Housecleaning is what people do to remove mess, trash, and dirt from where they live and put things where they belong so the house looks neat.[1]
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.[2]
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.[3]
Cleaning the house removes germs, dust and other things that can harm health.[4] Dust can make people sneeze, cough, and get watery eyes. Dust can give people rashes 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.[5]
There are five main kinds of chemicals that people use for housecleaning:[6]