Easy Spring Cleaning...The Green Way!

   Spring has sprung once again, and although the weather hasn't officially warmed up long enough for us to notice, the spring cleaning bug has certainly bitten. As a business owner with an eye for eco-friendly solutions and cleaning methods, I thought it only fair to share my yearly tips for cleaning your own home with greener products that produce commercial results. If you've read any of my previous blogs, than you should be well aware of my fixation with a few simple household products that when combined in different combinations and quantities can clean the problem areas in your home. This time, I'll concentrate on the kitchen and bathroom, the two most frustrating places to keep clean. With a few commonly kept pantry staples, those two rooms can be cleaned the green way. Grab your white vinegar, baking soda and a little dish soap and lets get started with the first refresher course for 2013.

   Cleaning The Microwave - I use my microwave on a daily basis and the stains and smells can really build up quickly. But putting bleach or some commercial chemical cleaner in there really makes me nervous. I don't like bleach flavored re-heated ravioli. Simply take one cup of warm tap water and 1/4 cup of white vinegar, combine and place in a microwave safe bowl. Nuke it for two or three minutes on high power or until it actually boils but don't open the door yet. After the microwave has stopped, leave the door shut for five minutes so that the solution has some time to work, plus the hot vinegar odor can really make you choke a bit if its inhaled. But all is safe when the solution has a few minutes to cool. Open the door and wipe down the sides, door, base and plate with a clean rag dampened with warm water. The spills and stains should wipe right up and the past odors will be gone. Vinegar is great at odor neutralizing. 

   Kitchen Appliance Cleaning - Between your stove, oven, sink, coffee maker and stand mixer, cleaning your kitchen can seem like a never ending job. But you don't want to put chemicals anywhere that food might be next. You can simply clean items like your stand mixer with a sponge, a bit of dish soap ad some white vinegar. For tougher areas like the stove top or the grout between your kitchen tiles, you can make an all purpose scrubbing/scouring paste. Take 1/4 cup of baking soda and add 1 tbsp of dish soap and just a very small splash of white vinegar (enough to make the mix moist). Get out your scrub brush, a few clean rags and a sponge and start cleaning. This awesome paste does a great job of cleaning burnt on food and tough stains. Apply, scrub and/or let stand for tougher jobs. Then all you have to do is rinse the area well. I recommend using very warm water and a terry cloth towel so that you're sure there is no residue of the paste left over.

   Bathroom Cleaning - Using the cleaning paste I mentioned above, you can take care of your bathroom grout and any other tough looking stain in sight. Enough said.

   Toilet Cleaning - I hate this particular job the most so i was happy to find a very easy solution. Squirt a ring of dish soap under the rim of the toilet and then spray with that good old white vinegar. Grab your toilet brush and give the bowl a good scrubbing and there you have it. Just flush and you're done. But don't forget to leave the toilet seat down. That's a felony in my house!

   Shower And Tub Cleaning - You can use just a little dish soap and vinegar for the every day cleaning, or for tougher jobs, once again, use the scouring/scrubbing paste that I previously mentioned and your trusty scrub brush. Just remember to rinse well. As for the shower head, lime scale and hard water can really clog it up. Simply take a zip-top baggie and fill with vinegar. Place the bag of vinegar over the shower head and use a rubber band to secure. Leave it for an hour or two and that's it. C'mon, how simple is that?! You don't even have to remove the shower head to clean it!

   Vinegar, baking soda and a little dish soap can really go far when your cleaning. These solutions are simple, cheap and effective when you're cleaning the bathroom and kitchen. For more green cleaning solutions, check out www.bowermancarpetcleaning.com and stay tuned for my next cleaning blog. Happy Spring Cleaning!

Why You Should Leave the Fire and Soot Cleanup to the Professionals

   A fire in your home or business can be stressful and traumatic. Your world is turned upside down in a matter of seconds and trying to figure out where to begin is the first in several difficult decisions you will have to make. The best advice I can give is to call a reputable fire restoration company immediately. Many people assume that the aftermath of a small fire or smoke mishap can be handled by themselves but unfortunately, this does not hold up. Fire smoke and soot damage are three of many things I can think of that should be evaluated and remediated by a professional. And if your not totally convinced that these damages can not be handled by an experienced do-it-yourselfer, then please continue reading.
   My client lived in a beautiful home in Scarsdale, NY. He has a love of cooking for his family every night. One of these lovely evenings turned into a small nightmare. The pilot light on the stove/oven malfunctioned and set a dishtowel that was a little too close to the appliance on fire. Luckily, the smoke detectors were in working order and they alerted my client and his family of the fire. My client was able to extinguish the fire and gratefully the family was safe. My client said that he noticed the fire damage had seemed like it was limited to the kitchen and he thought he might get a head start on the impending cleanup. He got out some rags, some cleaners, a mop and a bucket of water. But as he began to "clean-up", he noticed that there was a lot more soot than he thought and it seemed to be getting even worse as he wiped and scrubbed. Thankfully, his gut instinct to stop cleaning was right because he actually made the matter worse. He picked up the phone, contacted me and I was there to evaluate the situation an hour later. 
   The damage did look like it was limited to the kitchen but looks can be deceiving. The smell of the fire was throughout the first and second level of the home. And the soot damage had traveled beyond the kitchen as well. That's why I recommend to home and business owners not to try to cleanup after a fire. Soot especially, can travel through vents and into other rooms. It sticks well to fabric, walls, ceilings, floors and all of the other little items that are in your home. If you happen to sit on a sofa that has a thin layer of soot that isn't really visible, it makes the damage harder to clean. Walls can be particularly tricky. They can look fine but again, soot can be really difficult to see if your not trained to look for it and lighting can play a huge role in that deception. My client was lucky that he stopped what he was doing because he ended up causing more harm than good. Soot cant be cleaned off walls with water or cleaning sprays.
   So if you have had a fire, smoke or soot damage in your home or business, call a professional restoration and remediation company. Keep your family, home and business safe by installing smoke detectors and by changing the batteries on a very regular basis. Make a simple exit plan for you and your family in the event that a fire does occur. Leave the cleanup to the professionals and just worry about being safe.