‘Domestic Service Updates’ Articles
Upgrades to our Home Cleaning Services; here we list information on how we upgrade the service we offer our clients
Written by HomeMaid on 05 March 2010
Micro Fibre Cloths: Easier Faster Cleaning
I thinks its fair to say we’d all like the cleaning to easier and quicker to do, so we can get with something more fun!
As a professional cleaning company we’re always looking for ways to be more efficient and either maintain the standards or improve them. In June 2008 we trialled a commercial grade microfibre cloth having seen something on TV – probably on the shopping channel! Anyway, most things we test really don’t live up to the promise or expectation and usually end up in the recycling or gathering dust in my shed!
Micro Fibre – Miracle Cloth
Put aside your cynicism for a second, because I can tell you these things really do work! They are quicker than normal “stockinette” type cloths in practice and require little or no cleaning product. The only downside is that good ones are a bit pricey (£4 40cm X 40cm) compared to your 10 for £1.50 type cloths.
But You’re Worth It
Invest in them as we have done, you’ll clean faster and more hygienically too, somethings are a good investment!
The Science….
Microfibre textiles were designed to allow cleaning on a microscopic scale, as long ago as the 1950’s, although it was a well kept secret used during and after the second world war to clean sensitive instruments and rid them of not only dust particles but bacteria too. Thus, according to tests, using microfiber materials to clean a surface leads to reducing the number of bacteria by 99% whereas a conventional cleaning material reduces this number only by 33%.
You simply have to have some of these in your cleaning kit and when we get the store online later this year, you can buy direct from the professionals!
Tags: domestic cleaning in accrington, domestic cleaning in blackburn, domestic cleaning in burnley, domestic cleaning in clitheroe, domestic cleaning rawtenstall, house cleaning products, House Cleaning Tips, hygienic house cleaning, micro fibre, microfibre
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Written by HomeMaid on 28 March 2009
As you will now no doubt be aware, we are always looking for upgrades to enhance and improve our home cleaning services and one of the things we felt was missing was a dedicated Stainless Steel Cleaner, we had the usual ’superstore’ products in our own kitchen but wanted to find something even better.
The Growing Stainless Steel Trend
The amount of stainless in our homes today is quite amazing; kettles, cookers, cooker hoods, toasters…….. the list goes on and on. Not just in the kitchen though, some of our customers have stainless door handles and light switches, they all look beautiful in the showrooms and when they’re first installed, but you quickly find, are difficult to keep clean from mucky finger prints to grease stains!
The Pro Stainless Steel Cleaner
The clear winner is a product actually recomended to us by one of the top kitchen manufactures who use it on all stainless steel appliances after they’ve been fitted. Now thats testamant in itself.
The aerosol stainless steel cleaner can be used on all types of stainless steel kitchen equipment, it removes light deposits of fat, grease and food, it cleans smudges and finger marks, leaving a clean, shiny, immaculate surface and is very easy to use .
The aerosol stainless steel cleaner does comply with the current EU regulations on biodegradability and protection for the environment which suits HomeMaids ethos perfectly.
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Written by HomeMaid on 30 January 2009
Beautiful, black . shiny ceramic hobs are becoming increasingly popular in many of our clients homes, including our own. They are brilliant to cook on, look fantastic but can be a pain to clean. It was an area we were having trouble bringing some ceramic hobs upto the “HomeMaid Clean” standard.
Ceramic Hob Cleaners Tested
Having researched the products available we are going to trial four of the best. These products should be similar in the ‘end result’ but their prices range from £1.90 to a staggering £7.20, it doesn’t always follow that the more expensive is naturally the best but, always keen to get the best product, we’ll give it a go, we want to be able to provide the very best cleaning solution for our clients.
Ceramic Hob Trials
This was an interesting trial, all the products had some good points and some bad ones too, one didn’t work at all no matter how many times I read the instructions and used the cleaner exactly as instructed, this one went in the bin immediately!! Its worth noting having just fitted a lovely shiny ceramic hob at home, the initial trials were done in our own kitchen.
Ceramic Hobs Cleaned
The other three were pretty much on par. After using all three on separate occassions it became clear that one was harder to remove the residue and left a white powdery smear on the ceramic, a lot of polishing with one of our Microfibre cloths did the trick but it was time consuming and hard work!
The Winner
So that left two and the clear winner was Hob Brite, it does exactly what it says on the tin, it can be used on ceramic, electric, halogen and induction hobs. Hob Brite is also recommended by some of the top brands such as Baumatic, Zannussi, Creda, Belling and Neff amongst others. I guess this should’ve have been our one and only choice, but hey, if you don’t try you don’t know for sure!
No wonder it is already billed as the UK’s No 1 hob cleaner, the powerful formula cuts through the toughest burnt on food leaving the hob sparkling clean. If used regularly it even builds up an invisible film that protects against staining.
There it is then if it’s good enough to be the UK’s No 1 then its good enough for HomeMaid’s clients!
Tags: domestic cleaning, domestic services, home cleaning tips, home services, HomeMaid, house cleaning, house cleaning products
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Written by HomeMaid on 14 October 2008
We have always been open to adopting new products or methods to improve our cleaning service. So when a supplier rang offering a speedy solution to our dusting problem, I was all ears.
I was quickly sold on the possibility of speeding up dusting and improving the quality, by virtue of the fact that a featrher duster is much more versatile than the “lambswool flick sticks” we were currently using. After all, if I could show you how to halve your dusting time at home, wouldnt you be interested?
Faster Dusting
A couple of dusters were trialled initially and I have to say all who used them were very impressed. They did indeed speed up the dusting of ornaments and other delicate items. They worked on blinds too – a real boon for us. The items trialled were “commercial” versions and came with two metre extending poles to reach those areas above the staircase and high into the corners of every room.
Urban Myths About Feather Dusters
In parallel I’d do some research on the web and found some negative info on forums, claims of oils in the feathers marking and quills scratching things. so a few phone calls later I’d eliminated the “oil” theory as “urban myth” – and a simple test is to take your duster and rub it along a clean mirror, if the feathers had any kind of oil on them, it would smear and cause the filaments to cling as you moved across the glass surface. So thats one myth squashed.
The next wasn’t quite such a formality, however I could see that broken quills can have a sharp edge, but in our trials you had to be pretty brutal to snap quills, and even then unless you were rubbing on tissue paper, no real possibility of scrathing anything. I also found that a number of museums and gallerys use feather dusters to keep their displays dust free and sparkling – I couldn’t get an official comment from anyone about their use, but we know they use them!
HomeMaid Upgrades To Ostrich Feather Dusters
Whilst the majority of us dont own valuable art, isnt it reassuring to know that your home will be dusted as delicately and thoroughly as…well, perhaps the mona lisa herself?
In September 08 HomeMaid replaced all of its inferior lambswool dusters with genuine Ostrich Feather ones and despite them being much more expensive, we’ve included this as part of the service. Make sure your cleaning company uses them, or perhaps its time to switch to one that does!
Tags: domestic cleaning, domestic cleaning in accrington, domestic cleaning in blackburn, domestic cleaning in burnley, domestic cleaning in clitheroe, dusting, eco house cleaning, home cleaning tips, house cleaning products, ostrich feather dusters
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Written by HomeMaid on 05 September 2008
The Downside of Cylinder Vacuums
We have always found that a cylinder vacuum cleaner is far more effective than an upright vacuum cleaner for HomeMaid’s purposes, being generally lighter and more maneuverable than an upright. However, one of the downsides is the actual floor brush itself, its generally just a flat inactive “slider” design which requires a lot of physical effort to make it work. Our cleaners found that for things like long hair, pet hair and threads the standard brush just didnt pick up even though the suction was still 100%. We needed something that didn’t need “Popeye” arms to make it work well!
Improved Carpet Cleaning Power
We found an alternative brush, the ‘Airo Brush’ that is widely advertised at being able to achieve the high standards that HomeMaid require.
The Airo Brush is described as ‘an exceptional floor nozzle developed to provide quick and efficient carpet care. It grooms the whole carpet and will allow power brush results where uprights can rarely go.’
Excellent Performance
We had excellent results for the Airo Brush in trials, fast, effective and easy to use, much improved performance and most importantly, improvements noticed by our customers! It picked up human hair and pet hair easily without losing any suction, whilst cotton thread etc just disappeared. The staff in the trials reported cleaning faster and easier over large areas. It was much less effort to use with a huge improvement in cleaning power. Perfect!
Insist on Airo Brushes
The Airo Brush by Numatic is a terrific product that will extend the capabilities of HomeMaids vacuum cleaners, and certainly closes the performance gap between cylinders and a good upright when it comes to vacuuming carpets. It’s a durable and well-engineered addition to HomeMaid’s toolkit, which gives outstanding results.
A truly high performance brush, make sure your cleaning service includes these in their kit list!
Tags: airo brush, cylinder vacuums, domestic cleaning, domestic cleaning in accrington, domestic cleaning in blackburn, domestic cleaning in burnley, domestic cleaning in clitheroe, domestic services, house cleaning products, numatic
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Written by HomeMaid on 29 March 2008
HEPA-Flo Filters
The scientists say that HEPA filters, by definition, remove at least 99.97% of airborne particles 0.3
micrometers (µm) in diameter, who are we to argue! Infact we have been so impressed by the claims and information’ printed about these filters that we just had to trial them ourselves.
What is HEPA anyway?
HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air, and a true HEPA filter is widely regarded as the ultimate filter.
There are many types of air filters, but any filter that is labeled “HEPA” has a very specific rating. The HEPA standard states that a HEPA air filter must trap 99.97% of all airborne contaminants that are 0.3 microns.
This means that for every 10,000 air particles that are 0.3 microns, the HEPA filter will only allow 3 of them to pass through. Pretty effective filtration, you’d have to agree!
Healthier Homes
In a nutshell, our homes and offices are teeming with microscopic contaminants that are making us sick. This is especially true of modern airtight buildings with insufficient ventilation. A HEPA filter can help to improve the indoor environment by removing these contaminants before we breathe them in. This is vitally important – our lungs absorb gases and solvents and they pass into our bloodstream. When sufficient amounts accumulate in our bodies we can become sick with serious allergies and allergic reactions (hay fever & asthma for instance).
Unless airborne particles are removed from the air with a HEPA filter we will breathe them in. Our bodies are built to withstand a certain amount of these particles but not the levels that are increasingly found in indoor environments. (did you know the air indoors can be FIVE times more polluted than outdoor air?)
HEPA-Flo Filters Help Asthma & Hay Fever
HEPA vacuum cleaners are ideal for allergy sufferers because they contain microscopic allergen particles which are otherwise disbursed back into the air with traditional vacuum cleaners.
HomeMaid now routinely use HEPA-Flo filtered vacuums on all our service cleans; cleaning is about more than you can physically see; so even if you don’t suffer from dust mite allergies, hayfever or asthma, you can be assured that HomeMaid are not recirculating your dust, dust mites and other allergens: nor are we recirculating dust mites or dirt from any previous cleans.
Insist on HEPA-Flo Filters
You should insist on HEPA filters from your cleaning service and trade in any non HEPA vacuums you have for a full HEPA one; it can make your home cleaner and healthier.
Tags: allergy, asthma, domestic cleaning, domestic cleaning in accrington, domestic cleaning in blackburn, domestic cleaning in burnley, domestic cleaning in clitheroe, domestic cleaning rawtenstall, dust mite, dust mite allergy, eczema, hepa flo filters, house cleaning, House Cleaning Tips, rhinitis
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