A helping hand to clean

A clean home is truly a happy home. The pressure of modern life has left all of us pressed for time as we are constantly on the move. A superficial cleaning job is not enough to provide the desired results. Spring cleaning has become the new buzzword, as it is integral for maintaining the hygiene and cleanliness of your home.

Yet, how many of us actually embark on a thorough spring cleaning job at home everyday?

In urban India, due to the growing popularity of the housemaid, cleaning becomes a 10-15 minute task comprising the proverbial jhadu-pocha concept. Most people don’t realise that not only is this concept is outdated, but also very unhygienic due to the fact that the dirt is being spread across the floor. This method doesn’t really clean the house thoroughly and still leaves residual dust and germs, which can cause allergies and other ailments.

Most of us envisage spring cleaning to be a day-long and back-breaking affair and that couldn’t be further from the truth. In today’s day and age, there exists a slew of modern gadgets that facilitate the cleaning process at home. Technology has definitely played a key role in enabling us to maintain clean homes in a fraction of the time and does a far more thorough job than the traditional method.

Every Indian home should have a vacuum cleaner. As human beings, we shed over a million skin cells per hour, which mingles with airborne dust to accumulate in furniture, the floor and carpets. The only way to take away all this dirt is through a thorough vacuuming of the entire house. A vacuum cleaner also enables cleaning of furniture, hard to reach nooks and crannies of the wall and floor. Home experts recommend that daily vacuuming is strongly recommended to remove dirt, hair, dander and the smaller microscopic allergens that are invisible to the naked eye.

A steam cleaner is another important gadget that is perfectly suited to the Indian home. In fact, steam cleaning is fast becoming the preferred method for keeping one’s home dirt and grime free. Steam cleaning kills 99.99% of bacteria and doesn’t require the use of toxic and potentially harmful chemicals such as bleach or ammonia.

Only heat and water are used, meaning, your house remains free from chemical residue and pollution. There are several benefits to using steam as a cleaning tool. It is very appropriate for removing allergens from the house and is perfect for cleaning almost every surface in the house. It is also immensely beneficial for mould removal.

Once mould starts growing, particularly in the bathroom, it can produce harmful and deadly mycotoxins that can cause a host of health problems. The high temperature of steam cleaning kills the mould while the bristles of attachments can remove it from cracks and hard-to-reach places altogether.

Many people don’t realise that the benefits include better health and greater productivity. By investing in a couple of must-have products, not only will you be sure of a clean home, but your maid will also thank you. It has never been easier to have a spotless home and ensure that you own a clean and germ-free castle.

(The author is executive vice president, TTK Prestige Limited)