There is powerful psychology behind cleaning. For some of us, even the sight of a clean and tidy home, can help blunt the effects of a stressful day. A more organized and clean house can lead to more production. You’re less stressed and more focused without distractions from clutter and dirt. Without distractions in place, your mind can process at a faster pace. It’s time to take a look at the connection between a clean house and mental health. 

Aside from having a cleaner home, the relationship between cleanliness and mental health can help us reduce anxiety and other mental health issues. This may come as a surprise but housekeeping produces endorphins which improve the ability to sleep, which in turn reduces stress. Regular participation in an aerobic exercise like scrubbing and mopping has been shown to decrease overall levels of tension, elevate and stabilize mood, improve sleep and self-esteem. Running up and down the stairs, carrying items from room to room, and scrubbing windows can burn calories, release endorphins, and help you blow off steam.  If you incorporate mindfulness into your cleaning, the work can actually be a form of meditation, leaving you more relaxed after you finish. According to Good Housekeeping 70% of Americans say tidying their home offers them a feeling of accomplishment, 61% say it makes them feel de-stressed, and 54% say they experience relaxation. A positive mental state will help you stay on top of your daily tasks. 

Few things are more satisfying than entering a perfectly clean home. Unfortunately, once your house is clean, it becomes easier to slip into bad habits. You might be tempted to leave your jacket on the floor because going to the coat rack feels like too much work. Or you might squeeze a book into an overcrowded bookshelf, because what’s one book anyway? Soon enough, your home will be just as disorganized as before. The process of wiping down your desk counter, washing your sheets, making your bed, going through clutter, taking out the trash, washing the dishes, dusting the shelves, and other hands-on cleaning-related activities can lead to a very blissful, meditative state. By thinking about what you are cleaning you might find an extra appreciation that you didn't realize you were lucky to have before. Inner peace comes more from wanting what you have than from having what you want, unearthing the wonderful haven beneath the dirt and clutter can bring a new level of gratitude for all that you have.

 Stay on top of chores and tasks in order to help yourself from getting in a rut. It’s easy to undermine the power of organizing and decluttering; however, especially while we are all confined to sheltering-in-place, remember the wide-ranging mental health benefits, and embrace your cleaning.

There are plenty of products on the market that claim to disinfect, sanitize and clean surfaces. However, what does disinfection actually do and how is it different from sanitizing? Today we will talk about the difference between sanitizing and disinfection and how these simple cleaning tasks impact your home. 

Disinfection is defined as the thermal or chemical destruction of pathogenic and other types of microorganisms. Chemicals used in the disinfection process are called disinfectants. These products have different disinfectant properties and are not always successful at eliminating all microorganisms. Disinfectants are usually used after a cleaning product in order to add another layer of safety to the home. Although disinfectants and sanitizing agents aim to accomplish the same goals, the truth is they are different from one another.

While anyone can maintain a “clean” space, not everyone has the ability to maintain a sanitary space. Sanitization is defined as the ability to reduce or eliminate bacteria on the surface to make it sanitary. Whether or not something is sanitary is defined by public health standards. The EPA or Environmental Protection Agency actively regulates sanitizers and disinfectants to make sure they meet the pre-defined criteria. When you sanitize, you are reducing the number of bacteria present by 99.9 percent, but doing nothing about viruses and fungus. Sanitizing is better than cleaning alone as it drastically reduces pathogens on different surfaces and materials. Inadequate sanitation is a major cause of global diseases including cholder, typhoid and dysentery. With this information in mind, it’s easy to see how sanitation goes far beyond cleanliness, impacting global health and economic development issues. 

With thousands of products available, it’s hard to know if you’re making the right decisions when it comes to cleaning agents that protect against the spread of COVID-19. This also means that you should proceed with caution when it comes to products that claim to treat surfaces for days. These products work by leaving a disinfectant on hard, nonporous surfaces for hours; when the disinfectant goes inactive, a film is left behind. You have to factor in the time it takes to kill germs. When evaluating both sanitizers and disinfectants, this should be listed on a product’s label. Some chemical formulas kill respective germs in 5 minutes and others in just one minute or less.  

Keeping your family and friends safe from Covid-19 is one of your top priorities. Remember, disinfecting is a repetitive process. You might need to disinfect your home multiple times a day depending on transmission rates.The same goes for sanitization. More is always better than less.  When in doubt, just remember that a clean surface isn’t always sanitized, but a sanitized surface is always clean. Don’t just clean your home, PurLite it. 

Recently PurLite had the opportunity to talk to Laurie Taylor on her Podcast The Produce Moms. With over 100 podcasts under their belt, the website and podcast is aimed at mothers with a mission in encouraging the use of fresh produce. On the episode PurLite co-founders Kurt and Tim spoke in depth about the history of the company, accomplishments and future goals. 

“We think of ourselves as a light company,” Kurt said. The GM went into further detail explaining the validity of the product. PurLite is sunshine in a box. Using premium grade uv-c light bulbs, sanitization is guaranteed. There are all sorts of different ultraviolet boxes or wands out in the market now due to Covid-19. They all claim to have  gold-standard products that are effective in killing the coronavirus. However, most of these businesses only started in the beginning of this year attempting to capitalize off of the crisis. The PurLite team has been working the past few years to bring you a product that is efficient and reliable, eliminating germs with ease and sanitizes your home. 

“I can tell you as a consumer that it is best in its class, I mean I have confidence in it,” Laurie said on the podcast while discussing the product. Laurie herself has a PurLite in her home and talked at length on the podcast about all the things she sanitizes in her unit. 

When talking about the cleaning process it is important to note that cleaning alone does not kill all germs. Cleaning is designed to remove all visible dirt, soil, chemical residues and allergens from equipment, utensils and work surfaces. Whereas sanitizing is designed to reduce the number of microorganisms to a safer level. Sanitizing is usually performed after cleaning. Unclean surfaces will reduce the effectiveness of sanitizing. You can clean every day, but you should always sanitize to keep your home or workplace safe. While we are currently social distancing and self-quarantining across the country, that doesn't mean we don't need to sanitize. Many of us still leave our homes to run errands or go to work. Always remember to sanitize your hands when you return before you start touching objects in your home

“We want to make it accessible to everyone,” Tim said while talking about the movement of uv-c light from the medical field into the home. Be aware of sanitizing products you choose. Many of them contain harmful chemicals that can actually pose a health threat to your family and your pets. PurLite is different. Using our unique UV-C light bulb, PurLite sanitizes 99.9% of germs in only 30 seconds. Make no mistake, using ultraviolet light is by no means new. Ultraviolet light has been a friend to the disinfection world for over a century. UV-C light carries the most energy capable of destroying the chemical bonds that hold together the DNA and RNA of viruses and bacteria, stopping them from working. After countless hours of lab testing with some of the foremost uv-c scientists in the U.S. 

If you would like to listen to the podcast at home, check out The Produce Moms for more information.