Housecleaning Facts for Kids

Clipart of a lady cleaning

Housecleaning is what people do to remove mess, trash, and dirt from houses and put things where they belong so the house looks neat.

Housecleaning makes it easier to see the floor and furniture without clutter in the way. It also leaves fewer places for spiders and insects to live and removes dust so that people in the house can breathe more easily. Housecleaning may be sweeping the floor with a broom, cleaning rugs with a vacuum cleaner, cleaning clothes and putting them away, and washing windows. Washing a sponge, squeezing out the water, and placing it on a dish rack to dry is also part of housecleaning.

Clutter
Health
- Dust allergies
Cleaning chemicals
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Clutter

Clutter is things that either should not be in the house at all or have been put in the wrong place. A teacup in the middle of the floor is clutter. A teacup on its shelf is not clutter. Places people put things away on shelves, in drawers, and on hangers.

Health

Cleaning the house removes germs, dust and other things that can harm health.

Dust allergies

Dust can make people sneeze, cough, and get watery eyes. Dust can give people esrash and trouble breathing. Dust can come from smoke, cotton, small bits of soap, pollen, mold spores, dried cat saliva, pieces of spider web, skin flakes, cloth fibers, insect fibers, or tiny bits of food.

Cleaning chemicals

There are five main kinds of chemicals that people use for housecleaning:

Surfactants help water get things wet faster.
Alkaline chemicals like soap and baking soda can make mud and grease easier to wash away.
Acidic chemicals like vinegar and orange juice can make mustard, wine, tea, coffee, rust, dry soap suds, and limescale easier to wash away.
Flammable solvents like turpentine can make paint easier to wash away.
Disinfectants kill germs, fungus, and mold.

Bredenberg, Jeff, Managing Editor; Researchers, writers and others. 1998. Clean It Fast, Clean It Right: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE to Making Absolutely Everything You Own Sparkle & Shine. Emmaus, PA: Rodale, Inc ISBN: 1-57954-019-8 paperback www.rodalestore.com
Gove, P. B. and others. 1961. Housecleaning. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Company.