Change Your Furnace Filter Regularly for a Cleaner Home

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Change Your Furnace Filter Regularly for a Cleaner Home

This is the time of year when we start noticing homes with furnace filters that need to be changed. Furnaces with clogged filters spew out more dust particles and quickly make your home dusty. Particle buildup decreases the efficiency of your heater too. A general rule of thumb is that disposable fiberglass panel or electrostatic panel filters need to be changed every 1-3 months. Pleated filters last longer, from 3-12 months. Replacement filters can be purchased at stores such as Ace Hardware, Target, and Home Depot.

For more information about furnace filters, check out FurnaceCompare.

To schedule a cleaning with Maid in Chicago or for a FREE quote, give us a call at (312) 829-9600. You can also visit our website maidinchicago.us and fill out our online form.

Clorox Disinfecting Wipes

We recently received some samples of Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, and it got me thinking about ways to avoid getting sick this year. I’m a firm believer in flu shots, and when exposed to sick family or colleagues I’ll take a preemptive dose of vitamin C or E to build up my immunity. The wipes may be another line of defense to add to your arsenal.

The packaging states that the product:

  • kills cold and flu viruses
  • disinfects household kitchen and bathroom bacteria
  • kills 99.9% of bacteria in 30 seconds

Since disinfecting the sick person isn’t an option, you may want to wipe off community items they touch such as door knobs, cabinet handles, telephones, remote controls, toilets, faucets, and light switches. If you are the sick one, it would be a good idea to wipe off your own personal items too such as cell phones, iPods, iPads, and other portable devices to avoid reinfecting yourself.

I’ve noticed grocery stores offering disinfecting wipes at entrances to sanitize grocery carts, which is a nice gesture considering they are known to be some of the nastiest public items to touch. The wipes would be great to use in cars as well. Clorox sells portable versions too which they advertise as good to use in schools and on airplanes. They wouldn’t hurt to use at the gym either.

Keep in mind that disinfecting wipes are not a substitute for cleaning surfaces. In fact, the packaging recommends cleaning the surface first before disinfecting or sanitizing it. Indeed, I found out when cleaning off my keyboard and phones at the office that they tended to spread the dust around. One thing nice about the wipes is that they are safe on multiple surfaces including sinks, counters, and hardwood.

They are, however, yet another disposable product you may or may not wish to stock. For a more environmentally friendly alternative you could always spray a cleaning cloth with disinfectant cleaner and wash it in your washing machine.

To schedule a cleaning with Maid in Chicago or for a FREE quote, give us a call at (312) 829-9600. You can also visit our website maidinchicago.us and fill out our online form.

Quick Tip to Deodorize Dishwashers

Arm & Hammer has a good idea for deodorizing and cleaning dishwashers:

“Relax. There’s no need to run the dishwasher just yet! Sprinkle a handful of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda on the dishes or in the bottom of the dishwasher to absorb food odors just lingering in the dishwasher.  Double duty!  Use Arm & Hammer Baking Soda to deodorize before you run the dishwasher and then as a gentle cleanser in the wash cycle.”

Of course this is not a substitute for cleaning your dishwasher!

There are many other tips for using Arm & Hammer as a cleaner in the kitchen on their web site.

To schedule a cleaning with Maid in Chicago or for a FREE quote, give us a call at (312) 829-9600. You can also visit our website maidinchicago.us and fill out our online form.

How to Clean a Moldy Shower Curtain Liner

Here is an easy way to remove mold and mildew from a vinyl shower curtain liner. Simply throw it in the washing machine, and add a cup of chlorine bleach to your detergent. When it comes out,  hang it back up in the shower to dry. Do not put it in the dryer.

If that doesn’t work you’ll need to scrub it with a plastic brush. We recommend using a cleaning solution of 10 parts water to one part bleach.

To schedule a cleaning with Maid in Chicago or for a FREE quote, give us a call at (312) 829-9600. You can also visit our website maidinchicago.us and fill out our online form.

5 Tips on How to Get a Handle on Clutter

Chicago Home Improvement Magazine recently ran this great expert Q&A guest column by professional organizer Pooja Gugnani.

Q: My house is filled with clutter, and I can’t seem to get a handle on it. Can you offer any tips on controlling this mess without discarding my valuables?

A: Here are five tips:

1. Saying is believing. Replace saying “not enough” with “more than enough.” Train your mind to be content by actually saying it out loud. Trust me, it works!

2. Make space, not mess. Instead of finding ways to create more storage to fit your clutter, think of ways to create more space by eliminating your clutter.

3. I see clutter. If the phrase “This may come in handy someday” or “I didn’t know I had this” is attached to an object, it is time to reevaluate whether or not it belongs in your home.

4. Face amnesia. When you come across an item that you had forgotten about, there’s a 50-percent chance that you didn’t miss it enough to go looking for it—and, most likely, it has lost its utility in your life.

5. Detach and donate. The toughest phase of the decluttering process is finding the heart to dispose of things you’ve owned for years, or that have memories. The best way to part with your “favorite” things is to know it will find a good home again.

Professional organizer Pooja Gugnani, pictured above, is the founder and owner of Organizing with You in Chicago.

To schedule a cleaning with Maid in Chicago or for a FREE quote, give us a call at (312) 829-9600. You can also visit our website maidinchicago.us and fill out our online form.

Cleaning Cloths 101

This is a follow up to our post titled Everything you always wanted to know about microfiber cleaning cloths. As we discussed, microfiber cleaning cloths are especially great for cleaning sensitive items prone to scratching such as stereo equipment and computer screens. However, this brings up another question. What do you use for more general cleaning tasks? Many people use cut up t-shirts and bath towels as rags in their homes. What do cleaning professionals recommend?

At Maid in Chicago we always pack plenty of surgical towels for our heavy duty cleaning jobs requiring supplies and equipment. Rugged and durable, these all-purpose cleaning cloths have a rough surface that powers through grimy bathrooms and dirty kitchen appliances. By using surgical towels, it helps us be a greener cleaning company too, because they can be laundered over and over again.

huck towel

(Picture above: surgical towels by ACS)

Flour sack towels are another tried and true option. According to Ted Parish, whose company ACS specializes in making them, they have a long and interesting history. “During the horse and buggy days, homemakers purchased their flour in 100 lb. cotton sacks. Once the sacks were emptied, washed, and bleached, they had a variety of different uses such as kitchen towels, cleaning and polishing cloths, diapers, and even underwear! Those that could not afford regular bedding sewed them together to make sheets and pillowcases.”

flour sack towels

(picture above: flour sack towels by ACS)

While the days of purchasing 100 lb. bags of flour are long gone, uses for flour sacks have endured. Cleaning companies love that flour sack towels are soft, lint-free, and absorbent, so they make superb dusting cloths and are great on mirrors and windows.  Personally, I reserve them for kitchen use only. They are wonderful for drying dishes, especially wine glasses and other fine crystal. Home chefs like me also use them for wiping up kitchen counters and in food preparation.

In closing, we recommend that you have a few different types of cleaning cloths in your home to choose from. We prefer surgical towels for all-purpose use, but it is handy to have some flour sack towels and microfiber cleaning cloths as well.

If you are looking for a supplier of cleaning cloths for your home or business you can contact our vendor Ted Parish, at ACS tel: (888) 374-5250 x2, e-mail him at Americanchair@yahoo.com, or check out our their website at acshomeandwork.com.

To schedule a cleaning with Maid in Chicago or for a FREE quote, give us a call at (312) 829-9600. You can also visit our website maidinchicago.us and fill out our online form.

Everything you always wanted to know about microfiber cleaning cloths

The number of cleaning applications for microfiber seems to be growing. In homes, microfiber cleaning clothes are great for dusting and general cleaning. Microfiber also has very specific applications such as cleaning sensitive photographic lenses and detailing cars. Martha Stewart recommends using them in particular on “surfaces prone to scratching, such as computer and television screens and stainless steel appliances.” Lately, microfibers appear in popular Rubbermaid wet mop heads (see our blog Wet Mop Brand Recommendations), and Apple recommends using the cloths for cleaning iPads.

wonder cloth

(pictured above is the Wonder Cloth by ACS)

To learn more about the properties, uses, and care for microfiber cleaning cloths, I turned to an expert who is also our supplier, Ted Parish of ACS. Below is a summary of a recent interview with him.

What is a microfiber? By definition a microfiber is a synthetic fiber less than one denier. For comparison purposes the size of a human hair is about 10 denier. Unlike cotton yarns, which are measured by a “count” (think of those 300 thread count or more Egyptian cotton bed sheets), the denier measurement scale goes in the opposite direction, so the lower the denier the finer the thread. Because microfiber is thinner than cotton, the space between threads is larger, which enables the cloths to pick up more dirt or absorb more water. These properties make it excellent for cleaning.

What do you use them for? When microfiber first came out its big claim to fame was that you could use the cloths on glass and mirrors without any water. For cleaning purposes manufacturers actually recommend that you first dampen them with water and wring them out before  using them to wipe counters, stove tops, and other things. Dry the clean surface with a separate dry microfiber cleaning cloth or larger microfiber bath towel. The cleaning cloths are also really good for dusting because contrary to cotton, they attract dust and leave no residue.

I heard that you need to be careful when laundering and drying them. Machine wash them just like you would colors. Do not use any bleach or fabric softener. The oils in softener will clog up the fibers. They will last longer if you air dry rather than machine dry them.

Where can we buy them? Feel free to call me, Ted Parish, at ACS tel: (888) 374-5250 x2,       e-mail me at Americanchair@yahoo.com, or check out our website at acshomeandwork.com.

To schedule a cleaning with Maid in Chicago or for a FREE quote, give us a call at (312) 829-9600. You can also visit our website maidinchicago.us and fill out our online form.

Why we use your cleaning supplies

When you hire a maid service, one thing to consider is whether they will bring cleaning supplies or not. Sometimes you will have a choice and other times you will not. Maid services that do team cleanings will likely bring their own supplies. Some companies will bring just the vacuum cleaner for an extra charge.

Generally speaking, a cleaning service will be more expensive if they bring supplies and equipment. All of the costs associated with supplies including purchase price, use, wear and tear, depreciation, packing, transport, etc. are passed along to to you. Parking is also a factor in busy Chicago where we are located. To keep costs down we usually require our clients to provide their own cleaning supplies for general cleanings. There are plus and minuses to this approach.

We sometimes hear from first time clients that they really don’t like the idea of maid services using rags, feather dusters, vacuums, toilet brushes, etc. that have been used in somebody elses home–even if they are properly cleaned and sterilized afterwards. I’ll be honest, I personally get grossed out by even my own feather duster in my home.

If you are the second, third, or fourth stop in the day of a company doing team cleaning, I personally wonder how sanitary the supplies may be.  It’s something to consider when choosing a cleaning company. When our company bring supplies for a cleaning (usually for a move-in/out or post construction cleaning) our supplies are specially packed for each customer’s home and they our brought right back to our office after use.

Most people tend to have their own brand preferences too, and more and more of our clients are turning to greener cleaners and methods. The down side is that it is up to you to keep your supply cupboard stocked with supplies.

Here is a list of cleaning supplies we recommend you have in your home.

To schedule a cleaning with Maid in Chicago or for a FREE quote, give us a call at (312) 829-9600. You can also visit our website maidinchicago.us and fill out our online form.

Self-cleaning microwave oven?

Loosen up gunk and grease splattered inside your microwave by following this simple tip. Fill a pyrex measuring cup or other microwave safe bowl with one cup water and put in microwave on high for three minutes. This should bring the water to a boil. Let it set in microwave for several minutes with the door closed.

Then, wet a sponge or soft rag with a tablespoon of vinegar.  If you need a degreaser, add a few drops of dishwashing liquid to it. Wipe microwave clean with the rag or sponge. The microwave will practically clean itself. Now that was easy! 

To schedule a cleaning with Maid in Chicago or for a FREE quote, give us a call at (312) 829-9600. You can also visit our website maidinchicago.us and fill out our online form.

iSmudged. How to clean an iPad

iSmudged
1: how your iPad touch screen appears from oily fingerprints.

All of that intimate iPad touching leaves behind a lot of fingerprints and many owners wondering how to safely clean their new favorite companion. It turns out the screen has an “oleophobic” coating, which means it is resistant to oils. That’s good while the coating lasts, as it can simply be wiped clean with a dry cloth. We recommend using microfiber cleaning cloths, which leave behind no lint or dust.  You can also use a cloth slighty dampened with distilled water, but you must first turn off and unplug the device. Any cleaners other than distilled water may damage your iPad. When in doubt consult the manufacturer. See below!

There many brands of microfiber cleaning cloths such as 3M, Scotch-Brite, Zwipes, Peak, etc. which can be found at Walmart, Menards, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, office supply stores, electronics stores, and online.

Here are cleaning instructions direct from Apple’s 154 page iPad user guide:
“To clean iPad, unplug all cables and turn off iPad (press and hold the Sleep/ Wake button, and then slide the onscreen slider). Then use a soft, slightly damp, lint-free cloth. Avoid getting moisture in openings. Don’t use window cleaners, household cleaners, aerosol sprays, solvents, alcohol, ammonia, or abrasives to clean iPad. iPad has an oleophobic coating on the screen; simply wipe the iPad screen with a soft, lint-free cloth to remove oil left by your hands. The ability of this coating to repel oil will diminish over time with normal usage, and rubbing the screen with an abrasive material will further diminish its effect and may scratch your screen.”

To schedule a cleaning with Maid in Chicago or for a FREE quote, give us a call at (312) 829-9600. You can also visit our website maidinchicago.us and fill out our online form.