Cleaning Science I: What is Dirt?

​Before you can effectively remove dirt, you need to understand what it is! This video is part one for this month's newsletter theme of "Cleaning Science Tips". You will absolutely be disgusted, but it's for the best... I promise!

Dirt or soil varies greatly depending on which part of the home you’re cleaning. At the macro-level, get ready to deal with:

• Hair (human, cat, dog, etc) – Primarily in the bathroom
• Soap scum & the byproducts of the body – Primarily in bathrooms
• Grease – Primarily in the kitchen
• Foot traffic material from clay, soil, grass, etc – Primarily on floors
• Food & the byproducts of food – Primarily in the kitchen and floors
• Dust – This includes dead skin, furniture & carpet fibers, outdoor soil, pollen, mold, fireplace coal & smoke, construction-related, household chemicals, and other allergens.
• Cobwebs – Primarily in basements, wall corners & ceilings during the “spider season”. This season is different depending on where you live.

And you’re dealing with pathogens at the micro-level, which are bacterium, viruses, and other microorganisms (like mold) that can cause disease. These are found throughout the house. Make sure to check out my educational series, "The 9 Mistakes in Disinfecting", to learn more about this.

Once you identify the DIRT you're dealing with, you need to suspend the DIRT to remove it. We'll cover this next week in our "Cleaning Science Tips: How to Use TACT".