How important is a clean apartment?

[Rachel]

I have a friend who has become severely disabled. Her problems are myriad, but I'll just post on this one aspect. She can't do her own cleaning and does not want to hire anyone, although I think she could afford it.

She has no pets, and that helps.

I want to discern whether to push her on this or let it go. A clean home is in my value system but maybe it doesn't have to be in everyone's. It's increasingly depressing to go over there to visit, but again -- my values, not necessarily hers.

Is it truly a health risk to live in a dirty home?

[early morning]

Is it truly a health risk to live in a dirty home?

Nope, and I'm living proof.

[catherine]

I hear ya, early morning!

There is something called The Hygiene Hypothesis--you can be TOO clean, and your body doesn't have the chance to build up immunity against germs. That's what I attribute my excellent health to!

But seriously, there are limits--garbage that doesn't get taken out regularly and attracting rodents. Rotten food lying around. Stuff like that. Dust doesn't kill anyone, IMHO.

[sweetana3]

We have 4 cats, I detest my house as it is cheap and ugly, and hubby and I are messy people. We have no bugs but you would not want to eat off our floors. I do not live to magazine standards. We are accepting of our standards and it is not up to anyone else to make cleaning decisions.

That said, we are spending a fortune to remodel our kitchen and replace damaged floors. I plan on keeping it pristine for my enjoyment. We will finally have enough accessible storage to remove everything from the counters.

However, there are levels of dirty. The show Hoarders has extreme examples but it sounds like your friend is only accepting of a different standard than you would like.

[iris lilies]

of course a filthy apartment is a health hazard. It’s all a matter of degree. If you’re talking about dust and mess, that’s one thing. That’s not a health hazard.

If you’re talking about bodily fluids and rotting organic matter from kitchens and wherever else, that could be a problem.

Pets are the real mess makers, though. Honestly, I’m so sick of cat hair and it’s not even summertime yet when the real shedding happens. I purposely do not have drapes in many of our rooms because the cat hairs would just lay on the fabric.

I will take this opportunity to brag about my current bulldog who is the cleanest bulldog we’ve ever had. He cannot conceive of peeing or pooping anywhere in the house. He has actually peed in the house twice when he got very excited he didn’t know what he was doing, but I excuse that.

This kind of bulldog behavior is…not the usual. I fear I am very spoiled by it and the next bulldog we get will be back to normal peeing on furniture when they feel like it ‘cause it’s theirs.

But I would not trade my tiny orange cat who’s the most adorable cat in the world for anything. Yes every time I look at my fingers if they are at all sticky there’s very fine. cat hairs sticking to all of my fingers. She just likes to share herself with me at all times, ha!

[iris lilies]

Oh ugh! I just thought of how disgusting fly specks are!

in 2023 DH would bring all of his vegetables from our huge garden and dump them in the kitchen. Inevitably some of them would rot and we always have fruit flies around. Yes, they leave fly specs. It’s awful. My beautiful pristine brand new kitchen had fly specs on cupboards and that was completely unacceptable.

So in 2024 I said “no vegetables are going to lay on the counter in this kitchen” they’re all going to be out in the garage. And that worked very well.

[happystuff]

Put me in the "messy" camp. Housecleaning is NOT my forte! We do not, however, have "filth". And I'm STILL working on the "clutter". LOL

[rosarugosa]

A clean and tidy home is VERY important to me, and I am willing to put in the work to make it happen. However, I do not expect others to maintain my standards in their own homes.

[iris lilies]

Also, mice. Rats. Roaches. These are disgusting things to have in the house.

I realize that in warmer climates roaches may be a fact of life but not so much here unless filth conditions encourage them. The tenant in one of the little houses we purchased in the City had a bad roach infestation. They were filthy people, tossing dirty diapers and empty alcohol bottles into the vacant lot next door. After we bought it we tore everything out and even had exterior walls down. No one lived there for several years and the roaches left, with nothing to feed on.

Field mice coming into the house during winter can be a problem, but so far we havent had it.

I swear I saw a rat in my friend’s house in the city. She knew she had mice but I think there was a rat as well. With dog food always laying around, it was a tempting house for rats. Fortunately, my dog snarfs up all of his meal, nothing is left for creatures.

[catherine]

Field mice coming into the house during winter can be a problem, but so far we havent had it.

We never had one rodent in our house since we moved in--until we got our heat pump. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but it's the only time we ever had to set a trap in the house.

Now, when I open up the heat pump to clean the filter I sprinkle a lot of mint and red pepper flakes in there. This year we haven't had any mice, thank God!