Tag Archives: Cleaning

Passover: Laugh While Cleaning

November 20, 2021   Matt

Passover: Laugh While Cleaning

Passover, or Pesach as it is called in Hebrew, is the 8 day festival where the Jews celebrate their liberation from Egypt more than a thousand years ago. One of the most important features of this freedom festival is that the Jews cannot eat anything that is leavened. They eat unleavened bread.

They must also make sure that no bread crumbs exist in or around the house: the cupboards, the drawers, the kitchen, behind the bed, under the refrigerator and anywhere else where crumbs might have fallen through. To ensure that the house is clean of leavened food materials, the Jews have to clean the entire house from top to bottom as thoroughly as possible. And they do. During the week before Passover, house cleaning is what goes on in most Jewish houses. To answer this demand and to ease the tension, here is a joke on this subject called Impossible Timing, which highlights this cleaning tension.

Impossible Timing:
Samuel, an observant Jew, who was also a financial wizard, left Brooklyn to accept the position of Vice President in a famous broker firm in Utah, which is well known for being a Mormon state.

When they learned this, the company’s directorate applied tremendous pressure on the company’s president. “We are religious people here,” they said. “It can’t be that a Jew will handle all our money.”

The president tried to ward them off, but when he couldn’t manage it anymore, he called Samuel to his office and explained the situation to him. Samuel was offered the choice of either converting or leaving the attractive job which also had a six figure salary quote attached to it.

Samuel had no choice but to convert, and he went home and told his wife that from Sunday, they will start attending the Church services.

A few months went by and his wife kept troubling Samuel about the conversion. “This is too difficult for me. I miss the Sabbath: lighting candles and blessing the wine. I miss the holidays. Money is not everything, Samuel dear.”

And with each time that his wife complained, Samuel’s conscience increased until he could not take it anymore and he went to meet the company’s President.
“Look, I can’t go on like this,” Samuel said. “I am full of regret. Money is not everything. I can’t sleep and neither can my wife. This is too heavy a burden for me to carry. I was born a Jew and I want to die a Jew. And if you want me to quit, I will without making any trouble.”

The President looked at him in wonder, “Listen, Samuel, I had no idea that this was so difficult for you. I thought it was a trivial matter. But you don’t have to leave. Everything will be the same as before: you can stay here with us without converting.

Samuel returned home happy and grinning from ear to ear. He ran to his wife, who was watching Ricky Lake, “You won’t believe it! It’s a miracle. We are going back to being Jews, and I still retain my job.”

His wife looked at him with eyes that spat fire, and said,” Are you mad?”

Samuel was shocked. “But I thought that this is what you wanted!” He cut in. “All this while you have been crying and complaining. Don’t you wish to go back to becoming a Jew””

His wife looked at him with ever more fury, “Of course I want to. Of course I want to,” she said. “But now? Only a week before Passover?”

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How To Save Your Business Money On Cleaning Supplies And Cleaning Services

October 31, 2021   Matt

How To Save Your Business Money On Cleaning Supplies And Cleaning Services

With today’s rising fuel costs everything just seems to get a little more expensive every day. When you own a business you know that every penny saved can help. Cleaning supplies and cleaning services can eat a big chunk out of your bottom line but there are things you can do to save up to 50% on these types of expenses. Having your facilities cleaned and having to stock your bathrooms with toilet paper and soap are a necessity but there are ways to save hundreds if not thousands of dollars each year on commercial cleaning and cleaning supplies.

If you use a cleaning company and your facility is under the size of a football field then you are wasting money. By paying a cleaning company to come in every night and do simple tasks like vacuuming and emptying trash you are essentially paying a company to make a profit off of something you could be easily doing yourself in house. By developing a simple plan for your existing employees and having them do some of these tasks can have a huge impact on your cleaning budget. Simple tasks like taking out the trash at the end of the day can be handed out to your current employees. By creating a central location as a main trash refugee can make it easy on employees by having them walk a minimal distance to dump there own trash containers at the end of the day. Many companies are looking to their current staff and advertising cleaning positions for after business hours. In these financially challenging times many employees would jump at the opportunity to work a few extra hours at night to make a little more income. By being smart and taking the time to look at what a cleaning company is actually providing you can save a lot of money.

Another big area you can save money in is your restroom supplies. Every facility has to have restrooms and those restrooms are filled with products that you can save money on. Some examples of products you can save money on are toilet paper, hand towels and soap. Toilet paper can get expensive depending on what kind you use. The price of toilet paper can range from as little as dollars a case to 0 dollars a case. By purchasing commercial toilet paper which is wound with more length to a roll than regular toilet paper can save you hundreds of dollars over just one year. Another great way to save money is on soap. If you purchase soap that can comes in cartridges you may as well have a free money dispenser in your restroom. Cartridge soaps can cost up to 4 times what bulk gallon soaps cost and take the same amount of time to fill as cartridge dispensers. Hand towels can easily be replaced by hand dryers. With hand dryers there is no trash to take out and you can eliminate the cost of replacing paper towel dispensers when they break down.

A great way to save money on cleaning expenses is to question your cleaning bills. If you are currently having your cleaning company provide your cleaning and sanitary maintenance supplies find out if they are selling you the products at their cost or up charging you. Many business owners have no clue about how much a case of toilet paper or a case of trash can liners cost. Some cleaning companies mark up the cleaning products they are selling you by as much as 300% and work it into the bill. There is nothing wrong with asking your cleaning company for a breakdown of there charges and comparing the prices your being charged with the actual costs of what you can purchase the items at.

As an expert in the cleaning field I talk to a lot of cleaning company owners and see where they live and what they drive. Some owners live in million dollar houses and drive very expensive cars all from profits they are making from commercial cleaning. With this being true that means they’re making a lot of money from up charging you for simple services and products that any business owner can buy online or at a local cleaning supply distributor. So if you’re a business owner and want to save some of your hard earned dollars, take a good look at your cleaning situation and start asking questions right away.

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Spring Cleaning for Driveways, Paths, and Parking Areas

September 01, 2021   Matt

Spring Cleaning for Driveways, Paths, and Parking Areas

Time was when most houses were approached on foot up the garden path and entered through the front door; the horse or carriage presumably was left by the front gate. The advent of automobiles and busier roads has left the front doors of many older houses high and dry, blindly facing a busy highway on which it is no longer safe for horse or automobile to tarry. Many of these older houses are now entered by what was once the back or side door, and a new approach has been necessarily created, often involving some form of driveway and parking space. Modern houses are designed with their main entrance oriented to the automobile’s requirements, usually up a private driveway. In the suburbs, it may be a short suburban tarred strip; in the country, a longer shaled driveway leading to the house.

Whether you have a short or a long driveway, it will need certain maintenance from time to time. Make your inspection after you are sure the last snow has come and gone. If yours is a gravel driveway, clean up and rake back any gravel that may have been snowplowed off (usually onto the adjoining lawn).

If you have a blacktop driveway, check for cracks and holes. If these are minor, they can easily be repaired with special tars available from hardware stores and lumberyards. Occasionally, the whole driveway can benefit from a coat of blacktop sealer that creates a new wearing surface.

Similarly, minor repairs to concrete driveways are easily made at this stage using a concrete mix that can be bought in small sacks from building suppliers, lumberyards, and many hardware stores. (See pages 21-24 for more information on concrete repair.)

If yours is a longer driveway made of shale, crushed stone, split rock, or gravel, it will probably require more regular maintenance than either blacktop or concrete. Snowplowing, if necessary in your area, can exact a heavy toll by removing surface material along with the snow.

Any hole or rut-even a small one-will be enlarged by the action of rain and runoff and eventually become a major hazard. No matter how carefully a graded driveway is originally graded, sooner or later it will develop ridges and depressions that begin to collect water. The holes seem to grow of their own accord; in attempting to skirt them, drivers gradually change a smooth, straight run into a winding obstacle course.

This process, however, can be slowed greatly by a little rake-work now and then. When all the frost is out of the ground and any heaved sections have subsided-and the ground is reasonably dry-fill in holes and depressions with material raked from the high spots. If permanent ruts across the driveway persist from heavy rains and runoff, consider installing new or additional culverts to carry off the excess water.

Even though it is important not to begin to level your driveway or parking area until you are certain that cold weather has subsided and all the frost is gone, early spring is the best time of year to do this kind of work, especially if you are undertaking more extensive repairs like major reshaling or adding additional parking space. Spring repairs allow the driveway to be compacted firmly (by use) during the summer, minimizing the amount of loose surface material that snowplows may later scrape away.

Much of what has been said about driveways is pertinent to paths. Paths and walkways that are not well drained or that are constructed over bases unsuited to their climate can suffer considerable e-raised paving material, loosened bricks, and misplaced flagstones. Before attempting any repair, wait for the effects of winter the rainy season to subside.

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Tips on Cleaning Up After Pets

August 12, 2021   Matt

Tips on Cleaning Up After Pets

Between muddy paws, fur on upholstered furniture, odors and occasional accidents, we can spend quite a bit of time cleaning up after our furry friends.

The experts at Merry Maids offer pet owners the following tips for keeping a clean home and tackling the most common problems.

* Minimizing the mess: Cleaner pets mean a cleaner house. Bathe and brush your pets regularly to minimize the amount of pet hair and dander and to help eliminate odors. Keep a lint brush or damp sponge handy to quickly pick up loose pet hair.

* Removing pet hair: On carpeting, use a vacuum with a good beater brush or brush roll to remove pet hair. On upholstery, use velour brushes, tape rollers or even the rubber bottom of a clean tennis shoe and remove the fur using light, even strokes.

* Lifting stains: Dilute spots using a damp cloth, then clean the area with one quart of water mixed with one teaspoon white vinegar. Cleaning solutions from your local pet store or supermarket also work well in lifting stains and odors. Be sure to follow the label directions and allow them to work for the full amount of time indicated.

When your pet has stomach problems, clean up these accidents quickly, as the acidity can stain your carpet. Treat the affected area using a professional carpet detergent and rinse with clean hot water. Extract the soiled solutions away from the carpet.

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Do-It-Yourself Carpet Cleaning Tips

May 19, 2021   Matt

Do-It-Yourself Carpet Cleaning Tips

Remember what your brand new carpet looked like when you first had it installed? Frustrated that only a short time later it looks like it needs to be replaced again?

Keeping your carpet clean and looking new is no longer an easy job.

To get the most wear out of your carpet, use the following do-it-yourself carpet cleaning tips.

Regular upkeep is vital to the life of your carpet. By vacuuming your carpet weekly and not allowing shoes to be worn in your house, you can extend the life of your carpet by five years or more. Vacuuming regularly keeps dirt and grime from becoming ground in to the carpet fibers. Allowing only socks or slippers on your carpet keeps it from becoming soiled by hard to remove stains such as mud and oils.

If your carpet does become stained or overly dirty, there are numerous homemade products and easy carpet cleaning tips that you can use to make it look new again.

When cleaning the entire carpeted area, always use a warm water solution. The warm water allows the grime and oils to be broken down more quickly and completely. For the cleaning solution you can use any of the numerous commercial products available but a simple mix of water and vinegar works just as well. The white vinegar will pull residue from the fibers making your carpet softer and cleaner.

For stains, there are numerous treatments. Club soda works great on red wine stains. Brake cleaner works great on tough food stains and WD40 works great on oil or grease spots.

To use brake cleaner, simply apply the cleaner to a cloth and then blot the stain. Once the stain is removed rinse the area with a vinegar and water solution.

To use WD40, simple spray the stained area and allow the cleaner to sit for 30 minutes. Blot the area dry and then rinse it well with a mixture of dish soap and water.

The best carpet cleaning tip for removing general stains is shaving cream. Shaving cream, when applied directly to the stain and allowed to set for 30 minutes, will remove just about every type of stain. After the cream has set, gently blot it away with a dry white cloth. Be sure to rinse the area with a vinegar and water solution after cleaning.

When cleaning a carpet stain it is important to remember to blot the affected area and never rub it. Rubbing causes the particles to ground into the carpet fibers and it can also lead to the premature breakdown of those fibers.

By using these simple carpet cleaning tips you can make carpet cleaning and upkeep a breeze. Plus, you can save money on products and still have clean carpets that you are proud to show.

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Tips On Cleaning A Mattress

May 09, 2021   Matt

Tips On Cleaning A Mattress

A good mattress is an expensive investment, so it makes sense to learn how to take care of it. Unfortunately, spills or accidents occasionally happen, especially if you’re having breakfast in bed or your children aren’t yet potty trained. But, how do you clean a mattress? After all, it’s not like you can just toss it in the washer if it becomes soiled.

The best thing you can do is to avoid getting your mattress dirty in the first place. Encasing the mattress and the box spring in hypoallergenic cases protects them from dust and grime and will cut down on dust mites. However, liquid can still seep through most cases and into the mattress. You may want to consider placing a rubber sheet on the mattress for protection against spills or childhood accidents.

Of course, since most people find that these rubber sheets bunch up and are uncomfortable to sleep on, you may prefer to risk getting the mattress wet, especially if there isn’t a big chance that you will spill your morning coffee or your children are older. If you do get your mattress dirty, you can follow these simple steps to get it clean.

1. To remove dirt or dust, whip out your vacuum. Most mattress manufacturers suggest that occasionally vacuuming your mattress is a good idea, even if it doesn’t look dirty, to keep dust mites under control.

2. If you need to clean up a liquid spill or a stain, don’t grab your favorite stain removal product. Mattresses are made of materials that may not react well to chemicals. Instead, you should just try to blot up any liquid and leave the stain alone. If you can’t bear the thought of leaving the stain on your mattress or if it has a strong odor, you can use a cloth dampened with cold water to gently scrub the stain. You can use a bit of mild soap on the cloth if the stain won’t budge, but just be sure you don’t end up making your mattress or box spring wetter than it already is.

3. Once you clean up the spill or stain, leave the sheets off your mattress and let it thoroughly air dry before you cover it back up. There’s nothing worse than a moldy mattress, especially if the person sleeping on it has severe mold allergies.

Once your mattress is clean and dry, you may want to use this opportunity to flip it over so that it wears more evenly. You should flip your mattress over three or four times a year to help it last longer.

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