Imagine a house where trash is spilling out from bins, flies hovering over leftover food on the countertop and a thick, yellow stain lining the sides of your bathrooms and kitchen sink, how would you feel? Disgusted, of course! Many factors contribute to quality life; however, cleanliness and hygiene are among the essentials. Whether you agree or not, a clean house says a lot about who you are. While one may not have control over what goes in the external environment, one does have control over their immediate surroundings, which is our home or area nearby to it.

Hygiene plays a pivotal role in living a healthy life. A hygiene free environment is essential if one wants to stay healthy. Unhygienic conditions such as dirty linen, leftover food or overflowing garbage harbour pests and flies that serve as hosts for transmitting disease. It’s important to root out dirt and pests that can make you sick and cost you money. Cleaning the house may sound a tiresome job but with these seven time-saving tips, you can simplify household cleaning while saving both time and money.

Basic hygiene

You think your home is really clean? Have another look

If cleanliness of your home environment is important to you, you will ensure that it is kept clean all the time. And it’s not just cleaning the dust off the furniture. You have to take precautions like using different cutting boards for meat and vegetable; washing your hands after handling raw meat; cleaning sink and countertops regularly. These are some of the basics which if followed daily reduce the risk of bacterial growth.

Prevention of food contamination

Food-borne illnesses are caused by food contamination. The World Health Organisation reported that 40pc people in developing countries suffer from enteric diseases caused by contaminated food. Food contamination occurs due to different reasons like unsafe food packaging, food transportation under unhygienic conditions, etc. You cannot control the contamination of food in external environment but can avoid food contamination in your home environment. Decaying food leads to food contamination; so it’s important to have a proactive approach towards food preservation. Raw foods like vegetables and fruits should be kept in the lower part of the fridge while cooked food needs to be covered properly and kept in top section of the fridge. Also ensure to utilise cooked food within two days of cooking.

Extend life of home appliances

Modern-day home appliances have facilitated the lives of people especially for homemakers. We have microwave ovens to hasten the cooking process; toasters to toast bread, coffeemaker to make instant coffee, grinder to make mince, automated washing machine to wash your clothes without hassle, so on and so forth. Sadly, we use these appliances but do not give any thought about keeping them clean. The machine has to work harder if it has dirt or grease on it. These appliances will only work more efficiently when they’re clean.

Switch from traditional appliances to insect repellent appliances

‘Health is wealth’, therefore people nowadays prefer health-centric appliances for their homes. Considering the hassle of today’s fast paced life, certain companies have introduced innovative home appliances equipped with insect repellent technology. This advanced technology has the ability to ward off insects or pests, from inside the appliances and its surrounding area which will definitely save you from a lot of diseases.

Run bathroom exhaust fan

People often do not wipe water off the floor after using the bathroom. One needs to know that this accumulated water on the floor favours bacterial growth in the corners of the bathroom. Hence, the best option to prevent mould build-up is to run the bathroom exhaust fan or leave the window open a little bit during shower and till 0 minutes after.

Harsh chemicals

The anti-bacterial agents used in cleaning products are meant to kill insects or pests or reduce bacterial growth inside homes. At times these cleaning products have harsh chemicals which if used at homes have a direct impact on people’s health. To avoid this, maintain a regular cleaning regimen so that the growth of bacteria can be curtailed. Moreover, strong chemicals should be used in minimal concentration at any given time during household cleaning.

Dryer sheets for trash cans

Overflowing trash cans are a disgusting sight while a majority of the people throw garbage in the bins irrespective of the fact that it’s soggy or dry. Most people have trash bins without lids, which results in a foul odour, and attracts flies. To avoid this, place a couple of dryer sheets or other absorbent material in the bottom of the trash to absorb spills or dampness.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, March 27th, 2016