Even a bed sit has a sleeping area. Keeping an area such as this clean is so very important due to the small amount of space to live every aspect of life in. However, it doesn’t matter how small or big and how many rooms you have, the bedroom is still a place of bacteria party ground.
Think about the things we do in the bedroom. We change out of our dirty clothes, do our hair, leave smelly socks and pants on the floor perhaps and then in an adult’s room there are others activities that take place. Just imagine the bacteria that are taking up residence in just one night.
You may even be sick with a hand over or genuine illness. Some of us allow our pets to accompany us while sleeping and then there are teenagers. They will eat, drink and have any number of friends round in such a small place at any given time.
Ok, first things first.
Strip the bed;
Take down the curtains and blinds, remove any light shades, pictures should be took down and anything that is on the floor should be put away or placed in the wash. Now your room is ready for a good spring clean.
Get the vacuum out and the duster. Take a look at the ceiling, are there any dust webs? If so, get them down. If you have the kind of walls that you can wipe down then please do so. If not, just go over them with a dry clean cloth to remove any dust that has got caught.
Now take a look at the windows.
Using the correct chemicals and method, get them sparkling. Water, a splash of vinegar, a cloth and some news paper to polish with after should leave them looking invisible. Wipe the frames over with some soapy water and a cloth.
You can use the same water and cloth to wipe down the radiators and any work surfaces like a chest of draws or desk etc. You will probably want to polish the surfaces after cleaning. Use a house hold polish and polishing cloth for this.
Now you can start on the bed.
The last thing you want to find is bed bugs. They are around 5-6mm long, rusty brown in colour, wingless and oval in shape. They live for 5 weeks – 4 months depending on the temperature and how much food they have. You would find small batches of white sticky eggs on any rough surface and dried blood spots if you had them in your home. They rest behind pictures and other dark crevices. They feed at night and just are not very nice.
Dust mites are the most common pest in any home. They are invisible to the naked eye; 2-3 million of them would be living in a mattress more than 2 years old and they just love eating our dead skin. The bed is the most popular site for living because it’s warm and has a regular delivery of food. It is said that a pillow would be 10% lighter if the mites that reside in it were evicted.
Though they don’t cause much harm to us, they are responsible for irritating existing allergies and besides, they are related to spiders and scorpions, they just don’t look or sound too pretty to me.
The mattress.
Vacuum the mattress and replace the pillows and duvet now and then. If you think you have a real problem you can replace the mattress or get an insecticide designed to kill then to treat your bed with.
Duvet covers, pillow cases and nightwear;
The bedding and sleeping cloths should be put through the wash regularly. This will keep bacteria down to a minimum.
Sleeping.
As we sleep in our beds its good practice to take a shower before bed. This will help to remove your dead skin and dirt from your body so as to put the mites on a diet therefore reducing their numbers.
Floors.
The carpet can harbour many nasty things too. This should be vacuumed daily if need be. If you have stains on your carpet you can buy stain removers for these jobs or you could make a mix of some house hold chemicals such as salt or toothpaste up to rub in the stain. If this fails then hiring a processional carpet cleaner could be an option. You could hire a company to come and clean it for you or as a last resort, replace the carpets. Some bedrooms might have laminate floors or even no carpet, just the floor boards. They still need to be swept and vacuumed and cleaned with a mop or damp cloth.
Other.
Remember to venture inside your draw, cupboards and wardrobes now and then too. These will give germs a safe place to party so you need to evict them.
Sleep well and sleep clean.