Wood flooring, especially hardwood can last up to 100 years. Its longevity will depend on the quality of the wood and more importantly on the way in which it was cared for. Caring for wood flooring is divided between preventative maintenance tips and suitable cleaning tips. If you are using a professional cleaning service, their methods are designed to preserve the wood which is often guaranteed in their quality control statement. If you are cleaning your own wood flooring, the following tips will help ensure a long usable service life.

Preventative Maintenance Tips:

1. Use furniture pads – These are essential aids which can help reduce scratches from furniture. They are cheap, effective and concealed from the eye.

2. Use area rugs – Area rugs are often used for interior design purposes, however they help protect the floor. Damage from high heels is very common and area rugs are the only feasible solution.

3. Avoid dragging objects – Even small amounts of dust can turn into bigger grains of dirt which with the right friction may scratch the floor. Dragging heavy objects on the floor, rather than lifting them produces enough friction to scratch the floor.

4. Quickly absorb liquids – Liquids can damage wood which is why you won’t see wood used in wet areas such as showers and bathrooms. When any liquid spills onto the floor, you should quickly absorb it with s soft cloth.

5. Follow recommended manufacturer’s guidelines – There are many brands of wood flooring and various quality. Wood flooring may need sanding / staining from time to time to keep the wood in great condition, so familiarise yourself with the manufacturer’s guidelines.

Tips For Wood Flooring Care and Cleaning – Cleaning Tips:

6. Start by removing dust – Over time dust which has been allowed to harden will turn into dirt. This can cause damage to the wood, it will be harder to remove and not hygienic. To remove dust, you should start by sweeping the floor using a soft fine bristle broom every day.

7. Vacuum the floor – At least twice a week you should consider vacuuming the floor. Make sure to use a soft attachment which will not damage the wood and is useful to collect sand as well as dirt. Take extra care to vacuum area rugs if you placed any on the floor.

8. Mop the floor accordingly – By now you know that wood and water do not mix. When mopping wood floors never use a wet mop but a damp mop. If you are using a dedicated wood flooring cleaner, use cleaners that won’t leave a film or residue.

9. Buffing and waxing – These are useful solutions to extend the lifespan of the floor, but not all wood flooring will react well to this process. Follow steps 6 to 8 to reduce the need for flooring polish.

10. Have the floors professionally cleaned – To protect your investment, consider hiring a professional cleaning service once every three months. Such services are able to offer deeper cleaning using professional techniques and industry grade cleaners.

Article contributed by flooring company wood and beyond.

Its been sometime since we found something worthy of adding to our tool kit of cleaning products and equipment. So we looked at what we can do from a slightly different perspective, such as improving the sanitisation element of cleaning.  That led us to trial some anti-bac products, measured against our existing sprays.

We already use micro-fibre cloths throughout, which whilst they improve the speed and efficiency with which we clean, they are also naturally anti-bacterial [see the post on micro fibre cloths], when compared with standard “cloth” types. We wanted to improve this even more, especially for kitchen areas, often the hub of any home.

It is alleged that having a sanitised environment can actually reduce immune systems, indeed if you were to live in a completely sterile home (impossible?) then indeed your immune system could be reduced. However, we only use this in kitchens, somewhere I am sure you’ll agree, its good to reduce the risk of infections as much as possible.

You maybe shocked to learn that your kitchen is far “dirtier” than your bathroom! Well at least from a bacteria perspective that is. A recent TV Programme (Invisible Worlds) found that a kitchen counter has TWICE as many bacteria than a toilet seat! Even more astonishing is that the kitchen floor has THREE times as many bacteria than the aforementioned toilet seat. Its worth noting that this was reported as an “average” kitchen, not a particularly dirty one, which I personally find quite scary.

Kitchens are where we prepare all our food (assuming you’re not a take-away addict), from breakfast through to supper for all the family. Poor hygiene here can result in an explosion of breeding bacteria and any infection or bacteria here will quickly spread through the family through food prepared there.  This is one area we feel could benefit from a regular ”anti-bac” treatment.

The use of anti-bacterial products either by a cleaning company or an individual at home, should not be seen as a reason to avoid good food handling practices though.  You should still observe good practices, cleaning surfaces and spills immediately. I recommend the daily replacement of any dish cloth or sponge; a future article will reveal the millions of reasons why……

You should always observe good hand cleanliness, washing with soap and water before preparing food. Fresh fruit & veg should always be washed to remove unwanted pesticides and herbicides. It should go without saying that the use of chopping boards and such like requires good practice, e.g. 1 for raw meat. However food hygiene is a whole different subject!

The use of an anti bacterial surface cleaner in the kitchen area would seem prudent in light of the vast wealth of research which tells us that its a breeding ground of bacteria. We only use a food safe product (unperfumed) so as not to taint any food prepared shortly after our clean.

Clean Smells Promote Kindness

Is it because teenage boys live in smelly bedrooms, with the windows, doors and curtains closed that makes them grumpy and communicate in words of one syllable or less?! Well there could be some truth in that, Brigham Young University professor, Katie Liljentquist, led a study that found that clean scents lead to more ethical behaviour. Liljenquist said with a smile. “Could be that getting our kids to clean up their rooms might help them clean up their acts, too.”, although she gave no advice as to how we might get them to clean up anything.

In the trials, a citrus scent was used to create a fresh smell, whilst another room was left “normal”. The results were quite remarkable; both groups were given a quantity of money from a “mystery partner” They had to decide how much of it to either keep or return to their partners who had trusted them to divide it fairly. Subjects in clean-scented rooms were less likely to exploit the trust of their partners, returning a significantly higher share of the money.

Clean Smells Make You Charitable

A second test was set up where subjects were asked if they were willing to donate to a fictitious charity and those questioned in the citrus scented room were three times more likely to volunteer or donate!

Cleanliness & Morality

The report concluded that were are subconsciously  influenced and that morality and cleanliness can go hand-in-hand, the spaces we live and work in, influence how we behave. Clean and fresh smelling rooms make us more generous and honest.

Further studies are being conducted into how cleanliness influences how react to people and organisations. Time for that spring clean!

Read the full Science Daily Article here

Choosing A Cleaning Service

There are dozens of cleaning “companies” to choose from, search the web, pick up the local paper or ask a friend, there is no shortage of potential cleaning services. However would you know the implications of each service and how that might affect you, your family and your home?

Individuals As Cleaners

This can be the best solution for many, if you have a neighbour or friend who you get along with can help you out and it will always be cheaper than any company. However if you dont know them personally it can be  a real minefield of problems.

Insurance; Are You Protected?

Let me explain, whilst any registered company is legally required to have a minimum of Public Liability Insurance, however there is no such requirement for individuals and that’s just the start of the potential problems.

Your home insurance generally doesnt for accidents to employees, e.g. Mrs Bloggs, your cleaner falls downstairs and breaks her leg. Who is she going to pursue for compensation? It might concern you to know, that its you who will be sued and without insurance and legal protection, could be a financial disaster for your family.

Fidelity Bonding Explained

What happens if your cleaner is dishonest? Most companies and almost certainly no individuals will have the correct insurance cover to protect you. You need to ask if they have something called “Fidelity Bonding”, which is a specialist insurance for cleaning companies and the like. It protects you against misuse of phones, identity theft and so on. The number of companies with this added protection are surprisingly few. Just be sure to ask your prospective cleaner if they have this, or you might have a bigger bill than you ever imagined.

You, The Employer

If you employ an individual you then become the employer and responsible for filing details with HMRC, holiday pay, sick pay, health and safety amongst other things. Its around now you might be thinking that £11 an hour isn’t cheap any more?

Cleaning Products, The Hidden Costs

Most cleaning companies will include all the products used in their price, whereas individuals and most cleaning agencies provide the manpower and you provide the products. Its a massive hidden cost that most forget to factor in to their decision. Here at HomeMaid we buy in bulk from specialist suppliers and its vastly cheaper than buying from a supermarket. Still think £11 an hour is good value?

The Added Value

We at HomeMaid pride ourselves on going the extra mile both with the service but also the investment in technology; we routinely use HEPA-Flo filtered vacuums, a real boon for 25% of the population of allergy sufferers, but for those non-sufferers the knowledge that your home is hygienically cleaner. The comprehensive use of micro-fibre cloths helps reduce both the visible and invisible dirt (bacteria) and all of this, is part of the HomeMaid service.

The Price Per Hour

The hourly rate is only of interest when you compare the value and what you get for every pound spent. We’re not the cheapest but that was never the intention, there is always someone prepared to cut corners and cut the price. When you understand the hidden costs it makes hiring at £11 an hour not only quite expensive, but your are taking huge risks with your home and family. Failing to notify HMRC that you have employed someone is serious, whilst being uninsured in the event of an accident or dishonesty could be catastrophic for you.

We prefer the principals of quality, peace of mind for our clients and a loyal, happy band of customers. We are neither the cheapest, not the most expensive, but we are the most focused on customer satisfaction.

You can get a FREE HomeMaid Home Cleaning quote now!

Guaranteed Excellence

FREE Quotes

Get Your FREE Home Cleaning Quote

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!

If this is your “first time” hiring a cleaner, then how can you avoid the uninsured, untrained and unsafe cleaners that will add to, not reduce your stress? We’ve put together a FREE “Avoid Rogue Domestic Cleaners” guide which you can get in a few clicks.

However if you need the basic outline, here is the first part;

Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)

Regardless of who you hire, be it an individual directly or through an agency you absolutely insist on a current, CRB certificate. This is utterly essential as you will be handing over keys and alarm codes to your family home. Let me also add that we reject tens if not hundreds of applicants on this one check alone.

Ever wondered where they go to find work? Quote a scary thought isn’t it?

Can you guess if the lady in the picture has a criminal record of theft and fraud? Me neither, fact is she is a model, not a cleaner, but the point is this nobody can tell, so for a small fee its worth finding out the truth. I know it will take a few weeks for someone without a current certificate, but think how much more relaxed you’ll be knowing your cleaner(s) do not have criminal records.

All staff at HomeMaid are routinely CRB screened, for your peace of mind.

A normal household mattress used frequently will build up a food reservoir for dust mites. This food reservoir is the skin you shed as a natural process every day. As you spend around 6-9 hours each day in bed, its seems obvious you will shed a good proportion of the 1.5 grams a day you lose, in your bed. Now consider that the majority of dust in a bedroom is….literally a part of you….its your skin! Ever wonder why your bedroom seems to get dustier faster than anywhere else? Now you have your answer.

Add to this the fact that you lose around .5l of fluid each night, through your natural breathing process and through perspiration. You now have a the perfect dust mite breeding ground.

A regular six month mattress sanitisation keeps the house dust mite at bay and it doesnt need to cost the earth.

Read more about how to deal with dust mites and allergies such as asthma, rhinitis, hay fever and eczema in our allergy section….

Faster Dusting

Urban Myths About Feather Dusters

HomeMaid Upgrades To Ostrich Feather Dusters

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!