bathroom.  I now invest in disposable latex gloves for the job.  I simply take a wad of kitchen roll, spray bleach over the outer parts of the toilet first, clean the outer bits of the toilet first; then I squirt toilet cleaner inside the U-bend and leave it there to soak for up to half an hour.  After the toilet cleaner has done its job, I wipe the u-bend with a gloved hand and a piece of kitchen roll.

 Cola also cleans a dirty toilet.  Pour a cup of cola down the toilet.  Let it soak for an hour and then wipe it clean with a gloved hand and kitchen roll.  The acidity in the cola disintegrates the lime scale. However, it can also leave a sticky residue; so the best bet to get rid of stain and lime scale is to make a solution of ½ cup vinegar and ¼ cup baking soda to 1 gallon of water.  Pour down the toilet...wait up to an hour and then scrub away. If using the cola method, you could just spray some bleach and water solution to rinse the residue of the cola away. (I like to get a spray bottle and fill it with a few capfuls of bleach and a gallon of water.)  Ideally the bathroom should be cleaned twice a week; a thorough clean once a week, followed by a once-over.  I also like to wipe the tub every time I take a bath.  I also try to wipe the basin every day after each use. 

Of all the rooms in a house or apartment, the bathroom and kitchen are the most important rooms to keep clean all the time.  I have a strict rule of using the kitchen sink for just washing dishes.  Once or twice a week I de-sanitize the kitchen sink.  I remove all dishwashing paraphernalia, dish drainer, etc, and I fill the sink with a kettle of boiled water. I pour a capful of bleach into the hot water and let it soak for fifteen minutes.  Meanwhile I scrub the draining board with my handy bleach/water solution and wipe it down with a clean kitchen roll.  After draining the water in the sink, I wipe down the sink and then buff it dry with a clean piece of kitchen roll.   I make it a habit of spraying my trusty bleach/water solution on each kitchen counter and wiping them down once a day.

 I don’t wash my cupboards every week like my mother, but I do wash them at least once a month.  I do make it a habit of arranging my food items facing forward and neatly.  Twice a week I mop the floor.  We have a Linoleum floor in our kitchen.  To clean it I make a solution of a capful of white vinegar, a few squirts of dishwashing liquid and a gallon of boiling water.  This makes a linoleum floor shiny.  Do not add bleach to the solution because it will make the linoleum dull.  I swear by white vinegar.

 

First I sweep the floor of all debris.  A good sweep is essential before mopping.  Then I get to work by filling my bucket with the vinegar/dishwashing detergent/water solution.  I soak the mop in this solution and I squeeze the excess water out using the bucket’s winger.  Mop in a zigzag motion.  Let dry. Change the water in your bucket and then repeat the motion.  Incidentally, do not pour the dirty water into the kitchen sink; do so into the toilet.  Let the floor air dry.  Ideally you should mop after cleaning the kitchen.

Once a week I dust my furniture.  I confess that I don’t dust as often as I should.  You should dust once a week.  A beautifully polished piece of furniture is a beauty that would last a lifetime.  I like to use beeswax on my dresser and wardrobe.  It nourishes the wood and adds shine.  I make my own furniture polish by combining two parts olive oil (don’t use extra virgin) to one part lemon juice.  Mix the ingredients together and pour into a jar.  Give the jar a shake and polish.  You can also add 1teaspoon of essential oil to the jar, if you wish.  It will make it smell nicer.  The solution will keep in a dark, cool place away from sunlight for two weeks. Note: this solution only works for finished wood.

A nicely dressed bed gives the impression of organization and opulence.  Each day I like to air my bed.  I open the window and throw the covers to the edge of the bed, then plump my pillows and arrange them on top of the cover.  I let the bed air for an hour while I have breakfast.  This allows any debris and moisture from your body as you sleep evaporates and leaves your mattress fresh.  After airing the bed, I brush the sheets and lay the covers back.  I plump up the pillows and cover the bed with my bedspread.  At the end of the day I throw the covers back down towards the middle of the bed and plump up the pillows again before going to sleep. This is called Turning the bed down.

A clean home is a happy home!  After cleaning my home, I feel a sense of accomplishment.  I like to make a cup of tea and retire to my nice clean living room and marvel in the knowledge that my home is a clean haven where I can relax and unwind.