Have You Vacuumed Your Mattress
Lately? How Often to Clean Common Household Items
August 15, 2015
Story at-a-glance
Your coffee pot should be washed daily with soap and water,
and run through regularly with vinegar to remove mold and
mineral build-up
Your mattress should be vacuumed once every four months to
remove crumbs, dirt, and dust
You should clean out the inside of your dishwasher using
vinegar and baking soda once every six months
By Dr. Mercola
On an average day, 49 percent of US women and 20 percent of
US men devote some time to housework, be it doing dishes,
vacuuming or mopping floors, dusting, or simply tidying up.1
You probably wipe down your kitchen counters, clean your
toilets, and sweep your floors on a regular basis… but there are
many household items that are often overlooked.
Some of those may need cleaning most of all, yet tend to be
neglected. Today shared several of these household items that
need to be cleaned more often than you might think.2
5 Household Items You Probably Haven't Cleaned Recently… But
Should
1. Your Coffee Pot
Oily buildup in your coffee pot can make your cup of joe
taste bitter. Wash the carafe daily with soap and water. If
it's stained, add ˝ cup of water and ˝ cup of vinegar, let
it soak for 20 minutes, then wash it out.
As for the reservoir on your coffee machine, research
shows about half of coffee makers have yeast and mold
growing in them, while one in 10 hosted coliform bacteria.3
A simple way to disinfect it while also removing mineral
buildup? Fill the water chamber with half vinegar/half
water, then "brew" a pot halfway.
Turn the pot off and let it sit for 30 minutes before
finishing the brew. Run a clear water mixture through next
(do this step twice) and you'll have a clean coffee pot
ready to brew delicious coffee.
2. Dishwasher
You probably wipe down the outside of your dishwasher,
but when's the last time you've cleaned the inside?
About once very six months, take out the bottom drawer and
remove any debris that's collected.
Food, grease, and soap scum often collect in the bottom near
the drain, which can make your dishwasher less efficient and
contribute to odors.
After you've removed any debris, place a cup of vinegar
in the dishwasher on the top rack, then run it through a hot
water cycle. When that's done, sprinkle a cup of baking soda
on the bottom, let it sit overnight, and then run it through
a hot cycle again. A clean, odor-free dishwasher will
result.
3. Refrigerator Coils
Dirt and dust can easily clog your refrigerator's coils,
which makes your refrigerator work a lot harder than it
should. It's estimated that spending 15 minutes to clean the
coils once every six months could eliminate 70 percent of
refrigerator malfunctions while extending your
refrigerator's lifespan and efficiency.4
To clean the coils, first unplug your fridge. Next, use a
vacuum with a small brush attachment to remove any dust and
debris.
4. Mattress
You vacuum your floors and maybe even your upholstered
furniture, but when's the last time you've vacuumed your
mattress? Once every four months (or once a season), use
your vacuum to remove crumbs, dead skin, and dust from your
mattress.
You can also sprinkle it with baking soda, let it sit for an
hour, then vacuum it up for extra deodorizing.
5. Windows
Once every six months, clean the inside and outside of
your windows using warm soapy water. Your window blinds,
however, should be cleaned once a week. A simple way to do
this is to dip a sock in mixture of one part vinegar to one
part water, then run it over your blinds.
How Often Should You Clean These Other Household Items?
Other commonly used household items also deserve regular
cleaning. For instance, as reported by Today:5
Kitchen Sink
Your kitchen sink consistently rates as one of the
dirtiest places in your home – even worse than a toilet
seat. It's the combination of moisture plus leftover food
particles that make your sick basin an ideal place for
illness-causing microbes to thrive. Disinfection is easy.
Use an even mixture of rubbing alcohol and water to simply
spritz down the sink and drain.
Trash Can
The inside of your trash can should be cleaned out at
least once a month. Sprinkle the bottom of the bin with
baking soda, let it sit for 10 minutes, then use a natural
disinfectant spray to wipe down the rest of the can.
Rinse and let it dry before using it again. Be sure to also
wipe down the inside of the can's lid – ideally do this
every time you take out the trash.6
Bedroom Pillows
Dust mites, dead skin, sweat, and drool accumulate on
your
pillows while you sleep. About once every six months,
toss your pillows in the wash and run them through a heavy
cycle.
You can usually dry them on low in the dryer (be sure
they're thoroughly dried when you remove them to avoid mold
growth). Note that while natural pillows will be easily
washable, many synthetic foam pillows are not.
Light Switches and Doorknobs
These get touched regularly and can be among the dirtiest
places in your home. Use a cloth dipped in white vinegar to
wipe them down on a regular basis.
Vinegar is a wonderful natural disinfectant!
Your Computer Keyboard
A can of compressed air can be used to remove crumbs,
hair, and other debris. Then use rubbing alcohol to wipe
down the keys, removing dirt and built-up grime.
Your Remote Controls and Cell Phone
Items such as these are handled frequently but cleaned
infrequently. Antiseptic alcohol wipes work well to
wipe down and sanitize both remote controls and cell phones
(and you might want to pack a few in your suitcase to wipe
down hotel room remote controls when you're travelling).
For even more information about how often to clean common
household items, check out the infographic, from
WonderHowTo, below:7
Do You Know How to Clean and Organize Your Fridge?
In one survey conducted by Whirlpool Corp., for instance, 33
percent said they spend no time cleaning their refrigerator
prior to a trip to the grocery store, while 27 percent said
their strategy to fit in the newly purchased groceries is simply
to "shove everything in and not worry about organization."8
This certainly isn't ideal…
The best time to clean your fridge is when it's low on food,
such as right before a trip to the grocery store or farmer's
market. Dispose of food that's spoiled (use common sense on this
one, but don't base the decision on a
food's expiration date alone). Next, tackle one shelf or
drawer at a time, removing all items, cleansing the surface
using a soft cloth, natural soap, and hot water, and then drying
it thoroughly.
While you might be tempted to use a strong disinfectant to
kill germs in your fridge, such cleansers often contain toxic
chemicals – and many of them can damage the surface of your
shelves. Check the owner's manual to be sure the cleaning agent
you use is safe for your particular model (but most should do
fine with natural soap and water).
For extra cleaning power, try making this homemade
antibacterial solution: mix two cups of water with three
tablespoons of castile soap and 20 to 30 drops of tea tree oil.
Spray onto the surface, then wipe off. After you've done your
weekly cleaning, be sure to also "spot" clean as necessary,
especially if you notice any spills or drips.
As you replace your food items, take care to organize them
properly. The infographic below, from Nutrition Action,9
gives a quick explanation of how to best organize your fridge
for food safety. What you'll notice is that raw meat, fish,
poultry, and even leftovers – the foods that necessitate cold,
stable temperatures – should be kept on the bottom shelf. This
also ensures that any drippings will not contaminate other foods
on their way down.
The crisper drawers, meanwhile, are intended for fruits and
vegetables – but not all fruits and vegetables. Those
meant for the crisper include leafy greens, melons, celery,
broccoli, and apples, while others can be safely stored on the
top shelf. (Apples should actually be stored away from other
uncovered produce, as the ethylene gases they produce can cause
other foods to spoil faster.)
As for the middle shelf, that works best for cheeses and cooked
meats, while the door should be used to store condiments,
including butter. You'll also want to make sure your fridge is
kept cold enough – below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or 4 degrees
Celsius. This will ensure food safety. Also leave enough space
in your fridge for cold air to circulate. If your refrigerator
is too tightly packed, your food will spoil faster.
Natural Cleaners Provide a Clean Home Without Toxins
Most
cleaning products on the market are toxic chemical
cocktails, and when you spritz your bathtub or kitchen counter
with that brightly colored liquid you're exposing yourself and
your family to endocrine-disrupting phthalates, carcinogenic
benzene, and organ-damaging phenols, just to name a few. Yet,
having a clean home should not mean sacrificing your health due
to chemical exposures, plain and simple. Fortunately, some of
the best cleaners are items you probably already have
around your home, such as vinegar,
baking soda, and lemon juice. Here's a simple starter list
of what you need to make your own natural cleaning products:
Baking soda
White vinegar
Lemon juice
Hydrogen peroxide
Liquid castile soap
Organic essential oils (optional)
Mixing bowls
Spray bottles
Microfiber cloths
For great tips on how to use these ingredients and other tips
for cleaning your home without hazardous chemicals, please watch
the video above. For example, lemon juice is a natural whitener,
vinegar and water make an excellent window cleaner, and vinegar
combined with
hydrogen peroxide works exceptionally well as both a
disinfectant and sanitizer.
Baking soda is also great to scrub your bath and kitchen. Put it
in a glass grated cheese container with a stainless steel top
that has holes in it, and just sprinkle the baking soda on the
surfaces and scrub. You may add a few drops of your favorite
essential oil to this, such as lavender and
tea tree oil, which have added antibacterial qualities. Here
are several more simple tips to get you started:
Use baking soda as a safe, non-scratch scrub for metals
and porcelain.
To clean your oven, sprinkle a cup or more of baking
soda over the bottom of the oven, then cover the baking soda
with enough water to make a thick paste. Let the mixture set
overnight. The next morning the grease will be easy to wipe
up because the grime will have loosened. When you have
cleaned up the worst of the mess, dab a bit of liquid
detergent or soap on a sponge, and wash the remaining
residue from the oven.
To unclog a drain, pour ˝ to 1 cup of baking soda down
the drain, then slowly pour ˝ to 1 cup of vinegar in after
it. Cover the drain and let it sit for 15 minutes. If it
bubbles like a volcano, it means it's working as planned.
Flush with a gallon of boiling water.
Deodorize dry carpets by sprinkling liberally with
baking soda. Wait at least 15 minutes, then vacuum.
To rid your garbage disposal of foul smells, add vinegar
to water for ice cubes, then let a few of them get chopped
by your disposal.
To clean your silver, boil 2 to 3 inches of water in a
shallow pan with 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of baking
soda, and a sheet of aluminum foil. Totally submerge silver
and boil for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove silver from the pan
and wipe away the tarnish with a clean cotton cloth.