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.

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. 

Here we are yet again with another blog centered around cleaning. Children love to make a mess, but cleaning? Yea it isn’t their strong suit. It can be a challenge to keep things clean, neat, and orderly when you've got young children at home, but it's not impossible. Start teaching your kids how to clean when they're young and you won’t end up cleaning their room for them when they're 17! 

The Basics 

When teaching your little ones about the world of cleaning you have to start small. Our bodies are amazing!  Day after day, they work hard to digest food, pump blood and oxygen, sending signals from our brains, and much more. However, there are tiny invaders that tend to make our bodies sick. We call them germs. Germs are found all over the world, in all kinds of places!  The four main types of germs being bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. They invade plants, animals, and people, and sometimes they can even make us sick. Once germs are inside of us, they stay there. They eat our nutrients and can produce toxins that can be harmful to us. So how do we protect ourselves from germs? Cleaning! Remember the words that germs fear soap, water, and disinfectants. Now that you know the facts about germs, let’s learn some ways to make your kids part of the solution, rather than the problem. 

Expectations 

 Little kids may not have the coordination or dexterity to neatly make their beds every morning, so a good first effort may be to have them pull the comforter up to the top of the bed! It is important to be proud of the little things and not to expect perfection on the first try. Give kids a timeframe to focus their attention and get the task done. 

Chores can be fun! 

Make housework fun by incorporating games into various chores. If your kids feel like 30 seconds is a lifetime when washing their hands, pick a catchy song to dance and sing to whilst they’re doing it as a distraction to make the time fly by. If your kids are a bit too old to believe the idea of “tiny monsters” that live inside your body, why not turn arts and crafts into a valuable learning opportunity. This will give an accurate enough representation of what germs look like underneath a microscope

Chore Chart 

Chore charts are great as they encourage kids to go above and beyond expectations in keeping the house neat and organized as well as being recognized and celebrated for kind, generous, or helpful behavior! Add a smiley face for every time they washed or brushed teeth or made bed and offer a fun reward at the end. 

No Redo’s 

The last thing you want is to send your child a message that their work wasn’t good enough. They can grow discouraged and defeated by the task leaving them less likely to attempt the same task in the future Try to be as supportive and encouraging as possible when teaching your kids how to clean. Even if the job isn't done precisely, you should thank them for their effort rather than insincerely praising them for a less-than-successful execution. Then practice the task again together and offer helpful hints that will result in more success!