Many people are affected by seasonal depression – this author included! The shorter days of winter mean we have only about nine hours of (weaker) sunlight to get everything done before the darkness comes and we step into the artificial light.
Studies indicate that people who have seasonal depression actually have lower levels of serotonin related to the decrease in sunlight.
Did you know that we actually don’t see as well in artificial light? Unlike sunlight, many artificial lights emit a narrower spectrum of colors, which can affect color perception and make it harder to differentiate between shades.
Artificial light sources can also create more glare and reflections, especially on shiny surfaces, further reducing visibility. So in the case where we are starting to lose natural light, and we turn on lots of artificial lights, it actually makes it harder for us to see.
Those of us already above their 40s notice this difference readily enough – although we aren’t always prepared to admit it! But it’s not just us older folks who suffer – guess who else notices? The young men we send to clean your carpets and upholstery! As a cleaner of fabrics, it is very important to be able to tell subtle shade differences. That’s how we can see the difference between clean and dirty. If they don’t have enough natural light, their trained eyes can’t always see all of the dirt – making it more difficult to remove effectively. Depressing, right?
There’s another reason why sunlight is very important to a cleaner. We have met a lot of cleaners who will not clean fabrics, such as linen and viscose. Check out this blog post for what happens to these fabrics when they meet water. But at Mother Nature’s Cleaning, we are not afraid of fabrics like linen, rayon and viscose. We have a facility and a skill set that can handle these fabrics without concern. We do, however, sometimes have to postpone jobs during the winter.
Cleaning linen and other cellulosic fibers is easier in sunlight because the sun’s ultraviolet rays act as a natural bleaching agent, helping to whiten and brighten the fabric, while also having disinfectant properties that can kill bacteria and mildew on the fabric, essentially making it cleaner with just sun exposure; this is particularly effective when drying linen outdoors in direct sunlight.
There’s yet another reason that winter is a little bit more sad for us. Cleaners love heat. Heat is one of the four elements that we rely on for effective cleaning. (The other three are agitation, chemicals and time.) When we take one of these elements away we have to increase the others, and the environmental heat is surprisingly helpful during our process – especially with the drying. As a cleaner it’s very important for us to control the drying speed. Water is a very effective cleaner, but it can also cause damage when used incorrectly. (I am vividly recalling when my mother washed my brand new wool skirt – purchased with my very own money – in hot water.)
So, as a professional carpet and upholstery cleaner – in the winter time we are faced with shorter and colder days, which means we have less light to see the dirt because we really can’t see it in artificial light – meaning less time to clean things that already take longer to clean because of the cold.
Does this mean you should not call a professional cleaner in the winter? Of course not! We can still do an incredible job, we just might be a little slower than usual and a little bit sadder. 😝
I’m just kidding, we will always show up to your home or office with a smile and a positive attitude. But that doesn’t make for as effective of an ending to this article.
Happy Cleaning!
