Whilst you are giving your house a spring clean you may be exposing yourself to unsafe levels of biological pollutants and chemicals, if you experience negative side effects during or shortly after cleaning your house you should get yourself checked out by a medical expert.
Biological Pollutants
If you have not given your house a deep clean in a while your house may have a high amount of microorganisms living within which can thrive in small, isolated areas that are poorly ventilated. When you get around to giving your home a deep clean you could cause yourself to be exposed to a significant amount of bacteria at the same time, you could mitigate this risk by covering your face with a facemask whilst you are cleaning and regularly washing your hands whilst you are cleaning your house.
Another example of a biological pollutant to watch out for is living, breathing animals. If your house has pests such as rats or mice living within you may be exposed to bacteria when you are cleaning up their mess and finding a solution to rid your house of such pests. If you believe that your house has a pest control problem you should contact a professional who will be able to take the best course of action, meaning that you won’t have to haphazardly try to fix the problem yourself which can expose you to an unsafe level of biological contamination. You should take steps in future to reduce the amount of food that you leave out that pests can eat, if you cut off the food source of pests in your house you will encounter fewer pests in the future.
Insects can also be a problem, particularly in kitchens where there is a higher likelihood of food being left out on countertops. Common insect pests include silverfish, cockroaches and flies. You should ensure that you keep on top of how much food you leave out and contact a professional pest control contractor if you feel you have an infestation in your house.
Toxic Dust
You would have to be a pretty obsessive cleaner to not have any dust in your home whatsoever. Whilst the vast majority of dust we encounter on a daily basis comprises of harmless components such as skin cells, dust mites and bits of dead bugs; dust can also contain toxic chemicals such as lead, mercery, asbesdos and flame retardents. If after giving your house a clean you notice medical symptoms such as sudden rashes, trouble sleeping or sores on your body you should get checked out my a medical expert.
Toxic dust can also cause central nervous system symptoms such as dizziness, headaches and fatique which typically happens shortly after you have finished cleaning. Again if you experience any of these symptoms you should get checked out by a medical expert.
Chemical Cocktails
You were probably told as a child that you should never mix household cleaning products together. This is because the chemicals used to make certain household cleaners can cause a chemical reaction when mixed together with chemicals used to make different household cleaning products. At the extreme end this could result in chemical reactions producing toxic gasses that have the potential to cause chronic respiratory issues and allergy reactions. Additionally toxic gasses caused by mixture of household chemicals can lead to short term central nervous system symtoms such as dizziness, forgetfulness and headaches.
Cleaning The Dirtiest Parts Of Your House First
When we set out to clean our homes it is often the dirtiest places that we focus our attention on first, if you use the same sponges and cleaning rags throughout the entirety of your house you could actually be spreading bacteria from the dirtiest places of your house when you get around to cleaning the areas of your home that are typically cleaner. This is why it is important to ensure that you are using different cleaning sponges and rags for different places in your house to avoid spreading germs around your house unnecessarily.
You should also ensure that the sponges you are using are relatively clean themselves if you actually want to clean things with them, once a household sponge is past it’s prime you should bin it and move onto the next. In a similar practice to the “catch it, bin it, kill it” phrase. In terms of cleaning rags that you are using, ideally you should wash your cleaning rags in the washing machine or hand wash them between uses. As this reduces the chances of bacteria multiplying and then being spread around your house whilst you are cleaning with such bacteria ridden rag.
Leaving Items Outside Whilst You Give Your Hosue A Clean
You may find it easier to clean your house when you just simply take out items within your house and put them outside for the time being but you should avoid doing this as the weather may suddenly change and potentially cause water damage to any electricals you leave outside; which can cause your equipment break or even cause electrocution. The risk multiplies when larger, more power hungry appliances are left outside whilst cleaning the house or shed such as an electric chainsaw from your shed that could seriously electricute you next time you use it if it previously got wet.
Stop Using Fragrenced Cleaning Products
Some people report negative health reactions such as migranes, asthma attacks, breathing difficulties, dizziness, siezures, watery eyes, skin rashes and nausea when using fragrenced cleaning products. If you encounter any of these symptoms you should switch to unscented cleaning products. But it is always worth it to take precautions against such happenings by using unscented cleaning products instead.
Conclusion
By knowing the risks when you are giving your house a clean can help you take steps to avoid them and know when to get medical assistance when it is needed.
