Posts Tagged House Cleaning
Posted by Candice on September 6, 2010 at 09:43 am
Gratitude for A Happy Home
Very few people will honestly say that the enjoy
house cleaning but there are some who do. There are some find it fulfilling and rewarding. You see them on message boards saying how they feel energized after they complete the spring cleaning or that they love the sense of accomplishment that comes from routing the dust bunnies and putting a shine on every surface. Hmmm … not so much for me!
Can you change your attitude towards cleaning to help make it a more enjoyable chore? One way is to approach the task with an attitude of gratitude. The way to do this is to focus on how having a roof over your head, the convenience of electricity and running water and furnishings, accessories and adornments of beauty are a privilege to be grateful for. Sure you may have to clean your home but it sure beats living on a park bench sleeping under a newspaper. The world over there are many, many people who do not have a place to call home and most certainly do not have a nice comfy sofa and flat screen TV.
Think of housekeeping as showing your gratitude for your home and its contents and that might go quite a long way to making it feel like less of a chore and more of a celebration of what you are able to have.
For those who are able to afford a housekeeper or maid service there is even more reason to be grateful and one way to honor that it to remember to think about your gratitude when you walk into your freshly cleaned home that smells of lemon or lavender.
Posted by Candice on June 8, 2010 at 14:06 pm
Is your home your sanctuary? Do you return after a long tiring day and relax into your favorite chair perhaps with a glass of wine or do you arrive home to be faced with clutter and cleaning to be done? A new study has revealed that having a tidy home can have both physical health and emotional health benefits. Researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis found that people with tidy homes are more likely to be physically active. They raised the question as to whether the mere activity involved in vacuuming, dusting or doing laundry caused the effect or whether it was a case of people who are more likely to take care of their home are the kind of people who are also more likely to take care of their bodies. An interesting point is that the state of a your home is more closely linked to your level of fitness than it is to the area in which you live. If you can’t make it to the gym you can get as good or better a workout at home cleaning your bathroom or kitchen.
Posted by Candice on May 24, 2010 at 10:30 am
Green Cleaning For Your Kitchen
It is unlikely that anyone needs convincing anymore about how important it is to make the switch to green and natural cleaning. We’ve written in the past about
whether green cleaning can really beat the germs and have a whole series about how to stock your
green cleaning pantry.
Today we’ll share a few tips about how to attack some common household kitchen cleaning tasks using natural cleaning methods:
- To clean your microwave oven place 1/4 cup of baking soda mixed with one cup of water inside the oven and heat until steam fills the inside of your microwave. Then remove the dish and wipe down the oven.
- To clean your coffee machine just run a regular cycle using one cup of vinegar followed by two cycles of clean water to rinse the vinegar out.
- For a kettle a 1/4 cup of baking soda mixed with 2 cups of water. Bring to the boil and allow to sit overnight. Rinse well the next morning to remove any baking soda residue.
- To remove burnt residue from a pot or pan sprinkle a thick layer of baking soda over the burn area then add some water and place on the stove to hear. Let the baking soda sit overnight and then scrub to remove.
- To clean fresh produce use a sponge sprinkled with baking soda to wipe the fruit and/or vegetables before rinsing under running water. For produce that will not withstand wiping dip into a baking soda solution and then rinse well.
These are just some of the ways you can use baking soda and vinegar in your kitchen. They also have many useful applications in cleaning your bathroom and other parts of your home.
Visit Bidmycleaning.com’s Eco-Friendly Cleaning information page to learn more about green cleaning in your home or to find a maid service or house cleaning provider that can perform and eco-friendly cleaning service.
Posted by Candice on May 17, 2010 at 20:52 pm
House Cleaning Service Hit Lits
When it comes to outsourcing your house cleaning there are a few key requirements that most customers have when selecting a cleaning provider. What is on your hit list when selecting a house cleaning service?
1. A clean home - a good cleaning service will clean your home better than you would do yourself. If you come home to find that there is still dust on surfaces or dirt on your floors you will be disappointed. However, an important part of receiving the service you want is to communicate clear expectations to the service. In the event that you are not 100% satisfied with the cleaning any good cleaning service would want you to let them know and give them an opportunity to improve on the cleaning. Again, it is important to communicate clearly exactly what did not meet your standards and what is required to get there. Most cleaning companies understand that wowing the customer will lead to repeat business and favorable word of mouth. At Bidmycleaning.com we have a built in review service to ensure that cleaners who do a good job can be rewarded for that with a positive customer review but also that services that do not deliver can be called out for poor service.
2. Reliability – a service that arrives on the appointed day and the appointed time is important. House cleaners that show up as expected are more likely to be invited back for further cleanings or even be put on a regular schedule. At Bidmycleaning.com you select that date and time segment for your cleaning and then our service automatically sends out reminders prior to the appointment.
3. Safety - you want to know that the person or team that will be working in your home have been checked out. Background checks are a standard part of the application process for a service provider to be listed in the Bidmycleaning.com house cleaning service marketplace. Hiring someone from Craigslist or from a flyer posted on your mailbox does not guarantee you that they have been screened. In addition, at Bidmycleaning.com you can choose to only view bids from providers that are insured and bonded.
4. A fair price – you want to pay a price for your maid service that gets you the best service for your budget. At Bidmycleaning.com we make it easy to find out what maid service in your local neighborhood will cost because, based on your requirements, you can can view instant bids from various companies to compare pricing. You definitely don’t want to pay too much but in some cases you probably don’t want to pay too little either. If price is the only factor in your decision you can choose a provider that is not necessarily insured & bonded and may therefore be able to charge a little less. However, if for whatever reason you need or want a provider that is insured & bonded that option is available to you.
Posted by Candice on May 2, 2010 at 22:39 pm
Show Your Appreciation on Mother's Day
A greeting card with flowers, candy or something from The Body Shot – these are the things most Mother’s receive on the one day a year designated to celebrating all that Mother’s do for us. The lucky Moms get brunch with the family thrown in too. However, if we stop to consider for a moment what would best serve Mom on her ‘special’ day then flowers that wilt or candy that will likely result in some diet-busting guilt are probably not the best bang for your buck. What Moms really need is a break from all things they do which is probably why we need to thank them in the first place:
1. A break from cooking! How about a nice dinner out or if you’re on a smaller budget offer to cook dinner a few nights this week.
2. A break from cleaning! How about a gift certificate for maid service so time that would be spent scrubbing and sweeping can be spent on some relaxing reading or a movie.
3. A break from the laundry! This week offer to do the laundry for your mom or send it out to a laundry service.
4. A break from carpooling! Get Dad to step in and help out with the pick up and drops offs for a few days!
There are probably many more chores that you can come up with which would give your Mom a lovely break if you took over for a few days. With the time she will have to herself give her a gift card for a local spa, one for her favorite restaurant so she can have dinner out with a friend or perhaps one from the local cinema so she can take in a movie. If there are budget constraints give her some special ‘me’ time at home by running a nice warm bubble bath and placing candles and a bottle of wine in the bathroom and sending her there for a nice soak.
This week you can buy a gift card for maid service at Bidmycleaning.com and receive a 15% discount off the price. Your Mom will really appreciate the extra help around the house and a nice break from the cleaning she usually does to keep your home comfortable for you.
Posted by Candice on March 19, 2010 at 00:51 am
Professional House Cleaners
For the professional house cleaners, their time is money and so they need to be efficient at getting the job done. We asked some of the cleaners that participate in the
Bidmycleaning.com Service Marketplace to share with us how they get the best results in the shortest amount of time. For most it comes down to using the right tool, using good cleaning products and refining methods and workflows.
The Right House Cleaning Tools
1. A caddy or organizer to hold all your cleaning supplies so that you can easily move from one cleaning spot to another.
2. Microfiber or terry cloth cleaning cloths are important as is using a clean portion of the rag for each new area.
3. Squeegee for streak-free cleaning of mirrors, windows and glass doors.
4. HEPA vacuum, important considerations are that it be lightweight and have a long retractable cord.
5. Good quality feather duster for example one made of ostrich feathers for cleaning smaller items and light fixtures or anything that cannot be reached with a vacuum cleaner.
6. Flat floor mop with detachable pads which can be laundered.
7. Toilet bowl mop
Quality Cleaning Products
Good quality cleaning products are ones which require the least amount of elbow grease to get the job done. Despite what one may think effective cleaning does not require chemicals. There are many commercial and home made products which are effective cleaners based on all natural ingredients. You do not need a big arsenal of cleaning products but rather a few key multi-taskers. You will need a good all-purpose cleaner that will also clean glass, a scouring powder and soap scum remover, a floor cleaner and furniture polish.
A Workflow
Ordering the tasks that need to get done so you can proceed from one to the next in the most efficient way possible comes from trial and error. The professionals have typically been doing the job for so long that they have mastered what is required and have found ways to keep time spent on each task to the minimum and avoid covering the same ground more than once. Your home and cleaning style will dictate what is an efficient workflow for you and the more you do the same routine the more efficient you will become.
Should you decide that you don’t want to invest in the right tools or cleaning products and don’t have the time refine your process you can always leave the task to a professional house cleaner
Posted by Candice on March 16, 2010 at 10:30 am
House Cleaning Husband
It seems that the current recession has had the biggest impact on men with more men losing their jobs or having their time cut. One reason is that men are more likely to be employed in industries like manufacturing and construction that have taken a heavy blow in the current financial crisis or are cyclical. A switch has taken place and now there are fewer unemployed females than males.
So since more males are finding themselves unemployed, how is that impacting the work that gets done in the home. Are men doing more of the house cleaning and taking care of the kids? If the wife and mother is out working and there is now just one salary and daycare costs cannot be supported, can one really expect a man who was working construction to suddenly switch to vacuuming and changing diapers? Probably not. Although one really cannot generalize because there certainly has been a shift among many men to getting more involved with childcare and helping out more with the house cleaning chores. However, to go from helping out a little more to taking full responsibility is a big leap and in our society the househusband is not as easily accepted as the housewife. Perhaps the ‘traditional American Family Value will need to be tossed out to support a new social trend. The term ‘Mr Mom’ which stay-at-home Dads find derogatory will need to be replaced by something which affirms the mans role as a parent to his children in his own right. Most men who trade the work, recover on the weekends, work carousel to become househusband find that they find having a deeper relationship with their children and their spouse very rewarding.
When it comes to the house cleaning chores there are many cartoons depicting men in aprons with a duster in one hand. Why is this funny? Well hopefully just the apron makes it funny because having a man do the dusting, scrubbing and scouring should not be something to laugh about. Ideally, the responsibility for earning the income and shouldering the responsibility for the maintenance of the home and care of the children would be shared. Neither partner should have to choose one or the other unless they in fact prefer once over the other and come to a mutual agreement about it. Society is still a long way away from such a situation.
Whatever happens it will be interesting to see how the family structure and society changes or whether once economic recovery becomes a reality things return to the way they were because this is what people are used to.
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
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