Another Cold Already? 7 Places in Your Home You Might Be Forgetting to Clean

It starts with one person.

A sniffle. A cough. A slightly dramatic announcement from the sofa that they are definitely coming down with something.

A few days later, somebody else has it.

Then the children bring another bug home from school and, before you know it, November starts to feel like one long relay race involving tissues, cough medicine and cups of tea.

Welcome to cold and flu season.

Unfortunately, even the cleanest house can't guarantee that your family won't get ill. Colds, flu and other respiratory infections spread between people, and winter brings the added complication that we spend far more time together indoors. But your home is still part of the picture! When someone coughs, sneezes or touches surfaces around the house, germs can end up on the things everybody else touches too. UK Health Security Agency guidance on respiratory infections recommends regularly cleaning your surroundings, with particular attention to frequently touched surfaces such as handles, light switches, worktops and electronic devices.

And germs aren't the only reason to think about what's accumulating around the house.

Dust, pollen, pet dander and dust mites can all be present indoors, including in carpets, bedding and upholstered furniture. For people with allergies or respiratory conditions, some of these can make symptoms worse.

So if the whole family seems to have been coughing and sniffling since the children went back to school, this might be a good time to look beyond the usual kitchen-worktop-and-bathroom routine. There are a few places we regularly clean around rather than actually clean.

1. The Carpet Everyone Walks Across

Think about what your hallway or living-room carpet has dealt with since September.

School shoes. Trainers. The dog. Food crumbs. Wet socks. Whatever was on the pavement outside before everybody walked through the front door.

We hoover because we can see crumbs, fluff and bits of dirt. But there's plenty going on that isn't quite so obvious. UKHSA guidance on indoor airborne allergens identifies carpets, bedding and upholstered furniture as common places for house dust mites, while other indoor allergens can include pet dander, mould spores and pollen. That doesn't mean your carpet is secretly giving the family flu. Influenza is a viral infection and your living-room carpet isn't the villain of the story. It does mean that a carpet can look reasonably clean on the surface while still being overdue a proper clean.

Regular vacuuming should remain part of your normal routine. Every so often, though, professional carpet shampoo cleaning can give heavily used carpets a much more thorough refresh. November is often when you notice the difference. The windows aren't open all day anymore, everyone is indoors more often, and suddenly that slightly tired carpet feels much more noticeable than it did in July.

2. The Things Everybody Touches Without Thinking

Try this next time you come through your front door. Notice how many things you touch before you've washed your hands.

Front-door handle. Light switch. Bannister. Kitchen cupboard. Kettle. Fridge handle. Possibly your phone somewhere in between.

Now multiply that by every person living in the house, every day.

These are exactly the sorts of frequently touched surfaces that are worth paying extra attention to when someone at home has a respiratory infection. Door handles and light switches are obvious once you start thinking about them. Remote controls, drawer handles, taps and the buttons on kitchen appliances are easier to miss. They're also some of the quickest things to clean. Sometimes the most useful cleaning jobs aren't the impressive ones. You just have to remember to do them!

3. Around and Under the Sofa

The sofa itself gets plenty of attention during cold season. It's where we curl up under a blanket when we're feeling rough, watch four episodes of something we don't remember choosing and surround ourselves with tissues, mugs and remote controls.

Underneath it is another story.

Dust, crumbs, pet hair and small objects have an extraordinary ability to migrate under furniture. Unless the sofa gets moved occasionally, ordinary weekly hoovering may never quite reach everything.

A proper deep clean gives you the opportunity to tackle these forgotten areas rather than repeatedly cleaning only what you can see. Move furniture where practical. Hoover underneath it. Clean along the skirting boards. Get into the corners. You may also finally discover where all the hair bands, Lego pieces and missing socks have been living.

4. Bedrooms After Someone Has Been Ill

When somebody has spent several days recovering in bed, changing the bedding afterwards feels almost instinctive. And it's a good opportunity to look at the rest of the room too.

Wash bedding according to its care instructions. Empty the bin. Clean frequently touched surfaces such as bedside tables, switches and handles. Give the room some fresh air.

The last one is particularly easy to forget in November because nobody is enthusiastic about opening a window when it's six degrees outside. You don't necessarily need to leave it open for hours. UK guidance says that even opening a door or window for a few minutes can help replace stale indoor air. Ventilation is particularly useful when somebody in the household has a respiratory infection.

Then there are the less frequent jobs: under the bed, behind furniture, skirting boards and other areas where dust gradually collects. If you're already resetting the bedroom after an illness, it's a sensible moment to give those places some attention too.

5. The Bathroom Everyone Shares

When one person in the house is poorly, the bathroom doesn't suddenly become theirs. Everyone keeps using it. The same taps are touched. The same flush. The same door handle.

Bathrooms also have their own everyday cleaning challenges: moisture, limescale, soap residue and all those awkward edges and corners that somehow never make it into the quick midweek clean.

During cold and flu season, keep up with your usual bathroom cleaning and pay particular attention to shared, frequently touched surfaces. Every so often, go further.

A deep clean can tackle the build-up around taps, shower screens, tiles, grout, skirting boards and those areas that have gradually slipped off the weekly list.

Because wiping the sink is one job. Actually cleaning the bathroom is another.

6. The Children's High-Traffic Zones

Children are exceptionally good at bringing things home. Paintings. Reading books. Half-eaten snacks.

Occasionally a pine cone that is apparently extremely important.

And, during autumn and winter, plenty of coughs and colds too.

The areas children use most are therefore worth including in your cleaning routine. Think bedroom door handles, desks, frequently used toys and shared surfaces.The NHS advice on preventing the spread of colds and flu includes regular handwashing and good hygiene around coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose. Cleaning frequently touched surroundings is another sensible layer of everyday hygiene.

There's no need to spend November following your children around the house with disinfectant.

A good routine is far more realistic. And considerably better for everyone's sanity.

7. The Places That Haven't Had a Proper Clean Since... When?

This might be the most important one.

When did you last clean behind the larger pieces of furniture?

The tops of the cupboards?

The radiators?

The skirting boards throughout the house?

Under the beds?

Around the window frames?

If the answer to several of those questions is a vague "sometime this year", you're in very good company.

Regular cleaning is about keeping on top of everyday life. A deep clean has a different job. It gives attention to the areas that don't realistically get cleaned every week and deals with the gradual build-up that happens even in a well-looked-after home. Autumn is a particularly useful time to do it.

Can Deep Cleaning Stop Your Family Getting Colds and Flu?

No.

And we'd be very suspicious of anybody who promised that it could.

Cold and flu viruses spread primarily between people. Good hand hygiene, covering coughs and sneezes, staying home when you're unwell and bringing fresh air into indoor spaces are among the measures recommended by UK health authorities to reduce the spread of respiratory infections.

Cleaning has a supporting role.

Frequently cleaning the things people touch can help reduce the chance of infections spreading via contaminated surfaces. Keeping on top of dust and indoor allergens can also make the home environment more comfortable, particularly for family members who have allergies or respiratory sensitivities.

A deep clean takes care of another part of the problem: all the areas ordinary weekly cleaning doesn't quite reach. And sometimes, after weeks of somebody in the family being ill, there's another benefit that isn't particularly scientific at all. The house just feels like it needs a reset. Fresh bedding. Clean bathrooms. Properly cleaned carpets. Dust gone from the forgotten corners. Windows open for a few minutes. And, with any luck, considerably fewer tissues on the sofa.

Give Your Home a Winter Reset

If your Southampton home hasn't had a thorough clean for a while, November is a good point to catch up before winter properly settles in.

You might simply need to tackle some of the forgotten areas yourself. Or the house may have reached the stage where you'd rather somebody came in and dealt with the lot.

Let's Shine offers one-off deep cleaning and professional carpet shampoo cleaning for homes across Southampton and the surrounding area. A deep clean can tackle those easily missed areas around the home, while carpet cleaning gives heavily used floors a proper refresh after months of family life.

We can't promise your children won't bring another cold home from school next Tuesday.

We can help make sure the house is ready for whatever winter throws at it. Get in touch today!