The Magic of the Antibacterial Wipe - Dispelled!
Posted on 13/06/2016
Get Your Home Cleaned with Much Less Effort and Waste
There is a certain myth that floats around here and there and fools home cleaners that they can handle their home with the use of a single cleaning tool. First you had the microfiber cloth which was supposed to replace virtually every other cleaning tool and product. And now we have the antibacterial wipe. Some people actually think that this is the best thing since sliced bread for domestic cleaning. But the harsh truth is that an antibacterial wipe does not keep a home clean. Your house will be kept clean only if you continue cleaning it, and relying on a single wipe to take care of all the dirt and germs which your house could harbour is nothing short of naive.
People already have done it, but you can try and test it out for yourself. A single cloth will only cover so much ground in any room. After that you basically start spreading the bacteria you just cleaned. And if you start cleaning small parts of any home with small wipes, then you are practically wasting money on wipes.
Look up the word “cross-contamination”. It’s what happens when you overuse something and the border between it helping and worsening the condition of whatever you are trying to clean is blurred. Whatever bacteria the wipe picks up starts spreading as soon as the cleaning element is run dry and then half the counter you were trying to clean is... well, contaminated.
There is a reason why there are so many cleaning tools and cleaning supplies. While you are not supposed to use all of them, you should at least use more than one – a fair amount that will help you take care of your home in the best possible way without being afraid that you might spread germs all about. Same as with the microfiber cloth – it is only useful until it gets damaged, but unlike the microfiber cloth, the antibacterial wipe is useful for about a few seconds. And then you have the option to either use more, thus assaulting the bank account for wipes, of all things, or continue wiping and do more harm than good.
Before you even attempt to clean anything with the wipe, read its packaging. There are usually clues as to how useful it will be and what surfaces you can use it for. And even without it, you should be aware that the antibacterial wipe is useful only for a limited number of surfaces: counters, stainless steel, hardwood floors, marble and granite surfaces, and other hard and smooth surfaces which won’t tear the wipe apart after a single swipe.
Let’s face it; antibacterial wipes are useful only for a limited amount of things in domestic cleaning. If you want to clean your microwave oven, go for it. If you want to clean a small area of the kitchen island or a countertop, go for it. If you want to do some upholstery cleaning, antibacterial wipes are definitely the way to go. But when it comes to the floors or the carpets, or any other gritty surface, you are way better off with a brush, a cloth, a rag, and the appropriate cleaners for the job. Sometimes an all-purpose cleaner of water and vinegar and an old T-shirt made into a rag will do much more work than a package of antibacterial wipes.
So let’s be real about this. You do not need to even attempt trying doing your home cleaning with antibacterial wipes. Be smart and use better cleaning tools, because they will get your home clean with much less effort and waste.
