10 Ways to Safely Clean Your Home In Your Senior Years

The physical activity of cleaning, combined with the result of a cleaner home, helps reduce stress, feelings of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Stress can make your body start to fall apart, and as you enter your senior years, the last thing you want is a lowered immune system, poor sleeping habits and other health issues.  

If you are recognising signs of long-term stress (Abre numa nova janela), take a look around your environment and observe how clean it is. Could your home be tidier? Could you benefit from having less clutter? Is your home unsafe? If you answer yes to any of these questions, here are 10 safe and quick cleaning tips for seniors. 

Safe and quick cleaning tips for seniors

1. Declutter

Before you do any of the below cleaning tips and tricks, start with a good declutter. Living in a cluttered house with unwanted and poorly placed things is a major health hazard (Abre numa nova janela). Clutter in the home increases your risk of a fall and makes regular cleaning a challenge with more things to keep tidy. Follow these safety tips (Abre numa nova janela) for decluttering wisely. 

2. Use ‘set and forget’ cleaning products

‘Set and forget’ cleaning techniques help to keep items in your home cleaner for longer and can help remove tough stains without the need for elbow grease. Apply air wax to your vents to keep them duster-free for longer or add a jar of white vinegar to your toilet’s tank (Abre numa nova janela) to prevent water stains. Commercialised ‘wet and forget’ products not only clean mold and mildew, but inhibit the regrowth (Abre numa nova janela) while deodorising and disinfecting.

3. Make use of gadgets

Tools such as Angry Mama (Abre numa nova janela) are helpful in making your microwave easier to clean. Simply add vinegar and water and let steam do the hard work for you. A robot vacuum (Abre numa nova janela) can gain access to hard-to-reach places and will do almost all the work of cleaning the floor for you. You can even set it to work when you’ve left the house! 

4. Get friendly with your broom

Your broom is a versatile cleaning tool (Abre numa nova janela) and can be used to clean most hard-to-reach places. Use a clean broom and your favourite cleaner to scrub your shower and bath tub. Wrap a cloth around your broom and secure it with a rubber band to clean the skirting boards. Save yourself from bending over or stretching and take unwanted pressure off your back when wiping things down.

5. Press n’ Seal your fridge

Lining your refrigerator shelves with Glad Press n’ Seal makes clean ups in the fridge (Abre numa nova janela) easy. When shelves get messy, simply peel the wrap off, throw it away and then recover. Press n’ Seal can also be used to protect your kitchen counter from sauce stains caused by laying your utensils next to your stove. 

6. Use your dishwasher in new ways

A dishwasher can be used to clean much more than just dishes, it can clean everything from potatoes to oven knobs, air vents and the grandkid’s toys. Running things through the dishwasher is a great way for things to get a deep clean without you having to do it by hand. 

7. Wear personal protective equipment

When using harsh chemicals, wearing protective clothing prevents your skin, nose, eyes, throat and lungs from coming into contact. Additionally, PPE helps prevent exposure (Abre numa nova janela) to illness-causing bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes. 

8. Ask for help

House cleaning can often involve moving heavy furniture which is not something you should be attempting to do on your own. Ask for help from friends, neighbours and relatives or hire a reliable professional to give you a hand or do the work for you. Find a good cleaning service provider (Abre numa nova janela) and your stress will be reduced in an instant. 

9. Open your windows

Let cleaning occur naturally and allow fresh air to come inside and take away impurities. Open your windows for a few hours each day and improve air quality (Abre numa nova janela) by eliminating germs and toxic substances and ensuring adequate air flow and ventilation. 

10. Make a cleaning schedule

Ageing doesn’t only make it physically more challenging (Abre numa nova janela) to clean, it can also mean you forget to undertake certain cleaning tasks. To ensure you don’t forget to clean areas of your home, create a cleaning schedule (Abre numa nova janela) and stick with it. You can assign your cleaning schedule to daily, weekly, monthly and yearly tasks. 

Maintaining cleanliness in your home

When you’ve entered your golden years of life, your mobility may not be what it once was. When cleaning, always have safety in your mind and don’t overdo it. Use technology (Abre numa nova janela) to your advantage, be prepared for an emergency and when it doubt, let the professionals handle it. 

Maintaining the cleanliness of your home is made all the more important when you’re older and the healthier you make your home the more you can limit sickness, trips and falls. Disinfect frequently touched spots and protect yourself when dusting or using any strong cleaner. Prioritise rooms (Abre numa nova janela) that are used the most, like the bathroom and the kitchen, and break-up the tasks as much as possible. Don’t just clean on one day, make it a part of your every-day routine but in small, manageable parts.