Keeping a Home: Waking Up Refreshed

House Keeping 101
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all of your might"--- Ecclesiastes 9

I love Home Economics and took a lot of courses in it. 8 years worth of courses actually.

Keeping a home is important to me.

I love the smell of fresh, clean sheets and a house that is well kept and smelling of Murphy's Oil Soap and fresh air.

Everything you do to keep your home nice , straightened up and clean will bring you peace of mind, joy of spirit and you will find yourself happier, and healthier!

You will work better and you will think better if your place is organized as well as you are able.

I have noticed that sometimes people do not take seriously those things which  were taken for granted in your great grandmother's day.

Beds were made daily, sheets changed once a week, and windows opened to air out the room before bed making daily.

I suppose things change but a good course in Home Economics teaches that some things are absolutely necessary to a good home and to good health, both physical and mental.

Even if you live in the smallest of apartments alone you owe it to yourself to keep things neat, clean and fresh for your own peace of mind.

You will see how much better you feel coming home to a neat, clean place.

From Home Comforts : The Art and Science of Keeping House here is an article about the absolute importance of keeping clean:

"Each day when you arise, air the bed. Open the windows, if possible; throw the

bedcovers back over the foot of the bed. (If the bedding will otherwise drag on

the floor, stand a chair at the foot of the bed to support it.) Let the bed

stand this way, unmade, while you shower and eat breakfast. The bed should air

for at least an hour if you are going to work, or even longer if you are staying

home. This helps immensely toward keeping the bed feeling and smelling fresh

until you next change the sheets .

While you are sleeping, you breathe about two pounds of moisture, along with breath odors and flocks of microorganisms, into the air, your pillow and your bedding. You also perspire, perhaps a cup's worth, and exude skin oils and body smells. And you use up the room's oxygen and replace it with exhaled carbon dioxide. When there are two or more people in the bed or the room, these effects are multiplied. All this explains why, if you

sleep with closed windows, the room has a characteristic stale morning smell

(although you might not perceive it until you leave for a few minutes and then

return.)

Unless you leave the bedcovers pulled down and the windows open for an

hour or two, the moisture you have left in the bed either does not evaporate or

evaporates very slowly, which makes for an environment in pillows and mattress

in which dust mites, molds, and other microbial life have more of an opportunity

to multiply. Opening the windows lets in new air to dilute the pollutants

(microbial and particulate), carry them off, and bring in fresh supplies of

oxygen."

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And you wonder why you wake up feeling sluggish and tired and with aching muscles?\

Wonder why you get so many colds and flu? Do you wonder why your muscles ache in the morning? 

This is a big part of the reason why.

It is wise to crack a window open at night also.. even just a tiny bit.

I open mine each day and as I live by the water, I get fresh salt air breezes.

Wherever you live you will benefit from the fresh air that wafts inside.

If you are worried about intruders, there is hardware sold to prevent windows from opening too wide. There are also metal screens that fit into a partially opened window and allow fresh air in. These can be made secure also.

No one regrets a tidy, organized and clean home.