Cleaning the House Yourself Improves Mental Health

By Nick Vassilev

updated: 17/07/2024


A motivational note on a tablet screen

Cleaning’s just a chore that you have to do again and again, right? No wonder many people want to hand the whole lot over to a professional house cleaner and only the bare minimum of scrubbing and polishing. After all, who cares if….

Stop that right there. Cleaning is important, and it goes beyond just the basics of hygiene. This isn’t to say that hygiene isn’t important. Cleaning kitchen surfaces, refrigerators, and eating utensils is vital for preventing a nasty bout of food poisoning. Regular vacuuming and carpet cleaning help to control fleas, while chores such as sweeping and dusting also remove the food that various vermin, such as asthma-causing dust mites and disease bearing mice and flies, love to eat. So cleaning is vital for your health.

A recent study announced that exercising while domestic cleaning improves your mental health. When we say mental health, we mean depression, stress or addiction, and there is a way for a person to improve the condition in which he or she is. There are many factors which can contribute to poor mental health – past traumatic situations, stress, work, and family, but maintaining good physical health certainly has a positive impact on your mental health, as both are related to one another.

How Home Cleaning Can Improve Your Life

Apart from eating healthy food, getting enough sleep and exercising regularly, there is something else which can improve your mental health. It has been proven that creating better living conditions by cleaning your home improves your mood and mental health. Moreover, removing the dirt and clutter from your home makes the atmosphere more relaxing and comfortable, making you feel happier. Even cleaning the house is an excellent way to take your mind off something you constantly think about. You can use cleaning to change your emotions, such as feeling better when annoyed or frustrated.

Twenty minutes of exercise can significantly improve your health and help you overcome depression and other mental problems. The more frequent the exercise is, the greater the effect, and cleaning the house can benefit your life. Even a low level of physical activity, including domestic cleaning, walking, dancing or sports, lowers psychological distress. The more active you stay, the less likely you will be suffering from stress or anxiety. Although house cleaning does not keep you as active as sports, it still lowers the risk for your health. These activities make a difference, although in severe cases, people need professional help.

Let’s face it: what is a workout apart from a series of repetitive movements? You’ll get good repetitive movements if you scrub a floor, dust a shelf (a nice, long stretch there), or even clean the loo. Instead of groaning about all the effort the next time you are faced with a tough cleaning job, how about changing your thinking and looking at the hard work as a chance to exercise – and at a fraction of the cost of going to the gym?

A woman doing yoga with her child at home

House Cleaning As A Way To Overcome Anxiety And Depression

In some cases, the mental problem might be more serious than it looks, and in this case, you should consider contacting a therapist. The therapist will be able to find out what makes the patient suffer from a decline in his mental health and will be able to suggest a way to improve his state. Everyone should be happy living their life, and if you can’t find a way to enjoy it, the therapist can help in one way or another.

Physical activity is important for all ages as it undoubtedly makes the body and the brain function better. Still, it is proved that activity in middle age trains the body to use oxygen more effectively in generating energy, which delays biological ageing by a few years. Even if you are over 55, it is never too late to start exercising. Regular aerobic exercise while cleaning your house will keep you active and be good for your health in many ways. The house cleaning activities, including gardening, will make a massive difference in your well-being.

Hopefully, you understand the importance of regular exercising, and it should not come as a surprise that cleaning your house yourself significantly reduces psychological distress.

Cleaning can be quite soothing, as you can bring order out of chaos and reveal the beauty hidden under layers of dirt, grime and neglect. Many people have spoken about the cleansing effect of decluttering or cleaning out storage spaces. Often, the physical act of throwing out old garbage can help us “throw out” a lot of mental or emotional garbage simultaneously. Order and beauty won’t last long – after all, entropy and descent into chaos and decay are part of our universe – but they are very satisfying in the same way.

Secondly, a clean home is very aesthetically pleasing, and having beautiful surroundings is a surefire way to beat stress and calm down. Don’t forget that aesthetics should be about all the senses. Your home should be clean from grime and dirt, and obvious messes should be tidied away. However, don’t forget your other senses. Cleaning should leave your home smelling nice and feeling nice. This is where making your natural cleaning products is very important, as these give you pleasant smells (in the form of essential oils) instead of the awful fake scents in commercial cleaning products that are pretty bad for your body.

So, there are no more excuses. Get out your soapy water, scrubbing brushes, vacuum cleaner, and cleaning rags, switch on the music, and enjoy the job of cleaning!

About the author 

Nick Vassilev

Nick blogs about cleaning. He is a cleaning expert with more than 25 years of experience. He is also an NCCA-certified carpet cleaner. Founder and CEO of Anyclean.