You may be familiar with the joke about the mom cleaning the house and automatically the kids asking, “Who’s coming over?” Often, we think housecleaning is only to prepare for company or special occasions. But did you know that cleaning is good for your health? Not only that, it can save you money.
A clean home can even help you avoid a home insurance claim. It might seem impossible to keep a clean house, but when you start to enjoy the benefits, you’ll see why it needs to be a priority. Here are some surprising money-saving ways a clean home is good for you.
#1–Cleaning Lengthens the Lifespan of your Belongings
When you keep a tidy home, your belongings tend to last longer. Disuse is the fastest way for things to degrade. Even regular shower cleaning keeps mold at bay to lengthen the life of your grout or sealant.
Cleaning hardwood floors and granite countertops keep acidic or oily substances from ruining finishes. Using and maintaining your ultimate vacuum cleaner regularly keeps its gaskets and tubes from becoming brittle or stuck. Cleaning and maintaining just about everything can make it last longer.
Keeping a clean outdoor space prevents unwanted roommates. Leaving piles to rot around the outside of your home attracts pests and invasive plants. Cleaning and treating your deck lengthens the life of the boards.
Yard maintenance like cleaning up weeds, cleaning your grill, trimming your trees, and other activities, helps you stay on top of your property. In addition, you will spend less on expensive items in the long run by performing preventative maintenance.
#2–Cleaning Prevents Unnecessary Purchases
When you maintain a good cleaning routine, you get into the habit of knowing where things are. As a result, you are less likely to accidentally purchase unnecessary multiples of specific items.
Neglecting home maintenance of your home increases your chance of buying stuff you already have because you forgot you had it. When you don’t know what you already have, buying new is more convenient. This can lead to excessive waste of finances and space.
With bigger ticket items, cleaning them can help you avoid premature replacement. Using a pumice stone, you can make your toilet look new and get a few more years out of it. By cleaning faucet build-up, you can keep your faucet looking new when you otherwise might be tempted to throw it away and just get a new one.
#3–Cleaning Keeps You In Control of What You Already Have
A clean home is often more ordered than a messy or dirty house. When you have things in order, you can be more efficient in using what you have. Cleaning goes hand in hand with organization. And organization helps efficiency.
When you use things you already have, you can have the luxury of waiting until something goes on sale to replace it. Cleaning gives you the mental exercise of facing items you already have, and whether you write a list or keep a mental list, you’ll know what to watch for in sales.
#4–Cleaning Reduces Mental Health Costs
Significant conversations are happening on the topic of mental health. Self-care is a hot topic. Did you know that keeping an orderly cleaning routine benefits your mental health? Sometimes the best self-care is more than bubble baths and involves improving your living space.
Keeping a clean house helps things not to build up to the level you feel overwhelmed. Many studies show the negative effects of clutter and mess on mental health. A dirty home can be devastating to a family. You can’t put a price on the family environment.
Even the sight of a tidy home can help an overwhelmed person unwind. Cleaning also provides a sense of authority over your environment. Exercising control and ownership over your household cleaning can be empowering.
#5–Cleaning Lowers the Risk of Accidents
Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death in the elderly population. When your home is cluttered, you increase fall risks in every age category. A messy or dirty house is an accident waiting to happen.
One of the best ways to keep home insurance premiums down is to prevent avoidable claims. Maintaining a clean house aids this endeavor. For example, cleaning the kitchen and bathroom alerts you to failing caulk and can prevent water damage.
Cleaning attics and storage areas can alert you to pest infestations and prevent worse damage. In addition, personal injury risk is lowered in clean and maintained spaces.
A clean garage reduces your risk of pests and fire hazards. Reducing stacks and clutter in your garage also makes it easier to avoid accidents and injury. Cleaning out hazardous liquids prevents chemical accidents as well. By maintaining an orderly and clean garage, you improve its safety.
#6–Cleaning Provides a Safer Home
Clogged dryer vents, pest infestations, piles of clutter, greasy range hoods, and laboring exhaust fans all increase the risk of fire in your home. House fires cause an average of over 2,500 civilian deaths a year and many more injuries. Cleaning lowers your fire risk and keeps your family safer.
Black mold and excessive dust contribute to poor health. Indoor air quality is a hot topic of study currently. The air quality inside an average home can be two to five times worse than outdoor air.
Cleaning your house with nontoxic cleaners can improve your air quality. By maintaining a clean house, you do not have to rely on heavy chemicals and corrosive substances to combat build-up and extensive deep filth.
The cost of vent cleaning, mold mitigation, pest control, and the cost of fire aftermath are all high prices to pay. However, by keeping your home clean, you can avoid these hazards entirely or at least reduce their frequency.
#7–Cleaning Saves on Services
Cleaning services and especially deep clean providers can charge a steep price. They have every right to charge exorbitant amounts to do a task that most people dislike. You can keep your cleaning costs down if you follow a consistent routine that maintains a clean home.
Just by doing weekly chores, you can minimize your dependence on cleaning services. Employing a cleaning person is a great idea. Most people who hire cleaning services wonder what took them so long to make the call.
But even if you employ cleaning services, you can get lower rates by handling in-between cleaning yourself. And when you keep up on light cleaning, the task isn’t so impossible to do.
For the sake of your mental health, your wallet, and your safety, get on a good cleaning schedule. Keeping a clean home saves money but also saves things that you can’t put a price tag on.
