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Cleaning up with the build up grime can be a challenging task, and not a good scrub can remove the thick layers of old dirt and mold on the surface. Sometimes, no amount of chemicals and tedious sweeping can remove the stains of old age and years of stress and dirt. Even if you press the mop down hard enough, the stains still persist and will be permanent unless you try something else entirely.

Buildings getting darker and grimey is unavoidable – especially if you work next to factories, by the street, and basically anything that exhaust a lot of dirt and smoke towards your building. It’s not a lost cause, you can invest on a proper pressure washer and have it removed with lesser effort as scraping every inch of the building. Pressure washing your walls won’t cause too much damage – or none at all – and provides a thorough cleaning that will satisfy you and your clients.

You might be discouraged to get your own, but during the long run, pressure cleaning most of the areas in your office is better than covering it up with a fresh coat of paint. You can also hire the best cleaning service in your area and have them handle the cleaning to make sure that there will be no mistakes.

How pressure cleaning changes your cleaning experience

Most janitorial staff gets discouraged when they see a thick layer of solidified dirt and grime in between the tiles and concrete, that’s why it stays the same for years. With a pressure cleaner, they will be able to clean it – and actually think that it will finish the job – then make more time to clean more areas of the office. It’s also cheaper since all you need is water to clean the tough stains – it mostly relies on pressure.

Hazards of pressure cleaning

Like all cleaning gadgets, pressure washer has its own perils. The pressure of the water is quite strong, so getting a limb on the way will definitely injure your staff. You should always make sure that they are properly dressed and equipped – meaning they need gloves and boots – plus a good training to properly handle the washer.

Ideally, staff needs to be covered from head to foot while using this kind of equipment – commonly cover the exposed areas of the body to make sure they won’t get injured. Aside from that, you also need to teach them the basic safety tips to make sure no one gets injured from it as well. Always keep in mind of the plug – since you’re working with water, an electric shock is possible. Make sure there’s always adequate distance of the plug and the area you’re cleaning.

Benefits of pressure cleaning your surfaces

Aside from it permanently removing your stains on walls and floors, it also saves your paint quality if you pressure wash it at least twice every three months. Underneath the grime, there’s a kind of mold that eats away the paint and stain the surfaces beyond repair. You don’t want to repaint your walls every now and then, right?

A stagnant puddle of rain after a downpour will also damage your floors and wood work. There’s a certain amount of acidity in the rain that can damage the coating of that area and save that area from flaking off. Metallic areas – floors and window sills – can rust if you don’t provide enough care for it. Pressure washing these areas will avoid early dilapidation of the structure.

Medical facilities might be one of the supposed cleanest establishments since they treat diseases and rehabilitate patients until the are good to leave the premises. Since they are fragile and it’s hard to keep up with their accidents, it’s important to brief your staff and create a thorough checklist for them. While it may be a challenge at first, it’s vital to keep it up to ensure the facility’s cleanliness and the patients’ well-being.

You shouldn’t always depend on your janitorial staff – you also have to call in a professional cleaning service to make sure that the areas not usually cleaned is covered – you have to start it as a habit as well. It can be something small like properly disposing trash in designated places and making sure that there will be no mountains of messes. Besides, no one wants to see a dirty clinic or any establishment during their stay there.

How to establish a new cleaning style:

While your staff may not be as experienced as the janitorial staff in hospitals – or you might have to rely on your assistant for this – you can easily maintain the upkeep of your clinic and make your patients feel more at ease while waiting for their turn. Here are some tips:

• Thoroughly clean all the rooms every morning and evening. It’s hard to stay at ease when the clinic is dirty and shady – try seeing this from your patients’ point of view. You can start with the waiting area, the clinic, and then the comfort rooms. Making your waiting area organised and clean gives your patients confidence on your skills as a doctor. It can be from simply avoiding the accumulation of dust to properly disposing the used items in safe containers to avoid cross contamination.
• Throw the garbage properly and daily. Make sure that all of the wastes are thrown carefully, depending on what kind of waste it is. From vials or bottles containing specific substances to sharps – needles and used blades, you need to dispose them accordingly. Make sure that they are wrapped properly in order to avoid injuries to people who needs to throw them. Practicing this will not only keep you and your patients safe, it will also help stop a possible spread of disease to those who needs to throw it.
• Sterilise everything. Do this before and after each patient, and you will be awarded by loyalty. While this may sound like common sense to most medical practitioners, there are disturbingly some facilities who fail to do this and it must be reminded to all of them. It’s doable and it will honestly keep it from spreading of the disease.
• Deep clean at least once in three months. This may be hard to do with just a limited amount of staff or maybe one assistant to do, so dial up the best cleaning service in town and let them clean up the entire building thoroughly. It will be a good way to show how you care for your patients and how you take cleanliness and hygiene seriously. A good doctor means they prioritise both health and cleanliness for the well-being of their patients.

It’s not easy when there’s an accumulation of dust after the large scale construction in your home or commercial establishment. Debris gets tossed here and there, allergens circulate the air, and sawdust flying in different directions and getting inhaled by the workers – it’s a tough job for everyone. Aside from that, the strong and thick smell of the cement will linger in the room even with an open window – construction sites are really dirty and riddled with possible allergens!

You don’t have to fear the mess that comes after the construction, it can be handled with grace and maybe with smile. You will need a specific checklist to make sure that the entire area is covered and clean enough to live on again. By making sure that the entire place is completely dust-free, then you can start assembling your furniture and make it livable again.

Effective checklist for people who underwent construction:

1. Lint roll and vacuum all upholstered items. Vacuuming the imbedded dust in between the fibres of your carpet and the stitches of your furniture will ensure that there will be no allergens and debris in it. Some people can be severely allergic to dust and can be avoided by cleaning all the surfaces properly. From the corners, frames, the bottom of the sofa, in between cushions, and the pillows – even with a plastic cover to protect it from the construction dust, some particles still manage to get inside the protective barrier.
2. Wipe all surfaces.  From the ceiling to the floor, all of the dust stuck in each direction of the room. The best way to tackle this problem is to clean it from top to bottom and make sure you covered everything before moving on to the next location. You can start by dusting the entire area then wiping it with a damp cloth. By the next process, you can wipe it dry – but make sure you read on the materials used to make your walls! You don’t want your wallpaper to bubble when you clean it, so researching more about the materials before actually cleaning is better. It will also give you an idea how to clean it more effectively as well!
3. Replace filters and clean up all the vents. Whether you’re in a commercial building or in your home, you need to make sure that there will be no dust build-up and ensure that the air that circulates in your house is safe and clean. Since these vents and air conditioning units circulate air and still absorb everything even when it’s not being used, you have to make sure that you clean everything. Thankfully, these can be cleaned with your favourite combination of soap and water. Use a brush to completely remove the tough dust build up in the vents. You can add in a disinfectant solution in the mix and completely clean it with allergens, or maybe a few drops of essential oil. Before you use them, make sure that they’re completely dry first!
4. Take care of the smaller things. Small furniture tend to gather dust as well, and it’s no surprise that they need to be cleaned thoroughly as well. These includes the appliances, lighting, and other items that absorbed the dust and debris. There might be times that it has splatters of unknown item on it, so make sure you wipe it with water, soap, and then disinfectant.

The air you breathe in the office is not as clean as you think, and no amount of purifiers can completely clean it – plus these purifiers are really expensive as well. Most respiratory diseases start inside an office with no proper ventilation in the office, inhaling allergens and pollutants that are stuck inside. It doesn’t go away – it stays in the room and circulates inside the office until someone opens the window. However, it can be changed and saved – you can simply bring in the natural purifiers in the room, the plants.

The real power of plants

Since the old days, the plants have done a good job in purifying the air from the past. It has then created an all natural filtering system to carefully remove the toxins in the air. However, it doesn’t mean that it lost its ability to purify, it’s just that in this current civilisation, there’s not enough plants to keep the air clean in the area. You can make the air cleaner by placing specific plants on the room. Below are the plants you can place in the office to make the air cleaner and fresher.

The different plants you will need:

• Aloe Vera. Aside from the miraculous gel it contains inside, it’s also an effective air purifying plant in the office. What’s also good about this fleshy plant is that it occupies a small space – it can be a table or on the floor – and is easy to maintain. Its gel can cure minor burns and skin irritations. It even lightens the scars and makes skin hydrated and plump – no wonder it’s such a famous plant in Korea!
• Ficus. This plant can grow as tall as 10 ft., and is not really that hard to maintain. Since this plant doesn’t like to be moved a lot, make sure you place it near a window with enough light to absorb to keep it healthy and happy. A thriving ficus plant will even be a good looking decor for the lobby and add colour in the office. Plus, it gives off clean and healthy air to whoever waits in the lobby.
• Spider plant. This is probably the easiest plant to take care of – they can thrive in a bright room without being in direct sunlight. They sprout in different directions and needs to be watered only once a week – make sure that the soil is not damp before you do water. It can be hanged and it will add a certain accent in the room, plus a splash of life in otherwise bland lobbies and office rooms.
• Boston fern. This lush plant creates a great accent in any minimal or simple rooms – it adds sophistication and class in every table and desk. Aside from the aesthetic side, this is also an effective natural filter and can survive in a cool environment and indirect sunlight. Make sure that your office room has high humidity to make sure that it thrives well and gives off vibrance in the room.
• Bamboo palm. This plant is one of the easiest to maintain, plus it looks good in every bare corner of the room. It doesn’t need much to grow taller and it doesn’t have to be in direct sunlight. You can water this plant when the soil gets dry – meaning you don’t have to remind yourself to water it everyday!

After every party and cooking, there’s always a trail of mess that seemed to get stuck in cracks of the floorboards, the fibres of the carpet, and the tiles – it seems like an endless nightmare of coloured paints on places you don’t want!

While it can be remedied, there are just some stains that won’t come off even with the strongest chemicals you can find on the shelf. Some of these come from accidental tipping of glasses and utensils falling from the table, sprinkling some of the heavenly sauces on the floor.

But don’t lose hope, there’s always a cure on every stain and mess that seem to look permanent – meaning there are definitely hacks to everything. While the stains are still fresh, you can quickly remedy it with quick action and avoid making it stain.

The best way to avoid the worsening of the spillage is to take action when the stain is still fresh:

• Blot. When the spill is fresh, make sure you don’t rub it – especially in carpets and the like – to avoid it being absorbed by fibres and making it worse. It might actually stain for real and you will have a hard time removing it. Make sure you get absorbent towels and clean rags to absorb the spilled liquid. By working on the outside in, you can avoid the spread of the stain throughout the rug.
• Dilute with water. Depending on the stain, it’s important to know what water you should use to carefully lift up the stain. Mostly, it’s ideal to use cold water with protein-based stains to avoid the coagulation of the substance and permanently sticking on the carpet or wooden surface. Dab a small amount of water until the entire area is wet and covered.
• Blot the excess. Like how you cleaned up the excess stain, gently dab the clean towel on the stain and absorb the excess water. Be careful not to rub the stain too much and make it worse. Let the towel absorb the excess liquid and continue doing so until the stain is gone.
• Apply an organic cleaning chemical. This is crucial – you should know if this kind of chemical will either make the stain worse or make the colour of the carpet fade. In order to know, test the chemical on a small area first and observe if it bleaches the colour or not. If it doesn’t stain, simply apply it in small dots and carefully apply it without unnecessarily spreading it on the carpet. You can dab on the stain and make sure it absorbs the solution. Depending on the kind of chemical you have, you can apply water and dab the excess and clear it up once and for all.
• Repeat the process. Hints of the stain remain on the carpet after a tedious clean? You can repeat the steps again and continue to do so until the stain completely lifts. While it may sound tedious now, it will soon be a habit whenever there will be stains on the floor. It will become an easy task whenever it happens!

For a lot of companies, the benefits of having a workplace daycare are worth keeping valuable employees productive while still balancing their parenting life. Yet at the same time, they must also weigh the costs of maintaining one, such as the workload of the cleaning staff.

Fortunately, there are lot of simple hacks you can implement so you can easily put the daycare back in order after the tots had their mayhem. It is all a matter of knowing the different areas and what items go there.

1. Pick up books first.

It can be quite surprising to find that the little books in the nursery tend to suffer more damage than even the toys. Often times this can be because children might just leave them lying around with their pages open instead of putting them back in their shelves. Make them your first priority during the daily clean up.

2. Have a designated toybox.

If you are going to put in toys, then it makes sense to have one or two boxes where they are all supposed to go. This goes well with the rule-of-thumb of avoiding expensive toys or those with a lot of small parts. That way, all you have to do is gather them up and put them after everyone’s gone home.

3. Focus cleaning on furniture and foam mats.

If you are expecting to clean something regularly, it will be the few seats used by parents and visitors, followed by the large sections of foam mat often used in daycare centers. In the case of the mat though, they are surprisingly easy enough to clean. They are bacteria-resistant and don’t absorb a lot of liquids (which makes spills very quick to mop up).

4. Make sure the front desk is secure at all times.

If there is one thing that contains most items that the children should never touch, it is the front desk. Always check to see if its drawers come with locks and any important documents used by caretakers are secured inside. The same goes for pens, scissors and other sharp objects.

5. Have painting and colouring activities monitored.

Creative colouring activities are staple for a lot of daycare centers. However, those offered by a companies can’t always have staff cleaning up accidental paint spills or crayon drawings on the wall. Make sure these activities are scheduled and monitored, after which all materials used are stored away under lock-and-key.

6. Keep shoe racks isolated.

Implementing a no-shoes policy can reduce cleaning time even further but make sure that the shoe rack is both easily accessible but also isolated from other areas to minimize the spread of dirt. This will ensure that the rack will most likely be the only thing that will take more serious cleaning effort.

7. Consider holding snacktime in the office pantry.

Instead of having a separate pantry for the daycare, it makes far more sense to share the one the office already has. Not only does it save the trouble of cleaning up foodstuffs, it provides a space where parents can eat together with their kids during lunchtime.

Speaking of which, it is also recommended that you inform parents of these decisions so that they may also guide their children to observe cleanliness. Overall, it is not as messy as the kids themselves. As long as you know what needs to be kept out of their hands and isolate the messiest parts of the daycare, you can clean it up in no time.

In a workplace environment, trying to avoid tracking mud from the outside seems easy enough for most people. However, sometimes the environment outside can make even this simple courtesy difficult to do. Ignoring this possibility runs the risk of chastising employees for something they cannot 100% help while still not making things easier for your cleaning staff.

Therefore, always make a point to check the type of neighborhood your office is situated in. A lot of managers tend to just stop at the building (especially when it is the sort of building that has seen better days). But once you acknowledge the areas your employees have to go through before entering the office, you can make more informed decisions on how to minimize the effect of outside contaminants and pests.

That said, here are the top three types of cleanliness that require stronger preventive measures due to the outside environment.

1. Sewer smells.

When you live in the part of town that has a poor track record when it comes to sewers, you can expect really bad smells coming in and ruining everyone’s day. Offices near open canals or even just temporary sewer work are very likely to have those same foul smells coming through windows (especially during heavy rain).

For the most part, the best you can do is keep windows closed and see to it that employees have something bigger to wipe their feet on during rainy days.

2. Construction dust.

If there is a major construction project going on in a neighboring space, expect lots of dust coming in through the windows or gathering on nearby cars outside. Smoke or industrial gases might also be expected, depending on the nature of the current construction work.

As with smells, it might be better to keep windows closed (maybe even boarded) for the duration of the construction. Barring that, employees exposed to the dust might consider wearing dust masks to prevent allergies.

3. Wildlife invasion.

You may have seen it on a lot of internet videos but native animals suddenly appearing inside the office is still quite a serious matter. Needless to say, this sort of thing happens a lot in offices closer to the bush and farther from the city. What makes this particularly challenging is that even the most spick-and-span spaces can still attract curious creatures.

That is why such offices should always be ready to call professional animal control. There is no telling whether the species found creeping inside your desk is a local pest or a protected animal. It is best to leave it up to professionals while also simply being aware that such is expected when you live closer to nature.

While you are certainly in the right to expect a certain level of cleanliness from employees, make sure to also see if your office’s location is conducive to your policies. It can be very difficult to maintain cleanliness when the streets outside (or even some of your fellow establishments) are a bit of a mess. Be prepared to take extra steps to make sure these don’t make it inside your workplace!

Raising kids can be a challenging task, despite the fact that you love them to bits. They can be absolutely adorable for a while and then turn into a little tantrum monster in a span of minutes! They can be hard to discipline for first time parents and quite draining whenever they do something embarrassing and rash. At an appropriate age, you will find it difficult to ask them to help you out with simple tasks, and that will become a problem in the future!

There’s even a study that shows that there is a significant drop of kids helping out – willingly – around the house, and they grow up to adults that are clueless about how things work. Chores does not only serve as help around the house, it improves the well-being of the child. It also prepares them for the future wherein they will have to manage their own houses and family – possibly pass on the knowledge.

How to convince them

The most effective way to make this happen is to avoid bribing them with candies, toys, and money – it will make them feel more entitled and will ask more rewards after simple tasks. It will definitely hinder their social skills and work ethics. Developing them to enjoy and do chores more at home will teach them independence and decision-making.

Humans in the past thrived in learning through careful observance and guidance – meaning you can also apply it to teach your child to do the same. They will be able to practice their motor skills in simple tasks like sweeping, putting their toys or books away, and maybe wiping a spillage on the floor. It has then believed that people who are excellent in abstract thinking took part in hands-on activities like chores.

In order to make chores natural for them, never shoo them away when they’re trying to help. If there are times it takes them longer to finish an easy task – like helping you unload the dishwasher – you should have patience and let them learn themselves. If ever they find it hard to understand and improve themselves, you can teach them how to do it with patience. You might feel like you have wasted a lot of time in teaching your children do chores, but it actually will help them become responsible adults in the future.

Here are easy ways to convince your kiddies to do chores:       

• Routine. If you make this a part of their lives, they will be able to adjust to it easily and they only feel that their day is complete after accomplishing these tasks. It can be as easy as taking their dishes to the sink and putting their toys away after playing. When they get older, you can add more in the list.
• Praise. They will feel more confident and happy to complete easy chores you offer them. They might even ask you for more chores to help you around with it! Besides, even adults like being praised for a job well done.

Games. Turning this to a game will make the housework more fun for them. They might even ask you for more if you make it really fun and exciting! You can add simple prizes whenever they complete a task such as an extra hour for playing or maybe a trip to their favourite zoo or playhouse.         

A messy house is not something you’re excited to go home to – if you’re working from morning to evening, it makes sense if you simply just want to laze around after a day of stress. While you might be the kind who cleans up whenever you see a mess, some areas in the house can never be truly clean even after all the elbow grease you put on it. But if you’re the kind who spends an insane amount of time at work and much rather be relaxing during the weekends or the nights you get home, then it’s time to call up the cleaning professionals.

While it does cost a pretty dime, it has a lot of benefits – your house seems brand new, it’s healthier since there’s not much allergens and dust in the air, and the overall look gives you a desired peace of mind as well. It’s a good investment if you feel like your furniture and rooms are dusty and are beyond hope – these professionals are equipped with good cleaning machines and chemicals that removes tough stains you can’t begin to imagine!

When should you call in the professionals?

Keeping up a cleaning routine is challenging – what you might be doing is just cleaning, fairly different from the deep cleaning that actually sanitise the entire home. This is close to impossible if you do it by yourself without the proper gear and knowledge about it. Here are other reasons when you should call in the professionals:

• Hard to clean areas. Heavy lifting, unscrewing vents and overall cleaning the crook and cranny of your house requires specialised equipment. If you have molded tiles, moss-covered fences, permanently stained garage floors, then it’s time to call in professional cleaners to restore them into their old charm. Aside from their specialised gadgets, they also have tricks and steps into properly restoring your faded and dusty parts of the house.
• Abandoned house. You may have inherited the house way in the suburbs or bought it, but you can’t deny the fact that this new forever home is dirty down to every grout and cracks. You can’t risk cleaning it yourself since you have no idea what happened there when it was abandoned and there might be something dangerous under those floorboards and hidden closets. You can call in the professionals to deep clean the house and then you can hopefully move in without hassle.
• Some parts are no longer working. Sinks and the tub is clogged? Vents aren’t working at all? The air conditioner no longer cold? There’s probably a thick layer of dust and dirt that prevents the air from circulating or something is stuck in your pipes. Whatever the reason is, you will be able to find out what’s wrong with it after a deep cleaning procedure.

The dining room is one of the important places in the house – it’s where you entertain your guests and family, present your food, share soulful stories with each other, and enjoy the dishes you made. Food has been an important concept in entertaining guests and showing your affection to them, so it’s not shocking that people actually spend time decorating their dining room as much as the rest of the house.

But in all honesty, the dining room can be one of the most neglected areas in the house – stray items here and there, a bunch of bills on the unused area of the table, and maybe a laptop for people who doesn’t have an office at home. It can be a discouraging sight and you feel yourself deflate from the daunting task of clearing up the items in front of you. But worry not, there are easy steps and tips to finally make your dining room a better place and welcome to accept guests again.

Make your dining room great again with these easy steps:

• Dedicate boxes for items you need to segregate. The dining room is a place you entertain guests, so it’s only normal that you do the best you can in maintaining the cleanliness and the nice atmosphere of the room. So you need to gather up the knick knacks in the room and look over them carefully. What should you keep or let go – you will be able to understand what you need to replace, completely get rid of, or maybe even revive. This will declutter your room with ease and maybe help you organise and style your room differently. It might even give you more ideas on how to revive your dining room!
• Completely empty the room. From the curtains to the rug, everything should be removed and placed somewhere else temporarily. This will be your time to fully clean the dining room without cutting corners and missing a few spots because of the furniture that blocked it. Make sure you start from the top to the bottom – this will ensure that you don’t go back and forth cleaning certain parts of the room. It’s your time to polish, dust off, and even repaint the scratched walls and accents.
• Install a floating shelf or drawers. Commonly, most dining rooms have these to store crockery and cutlery for guests, but there are some that does not have this – thus they have to travel to the kitchen back and forth. However, you have to make it smaller than what you imagined – it has to be small so you’re not tempted to fill it up. Besides, it also makes the dining room look more posh – so don’t be afraid and bring out the prettiest China you have!
• Limit your items. Do you really need 50 napkin rings? This is the perfect time to further minimise your items and discarding the things you no longer needed. It will give you a peace of mind if you see your drawers fully organised and clean even with the rush of entertaining guests.
• Decorate. But subtly and not over the top. Decorating your space gives you a fresh perspective in looking at your room – it will give you a better idea how you imagined inviting guests over. It will make you feel more confident and happier to invite guests over if you properly cleaned, organised, and decorated your room with subtle but beautiful decors.

In every household, office, and classroom, there’s always that one part of the room that is crowded with documents, bills, receipts, certificates, and more. While these papers are indeed important and holds private information, you can’t deny that you’ve been itching to throw these away just to remove the clutter from your life. Organising doesn’t have to be so tricky and annoying, there are easy ways you can make your life simpler and better.

The art of decluttering papers

You can now enjoy your drawers more and store more important items than receipts from 5 years ago. It may be challenging to start, but it will definitely be worthwhile for you in the long run. You may need to spend a few bucks as well if you want to store important documents properly and keep them safe as well. There are documents that can simply be stored in a computer or online storage – you can just print them whenever you need it!

Tools for your paperless journey:

• Scanner. These days, there are printers with scanning and copying features that you can take advantage of. It’s also quite affordable and portable as well if you move a lot in your line of work. Scanners, as the name suggests, scans the items you need to be moved and saved to your computer. It provides a crystal clear digital copy compared to snapping photos of it. Plus, you can organise it in files if you need to.
• Shredder.  This is for documents that contains private and important details on paper – and to ensure that no one gets their hands on it after being thrown. Some families actually use these shreds as firestarters during a barbecue fest or for a campfire. It’s to ensure that the documents won’t be patched together and still reveal the items written – although that’s unlikely and tedious.
• Create an online storage for documents and calendars. Thankfully, this digital age made it possible to store them online if ever your computer has no extra storage left. While it can be daunting, there are some apps and softwares that are reliable for these kinds of tasks – like Google, Evernote, and more. While there are premium options for better features, you can try these out for free.
• Downsize your drawers to a small inbox. This will urge you to minimise your collection of papers and documents that crowds most of your room. It will be a great way to pull out the document you need right away and stow them easily as well. These are documents that can’t be shredded – legal papers like your original birth certificate, marriage contract, and a lot more. However, you can save them up digitally in case of emergency.