When mess and clutter start to accumulate in your home, it’s tempting to turn a blind eye. After all, taking time out of your busy schedule to clean—especially when everything else on your to-do list is a high priority—can seem like a waste of your elusive downtime. Besides, it’s not like clearing away the dust bunnies or stacked dishes will make a dent in the rest of your day. But you might be surprised to learn that there are many unexpected benefits of a clean home, beyond the obvious.
From better mental health to more money in your wallet, here’s why it’s worth taking the time to declutter your space.
The Fresh Start Effect
If you’re looking forward to a positive change, a clean house can sometimes be the push you need to make it happen. This is thanks to something known as the fresh start effect. The fresh start effect happens when “temporal landmarks”—like a move, an anniversary, a new job, or even a total home cleaning—can be the inspiration we need for a mental shift.
With a freshened home, you get to start with a literal clean slate, allowing you to move toward behavior changes with a little more ease. Whether you’re tackling a new project or starting a new chapter of your life, the mental health benefits of a clean house should not be ignored.
Improved Overall Mental Health
It’s hard to focus on anything when distractions abound—and though you may not want to think of your household mess as a distraction, it certainly is! From spills and stains to dirty laundry, mess and clutter can be a heavy weight on our mental health.
Studies show that clutter can increase our levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, which in turn can make us feel anxious and depressed. Cleaning this clutter, then, is a great way to better manage your stress in the long-term.
Better Sleep
If you have a hard time sleeping, you aren’t alone. More Americans than ever struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep, and many have difficulty getting the recommended eight hours each night. If you’ve tried a range of techniques to get better rest, one solution may be the simplest one: clean your bedroom!
According to a survey by the National Sleep Foundation, 7 in 10 people get better sleep on fresh sheets. And as mentioned above, cleaning up clutter and mess can lower our levels of stress and anxiety, both of which can make it hard to get a good night’s rest.
Healthier Food Choices
If there’s one bad habit many people fall into, it’s making poor food choices when we’re stressed or anxious.
When your home is dirty and cluttered, the resulting anxiety can tempt us to snack on our favorite unhealthy comfort foods or processed snacks for those feel-good chemicals we get from sating our cravings. Worse, a smelly and unclean kitchen isn’t exactly the ideal environment for cooking, which can make us more likely to reach for a quick snack or microwave meal instead of making our own food.
However, the opposite is true as well! When we spend our time in an ordered and tidy environment, we are more likely to make smarter food choices than we otherwise would.
Fewer Allergy Symptoms
One of the best health benefits of a clean home? As you might expect, a cleaner home often means fewer allergy symptoms for you and your family.
This is true whether you suffer from “indoor” allergies like pet hair and dust mites or “outdoor” allergies like pollen. Pollen and other common outdoor allergens are easy to track inside by accident, which can allow them to accumulate on the surfaces of your home.
Vacuuming often, changing bed sheets, cleaning window dressings, and dusting with a moist cloth can help keep those itchy eyes and stuffy sinuses at bay.
Save More Money
In the long-term, keeping a clean house can save you more money than a dirty one would, for several reasons.
First, cleaning on a regular basis reduces the need for heavy-duty cleaning in the future. For example, taking good care of your carpets means you won’t need to have someone come in to deep clean them as often.
Second, dirt and grime can damage objects more than we often realize. From household appliances to wood furniture to bathroom fixtures, our possessions work best—and longest—when they’re cleaned on a regular basis. And less maintenance and repairs means more money stays in your wallet!
More Opportunities to Host
When our homes are an embarrassing wreck, most of us are less likely to open our doors to be hospitable. After all, the standard “Sorry about the mess” only goes so far!
When your home is cleaned on a regular basis, you can feel much more at ease having friends and family stop by—even unexpectedly—and less anxiety over what they might see.
More Guilt-Free Relaxation
Here’s one of the more subtle clean house advantages: you get more time back in your day! If you’ve ever felt guilty about relaxing or taking time for yourself instead of cleaning a messy house, regular cleaning services can make that guilt disappear. (This is especially true if your relaxation is disrupted by the thought of fifteen things you should be doing.)
Remember that feeling, when you were younger, of finally being able to play once your chores were done? A good cleaning makes that happen—and a good cleaning service makes it happen without the effort on your end!
Experience the Benefits of a Clean Home
Whether you break out the mop and broom yourself or hire a cleaning service, taking time to clear away your household mess has a few great advantages. From better breathing to guilt-free relaxation, it’s time to experience the change for yourself.
If you’re ready to experience the benefits of a clean home—without the hassle of doing it on your own—we’re here to help. Hubbard’s Maid Service offers the cleaning services Savannah homeowners trust, and our team will have your home looking like new in no time. Contact us to learn more!
