We may receive a small commission for clicks or purchases made through our website or emails. This helps us fund the finds we share at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!
There’s no denying that the global coronavirus pandemic is making people think more about their hygiene standards and those of others around them. You might be taking all kinds of reasonable precautions to minimise the risk of spreading germs from outdoors into your home.
You might not know it, but there are potentially several hidden ways that your home could be making you feel sick. Take a look at these examples so that you can check your home and avoid any nasty surprises:
Pets Bringing In Unwanted Guests
Even though we’re a nation of animal lovers, the downside to having a pet dog or cat is they can often bring in unwanted guests to your home.
Fleas can jump around and will have no problem landing on your pet dog or cat, ready to feast upon its blood. Thankfully there are some steps you can take to minimise the risk of having a flea infestation in your home:
- Wash your pet’s bedding;
- Disinfect hard floor surfaces such as in the kitchen;
- Thoroughly vacuum the carpet in rooms where your pet likes to roam;
- Check your pet’s hair for signs of fleas and apply flea treatment where necessary.
Mice Infestation
It doesn’t matter whether you live in the heart of a city. Or even in the suburbs or in the countryside. Mice are all around us, but they do an excellent job of making themselves invisible to your presence. Fortunately, there are a few telltale signs that you’ve got some mice lodgers in your home.
For example, you might notice mysterious ‘droppings’ in places like underneath kitchen cabinets. You might have spotted gnawed furniture, plastic or cardboard in areas in and around your home. Or you may have discovered a rather potent ammonia-like smell lingering in the air and mysterious stains on your floors.
Some people don’t realise that mice can spread diseases such as hantavirus, listeria, and even salmonella. When it comes to pest control mice are one of the top complaints by householders.
Be sure to get any mice infestation in your home sorted immediately.
Walking Indoors with Shoes On
Believe it or not, we are our own worst enemies when it comes to introducing illnesses and diseases into our abodes! You might think that some people are just being ‘difficult’ when asking visitors to take their shoes off before entering their home. But, there’s a very important reason for that request.
For a start, faeces – even in a microscopic form – are always present in the soles of shoes. Almost a third of all faeces contain bacteria such as E.coli and C.diff. There are even scientific studies that have proven toilet seats contain fewer bacteria than the soles of people’s shoes!
There’s a 90% chance that whatever is on the soles of your shoes will transfer to the floors of your home. So, with all those facts in mind, it makes perfect sense to spend ten seconds removing your shoes before entering your home.
Air Quality
Air quality is an often neglected issue when it comes to home hygiene. If you don’t allow for sufficient circulation throughout your home, you risk VOCs, microbes, and bacteria forming. This can severely impact your respiratory comfort, especially if you suffer from allergies.
Thankfully, there are plenty of solutions to this. Many people will begin with air duct cleaning, whereas regular dusting and polishing and vacuuming using a high-quality HEPA filter will also be beneficial. If you’ve tried all of this and still have air hygiene problems, house plants offer a natural solution.
You can also invest in CO detectors and air quality machines that can alert you when air quality is dropping. An air purifier can solve this, but you can also open the windows and let some fresh air into the house. This allows you to breathe easily and minimize the sluggish sensations that can come from low air quality in your home.
Have more tips for keeping your home clean? Drop them below! Help someone out!
