Have you ever considered that clutter could be harmful to your health? Home organization experts have long recommended decluttering as a way to make your home a safer, more pleasant place to live. Here’s why a decluttered home is a hazard-free home.

Decluttering Reduces Fire Hazards

It’s easy for piles of paper, stacks of boxes, and other combustibles to build up near heat sources, causing a fire hazard. A floor littered with clothes, toys, and other clutter can block escape routes as well, making evacuation more difficult in an emergency. Also, extension cords strewn across the floor are tripping hazards that can lead to overheated wiring and potential electrical fires. When you keep the floors picked up, you improve fire safety in your home.

Decluttering Reduces Mold Risk

Standing water and stacks of dirty dishes in the kitchen sink can harbor mold growth, negatively impacting indoor air quality. Leaving wet towels on the bathroom floor or piling bath toys in the tub can also lead to mold and mildew. Simply keeping the kitchen and bathroom tidy goes a long way toward reducing mold growth.

Decluttering Makes Your Home Safer for Kids

If you’re the parent of a young child, you probably understand the importance of “kid-proofing.” Clutter can harbor dangers in surprising places.

For instance, old batteries on the coffee table could become a choking hazard. Phone chargers left plugged in around the house could cause electrocution if a curious child chews on them. And medicine or cleaning chemicals left out could lead to poisoning. When you designate a place for this clutter and make a habit of always putting things away, your home becomes safer for children.

Decluttering Makes Your Home Safer for Seniors

Older adults often find themselves living in cluttered homes. It’s easy to grow attached to your sentimental knickknacks or hold onto that 50-pound vacuum cleaner, even though you can’t push it around anymore. You may feel guilty getting rid of items that loved ones gave you, or you simply might not have the energy to pare down those piles of junk mail.

A cluttered home can be unsafe for seniors because the mess creates tripping hazards and makes the home more difficult to clean. Tidy up to improve your health and safety.

Decluttering Reduces Stress

Being surrounded by clutter can increase stress, fatigue, and depression. These feelings contribute to poor sleep, unhealthy eating habits, and declined overall health. Decluttering helps you feel happier and more peaceful, making your home better for your mental health. All you need is 15 minutes a day to straighten a messy shelf, pick up the living room, or tidy your desk.

Decluttering Prevents Hoarding

Has the clutter begun to affect your daily life? If your bathroom is so cluttered you can’t use it, or you have to walk sideways down the crowded hallway, you may be hoarding. Keeping on top of the clutter ensures your home continues to serve you, not the other way around.

If your cluttered home has become a health hazard, DKI can help. We offer personal property restoration services, including professional hoarding cleanup. We can remove clutter, remediate mold, sanitize the space, and make your home safe once more. Our technicians are highly qualified and respectful of difficult situations. Please contact us for the services you need.