Reassessing Our Approach To Spring Cleaning For Better Health
I have always been someone who looks forward to jumping into spring cleaning mode. There is just something about the fresh start that comes with tidying up and getting rid of the clutter. However, I stumbled upon some fascinating facts that might make me reconsider my cleaning approach to scrubbing every corner of the house.
According to Elizabeth McCormick, author of Inside OUT: Human Health and the Air-Conditioning Era, there is a reason we need to embrace a little bit of messiness in our homes. Elizabeth McCormick is an assistant professor of architecture and building technology at the University of North Carolina. She suggests that our homes need a dose of what she calls “good bacteria.”
This is a concept that seems to make sense to me. In the article I found in Newsweek, McCormick’s explanation about the importance of a “microbial network” in our living spaces makes perfect sense. Of course, it is not about living in filth, but recognizing that our obsession with sterilizing everything might be doing more harm than good. I have a steam cleaner that has attachments that I use after guests use my bathroom or shower. I think the hot water sterilizes everything. Maybe I need to reconsider sterilizing things so much.
The idea of the “hygiene hypothesis” got me thinking. To think that our obsessive cleanliness could be depriving our immune systems of the chance to adapt and protect us naturally is eye-opening. Our well-intentioned efforts to protect ourselves and our families from germs could in fact be contributing to allergies and other health issues.
Byram Bridle, an associate professor of viral immunology at the University of Guelph, explains that exposure to a range of molecules and microorganisms is extremely important for building immunological tolerance. Being exposed to germs and bacteria is especially in childhood. Well, that makes a good enough argument to me for easing up on the cleaning frenzy!
So, perhaps it’s time to reevaluate our approach to spring cleaning. Instead of striving for clinical cleanliness, maybe we should find a healthy balance that allows for the presence of those beneficial germs. This shift in mindset might just lead to a healthier, more resilient household in the long run.
With that in mind, I think I’ll take McCormick and Bridle’s advice and give the Swiffer a rest—for now, at least.
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