Posted by Candice on March 11, 2010 at 13:25 pm
Green Cleaning Biodegradability
With all the products entering the market with claims of being green, organic and eco-friendly, how does one determine whether one of these products really does fit the green cleaning bill?
One important concept is biodegradability. Merriam Webster defines biodegradability as “capable of being broken down especially into innocuous products by the action of living things”. However, even though a product may say it is biodegradable, it may not be environmentally friendly. If a product manufacturer claims their product is biodegradable you should still take the additional step of checking that the ingredients are all natural and that when it down break down that those end particles are environmentally safe.
When it comes to marketing claims made by green product manufacturers, while green and eco-friendly are the most common, biodegradable does get used quite a bit too. There is no watchdog body checking to see whether these product claims are really valid and unless all the ingredients listed are recognizable to the consumer it is not a simple matter to determine how biodegradable they really are.
The best way to know exactly how eco-friendly your green cleaning products are is to make them at home using ingredients you know and trust.
Posted by Candice on March 10, 2010 at 22:00 pm
Pet Hair Complicates House Cleaning
How can you not love them, our furry friends! Pets can become part of the family but unlike the other family members they can’t really help out with the house cleaning. Having a pet in your home can definitely add to the challenge of keeping your home clean.
We asked on twitter what pet peeve people have when it comes to cleaning up after their pets. What we found out was that dogs and cats aren’t the only pets causing house cleaning headaches that goats can be house pets too. We also found out that pet hair is the most common annoyance:
Andrew Harwood who tweets as@Asharwood said “yes!!! Boxr/St Bernard sheds like crazy and I have a full hardwood floor house. Hair EVERYWHERE in just a day”. Just look at some pictures of his dog Ali to see why he says on his blog “I love my Dog. He is so crazy and unique. He is a fun loving dog that is nice to everyone. He loves little children mostly because they are at his height and he loves to lick their face.”
“Gah, the fur….everywhere. 2 Grt. Pyrenees = snow drifts of fur, burs, grass, twigs. Too much sweeping!” was the comment from @CageFreeFamily – a family of five that shared an RV with two very woolly dogs and survived because everyone learned the “floor space dance”.
Pet hair can be notoriously difficult to clean particularly when it comes to hardwood floors and upholstery. The challenge is to pick up the hair without sending it flying into the air. It seems that the type of vacuum cleaner and attachments make all the difference. Some recommended vacuum cleaners are Dyson, Shop Vac and Hoover Portapower Commercial. Sweeping with a big fuzzy dustmop to collect the hair and the cleaning the mop of hair with your vacuum is another strategy. With pets, vacuuming can become an every day task so opt for a simple, lightweight vacuum or even a robotic vacuum like a Roomba.
Prevention is also a useful strategy. Daily brushing with a good quality brush (or a 3M Lint Roller) will remove loose hair before it ends up on your furniture Frequent baths are another way to reduce the amount of hair that gets shed. A healthy coat will also shed less so make sure your pet has a healthy diet that includes quality nutrients.
Even with the best cleaning strategy, it is unlikely that your floors will even be completely free of hair as long as your pet is in your home so as a pet lover you have probably already resigned yourself to living with it. We are about to welcome two puppies into our Bidmycleaning family so we are already preparing ourselves for some additional cleaning.
Posted by Candice on March 9, 2010 at 15:00 pm
Top Gripes With House Cleaners
Do you feel resentment because it feels like you are doing all the house cleaning or do you feel like you are constantly nagging your spouse and children to help out more. It is easy to spot conflict when there is a shouting match going on but even silent conflict can cause disharmony in your home. Your feelings of resentment and anger if you don’t feel like you’re getting the help you need are probably being mirrored by your family members’ resentment and anger at being nagged about helping out.
Here are some ideas about how conflict can be reduced or avoided:
- Set the expectation up front that every family member is part of a team that is equally responsible for keeping the home running smoothly.
- Agree on a fair distribution of the workload according to each person’s abilities and time availability and post these where everyone is able to read them.
- Agree on expectations with regard to how the task should be completed and then resist the urge to micro-manage.
- If reminders are required try to frame them in a positive way. For example don’t say “Go and clean your room now!”. A better approach might be to say “If you’d like to participate in family activity x at later then perhaps you should take care of cleaning your room now.”
If it is at all feasible this may be one area where money may be able to buy happiness – spending some money on a maid service that can do the so-called heavy lifting so that the only responsibility that falls on the family is maintaining things.
The most important thing you can do is to have everyone agree on the importance of have a cleaning home. As Goethe said, “We always get dirty again, to be sure, but such a partial cleaning process has the advantage of upholding the principle of cleanliness.”
Posted by Candice on March 3, 2010 at 10:26 am
Twitter Winner
February was twitter month at Bidmycleaning.com. To be in the running to win a $150 gift certificate for maid service was to follow @bidmycleaning – what could be easier than that. The winner of the gift certificate Lisa from Westchester, NY who twitters as @LisaCollierCool.
When you need a gift idea for a girlfriend, an expectant mother or a working mother, a gift certificate for maid service is a wonderful way to give the gift of some Me-time. Getting a few hours off from house cleaning is something anyone will appreciate.
It’s really easy to buy a gift certificate and you can choose to print it to give in person or if you prefer you can choose to email it directly to the recipient. The recipient can then schedule their maid service at their convenience. When they visit the site they can get bids, read reviews on the cleaning providers and schedule their service. They then use the unique coupon code to complete the payment.
Visit the Bidmycleaning.com Gift Certificate center now – http://www.bidmycleaning.com/Gift-Certificate
Posted by Candice on March 2, 2010 at 07:30 am
Economic Climate Affects House Cleaning
Most people would consider having someone come in to clean their home a luxury and when times get tough it is the so-called luxuries which get cut first. For many people who have had their hours cut or lost their job, cleaning their house is now something they must do themselves instead of hiring a cleaning service – in fact a survey done in 2009 by the SDA puts this at around 60%. An even higher percentage of respondents, 78% said that economic conditions have influenced their cleaning habits which changes like buying fewer cleaning products or buying less expensive cleaning products. Another group say that they began to make their own cleaning products at home while others say they are cleaning less often.
These days everyone is looking for ways to save some money or get the most value for what they spend. Here are some ways to do just that:
- Buy in bulk – the initial cost is usually higher but the product will last longer and cost less over the long run
- Choose multi-purpose cleaning products – there is no need to have a tile cleaner, shower cleaner, mirror cleaner when the same products is often effective at cleaning multiple types of surfaces.
- Choose concentrated products – these can often be used in much smaller quantities or even diluted to make them stretch further.
- Choose refillable products – don’t pay for the cost of packaging each time you purchase a product.
- Research the most effective product – with the ready availability of customer reviews these days you really can make sure you are buying the most effective cleaning product.
Effectiveness was the most important factor for consumers when it comes to purchasing cleaning products with 87% of people ranking this highly. After effectiveness, cost and convenience are most important.
A summary of the survey results will be available on SDA’s Web site at www.cleaning101.com/newsroom.
Posted by Candice on February 26, 2010 at 17:33 pm
Friday
“Earth911.com is your one-stop shop for all you need to know about reducing your impact, reusing what you’ve got and recycling your trash. Get involved in our world by checking in for daily news, reading weekly feature stories, surfing product channels and opting into our weekly emails.”
This website got it’s start as a hot line for recycling and has grown into a busy website with around 200,000 unique visitors in January according to compete.com. They do still have their hotline though so you can still call them on 1-800-CLEANUP if you prefer a live person to help you find a recycling location (their database has over 100,000 across the country) or specific information on where to recycle electronic goods or packing peanuts.
Earth911.com has definitely enjoyed more than five minutes of fame having been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Good Morning America as well as online in the The New York Times. You can also find their content syndicated on sites ranging from National Geographic to the Huffington Post.
If you were to encapsulate their mission, the folks at Earth911 are all about the 3 R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle! They want to show you how to make your trash another man’s treasure or how to direct your trash to the best place for it to be recycled or reused. They want to provide the guidance that will help you to clean up your home, your community and your world by being environmentally responsible.
This is a site the Bidmycleaning team loves! Hop on over to visit Earth911.com today!
Posted by Candice on February 19, 2010 at 14:34 pm
Friday
Today’s web find is a wonderful source of information on natural health, living a naturally healthy lifestyle and integrating natural, organic and green products into your life. We are beginning to understand more and more how harmful preservatives, food coloring, harsh chemicals, growth hormones and/or pesticides can be linked to degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. It is becoming more important to be informed about new research on these and on how to protect yourself and your family. The Naturally Savvy website is a great place to start.
The focus at Naturally Savvy is on Food and Nutrition, Health and Wellness, living mindfully and naturally green. Resources include Savvy TV, Savvy Forums, Savvy Blogs and an Ask The Experts form. The experts in this case are Andrea Donsky, Registered Holistic Nutritionist (R.H.N.) and co-founder of NaturallySavvy.com with Randy Boyer, Lisa Tsakos, NaturallySavvy’s very own Registered Nutritionist and other contributors on topics ranging from sports nutrition to pet care.
In the category of most interest to us, green cleaning, the focus is on “teach[ing] you how to scrub your home inside and out without hurting the environment or your family.” Recent posts include “Cleaning Naturally Improves Indoor Air Quality” and green floor cleaning and an interesting one on UV-C Light Technology, although you won’t be using this in your home any time soon.
Visit today and you will find lots to enjoy.
Posted by Candice on February 17, 2010 at 09:53 am
House Cleaning Music
When it comes to cleaning house, this is a task most don’t enjoy and don’t look forward to but can there be an upside to cleaning? Of course there is the obvious pleasure in a nice clean home that smells fresh but what about some benefits for you personally? Can house cleaning be something that contributes to your health lifestyle?
House cleaning can be hard work – if you do it right you can get your heart rate up and work up a good sweat. Wear a heart rate monitor while you vacuum or clean your floors and you may be surprised to find that it goes up as much as walking on the treadmill or using the elliptical. Incorporate some knee bends and squats to make it more effective. If you keep up a good pace and don’t stop when transitioning from one activity to another house cleaning can be a full body workout. When wiping countertops and cleaning the shower you can give your arms a workout but be sure to switch off arms half way through.
A great way to keep up the pace is play some high-energy music. A quick scan of tweets about cleaning on twitter shows that lots of people do in fact listen to music while cleaning and that Lady Gaga is currently a popular choice. She certainly qualifies as high-energy.
Posted by Candice on February 9, 2010 at 16:31 pm
Clearly Essential Natural House Cleaning
We’ve written many posts on this blog about how important it is to make the switch to using natural cleaning products in your home. We even have our Green Cleaning Pantry series to help you make your own cleaning products at home. However, if you’re like me, finding the time to do all that home brewing can be challenging.
We were happy to meet Lisa Thomas on twitter and to hear about how in a search for cleaning products that would be safe enough to use around her toddler, she created an all natural window cleaner that amazed her mother, husband and even Lisa herself at how well it worked. This evolved to the Clearly Essential Multi-Purpose Cleaner that Lisa found to be effective on spilled red wine and pic pen scribbles on the sofa.
Lisa’s range of natural house cleaning products has expanded to include Clearly Essential Multi-Purpose Cleaner, Toilet Solution, Extra-Strength Kitchen & Bath Cleaner, Lemon Scrub, and most recently Cinnamon Scrub. The line is based on Lisa’s secret blend of essential oils and basic natural cleaning ingredients.
From the Clearly Essential website; “Our concept is simple. When you develop a cleaning product made with ingredients so natural, so safe, and so effective… a product you could wash your face and hands with, yet clean your house or car with, you make it available to everyone. We all want what’s healthiest for our families. And you’re probably here wondering what we’re all about because you also want what’s best for the planet… its waterways, oceans, forests, fields, and all of Earth’s amazing creatures. We do, too.”
Lisa was kind enough to send us some samples of her product lin. Our favorite is the lemon scrub which smells just like lemonade. All the products are effective cleaners and Lisa has a great idea to cut down on plastic bottles. Once you purchase your first spray bottle, you can then buy small glass refills which you mix with water to fill up the original spray bottle. It’s really great when a green company goes the extra step to making sure their packaging and shipping is eco-friendly too. The eco-friendly packaging was a little messy but Lisa says they are still working on finding the perfect solution.
Visit their website to buy some cleaning products or just Google them to find one of their online retailers.
Posted by Candice on February 3, 2010 at 15:50 pm
Bidmycleaning's Twitter-ific Giveaway
February is Twitter-ific Time at Bidmycleaning.com. We are giving away a $150 gift certificate for maid service to one of our twitter followers!
February is also Valentine’s Month which is why we are giving away a gift certificate for maid service The gift of house cleaning is the perfect Valentine’s Day gift … or Mother’s Day gift or Birthday gift or just away to say Thank You!
How do you enter our Twitter-ific Giveaway?
- Follow @bidmycleaning on Twitter.
- Tweet the following message to your followers:
Win $150 gift certificate for maid service! Follow @bidmycleaning.com – Contest details – http://ow.ly/13wpI
Click Here to Tweet Now
Prizes will be awarded subject to the following:
- The winner will be announced by March 1, 2010 or as soon as we hit 1,000 Twitter followers whichever comes first.
- The winner will receive a $150 Gift Card for maid service on http://www.bidmycleaning.com. The gift certificate will be valid for 2 months from receipt.
- Only one contest entry is allowed for each Twitter user account.
- This is a spam-free zone. Spam tweets will be disqualified.
We look forward to meeting all our new twitter friends!
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