5 Household Items You Don't Clean Enough

Think your home is completely clean? Think again. Even a seemingly-spotless house with a rigorous cleaning schedule is likely to have many germ-infested areas that we don't even think about. Here are five places/items in your house that you probably aren't cleaning as often as you should.

1. Doorknobs & Lightswitches.

Just about every time someone in your home enters or leaves a room, they touch the doorknob or the lightswitch – or in many cases, both. This makes them some of the dirtiest areas in your home, and two places which are probably overlooked on cleaning day. Every week, wipe down all of your home's doorknobs and lightswitches with a disposable disinfecting wipe.

2. Sponges.

Every day, your kitchen sponge is used to wash dishes which are contaminated with all kinds of germs and bacteria. As you wipe the sponge over your dirty plates, it absorbs some of these germs. When you're done with your load of dishes, the germ-ridden sponge is left to sit, and provides bacteria with a dark, moist home. Microwaving your sponge on high for 2 minutes can kill up to 99% of its germs; we advise doing this at least once per week.

3. Pillows.

The place that you rest your head for eight hours every single night probably isn't as clean as you think it is. In a two-year period, pillows can double in weight from dust mites, dead skin, and oil from our hair. Wash your pillows twice per year and your pillowcases every other week, and invest in an anti-allergen cover to help keep germs out.

4. Refrigerator Coils.

You may clean the inside of your refrigerator every so often, but what about the condenser coils? These coils are located on the back of your refrigerator and are responsible for cooling the refrigerant that runs through them. As these coils become coated with dust, they aren't able to release their heat, which hurts the energy-efficiency of your refrigerator and shortens its lifespan. It is recommended that you clean these coils twice per year using your vacuum's brush attachment.

5. Gym Bag.

Your gym bag is regularly packed with sweaty workout apparel, but chances are you don't clean it as often as the clothes you put inside of it. Besides the germs on its interior, your bag also probably gets placed on the locker room floor; one of the dirtiest places in the gym. Wash your gym bag once or twice a month on the hottest setting to effectively kill germs.

For a completely clean house, choose the Maids of Dallas. Our cleaning teams utilize our exclusive 22-step Healthy Touch deep cleaning system to provide you with fresh linens, sanitized bathrooms, and hand-scrubbed floors. We proudly serve the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex including Irving, Arlington, Carrollton, and the surrounding areas. Book a same-day cleaning with our award-winning team by calling us at 972-437-6253.