Lifestyle 09/09/2021

Important Household Jobs That Are Often Forgotten About

It’s difficult to get into a homecare routine at the best of times, especially if you've just made the move to your new home, so we appreciate it may not be on the top of everyone’s to-do list. However, you might be starting to think that your home needs a little love and care and having a homecare routine will help you provide some much needed attention to those everyday jobs we often forget.

We've listed the top household jobs that are most commonly forgotten about when conducting your weekly wipe around to help you get your house into tip-top shape. Take a look below.

Getting under/behind bigger pieces of furniture

Unlike wiping down the surfaces in the kitchen or dusting your windowsills, cleaning under or behind big pieces of furniture is often a job that gets forgotten about as we can’t visually see the mess like we can with other things.

That goes for things like your washing machine, sofa and fridge (don’t forget the coils, too!), and we’re predicting once you’ve done this, you’ll feel an immense sense of smugness knowing that behind your wardrobe is squeaky clean!

Refreshing your household bins

It can be very easy to forget about wiping down your kitchen, bedroom and bathroom bins after you empty them, but this is really important for general cleanliness, protection against germs and eliminating those nasty smells (and sometimes even pests – bleurgh!)

Just giving them a swill with antibacterial liquid diluted with water after you empty them will really help the general upkeep, unless the bag has split or something has been spilled, in which case you’ll need to give it some elbow grease!

Cleaning your cooker hood filter

While giving the cooker, hob and hood a wipe down might be part of your daily or weekly cleaning regime, how often do you think about cleaning your extractor fan? Leaving the fan filter for a while could create a build-up of cooking grease that will prove a little tougher to get back to sparkling. But never fear, a little soap and water should do the trick!

Testing your smoke/carbon monoxide detectors

Testing your smoke alarms is something that most people only remember to do when it starts making that tedious beeping sound in the middle of the night, but it’s important that you remember to test these once a month. All it takes is a touch of the button until the little alarm sounds, and then you’re good to go.

The same goes for carbon monoxide detectors, these should also be tested regularly in the same way to ensure the safety of your home and your family.

Replenishing your dishwasher with salt and rinse aid

While we’re talking about monthly jobs, you might want to add topping up the salt and rinse aid in the dishwasher to your list. Make sure you give it a full top up about once a month to ensure your dishwasher is working to the best of its ability. It might help to assign a day like the 1^st or 15^thof the month to make sure this chore becomes a habit.

Refreshing your bed

Although this can seem like a mammoth job, it’s very important to make sure that you are cleaning your bedding and mattress regularly to eliminate the build-up of dust and dead skin cells (🤢) that could cause allergies or disturbed sleep.

Start by stripping and washing your bed linen, then you can move onto the mattress. For a comprehensive guide of how to effectively clean your mattress, Which? have outlined a very helpful step-by-step process.

Servicing your boiler

Another one of those jobs that if put off too long can cause a lot of inconvenience – you don’t want to be stuck with no heating when its -2°C and snowing outside! A boiler service is recommended annually and will need to be conducted by a professional who can administer a Gas Safe certificate once the service is complete. It should take around half an hour (unless there are any major issues) and then you can put your mind at rest for another twelve months. Phew!

Checking your water pressure

Unless you’ve experienced an issue with your water pressure like a loss of power in your shower or taps, you might not even think about checking it regularly. This is something that can be done by a professional if you don’t know where to start, or something that you could learn to understand yourself if you’d like a project. Plumbcare have an easy-to-follow guide for checking the water pressure in your home and how to rectify it if there’s an issue.

Keeping your washing machine/dryer in check

To ensure your washing machine is performing in the most efficient way for your home (and your wallet!), you’ll want to make sure you’re keeping it clean. Things like regularly washing out the detergent drawer and emptying the filter should keep it happy and prevent any bigger issues.

You’ll want to make sure that you’re removing fluff from your dryer filter as well if you have one, as clogging this up will only end in clothes coming out covered in dirty fluff that may require another wash – and who’s got time for that?

Inspecting your roof gutters

This one is a little less regular, but just as important! As the seasons change, you’ll want to think about checking your roofing and gutters for leaks and debris that could cause issues later down the line. The more miserable

the weather in autumn and winter might mean that a seemingly small existing problem could turn into something much bigger, that requires professional attention and money to put right.

If you feel comfortable getting up a ladder, then this is something that you could do yourself, but there are people who do this for a living who can spot smaller issues before they become bigger problems, so it could be useful to give them a call.

Give them a go! If you’ve got any tips of caring for your home, let us know on social media, using the hashtag #KeepmoatHomes.