Modern Maids

Tag: cleaning tips

  • How to Disinfect Your Home: COVID-19 Cleaning Tips

    Keeping Clean Amidst COVID-19

    The novel coronavirus has caused major changes in the way we do things. Systems of the workforce, transportation, health, education, and human interaction have been drastically altered to help prevent the spread of COVID 19, while giving people whatever is possible to have some semblance of normalcy.

    If there is one thing that will probably remain long after the pandemic, it will be the constant need to clean and disinfect. May it be from the simple carrying of alcohol wherever you go, to the wiping of surfaces before touching it, this disease has taught us a lesson and has given us an experience we want no repeat of.

    On that note, below are some tips on how to disinfect your home to keep you and your family safe, and not contribute to the spread of the virus.

    Cleaning and Disinfecting

    Daily Routine

    Woman Applying Hand Sanitizer

    Regular cleaning has always been important but now so more than ever. How do you make sure to disinfect regularly? Here are some tips you can follow when cleaning. Think of it as an upgrade to your daily cleaning regimen

    • Always wash your hands with soap when coming in contact with high touch surfaces. If there’s no hand washing area in sight, make sure to carry round hand sanitizer or alcohol ( percentage of at least 70 alcohol diluted in purified water works best)
    • Use disposable gloves when cleaning areas such as the bathroom and kitchen
    • Should you have an infected member, items of the sick should stay separate from the rest of the family members’.
    • Stock up on household disinfectant solutions. Check the solution and if it is effective in killing virus and bacteria. Always keep it in a secure place especially when you have kids around.

    Key Areas to Disinfect

    Close-Up Photo Of Person Cleaning The Table

    The COVID 19 virus can be spread through respiratory droplets, or by touching contaminated surfaces then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. That said, it’s important to be aware of the high touch surfaces, and make an effort to avoid touching them, and regularly disinfect them. Here is a list of the different hard surfaces at home that needs regular disinfection:

    • Door knobs
    • Faucets
    • Cabinet handles
    • Kitchen and dining surfaces
    • Balcony and staircase railings
    • Remote controls
    • Light switches
    • Appliance handles and buttons

    Here are some soft surfaces you regularly get in contact with:

    • Armchairs
    • Pillows and cushions
    • Living room and shower curtains
    • Leather bags

    Bottles of chemical products for cleaning

    There are many available disinfectants in the market specifically designed for certain surfaces, so you shouldn’t worry about damaging your precious furniture or appliance. But if you would like to use bleach, it is important to follow guides to ensure proper disinfection. Here are some notes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

    Most household bleach contains 5%–9% sodium hypochlorite. Do not use a bleach product if the percentage is not in this range or is not specified. This includes some types of laundry bleach or splashless bleach, which are not appropriate for disinfection.

    Follow the directions on the bleach bottle for preparing a diluted bleach solution. If your bottle does not have directions, you can make a bleach solution by mixing:

    • 5 tablespoons (1/3 cup) of bleach per gallon of room temperature water, or
    • 4 teaspoons of bleach per quart of room temperature water

    For soft items that require gentle handling, here’s what you can do according to CDCP:

    Clean the surface using soap and water or with cleaners appropriate for use on these surfaces.

    Launder items (if possible) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Use the warmest appropriate water setting and dry items completely.

    Always remember to wear gloves when handling bleach and other chemicals to avoid burns or skin irritations.

    When There Is A Guest

    Anonymous woman hands in protective gloves in blue studio

    As much as we love having family and friends over, it’s difficult to know if they are free from the virus and it’s almost instinct to think of the worse at this point. But say you are actually having guests at home. What precautions should you take? And how do you clean after this?

    • Disinfect upon arrival. Have the guest wash his/her hands immediately.
    • Keep coats and shoes by the entrance, don’t bring it further inside.
    • Try to keep the visit in just one area of the house.
    • Have separate utensils for that person, and remember to segregate it for disinfection later.
    • Check in with the person at least two weeks after contact to ensure that he or she has not contracted COVID 19.

    Waste Disposal

    Stick to your regular routine of waste segregation and disposal. If you do not have a regular schedule, it’s would be wise to start now to ensure that your home is in top shape and will not harbor bacteria that will compromise your and your family’s health.

    To be mindful of those who will handle your trash upon collection, best to place used masks, tissue, paper towels, napkins, cotton buds and pads, and any items that might have come into contact with your nose, mouth, and eyes in a tightly sealed plastic bag.

    Does simple soap and water work?

    Person Washing His Hand

    Cleaning the home starts with proper hygiene. The easiest and most frequent thing you can do is to wash your hands. Simple soap and water will do. Just scrub it for at least 20 seconds then rinse. Some surfaces can also be quickly disinfected using soap and water, then you can perform another deep disinfection for when you have more time using other chemicals and solutions.

    Hire A Professional to Clean and Disinfect Your Home

    If you find the extra steps of disinfecting a bit too much, or you don’t have enough knowledge to perform it on your own, then it would be best to hire professionals to do the job. Give your local Austin house cleaning service a call to discuss your needs and set a home cleaning and disinfection appointment.

  • House Cleaning Tips That Work – Learn Here

    Proper House Cleaning

    You may think that cleaning is just for the sake of being organized, cleaning the clutter, and dusting the dust. But if you’re going to looking at it from a wider perspective, cleaning affects not just our physical health, but our psychological well-being, too. A clean home contributes to having a good mood, helps with focus and concentration, and also affects productivity.

    Now that we know how big the effect of a clean house is, it’s important to always keep things tidy every day. And to be able to do it, cleaning should be done properly. There is a system to cleaning that should be observed if you want to get the best results, saving you time and energy. It may be difficult at first, especially if you have so much clutter and dirty corners, but maintaining it moving forward will make it easy in the long run.

    In this article, we’ll share with you some house cleaning tips that actually work. Read on to find out more.

    House Cleaning Tips That Work

    Using White Vinegar and Baking Soda For Home Cleaning

    Pantry staples as alternative cleaning solutions

    There are many pantry staples that are multi-purpose. Not only are they easy to find, but they offer safer alternatives to the readily available cleaning chemicals we usually use. Among those multi-purpose ingredients are the baking soda and white vinegar.

    Baking soda is a great deodorizer and a mild abrasive. Meanwhile, vinegar can be an alternative to bleach, is also used as a deodorizer, and can be used to remove stains. Below are some more specific uses for these to versatile kitchen items:

    • Remove deeply stuck residue in pots and pans by soaking it in a solution of baking soda, hot water, and dish soap for 15 minutes. Then rinse.
    • You can also clean your dishwasher and coffee maker by running either baking soda or vinegar on it on a monthly basis.
    • Time to relive your science experiment experience back in grade school. Mix vinegar and baking soda in a spray bottle, and spritz the solution when cleaning your refrigerator. This way you avoid any harsh chemicals getting into contact where you store food.
    • You can also clean your toilet bowl using baking soda by scrubbing half a cup of it on the surface. If you need to remove tougher stains, leave it soaked in vinegar and let is sit overnight.
    • You may not be aware but your shower head also needs regular cleaning as it can get clogged with algae. You can soak it in a solution of baking soda and vinegar to dissolve the dirt.

    Clean Whole House, Not Just One Room

    Clean the whole house

    If you live in a whole house, you know how cleaning the whole space all on your own, or even with some help, is still tiring. But if you really want to get rid of the dirt, then the right way to clean the house it to clean it wholly, and not just per room whenever you feel like it. Why is that? Dust is carried in the air, and air circulating inside the house can spread the dust from an unclean room to a freshly dusted place. Then your effort will be all in vain.

    The proper way to do it would be to do one task, and perform it in every room before switching tasks. Say sweep or vacuum the whole, before mopping the place. Avoid doing it per area or room so it won’t feel like an endless cycle.

    Sweep Before Mop

    Do it in order: sweep before mop

    It’s inly logical to start sweeping dust and debris first before mopping, otherwise you might just find yourself in the middle of some homemade mush of dust and water, making cleaning all the more difficult.

    But one thing many people make the mistake of doing is not having any sense of direction when it comes to mopping. Always start with corners and hard to reach areas, then move towards the center or the door. This way, dirt does not seep into corners where you might not be able to remove. Remember to never mop yourself in a corner.

    Use Microfiber Cloth For Glass and Windows

    Proper glass cleaning

    Don’t you just find it irritating whenever you see streaks of dirt, stands of fiber, or even spots of lint left on glass surfaces after you wipe it? If that happens, then you must know you’re doing something wrong. Either you’re doing steps not in the right order. Or you’re using the wrong cleaning supplies. For the next time you clean glass surfaces like table tops, mirror, or window, start by using a damp microfiber cloth. A simple solution of water and soap will do for this. Make sure to wring the cloth to avoid drenching the surface. Once you’ve wiped off all the accumulated dust, wipe the surface again using a dry microfiber cloth.

    Clean Your Cleaning Tools and Equipment

    Make sure to clean your vacuum after every use

    It doesn’t really make sense to clean the house if the cleaning equipment you’re using isn’t clean in the first place. Make sure you are using clean rags, brooms, and brushes. Don’t forget to empty the bin of your vacuum cleaner before you return it back to storage. Wash it regularly to ensure that no dust and dirt remain behind.

    Make The Whole Family Participate

    Get your family involved

    If you live with company who spends a fair amount of time at home as you, then there’s no reason why you should be the only one doing all the cleaning. It makes the job a bit easy if everyone participates, and it helps save time as well. Even more, you won’t find people asking you where you stored a certain item simply because they’re the ones who cleaned it themselves.

    Deep Cleaning

    Regular cleaning is fine and well but deep cleaning is required at least twice a year, or better yet done every 3 months to ensure your house remains in top shape. To make sure that it’s done right, we recommend that you hire third party professionals to do this kind of cleaning because they come equipped with heavy duty tools and equipment. This goes the same when preparing your home for sale because you want to impress all potential buyers. More than just the regular routine, they can wash your mattress and couch, clean the gutter, scrub down the whole bathroom and under the sink, and every other corner you may not normally clean.

    Maintaining A Clean Home

    Clean Home

    Maintaining a clean home may be a hard thing to do especially when you have to do it on your own but know that there are services and companies you can hire to help you make your home look like new. For the best cleaning experience, check if there is a Modern Maids service in your area.

  • Top 10 Cleaning Tips for Hoarders

    A viral tweet once said, “One thing no one ever talks about being an adult is how much time you debate yourself on keeping a cardboard box because it’s, like, a really good box.”

    Hardcore hoarders are hard to find. But if we’re going to be honest, we all share hoarding tendencies, whether it’s those numerous tin cans that we’re pretty sure we can up-cycle, or those towers and towers of books all over the house. It may not even be our junk. Sometimes, the hoarder might be a family member who has a thing for cardboard boxes just as the tweet shared.

    So, how do you go about decluttering the house when it’s absolutely time to deep clean? Today, we’re going to give you some tips for getting through a hoarding issue. If you don’t have time to follow these tips you can always hire a service like this top rated Austin maid service.

    1 – Cleaning Checklist

    Clipart of cleaning supplies

    You have to do some serious hoarding cleanup! The whole cleaning process might take a whole day or a few days to do but it doesn’t have to be time-consuming. First, you have to make sure that all of the following things are ready.

    • Heavy duty trash bags – One way or the other, you’re going to want to get rid of some of the stuff, so better to have some of these handy.
    • Vacuum cleaner – There’s definitely going to be a lot of dust. Check if your vacuum cleaner is in good working order and see to it that the dust bag is empty.
    • Protective gear – One way or another, dust and allergens will be flying around. Don’t forget to wear a face mask while you do your cleaning and gloves to protect against harmful chemicals.
    • Empty boxes – While this is a great time to do some purging of all the things that have accumulated, you don’t have to get rid of everything. Ready some empty boxes in case you find some things you would like to save or donate. You might just be able to hold a yard sale afterwards!
    • Step ladder – Have it at the ready in case you own one in the house. You can use it for reaching on top of shelves and clearing away cobwebs.
    • First aid kit – Just on the off chance that you acquire a wound from all the work you have to do.
    • Cleaning supplies – Get your brooms, brushes, and cleaning agents. It’s time to roll up our sleeves!

    2 – The KonMari Method

    Do your things still spark joy?

    The essential thing to remember before starting your cleanup mission is you don’t need all of this stuff. Sure, you might still want to keep some of them, but definitely not everything. Cleaning your home will mean decluttering room after room after room, and choosing which items to let go or to keep.

    Let’s take a page out of Marie Kondo’s book.

    Shelves and piles of books

    Marie Kondo, who became a household name after Netflix released a series in 2019, champions the idea to keep only the things most important to us. The things that, according to her, still spark joy. Her technique, dubbed the KonMari method, begins by taking everything you want to organize into a pile and then categorizing them accordingly based on which you would still like to keep and which you might already want to throw away. An important part of her process is thanking the items, even those you might already consider trash, for the part they have played in your life. After all, you chose to keep them at some point! It’s a noteworthy part of her decluttering idea so that you can say goodbye properly and let go.

    3 – Deep Clean

    Since you’re already knee-deep in the decision to declutter, we highly recommend that you do a deep clean of the whole house. It’s best to do this at the same time as you sort and decide which items to save, but oftentimes you might need professional help. A hoarder’s house is bound to have issues with mold and, unfortunately, all sorts of pests.

    You don’t get to do this a lot so why not make the effort to go all in? This decision is on a case-to-case basis, but if you already have an inkling of the amount of work that needs to be done, it’s better to know the numbers that you can call for professional services.

    4 – Sorting Area

    Some of the things you might find in your decluttering are items that truly serve a purpose and were just misplaced. In case you randomly find something but don’t know yet where to put it, it’s best to prepare a sorting space somewhere in your house or property. You can even use your yard!

    An assortment of used things

    Later on, once you have finished all the necessary cleaning and purging, you can get back to this sorting area to wade through the piles and determine if they should be put in the bathroom, the living room, the bedroom, etc.

    5 – Start Small

    The KonMari method talks about going through items based on category not by their location in your home. But for the purposes of house cleaning, we recommend that you do your cleaning room by room. To start, you need to begin your work in the smallest area in the house. No matter if it’s the bathroom or a broom closet. This way, should you need to take a lot of items out, you won’t have to dirty a smaller room.

    6 – Take Breaks

    If you start your cleanup in the smallest area in the house, you also won’t get overwhelmed too quickly. After finishing one room, you might be able to take a break before proceeding to the other rooms. You could use this time to assess your progress and acknowledge the great job you have been doing so far.

    Don’t forget to wash your hands first if you end up snacking!

    7 – Donate or Sell

    If you ever thought that house cleaning was a thankless job, think again!

    Cleaning can bring catharsis to many people as they learn to let go of items that used to mean a lot to them. That in itself is worth all of the effort of going through this difficult process. It can be a great help to your mental health because as you get older, you’ll find that clutter can make you less productive and it can have a great effect on your overall well-being.

    A woman thinking

    Once you recognize that there is no more space in your life for this clutter, you have three options. You might throw them away, decide to donate them, or even make some money by selling these items. For used items that still function properly, it may be best to give them away to those who might need them more. Sometimes, you might also find some items that you were never able to use, in which case, you’ll be able to try your hand at selling them. Just be careful, even if these items do not get sold, you must make the commitment of sticking to your original decision. You can always give them to family who don’t live with you or a loved one.

    8 – Organize

    One reason hoarding might get out of hand is because there are not enough storage containers at home, that’s why they simply made piles on the floor. It’s hard to create additional space, and in the scenario where this need arises, you might want to consider renting storage, but this has to become our last resort.

    As much as you can, try to keep similar items together in a single container. Maybe you ended up with book “towers” because you didn’t have enough shelves. Should you find it impossible to let go of some clutter, at least try to put them in a place where they won’t create a mess, and definitely not on the floor. Try visiting a furniture store to get some ideas.

    9 – Team Up

    Whether you are the one with the hoarding problem or you are intervening for a loved one, you don’t have to do all the cleaning by yourself. In fact, if a deep clean of the home is the target, you will definitely need a lot of help from the family.

    Make sure you schedule the cleaning during a time when people at home are not busy. If you know that someone will be using the room you need to clean, then you definitely won’t be able to do the job at all. Aside from clearing the rooms of people who might stand in your way, you’ll also be getting more available hands on deck.

    10 – Move Forward

    A woman speaking to a professional

    Hoarding is a disorder that might be a symptom of a bigger problem. A hoarder got to this point because of an unaddressed issue. Whatever it is, it needs to be acknowledged and, if needed, professional help must be sought, because if not, you’ll just keep going in circles. By the time you finish the whole cleaning process, you’ll understand the serious effort this entails. It might not be something you want to do frequently.

    Don’t worry though, this is just a phase in your life! As long as you have the determination, nothing is impossible. Just look at the excellent work you did cleaning up your home!