HomeMaid Domestic Cleaning » eco house cleaning

How To Clean Glass or Ceramic Hobs

Tony — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:15:49 +0000

As experts in cleaning homes we are often faced with challenges like stainless steel and…yes ceramic/glass oven tops. I have read many posts on other blogs and cleaning sites, each with a common theme – a hatred of cleaning ceramic hobs!

Cleaning Ceramic Hobs – Made Easy

I have personally restored many unloved and abused oven tops to a gleaming shine and I’ll share my methods with you. I have tried many products, including steam cleaners (rubbish for this) that are both expensive and ineffective. However, a product called “Hob Brite” (@ £2 UK) a bottle is both fantastic value and very effective.

I shudder when I read of “metal scrapers and razor blades” being recommended or used as they can easily damage the finish and you! A razer blade in a protective “sheath” such as those sold in DIY stores for scraping paint off windows etc., is the safest way to use a blade. but be CAREFUL!

Effective Ceramic Hob Cleaning

The method I prefer is to use Hob Brite with a pan scrub, you know, the yellow and green type? Sponge on one side, scrub on the other? Dont use Brillo pads or wire wool types, they’ll damage the finish.
Draw a small ring of hob brite cream around each of the “pan ” areas and work in circular motions with the green side of the scrub pad.
You may need to scrub the burnt on areas quite hard or even repeat the process a couple of times – but it will come off!

Flip your pad over to use the sponge side and lightly wipe the top down – dont try to take all the cream off yet, we’re just checking if any more work is required. If it is, you will still see those stubborn crusty burnt on areas; add a little more Hob Brite and repeat the scrubbing!
Once you have cleared the burnt on bits, rub off as much as you can with the sponge, then wipe down with an old tea towel. You might even need a splash of soapy water as the Hob Brite cream is “greasy”.

Low Cost Ceramic Hob Cleaning

The magic finishing touch is to polish off with a micro fibre cloth, possibly with a glass cleaning product for that ultimate shine – voila – a perfectly shiny ceramic hob for less than £3 and a little “elbow grease”.

Trading Standards Approved Domestic Cleaners

Tony — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:47:43 +0000

Safe Trader

One of our clients suggested we become a “Safe Trader” – which initially confused me, I have to confess. HomeMaid have always been “safe”, professionally insured and only use CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) cleared staff.

I went away to do some more research and it transpires that Trading Standards operate an approval scheme for local traders, funded by Lancashire County Council. The purpose of the scheme is to promote to Lancashire consumers reliable local traders with which to do business. This means you can support your local business community without worrying about cowboy or rogue traders.

Safe Trader Code of Practice

All traders who complete the approval process, must operate within the schemes “Code of Practice”, designed to minimise the risk to potential customers when purchasing goods and services.

You can read more on the Safe Trader website but a couple of things are worth highlighting quickly here.

All traders must possess public liability insurance covering a minimum of £2 million pounds liability. Where applicable, businesses must also possess employers’ liability insurance covering a minimum of £5 million pounds liability.

HomeMaid Domestic Cleaning are the only local company (so far as we are aware) that also have the added protection of “Fidelity Bonding” an extra level of insurance to protect clients and give them real peace of mind.

All Businesses approved under this scheme have a responsibility to trade fairly and provide good quality customer service. Here at HomeMaid we have always offered guaranteed cleaning services, believing that our operating methods and quality control measures give a high level of service.

Enhanced Listing

We will be pursuing an enhanced listing in the coming weeks, watch out for that announcement. Meanwhile why not get a free cleaning quote for your home? Free Domestic Cleaning Quote, you can rely on HomeMaid, a quality cleaning company.

Baking Soda Sink Unblocker

Tony — Thu, 20 May 2010 16:02:57 +0000

Blocked or Slow Running Sink/Bath Plughole

Its a common problem especially in a heavily used shower or shower/bath that over time the soap build up begins to restrict the water flow. You may also notice a rather unpleasant odour coming from your sink or shower drain too.

You can use this method even if the drain still runs freely as those who you use baking soda regularly know, its a great deodoriser.

If your bath or sink drain is severely clogged or blocked with something other than accumulated soap scum, then this method might not be strong enough or may need repeating until the blockage is cleared. If you are in doubt, better to get a plumber to take a look first.

You’ll need 3 tablespoons of baking soda and upto 3/4 cup of white vinegar. To flush you will also need a freshly boiled kettle of water. Take common sense precautions when handling boiling water.

Baking Soda & White Vinegar

You’ll need to fish out as much of any hair or detritus that may have collected there before starting the unclogging process. Use some tweezers and/or rub a sponge or cloth across the drain plug which should lift out any hair etc. It will smell pretty bad, so best flush it down the toilet as quickly as possible!

Once you have removed any hair, then sprinkle in 2-3 tablespoons of baking soda – carefully push any that collects around the plughole into the drain. Now slowly pour in 1/2 – 3/4 cup of white vinegar, you will immediately see a chemical reaction taking place as the vinegar mixes with the baking soda which gently fizzes and bubbles. Keep pouring in the vinegar till the fizzing subsides.

Odour Free Unblocked Drain

Once the fizzing subsides, pour a 2-3 litres of freshly boiled water from your kettle – but please take precautions when handling boiling water.

Once flushed you should have a free flowing, odour free drain plug. Fantastic!

House Cleaning – The Eco Way!

HomeMaid — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:16:38 +0000

Eco Friendly Cleaning

A series of eco-friendly articles to encourage more of us to clean our homes in a planet friendly way. Its kind to nature and to your pocket. There are a number of forgotten easily obtained substitutes for effective “green” in your home (they may even be hiding in your cupboards right now!)

White Vinegar Eco Cleaner

A fantastic eco-friendly stain remover, white vinegar is easily available, cheap and harmless to use. White vinegar is a mild acid, it is very effective on certain solid stains, such as limescale and calcium deposits (“soap scum”) from hard water – for example, in the shower and bath.

White vinegar can even unclog the washing machine; once a month pour one cup of white vinegar into the washing machine and run the machine through a normal cycle, without clothes (obviously!).

Other stains it works on include stubborn stains on furniture and upholstery, mildew and mould on bathroom tiles and shower curtains, food stains in pots and pans, stains in toilet bowls, perspiration on clothes, scorch marks and animal urine stains in the carpet.

Vinegar is also a great natural air freshener – placing a small bowl of vinegar in the room or spraying some into the air will deodorise a room filled with smoke or paint fumes.

Baking Soda vs Washing Soda

HomeMaid — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:38:50 +0000

You’ll see many articles and cleaning tips on the web extolling the virtues of natural cleaning products, indeed we’ve tried a lot of them!

The thing is I was confused about the difference between baking soda and washing soda, so I imagine are quite a few of you judging by how often this question is asked. So I thought I’d write a quick article about it.

For some purposes, the only difference between washing soda (sodium carbonate) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is that washing soda will consume two equivalents of acid, while baking soda will only consume one equivalent.

Washing soda and baking soda are indeed chemically different things, and there is no way you want to get them confused, especially if you’re planning to cook – it really could end in tears.

The Chemistry

Washing soda is sodium carbonate (Na₂CO_3),baking soda is sodium bicarbonate – the same ingredients, but with a hydrogen atom replacing one of the sodiums. Both compounds are alkaline, meaning that they can neutralize acids. One common source of washing soda is the ashes of plants and its for this reason, it is sometimes called soda ash.

Baking soda, otherwise known as bicarbonate of soda (NaHCO₃₎, sodium bicarbonate, and, less commonly, saleratus, is a chemical salt with diverse practical uses. The most common practical use for baking soda is as a leavening agent in baking. In combination with a liquid and an acid, baking soda undergoes a chemical reaction that releases bubbles of carbon dioxide. Trapped in batter or dough, these bubbles enable the baked good to rise. Baked goods leavened with baking soda, therefore, generally have a light crumb and are aerated with many holes left by the escaping bubbles of carbon dioxide.

So whilst you can substitute one with the other for some things, for goodness sake, don’t cook with washing soda!

Faster Dusting with Ostrich Feather Dusters

HomeMaid — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:09:56 +0000

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!