Keeping your home clean, Tips & Tricks from the pros.
Tools
are the most important things when it comes to cleaning. We say at Ethos you can clean a statue with just a brush but you can’t with just soap. The Key to easy cleaning is always having the right tool for the job. It makes your job easier, faster and cleans better. By doing all these things it also makes cleaning fun. Using a crevice tool in hard to reach areas or a crevice vacuum attachment when getting hard to reach places. Having a vacuum handy to suck up loose dirt when mopping. Easy to change and clean mop heads with extras. These are all factors you should think about when shopping for cleaning supplies
Solutions/Chemicals
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need high dollar organic cleaning compounds with nano particles and dirt blasting properties to clean. Sometimes the best solutions to some of the toughest jobs is Baking Soda and Vinegar. Just don’t use this mixture on any metals or waxed wood furniture. Also make sure your surfaces are sealed if using on stone/marble where the acidity in the vinegar can leave stains.
Technique
Not as important in day to day cleaning. However some helpful things to note are to keep all your cleaning instruments sanitized. You can only clean as clean as your tools. This is why it’s important to have more than one mop head and not allow equipment to stay wet as it can be a breeding ground for bacteria. Clean from cleanest areas of your home to the dirtiest. The last thing to note is cross contamination. Make sure to wear gloves when cleaning areas that you suspect are high in germs/bacteria. Remove these gloves and discard to prevent these areas from moving harmful bacteria to other surfaces. Keep changing towels or cleaning instruments frequently. Place these items in their own sanitize later bags. Clean them as soon as able. In really high bacteria areas E.G. bathrooms consider using Sanitizing and disinfecting agents. Try to use an all purpose disinfectant and use it for everything in the bathroom to avoid chemical mixing. Also a lot of these products are harmful due to their effectiveness by nature, so wear gloves and make sure ventilation is adequate. Give newly disinfected areas a chance to clean before using as some of these agents take 10-60 minutes to fully disinfect. Also within the hour most forms of sanitizing chemicals are safe to the touch including diluted bleach.
Specialty Equipment
There’s a number of specialty equipment but the most used being carpet cleaning machines. Remember to prep your carpets by picking up any large debris and then vacuuming. Same process applies for spot cleaning.
Although floor buffers are often rented easily and cheaply, you shouldn’t attempt to do this yourself. Wood buffing and polishing takes many years of experience to master and the results vary from wood floor to wood floor. Meaning no two floors are alike and unless you have the experience it's best to leave it to the pro's.
