WITH the Lunar New Year coming up, households marking the celebration will be fully into spring cleaning.
A time of hosting family and friends naturally calls for the home to be clean and ready to receive guests, as well as making it easier to combat post-gathering clean-ups, such as food stains on carpets or greasy ovens.
According to Dyson's Global Dust Study, 10 per cent of respondents around the world deep clean their homes only once a year or less.
And with more people looking to stay in rather than out this year, deep cleaning can set you up for a cleaner, healthier home, as well as give you a head start on reducing post-visiting clean-up.
To help you achieve a stress-free celebration, here are some tips from Dyson on how to clean room by room.
Living Room
Set aside time to clean up high. Ceilings and appliances mounted high such as ceiling fans, chandeliers or air-conditioning units are among the dustiest places.
Remove anything mounted on your walls (photo frames, clocks) and vacuum dust that has built up on the walls. Don't forget to vacuum around the crevices of immovable furniture (bookcases, televisions).
Don't forget curtains and blinds as well. Vacuum dust away before washing curtains at 60-90 degree celsius to kill any germs and bacteria.
Carpets are the perfect hiding place for dust mites, where they cling deeply in the fibres. Vacuum to reduce the number of dust mites and to remove their food source.
Bedrooms
Vacuum both sides of your mattress to remove dust mites and skin flakes.
Don't forget to wash any removable coverings (bedsheets, cushion covers) at 60-90 degree celsius to kill any germs and bacteria.
For pet beds in the bedroom, use a Dyson Hair Screw Tool to remove pet hair and microscopic allergens from dog beds you can't launder. For those that can be washed, remove coverings or pillows and wash at 60-90 degrees.
Kitchen
Clear kitchen counters and cupboards to deep clean. Vacuum above and below appliances like your refrigerator, scrub down your sink and wipe down all kitchen appliances and stovetops to remove any build-up. Follow up by making sure all surfaces are dry.
Clean the oven at least a week in advance of cooking your festive meals as oven cleaning products often release harmful Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Use an air purifier with HEPA filtration to minimise airborne compounds in your home faster.
Bathroom
Clean your bathroom from top to bottom and not just the toilet bowl and sink.
The grouting on your bathroom tiles can turn a nasty orange colour due to mould and mildew growing in humidity. Make a paste from baking soda and
water and scrub it onto the grout with an old toothbrush to return it to its original colour. Also try ventilating your bathroom to reduce mould growth.
KEEP IN MIND
*Depending on the size of your home, split up the task of vacuuming by rooms or floors as doing your whole home at one time can be a tough feat.
*Vacuuming top-down ensures you're capturing any fallen dust. Make sure to clean all corners and crevices, as well as under and around furniture.
*Vacuum cleaners aren't designed to only clean your floors and carpets. With the right attachments, they can be used to clean everything, from your mattress to your air conditioning unit, making spring cleaning a breeze.
*Do remember to turn on your air purifier when you're cooking up a storm for your reunion dinner.
*Do note that if spills like red wine happen during your gathering, speed is of the essence. Add a little soda water or white wine to the spill to neutralise the stain and soak up excess liquid by placing a towel over the spill and treading on it.
*If dinner remnants stay welded to the bottom of the pan, add one tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda and one cup of boiling water to it, leave to work its magic and your pan will look like new for your next specialty dish.
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