Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 7, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ● C3 TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2025 How to clean the grossest spots in your home GETTING DOWN TO THE DIRTY E . coli on the doorknob. Asth- ma-inducing dust mites in your rugs. That weird pink slime growing in the toilet. Your home might be your refuge, but it’s also full of germs and dirt. “But I think since COVID, peo- ple’s cleaning IQs have gone up a few points,” says Carolyn Forté, the executive director of the Home Care & Cleaning Lab at the Good House- keeping Institute. “They’re being more mindful about what needs to be cleaned.” In particular, many of us now understand the difference between cleaning (which removes surface dirt and impurities) and disinfecting (which kills germs). “Still, people are so busy, I think they speed clean and often don’t really go deep in areas that get over- looked — under furniture, in nooks and crannies you might not think about,” Forté says. Here are some of the filthiest, least hygienic parts of your house, along with expert tips on how to clean them. ● ● ● Doorknobs and light switches Doorknobs, light switches and fridge handles are high-touch zones, meaning they’re a breeding ground for germs and nasties on par with the dreaded kitchen sponge. “We forget to clean these hard surfaces because they don’t really look dirty,” says Caroline Solomon, a personal organizer in New York City. “You want to clean them — ideally once a month — with a disinfecting wipe or with a spray you make from equal parts rubbing alcohol and water.” Rub down these surfaces more fre- quently if someone in your household has a cold. “During winter, which I call sick season, I’ll even clean the outside door and hall railings of our condo,” says Lexi Grant, the operations man- ager for Well-Paid Maids, a cleaning service in the D.C. area. Also good to know: some metals (brass, bronze) have antimicrobial properties, making them a less icky choice if you’re remodelling your bathroom or replacing cabinet pulls in your kitchen. ● ● ● The dishwasher filter If your dishwasher smells vile even after you’ve run it — or plates emerge coated with grit or globs of pasta — it’s time to clean the machine’s filter. For the uninitiated, that’s the mesh and plastic thingamabob (probably a cylinder) in the bottom of the dish- washer, usually under the lower rack. It’s designed to catch food scraps, but it needs to be empty for the filter to work properly. “Remove the filter once a month, then scrub the inside and outside with warm, soapy water. Then put a cup of vinegar on the top rack of the dish- washer, and run an empty load on the hot cycle. That’ll steam things up and breaks down all the dirt, grime and potential mildew, especially around the gasket. Then wipe the whole inte- rior,” Solomon says ● ● ● Underneath and behind kitchen appliances Kitchen countertops are among the germiest, dirtiest spots in your casa, so if you aren’t cleaning and disinfect- ing them daily or weekly, please do. “But the areas behind your stove and fridge also need attention. Things fall behind the stove when you cook, grease makes everything gross, and it all creates an inviting atmosphere for bugs or mice,” says Scott Roewer, founder of the D.C.-based Organizing Agency. To clean these hidden zones, unplug and pull out kitchen appliances (even the dishwasher) every month or so. Then sweep and mop the floor under — and scrub the walls around — them. “Clean all that, plus the appliances themselves, with a degreaser — I like Simple Green — or a solution of vinegar and warm water,” says Alexandria Brouard, a professional organizer and founder of Cozy Home Studios in Bethesda, Md. ● ● ● Sheets and other bedding The average human constantly sheds skin cells, many of which end up clinging to your bedsheets, poten- tially leading to eczema, allergies or just an excess of dust. If you sleep with a pet, it can bring sneeze-trig- gering fur or dander to bed and track in E. coli from the litter box or dog park. “Wash your sheets in hot water at least once a week — every six weeks is no bueno. People don’t think beds get that dirty, but they’re full of hidden dust mites and skin cells,” Solomon says. Also include mattress pads on your laundry list every month to six weeks, and replace pillows when they start to show a lot of sweat stains or begin looking deflated. If you snooze with your fur baby, bathe it more frequently or use pet wipes on its paws before bed. ● ● ● The kitchen sink You need to clean and sanitize your kitchen sink frequently to get rid of bacteria and germs. Once a week is the bare minimum, and it should always be done immediately after cooking raw meat or seafood. “The easiest way is to plug the sink, fill it with hot water and two table- spoons of bleach, then let it sit for 10 minutes,” Roewer says. “Then use a clean cloth to wipe down the faucets and spray nozzles. Before you drain the sink, dip the cloth back in and clean underneath the sink rim.” Don’t forget to run the disposal, if you have one, before you commence Operation Clean Sink. Solomon likes to run a couple of ice cubes and lem- ons through it to help remove chunks of stray food and to bring a subtle, fresh scent to the cucina. ● ● ● The bathroom floor The toilet is the most frequently cleaned place in the average Ameri- can home, according to a 2018 survey by the American Cleaning Institute, a lobbying group for the cleaning prod- ucts industry. But the floor around your commode also deserves scrub- a-dub love, because staphylococcus, coliforms and E. coli can lurk there, too. “Underneath the toilet, kind of where it attaches to floors, gets so ne- glected and dusty. I get on my hands and knees and scrub it by hand, first with a wet microfiber cloth and then a dry one. I soak the wet cloth in warm water and an all-purpose cleaner,” Grant says. — The Washington Post JENNIFER BARGER KAROLINA GRABOWSKA / PEXELS Make sure to clean and disinfect high-touch zones in your home regularly to kill unwanted germs. Self-limiting beliefs culprit behind many broken resolutions LONDON — There is a common cul- prit behind many broken New Year’s resolutions and other unrealized goals, and it can influence your thoughts and actions without your awareness, says Safia Debar, M.B.B.S., a general prac- titioner and resiliency expert at Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London. If you are having difficulty achiev- ing goals to exercise more, eat nutritious meals and take other steps toward a healthier lifestyle, it may be worth considering whether a self-limit- ing belief is to blame, Dr. Debar says. A self-limiting belief is a thought or belief that you see as the truth about yourself or the world around you and that restricts you from your full poten- tial, she explains. “It’s fundamentally a truth you hold about yourself that’s not serving you,” Debar says. “Some self-limiting beliefs can be that you can’t lose weight or that you have a sweet tooth. Well, really, no one has a sweet tooth. Other self-limiting beliefs can be that you’re lazy, you can’t exercise or you hate the gym. Well, you can leave the gym to exercise.” The first step toward eliminating a self-limiting belief is becoming aware of it, which may require reflection because self-limiting beliefs tend to be present without your conscious knowl- edge and your mind is remarkably good at seeking, and sometimes even creating, evidence to confirm them, she says. “For example, if somebody feels that they want to eat healthier or incorpo- rate more movement into their day, but then underlying this, they feel that they’re not good enough or they’re not worthy of self-care or they’re not worthy of prioritizing their health, and that other people’s needs are more important, then they will sabotage the positive lifestyle changes that would serve them,” Debar says. “They will sabotage those be- haviours because it makes sense: ‘Why would I eat well if I’m not worth it? Why would I set a boundary or put myself first if I’m not worth it?’” Because underlying beliefs may heavily influence behavioural changes that you want to make, the ideal is to know what those beliefs are and to question whether they are serving you or not, Debar says. Writing thoughts in a journal or talking it through with a trusted per- son can help, she suggests. “What is the story you are telling yourself? What do you believe about yourself? I call this a thought dump, or a stream of consciousness. When something happens, just write what’s in your head. Then when you reread it, if there are known thought distortions, that will tell you whether this is a limiting belief. Then you start to get to know your internal narrative.” For example, questioning a belief that you can’t lose weight could include considering: ● Where did I learn I can’t lose weight? ● Where did I see that? ● Am I fully informed about the actu- al process of losing weight? ● What emotion am I trying to feel, or what emotion am I trying to avoid? Often, people find that their self-lim- iting beliefs didn’t originate with themselves, but instead came from teachers, caregivers, family members, society, culture or other sources, Debar says. Then, identify small steps that you can take to achieve your goal. The brain doesn’t like change, so it’s about taking small, regular, consistent ac- tions and being aware of your internal dialogue so you can question the be- liefs that are blocking you, she says. “We start off saying we’re going to exercise every day, cut our alcohol, wake up at 5 a.m., meditate for 45 minutes, be the nicest person ever, and then two weeks later, we realize all of these emotions are coming up and all of this resistance is coming up,” she explains. “A better approach would be to ask what the most important goal is, and then to approach it in tiny steps. If you want to exercise, for example, then start with a few minutes a day, where you don’t think that it’s a significant change from what you were doing be- fore. Five minutes a day will mean that you have set up a habit, so that will then foster the belief that you follow through: you have kept your promise, you are consistent.” Debar recommends breaking down a range of healthy lifestyle changes by starting with the easiest thing you can do. If your goal is to eat healthier meals, start by trying to eat an extra portion of fruit or vegetables each day, and when you’ve done that for a few weeks, you can then think of yourself as a person who eats fruits and vegeta- bles and enjoys them. “It’s a very different approach from the person who starts trying to do everything and then two weeks later is feeling very demoralized, and, par- adoxically, will just go deeper into the things that they don’t want to do and make them feel bad about themselves,” Dr. Debar says. A good thing about the new year is that it gives people momentum and a little rise in willpower, she says. “But we can’t rely on willpower to change behaviour — it has to start with a tiny, incremental, consistent change.” — Mayo Clinic News Network MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK DREAMSTIME / TNS If you are having difficulty achieving goals, it may be worth considering whether a self-limiting belief is to blame. ARTS ● LIFE I LIFESTYLES ;