Cleaning 101.

A little know-how. More room for life.

Cleaning 101

A healthier home, through everyday care.

Start with the things you can see and maintain: returning dust, damp that needs attention, the products you use and the way air moves through each room. Choose a practical task, understand where cleaning helps, and identify what needs other help. Looking for Healthy Interiors? This domain previously hosted Melissa Wittig’s resources and interior-design information. These new pages are published by Simply Maid; the former consultations, book and app are not Simply Maid services. Find the book and historical references through the resources guide below.

12 guides · Edited by

FIND YOUR PROBLEM

What brought you here?

Choose a specific observation rather than trying to change the whole house at once. A record of the room, activity and time is useful when planning a routine or discussing a repair. It is not an air-quality or medical assessment.

What you’re seeingThe guide for it
Dust returns quicklyStart with surfaces, fabrics and places where dust collects.How to Get Rid of Dust — and Stop It Coming Straight Back
Damp or mould keeps returningUnderstand the difference between cleaning and addressing moisture.How to Get Rid of Mould in Your House
You followed a book recommendationFind the authors, publication details and an independent book source.The Smart Living Handbook: authors, background and where to find it

START HERE

Where to start.

Dust and fabrics

Make frequently used areas easy to reach before adding jobs to the list. Choose a small collection of objects to return to their places, keep cleaning tools convenient and use the care label for each fabric. A bedside shelf, mattress and pet sleeping area need different routines. Start with the guide for the actual item, then decide how the task fits your household. A clean-looking room is not proof that every indoor pollutant has been removed.

Damp, airflow and indoor air

Keep cleaning and maintenance decisions separate. Write down where recurring dampness appears and what you notice around it, then arrange appropriate follow-up. Accessible fan covers and filters have cleaning instructions; extraction performance, leaks and electrical work may need a technician or building professional. The indoor-air guide explains the different roles of sources, ventilation and filtration, then sends you to the existing task-specific guides. Choose the equipment you actually have rather than assuming every fan supplies outdoor air.

Products, finishes and materials

Keep the product instructions with the surface-care information. Before using a new cleaner, identify the finish and read the suitable-surface list, dilution, warnings and removal directions. A reassuring phrase on the front of a bottle does not answer all those questions. If you cannot identify a finish, ask the manufacturer or installer before experimenting. Our product-label guide helps you compare instructions; the established natural-cleaning guide covers a different task and keeps its existing home.

Room checks and sustainable routines

Choose one room, one ordinary cleaning task and one item needing follow-up. Write a person and review date beside each action. If several people share the home, agree where supplies live and what each person can manage. Revisit the arrangement when the same obstacle keeps returning. The free checklist is a place to record observations and decisions; it gives no health score and does not replace an inspection. The resources guide also keeps the former book and historical research easy to find.

WHEN YOU’D LIKE A HAND

Take a useful next step

Prepared with AI assistance for Simply Maid on 14 October 2026. This collection connects practical home-care guidance; it does not promise a health outcome or inherit the former site's professional endorsements. Use the checklist to plan tasks, or follow the historical source if that is why you arrived.

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Other topics.