The Home Improvement Blog by Slide-Lok Garage Interiors

Spring Cleaning During A Pandemic

Cleaning and Organizing your home is a proven de-stresser, helps you breathe better, improves your mood, helps you be more productive, and can even help with those spring allergies according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

4/3/2020

Spring Cleaning

Clean To Alleviate Spring Allergies

Spring cleaning is one of those important times of the year to give your house some attention with thorough cleaning. Your allergies may be in full swing after dust has accumulated in your house over the winter and weeds and flowers begin to sprout outdoors. To make it worse, we are in the middle of a pandemic. A new or “novel” virus, COVID-19, has disrupted our normal way of life. Schools are closing, events and conferences are cancelled and soon we will all be working from home or getting time off. This time at home is crucial to staying healthy and making sure not to spread any germs we might have to others. You may feel like the world is suddenly on pause and cabin fever is catching up with you, but there are actually so many things you can do to your home.

For many people spring cleaning can be dreadful until it is finally done. To be able to know where all of your belongings are, is the end goal of the whole ordeal. Spring cleaning is something a lot of people wish they had time to do, but is it really time that they need or ideas on how to organize? If you think about it, everything you have has a place whether it is in a drawer, shelf or cabinet, but those places can get hectic too. Having the right organizational ideas for hard to organize places and helpful information can help you get you through feeling lazy and uninspired during spring cleaning.

Start Cleaning By Disinfecting Your Home

Cleaning Disinfectant

Disinfecting your home is a great way to start off spring cleaning. There are probably a lot of surfaces in your home that haven’t been cleaned in awhile or need regular maintenance. If you could think of the five most germ filled places in your house what would your list comprise of? Maybe the toilet, door handles and floors? A study by the National Science Foundation (NSF) categorized household objects with the highest germ count. Looking at objects from the top of their list, can give you an idea of the germ-filled objects that may be in your home.

A huge misconception to many people may be that the bathroom is the most germ-filled room in the house, but it’s actually the areas where you prepare food that have the most germs. NSF swabbed for Coliform bacteria, a family of bacteria including Salmonella and E. coli, in the homes of 22 families.

Items that were found to be the dirtiest among the kitchen were the dish sponge or rag, the kitchen sink, countertop, and cutting board. In the bathroom, the toothbrush holder was found to be the dirtiest along with the faucet handle, toilet seat and bathroom light switch. As far as personal items, money and cell phones had a small percentage of Coliform bacteria on them.

Cleaning these areas is a good start before you begin organizing things around the house. Keeping these surfaces in mind are a great idea, but also the surfaces that the Novel Coronavirus can adhere and stay on. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), some surfaces can be infected for days and some for just a few hours. It is best to inform yourself on how to identify these surfaces in your daily life and keep them clean. Some worth mentioning objects are doorknobs, tables, light switches, television remotes and even the fridge handle. These surfaces all fall within the hour and several day roaming range of the virus.

Organize Your Closets, Pantries, and Storage Areas

Closet Organization

Moving on to organization, closets can become cluttered if there is no organization to them. If there are no bins and other organizational tools, then everything ends up on the floor and eventually grows into a huge unbearable mess. Unbothered spaces can invite dust accumulation and insects over time. The next time you need your umbrella or say you want to wear your rain boots, you probably will need time to find them and dust them off.

Don’t avoid your closet, instead think of some inspirational ways you can design it to be more functional and fun. I recommend installing some metal shelves and some hooks to help organize your holiday decoration bins, winter coats and shoes, board games, throw blankets, etc. Having a designated space for all these things will help you find what you are looking for the next time you need them, plus the next time you need to clean it, it won’t involve throwing everything in a pile and sorting it.

Slatwall & Storage Organizers by Slide-Lok are perfect if you're looking for additional storage. Slide-Lok's durable storage products create space wherever you need it. From the garage to the laundry room, you will find a reason to install additional slatwall, cabinets, shelving, or overhead racks. Additional hooks and accessories can be added for bikes, sports equipment and even an umbrella. There are so many things you can do with our storage products.

Create A Place For Your Shoes
Shoe Storage

As we leave the house and go on with our day we walk on sidewalks, asphalt, carpets, hard floors, etc. We are constantly adding to the germs on our shoes and we bring it all home after running errands or after a day of work. From gum, vomit, rotting food, dog poop, and other disgusting things, we don’t know what was once on the ground. Washing your shoes may be an effective way to get rid of the germs, but washing your shoes everytime you come in the house is a little too much.

A recent study has found that the average shoe contains 421,000 units of bacteria outside the shoe and about 2,887 on the interior. Harmful bacteria including E-coli, Klebsiella pneumonia and Serratia ficaria, all harmful to the human body. Transfer rates range from 90-99% to a clean surface area such as a mopped floor or a coffee table. That is nearly all the germs that the shoe collected during the day. Knowing this, it is probably a good idea to create or design a space for the shoes in your home or garage. Not only will this create a better and healthier lifestyle for you, but it will also add functionality and organization to your home.

Whether you want your shoes in the garage or at the front door of your home, there are so many options when it comes to design. Using slatwall in your garage is a good idea to house multiple shoes in one area. The slatwall is durable and the metal is coated thoroughly to keep from rusting and wearing out. For the inside of your home, a simple bench or shoe rack is ideal for keeping your shoes out of the way. Remember, keeping things simple is ideal when organizing.

Slatwall storage by Slide-Lok is a great tool to keep all your shoes organized. The strong and durable material allows you to keep all your shoes in one area. Our slatwall is available in attractive woodgrain and gray finish and can be custom sized and fitted. Slide-Lok's garage slatwall accessories include 5 slatwall hooks and 2 slatwall baskets that provide the ultimate in storage flexibility. They are also compatible with standard size slatwall accessories including shoe racks. We recently mentioned slatwall storage products for shoes in our 10 Ideas For Your Garage Makeover in the "Add A Mudroom" section.

Organize Your Laundry Area
Laundry Room Folding

The laundry room of any house can get hectic at times especially if everyone decides to do their laundry all at once. When this happens, it creates disorganization as socks go missing, dryer sheets falling behind the machines and tide pods are nowhere to be found. You want to design an organized space in your laundry room that can be accessible for the whole family.

Whether your laundry room is inside the house or the garage, Slatwall can help organize a whole lot, while looking aesthetic. A good idea would be adding some slatwall, baskets and if you have enough room, shelving. The colored slatwall enables a durable organizational tool with grooves for accessories like baskets and hooks to be applied. Hooks can be used for hanging up your dry cleaning or organizing your broom and mop. All while, the baskets can be used for organizing laundry detergent pods, excess bedding and missing socks.

Slatwall storage systems by Slide-Lok are made with strong and durable materials. No matter where you are inspired to add additional storage, we can work with you on custom sizes to fit your space and needs. Our easy to install and use slatwall is available in an attractive woodgrain or gray finish. Slide-Lok's slatwall accessories include 5 slatwall hooks and 2 slatwall baskets that provide the ultimate in storage flexibility. Perfect for addition to any laundry room.

Add Overhead Storage To Your Garage

Garage Organization System

Are your Christmas lights still up, or is that plastic orange jack-o'-lantern still in the corner of your entryway? We love holiday decorations, but sometimes we leave them out because we dread putting them away and hate our lack of storage space. Life can be simpler with more organization space, but the last thing most people want to lose is precious floor space. Overhead storage allows you to have clean and organized space, plus it creates a safer environment to maneuver in. Try not to overwhelm yourself in the beginning stages. Start with the small stuff and move onto bigger things. Labeling boxes and bins are a good idea for holiday decor and sports equipment. Remember, organizing can be fun if you remain positive and remember that you are doing it to be healthier and to keep a more organized space.

If you have boxes or bins of storage items, putting them in a space like the garage can be the first step to an organized house. If you think the bins will be a nuisance getting to your car, then building and installing overhead storage helps you add functionality to the top of your garage. Yup, this is probably space that you probably never thought of using. Overhead storage has become increasingly popular over the years, because they are durable, can hold up a lot of weight and they are easily accessible. Instead of paying a monthly payment for storage, this could be an affordable option.

Overhead storage systems by Slide-Lok are made from strong and durable steel alloy, our overhead racks are rated to support up to 300 to 1000lbs depending on the model you choose. The height of our storage racks is adjustable and will fit any storage need without obstructing the operation of your garage door. Modular in design, Slide-Lok's overhead storage allows you to buy one unit or multiple units to suit your storage needs. Slide-Lok offers both the 4'x4' and the 8'x4' Super Pro ceiling storage units.

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About The Author

Arizona Journalist Quindrea Yazzie

Quindrea Yazzie is a Phoenix-based journalist who specializes in digital content and client relations. Prior to Slide-lok, she has written for The State Press as an arts and culture reporter, AZ PBS as a digital producer and breaking news reporter and Indian Country Today as a reporter and producer. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. When she is not writing, she enjoys running, trying new coffee blends, hiking and finding new ways to be sustainable.

Keywords: spring, cleaning, home, improvement, coronavirus, covid19, stay home, pandemic, organization, storage

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Contact Local Dealer

Find a Slide-Lok Garage Floor & Cabinet dealer in your area.

Call: 1-800-835-1759
E-mail: Click to e-mail.

Featured Blog Posts