Revealed! How Often You Should Be Washing These Household Items…
August 1, 2018 | Cleaning Tips | No comments
Are you a wash-aholic or do you leave things as long as humanly possible? Maybe you’ve had a fair few arguments with your spouse on when and how you should be washing your household items! We’re here to solve the problem!
From bed sheets to cuddly toys, we’ve got advice on how to keep dirt and germs at bay. Some may surprise you…
Bed Sheets
A recent YouGov study revealed that more than 20% of us wash our sheets every 4 or more weeks and over a third wait 14 days, wow! Unwashed sheets can contain a build-up of debris, dust, and sweat and even cause dust mites!
Clean: Once a week
How: A strong 60°C wash will kill bacteria and germs. Avoid overfilling your washing machine as sheets are best washed in small loads with lots of water which will keep germs at bay.
Mattress
While we’re on the subject of clean bedding, your mattress needs some TLC too! Although they don’t need cleaning as often, mattresses can also gather dust and bacteria and there’s no point putting fresh sheets on a dirty mattress!
Clean: Every 6 months
How: The best way to clean your mattress is with a vacuum! When you’ve removed your bedding, use the upholstery attachment on your vacuum cleaner and hoover your mattress both on front and back. If you suffer from allergies, you may want to do this more often.
Shower Curtain
When you’re deep cleaning your bathroom, you may be forgetting about this very important chore! Over time your shower curtain can contain a build-up of hard water deposit and mould growth.
Clean: Once a month
How: Place your shower curtain in the washing machine along with a few towels. This will give it the deep clean it needs and prevent it from getting shredded. If you have a lot of hard water build-up, add one cup of white vinegar to the wash cycle, then just hang it back up to dry!
Towels
Bath towels absorb dead skin cells and bacteria and being in warm, damp conditions means this bacteria thrives. Sharing towels can spread bacteria and viruses so it’s best to keep them to yourself!
Clean: Every 2-3 uses
How: Wash at a high temperature, 60°C or more to kill any bacteria.
Kitchen Sponge
Your trusty kitchen sponge cleans all your pots, pans and surfaces but you may not realise just how dirty it can get! After touching all those dirty objects and being left in warm water, your sponge can gather heaps of bacteria.
Clean: Every day and replace every week
How: A great hack to clean your sponge is to put it in the microwave! Soak it with water and pop it in for 1 or 2 minutes. You can even stick it in the dishwasher to kill germs.
Reusable Shopping Bags
Tote and canvas bags make life a whole lot easier at the supermarket, but, those that haven’t been cleaned in a while can contain coliform, faecal matter or E.coli. It’s something you might not have thought of, but if you’re putting fruit and veg as well as meat and fish inside, it could be developing bacteria.
Clean: Every few uses
How: Simply add it to your next wash load!
Cuddly Toys
It may be very difficult to prise your child’s favourite toy out of their hands! But, they could contain all sorts of bugs and bacteria, especially if they take it everywhere with them.
Clean: Once a week
How: Most soft toys can be put in the washing machine on a gentle cycle but be sure to check the label. If the toy is very fragile, pop it in the freezer for a couple of hours (overnight if possible) to kill off any dust mites or bed bugs.
For more washing tips, check out these 7 washing machine settings that could make the task a whole lot easier!
