How often should your parents clean their oven? How about their bathtub or shower stall? How often should they change their sheets, towels, or sponge? If your family isn’t sure, you’re not alone. Many people fail to clean these areas or wash items often enough.
Sheets and Bed
Your parents should wash and dry sheets every week. People often go a couple of weeks, but dirt and oils from the skin get onto the sheets and can impact skin health by clogging the pores.
Wash sheets weekly in hot water. Dry them completely. Every two or three months, sprinkle baking soda on the mattress, let it sit, and vacuum it off.
Toilet and Shower
The bathroom is a gathering place for bacteria. Toilets should be cleaned at least once a week. Showers should be disinfected weekly. When cleaning the shower, make sure you clean the shower curtain and liner to prevent mildew growth.
Towels should be replaced and washed every two or three days. Not only do bacteria thrive on a damp towel, but fungi can too. Again, wash them in hot water and dry thoroughly.
Sinks
Sinks in the bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room collect plenty of bacteria. Rinse them out after use. Sanitize them with a bleach cleaner every day.
Rinse the sponge out after using it. Soak it in a mixture of bleach and water and squeeze it out. Let it dry that way until the next use. Twice a week, place it in the microwave for two minutes to kill any bacteria that have developed.
Appliances
Kitchen appliances like a microwave or stove/oven should be cleaned of messes soon after they happen. Beyond that, a thorough cleaning every three or four months is good. A refrigerator and freezer can be cleaned twice a year.
In the laundry room, clean the washing machine yearly to remove odors. The dryer and its vent hose should be cleaned and inspected once a year to prevent fire. Also have the heating, cooling, and water heater cleaned and checked each year or as recommended by your parents’ HVAC specialist.
Flooring
If your parents have pets, vacuuming, sweeping, and mopping can be a daily task. You want to keep dirt and pet hair to a minimum. If shedding isn’t a major issue in your parents’ house, cleaning the floors weekly is recommended. Clean up spills as soon as they happen.
Sofas and Chairs
In a home with pets, clean upholstery four times a year. The start of each season is a good time to remember this. If there are no pets, twice a year is good.
Let Elder Care Services Help Out
How often can you get to your parents’ house to clean for them? If you have a hard time going more often than every few weeks, it’s time to talk to your family about elder care. Your parents can have help with housekeeping. All it takes is you to call and arrange elder care services for them.
If you or someone you know needs hiring Elder Care in Blaine, MN, contact Adara Home Health Care. We provide quality and affordable home care services for many fragile or senior members in the communities we serve.
Call us at (888) 660-5772 for more information.