Your home is filthy.

Before you get defensive, I’ll grant that maybe you’re the exception. But it’s unlikely.

Some context: I recently celebrated my 13 year anniversary as a real estate agent. The number of homes I’ve visited is one of the few things I haven’t tracked. But it’s a lot. More than I can count.

They’re all filthy.

Even the clean ones, even the apparently spotless homes, are filthy.

Quick sidebar tip:
Never underestimate the value of clean to differentiate your home in the marketplace. Because most homes aren’t.

As I said, I’m sure your home is the exception.

By the way, maybe you even have a housekeeper. Almost invariably, I have to tell a prospective seller to fire their housekeeper.

Most don’t clean. They dust. They wipe things down.

There’s a difference.

Wiping things down only deals with the surface. And that’s the problem.

Because below the surface, things get ugly.

The grime settles in the places we don’t look or can’t reach.

The corners. Under the cabinets. Backs of closets. The top of the door. Moldings. Inside the door frame. Around the light switches and outlets. The shelves in your shower. The back of the top shelf of your cabinets or closets. Light bulbs. The top of the fridge. Oven knobs. Behind the toilet.

I could go on. But I think you get it. I spent 3 hours today scrubbing a “clean” bathroom, just to double test this theory, so trust me on this:

Your home is a lot more filthy than you think it is.

Why Your Home Is So Dirty

Here’s the main reason why most homes are dirty: nobody likes to get dirty.

Ironically, this especially applies to people who think they have clean homes.

People who like every surface to be spotless generally don’t like mess.

And here’s the thing:

Cleaning is a messy job.

Dust and dirt don’t just sit on the surface. They settle into the pores of the material, into the layers of fabric or the grooves in the floor.

The Path to Clean is a Dirt Road

To clean thoroughly, you must scrub hard enough to bring the baked-in dirt to the surface. You’ve got to look behind the doors, and reach into the back corners. A thorough cleaning requires you to stretch to the top shelf and get on the floor to get in the crevices.

And you can’t stop after one attempt. Approaching the same spot from different angles will surface grime that didn’t come up the first time.

What you find might be gross and moldy.

Any good cleaning requires that you bring the grime into the light. But if you don’t see it you can’t clean it.

There’s no way around this:
To clean well, you have to be willing to get dirty.

Life Cleaning is Like House Cleaning

What’s true for your physical home is also true in the rest of your life.

Cleaning up your life can be a messy job.

The crap you sweep under the rug or stuff in the back of the closet may be hidden from view for now, but eventually it will start to grow moldy and smelly. It may even make you sick.

Sooner or later you’ll have to scrub hard enough to bring it back to the surface where you can deal with it properly.

Magic Erasers and pre-moistened wipes wont cut it.

It helps to have professionals with real tools on your team.