Solve Your Cleaning Challenges — By Topic
Cleaning Myths vs. Facts
Cleaning Myths vs. Facts
3 Things to Know about Disinfecting and Sanitizing Because . . . Here comes cold and flu season!
by Amy Sardone
on Oct 11 2024
Cue the “Theme from Jaws” . . . the viruses are sneaking up on us! We often think of something as clean if it looks clean. But there’s that other kind of “clean” that we have to be vigilant about at all times and especially during cold and flu season. Today we’re talking about hard surface hygiene, a term borrowed from the American Cleaning Institute. You know – countertops, toilets, door and cabinet handles, floors, keyboards, etc.
Consider this, most people use disinfectants incorrectly. This can cause a “superbug” that is 12 times more resistant to antibiotics by spraying and wiping with harsh chemicals that only kill the weakest bacteria, leaving behind the strongest, toughest germs, research shows. The surviving strong mutate and multiply, creating a super bug environment that is even harder to clean. Here are some facts:
1. Pathogens (illness-causing microorganisms) are invisible, so when you clean a surface with the intent to kill as much of the nasty things as possible, wipe down the entire surface. Be thorough. Have you ever seen a demonstration of how far vapor from a sneeze or droplets from a flushed toilet travel?
2. There is indeed a difference between disinfecting and sanitizing. Disinfectants, which can also be called antimicrobials, kill most pathogenic microorganisms when used correctly. The problem is, disinfectants are rarely used correctly, creating a worse environment rather than eliminating the problem. Sanitizers kill some of the pathogens, reducing their numbers to a safer level.
3. Remove visible dirt/food/spills on a surface before disinfecting or sanitizing to give the pathogen-killing agent the best chance to work on the surface itself. Or be liberal with your use of a cleaner with a pathogen-killing agent built in. Check the product label for how long the surface must stay wet in order to kill bacteria and viruses. This is where most products fail when dwell time is ignored. Dwell time is just not practical for most general cleaning, therefore making things worse rather than better.
For every day cleaning, the safest method of cleaning up spills, crumbs, and household grime is to use a nontoxic all purpose cleaner like Red Juice and a microfiber towel. Our heavy duty cleaner – degreaser gets the job done without harsh chemicals that only kill the weakest bacteria. The microfiber towel picks up the grime and holds it in the towel, rather than smearing it around the surface, like when paper towels are used in cleaning. For a healthier way to disinfect tile floors, grout, showers, and more consider our amazing steam cleaner, the Vapamore Steam Cleaner.
We’ve talked in previous posts about the fact that microfiber cloths are so incredible that they even pick up bacteria and viruses. Speed Cleaning has wonderful, high-quality cloths and dusters that last through hundreds of washings. That makes microfiber a good choice for cleaning around the house during cold and flu season.
Oh, and don’t forget a flu shot. We hope you and your family stay well! So, do you feel armed and ready???
Cleaning Myths vs. Facts
How To Clean Your Floors Like A Pro
by Amy Sardone
on Oct 11 2024
Whether you have hardwood, laminate, carpet, concrete, or tile floors, you’ll want to know how to do the best job you can maintaining them. Here, we have a list for any floor type so you can easily read about how to clean and maintain your floors.
Carpets: Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum! Especially in heavy traffic areas. Dirt and grit acts like fine sand paper fraying the ends of your carpet pile. Regular vacuuming with a high quality vacuum will lengthen the life of your carpet and keep the pile looking tall and fluffy much longer. If you need a suggestion on a great vacuum to purchase, check out our vacuums page. Sturdy and dependable, these vacuums are for the pros!
Now, I’m sure you already do a lot of vacuuming, but what about spills? Spray spills and stains immediately with Speed Cleaning’s Red Juice and blot up with a cotton cloth. Red Juice works miracles, I tell you! My husband spilled a cup of red tea on our living room carpet, and just blotted it up with a towel….needless to say, the stain was still there the next day. So I grabbed my bottle of Red Juice and sprayed and blotted. Voila! Completely stain free, even a day after the stain had dried.
Hardwood: If you happen to have the older high-maintenance, get on your hands and knees and wax hardwood floors, we wish you well… They require a lot of upkeep! Nowadays, most wood floors have a hard, plastic-like finish such as polyurethane, which requires much less maintenance since it is a no-wax finish. Do be sure to keep it swept/vacuumed, but do not wash the floors with any soap-based detergent. Clean with a dilute ammonia solution or a neutral cleanser formulated for these floors.
Laminate: Laminate flooring is one of the easiest floors to keep up with. All you need is a solution of warm water, vinegar, and a mild detergent like dish soap or a neutral cleanser like Sh-Clean. Easy peasy!
Tile: The key to keeping tile looking great is to clean up dirt/grease/spills quickly. Sweep or vacuum frequently. It will keep the grout looking clean and new as well. Mop with either Sh-Clean or a little bit of Red Juice to keep floors spotless.
Cement: Cement floors are pretty simple to keep up with. Start by running over with a dust mop or a wet/dry mop. Follow up with a solution of warm water and a mild dish detergent or neutral cleaner like Sh-Clean. Be sure to not get these floors overly wet.
As is the case with all cleaning and maintenance chores, the key is to clean often rather than letting the dirt build up, which makes the cleaning more time consuming. Who wants to spend more time cleaning???
Cleaning Myths vs. Facts
What’s in Your Dust? A potentially cancer-causing toxin and more!
by Amy Sardone
on Oct 11 2024
A 2016 study on household dust has revealed that it’s loaded with toxins, which can be inhaled and absorbed through the skin.
Ten harmful chemicals were found in 90% of the dust samples taken from homes in fourteen states. The second most prevalent chemical was phenols which are used in many “non-green” cleaning products. Also found were flame retardants, some of which have been linked to cancer.
As someone who is always interested in healthy cleaning and is often sought out for her expert opinion, Debbie Sardone, has given many radio interviews concerning this latest study on household dust.
Here are just a few of Debbie’s eco-friendly green cleaning suggestions: Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter and vacuum often, dust with a slightly damp microfiber cloth, and seek out green-cleaning products such as Speed Cleaning’s Red Juice.
Read “Household dust is laced with toxic chemicals, study finds” to learn more about the study.
Cleaning Myths vs. Facts
Our Top 5 Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
by Amy Sardone
on Oct 11 2024
If you’ve been thinking about switching to eco-friendly cleaning products, read on. Maybe you’ve heard that green cleaners aren’t as tough on dirt as their toxic counterparts. These products give you the best of both worlds, while saving our world! You want your cleaning products to be green, but tough, and you don’t have to sacrifice quality for eco-friendly. These green cleaners have been tested to be the top cleaning products around! See for yourself what they can do:
Red Juice – Made from sea kelp. Yes, you read that correctly. This product is the best all purpose cleaner you’ll ever try! Read more about what makes it awesome here.
Blue Juice – The “Environmentally Correct” choice for glass. Blue Juice is a non toxic, odor free, environmentally friendly, personally safe, biodegradable, unscented, all natural, green cleaner. What’s more, it works better than the other leading chemical-filled glass cleaners!
Scum Bum – This is a highly effective green, personally safe and environmentally friendly cleaner. It gently dissolves even the toughest scale, mineral deposits, hardwater stains and soap scum. It also removes mold and mildew…all the while being green!
Sh-Clean – Safe for use on all finished floors, Sh-Clean is a neutral cleanser, free of ammonia and other harsh toxins. Clean your floors worry-free!
Microfiber Cloths – Forget the newspaper (if you even have those anymore!) and don’t bother with expensive, non-reusable paper towels. A set of microfiber cloths will last you for years without having to go through roll after roll of paper towels! Reduce, reuse, recycle! Not only are these towels great for dusting, you can even use them with just a little water to clean off fingerprints and other dirty spots on glass, walls, countertops…you name it.
These Speed Cleaning eco-friendly products will tackle most of your household cleaning chores with ease and peace-of-mind.
Cleaning Myths vs. Facts
How Do You Know If You Have A Clutter Problem?
by Amy Sardone
on Oct 11 2024
So how do you know that you have a household clutter problem? We’re not going to give you one of those self-scoring tests that you’re doomed to fail. But here are a few questions you might want to ask yourself in a benign manner.
1. Do you save magazines indefinitely that may have articles you really “should” read because you might miss something?
2. Do you need more than one “repair drawer” or “junk drawer”?
3. Do you save things that seem just too good to throw away even though you have no particular plans for ever using them?
4. Are you storing all sorts of things on behalf of your grown children?
5. Do you save broken things for years, never repair them, and then realize you don’t like or need them anyway?
6. Do you lose your keys or wallet or purse regularly?
7. Do you buy things you already have, but didn’t know it because the cupboard is a rat’s nest?
8. Do you have under your kitchen sink cleaning products – including numerous “miracle” cleaners – that you’ve never touched?
9. Do you save spare parts to unknown things?
10. Do you collect empty boxes?
11. Do you know what bills are coming due this week or this month?
12. Have you lost a chunk of change because you’re late with payments and get zapped with late charges and interest because there’s no time to write the checks?
13. Has your collection of porcelain ducks, frogs, penguins, elephants, etc., begun to seem like it’s just something else to clean – without the interest or fun it once had?
14. Are some drawers or shelves stuffed so full that you can use only the items on top?
15. Do you keep putting things in places that you know aren’t right and then tell yourself you are just putting them there “for now”?
16. Do you live in a house with more storage space than ever before, but every spare space fills up immediately and you still don’t have enough?
17. Do you feel guilty and depressed about the state of your home?
18. Would you entertain more often (if at all) if you could only get things under control?
Aren’t you glad that wasn’t a test? So . . . if you’ve determined that you have a clutter problem, check out Speed Cleaning's Clutter Control ebook. Let’s get organized!
Showing 20/43
