How to Keep a Clean Home and Your Family Healthy

Thank you to Stanley Steemer for sponsoring this post.

My husband and I keep our home pretty clean for a number of reasons. One, we both despise clutter. Two, we know when our home is clean it frees up our mind and energy for other things. Three, it’s one of the easiest and best ways to make sure we’re keeping ourselves as healthy as possible.

The health aspect of our home is incredibly important. Let me tell you why. Back in 2000, our little family was stationed in Alaska with the Air Force. It is an incredible place to live and we have so many amazing memories of the friends we made and the scenery we had the privilege of enjoying every single day. Unfortunately, we also have some not so fond memories.

It was in Alaska that my husband developed some serious allergies, as well as being hit hard with asthma. It got to the point where it was hard for him to function and he ended up having to have sinus surgery and put on some heavy medications to deal with asthma. Since our time in Alaska, we’ve lived in California, Georgia, New Mexico, Colorado and are currently in Texas. And since 2000, my husband has had to have 3 sinus surgeries. It looks like asthma and allergies are something he’ll have to deal with and treat forever.

He’s been to countless doctors, all with different ideas of how to treat this, but one thing that has remained the same and that we’ve been told over and over again is the importance of allergy proofing our home. And this goes beyond just keeping the place dusted and vacuumed.

Here are a few ways to keep your home clean and your family healthy:

 

Regular carpet cleanings

When we first moved to Texas, we lived in a rental house while we got our finances in order. In our rental contract, it said we were required to have the carpets cleaned every 6 months. My first thought was ‘what a pain!’, but then I quickly realized how crucial this was for our health. Not only that but after living in that rental home for three years, it got to the point where I looked forward to getting the carpets cleaned. It felt like a fresh start for our home every time.

We now live in our own home and have continued to have our carpets cleaned. Between our white haired dog that is super cute, but sheds like nobody’s business, kids tracking in who knows what (okay, so we adults help with that too I’m sure) and my husband’s allergies and asthma; carpet cleaning is a must. We don’t treat it like an extra something to do when we have the money. We treat it as something that’s an essential.

We recently had the chance to hire a team from Stanley Steemer and they gave us excellent service from booking to job completion. When I heard that Stanley Steemer was Certified asthma & allergy friendly^TM for the following services: Hardwood, Carpet, and Title / Grout; I knew they were the company I wanted taking care of our home. This meant they would be removing allergens like dust, pollen, and pet dander from our carpets.

Here’s a before picture of our living room.

There is slight staining from everyday wear and tear, as well as from our super cute white dog that is, well let’s just say it…geriatric. He’s 11 and is having bladder issues, as older dogs do. This is what he looks like after an episode.

Sad, I know. We love him, but the stains he’s leaving are no fun and sometimes even if we catch it quick, the stain is there to stay.

When the Stanley Steemer guys showed up, they moved our furniture out of the living room, covered the opening of our front door with plastic to prevent bugs from getting in and put corner guards on our walls.

We chose to have our carpets not only cleaned, but protected and deodorized. They smell good and we’re now protected from future accidents. And there will be future accidents! (I’m talking about you, Dart.) Thankfully the protection will help with that, as well as some of the Stanley Steemer products we have. For every mess, there’s a Stanley Steemer Solution.

Since the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recommends your carpets be cleaned 3 to 4 times a year by a Certified professional carpet cleaning service, we’ll be using Stanley Steemer again. In fact, there are a couple of other services we’d like to hire them for.

Here’s what our carpet and living room looks like now. We have great looking and smelling carpet and we also removed some clutter that had been driving us crazy. Like I said before, it’s a fresh start for our room and I am so happy with it!

Deep cleaning of the furniture

We have mostly leather furniture in our living room because we like the way it looks and it’s easier to keep clean and dusted. But I did learn recently that even leather furniture takes on the same pollutants and dirt as upholstered furniture. We had the Stanley Steemer guy do a demo of cleaning a section of our leather couch. He used professional leather cleaner that not only cleans but breathes new life into your furniture.

If you have upholstered furniture, it’s important to have them professionally cleaned not only to get rid of the dirt, dust, and other pollutants but to extend the life of your furniture. Usually, this is one of the biggest investments we make, so why not take care of it so it’ll last for years and years to come.

Wash the curtains

This is something I have not been very good at over the years, but I know it’s important. I always buy curtains that can be thrown in the washer; it’s just getting it on the calendar so I’ll remember that’s the problem. But frequent cleaning of your drapes and curtains is crucial to the health of your home. Just like we wouldn’t neglect our bedding, we shouldn’t neglect our curtains either.

A Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Seasonal Cleaning Routine

The best way to make sure we’re taking care of our homes and keeping them clean and us healthy is with a routine. Once you nail down a routine that works for your family and you do it consistently for a couple of months, it’ll become a habit and you’ll start to notice when you slack off.

Here’s a basic, but hopefully helpful, cleaning chart you can print out and keep posted somewhere you’ll see it. I hope these tips and chart help you keep a clean home and your family healthy.

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