Hot Weather Cleaning Tips

When the weather outside is hot, the last thing you want to do is spend your time cleaning. But hot weather can actually be a great time to clean, if you do it right. Follow these hot weather cleaning tips to get the job done without overheating:

Choose the right time of day: The cooler hours of the morning are best for hot weather cleaning. You’ll not only get cleaning done during the cooler hours but also have more energy than you would at the end of the day. Absolutely avoid midday when the sun is at its hottest.

Divide the chore list up: Don’t try to tackle everything at once. Break your cleaning tasks into smaller chunks that you can handle over a few days. Pair the more physically intense chores with some less intense chores to break up the effort so you can divide and conquer!

Enlist family to help: Cleaning with family or roommates can make the job go faster and can even be fun. Play some fun music and divvy up the chores between you to knock out your cleaning list. Remember that many hands make light work.

Use natural cleaners: Hot weather is the perfect time to use natural cleaners. Because they don’t rely on chemicals for their cleaning power, they won’t add any extra heat or toxic fumes to your home. Cleaning with solutions that give off toxic fumes like bleach is not ideal during the hot summer when you want to avoid opening windows.

Stay comfy and hydrated: When it’s hot outside, it’s important to stay cool and hydrated while you’re cleaning. Dress in light, loose-fitting clothing and drink plenty of water. Avoid caffeine as it can be dehydrating and make you tire out more easily.

By following these hot weather cleaning tips, you can get your cleaning done without overheating and while keeping your family safe from toxic fumes. Don’t have the time or energy to tackle your cleaning list this summer? Call The Clean Up Club and we’ll help you clean it up!

 

Why Hire Professional Cleaning Services for Your Vacation Rental?

 As a vacation rental owner, you understand the importance of offering your guests a clean and comfortable space. Why Hire Professional Cleaning Services for Your Vacation Rental? However, cleaning your vacation rental yourself between guests can be a lot of work and time. That’s where professional cleaners come in. Professional cleaners for vacation rentals are experienced in providing the high level of cleanliness that vacation rental guests expect. They also offer a number of other benefits that can save you time and effort as a vacation rental owner.

Some of the things professional cleaners for vacation rentals do include:

  • Thoroughly cleaning all surfaces, including bathrooms, kitchens, floors, and furniture
  • Dusting and vacuuming
  • Making beds with fresh linens
  • Replacing towels and linens
  • Restocking toiletries
  • Taking out trash
  • Washing dishes/running dishwasher
  • Putting away clean dishes
  • Cleaning refrigerator and appliances

Save Time and Effort

In addition to providing a clean vacation rental for your guests, professional cleaners can also save you time and effort. For example, if you live far from your vacation rental property, professional cleaners can take care of everything for you – from cleaning to restocking toiletries. This can be a huge help if you don’t have the time or ability to do it yourself.

Have Peace of Mind

Professional cleaners give you peace of mind. When you hire a professional cleaning service, you can be confident that your vacation rental will be clean and ready for your next guests.

Avoid Negative Reviews and Complaints

Professional cleaners help you avoid negative reviews and complaints. One of the worst things that can happen as a vacation rental owner is to receive negative reviews or complaints about the cleanliness of your vacation rental. This can damage your reputation and negatively impact your business. Hiring professional cleaners can help you avoid this by ensuring that your vacation rental is always clean and comfortable for your guests.

Why Hire Professional Cleaning Services for Your Vacation Rental? Overall, hiring professional cleaners for your vacation rental property is a great decision. They can provide the high level of cleanliness that your guests expect and save you time and effort in the process. So if you’re looking for a way to make vacation rental ownership a little easier, professional cleaners are the way to go.

Top 5 Reasons You Need Weekly Housecleaning Services

If you’re like most people, you’re probably very busy. Between work, family time, and all the other activities that fill up our schedules, it can be hard to find time to clean our homes. That’s where weekly housecleaning services can come in handy. Here are some of the top 5 reasons you need weekly housecleaning services and why you might want to consider hiring a professional housecleaning service:

1. It frees up your time for other things. When you only have so much time available outside of work, you don’t want to spend that time cleaning. Having a housecleaning service means you spend less time cleaning and more quality time with your family.

2. You have a hectic work schedule and don’t have time to clean your home yourself. A hectic work schedule is exhausting. It’s difficult to have energy left over after working all day or all week to clean your home.

3. It’s good for your health. Research has shown that people who live in clean homes are less likely to get sick and also reap the benefits of better mental health. Dirt and grime are stressors, especially if it builds up over time. Keeping things tidy and clean is good for your health both physical and mental.

4. You have a newborn and don’t want to expose them to dirt and germs. Having a newborn is a special time and you don’t want to waste one minute of it cleaning. You also don’t want your new baby exposed to dust, dirt and germs. The solution? A weekly housecleaning service to keep things clean for you and baby.

5. You have pets and want to keep your home clean and free of pet hair. Having pets is a joy and they are part of the family. Unfortunately, these family members can shed and can track in dirt from outside. Weekly cleaning services keep the fur under control so you can enjoy your home and your pets without stress.

Hiring a weekly housecleaning service can be a great way to improve your quality of life and get some much-needed help around the house. If you’re considering it, give The Clean Up Club a call. We’ll answer all your questions and make sure we give you the clean you need.

Top Things a Professional Cleaning Service Isn’t Allowed to Clean

Did you know there are things a regular residential cleaning service can’t clean? That’s right. There are things a regular cleaning service isn’t allowed to touch. In most cases, this is either for your protection or theirs. Let’s take a look at some of the things a professional cleaning service isn’t allowed to clean.

1. High or hard to reach areas – A professional cleaning service is limited to what they can reach with a two-step stool (by insurance). So that chandelier in your foyer, the windows in your vaulted ceiling and the tops of very tall cabinets will be off limits.

2. Large amounts of mold – Here in the south, mold is just a normal part of life. The normal mold that builds up in bathrooms and in toilets is normal. However, if you have a more extensive mold problem that needs professional remediation, you’ll have to call a mold remediation company for that. This is especially true of dangerous black mold. Professional cleaners don’t have the training or proper gear to handle a major mold issue.

3. Bug-infested households – Whether roaches or fleas or something else, bug-infested households are on the no list for professional cleaners. Again, they don’t have the proper gear and there is also a risk they could carry pests from house to house, leading to infestations in other households. If they walk in and see signs of an infestation, they have to walk out immediately.

4. Bodily fluids – Bodily fluids require special biohazard gear and special handling precautions. So things like blood or even your dog’s urine or excrement are off limits for professional cleaners. If you have a large area of blood or bodily fluid that needs cleaning following an accident, there are specialty cleaners trained to handle biohazardous materials, but your average cleaner is not trained for this.

5. Carpet cleaning beyond vacuuming and spot cleaning – If your carpet needs to be shampooed or steam cleaned, you’ll need to call a company that specializes in carpet cleaning. Professional cleaners can vacuum and spot clean, but they don’t have the equipment or training to perform full room carpet deep cleaning.

6. Antiques, heirlooms or specialty items – This is especially true if the items are fragile, breakable or very old. Many antiques require special treatment to be cleaned properly or restored to their original condition. Your regular cleaning service doesn’t have that expertise or carry insurance for those kinds of items.

7. Limited-edition books or rare/expensive books – Similar to antiques, rare and limited-edition books often require gloves and special handling to protect them from damage. Your regular cleaning service doesn’t have this level of expertise with old or rare books.

8. Damage from flood or fire – Cleaning services are not properly equipped or trained for the specialty cleanup required after a flood or fire in your home. You’ll need a fire and water restoration company to help with this issue.

In most cases, the guidelines on what home cleaning services cannot clean are there to protect the workers or to protect you and your property. By knowing what cleaning services aren’t allowed to clean, you’ll know which things you’ll have to hire a separate service for and avoid disappointment.

The Benefits of Regular Professional Cleaning Services

Having a professional cleaning service clean your home benefits you in many ways. Here are some of the benefits of hiring an experienced, reputable professional cleaning service to do your dirty work for you.

1. Save time – This is probably one of the greatest benefits that people receive when having their homes cleaned by professionals.

2. Less stress – A clean environment reduces stress levels significantly, which helps people feel better about themselves and enjoy life more.

3. A healthier home – Many contaminants, allergens, bacteria and germs can be found inside the home. When you have a professional cleaning service come to your home and deep clean, they use products that will eliminate these contaminants and leave you with a healthier home.

4. Save money – It might seem counter-intuitive to think that hiring a company to do your housekeeping saves you money, but it’s true. They provide the cleaning supplies and equipment, and regular cleaning reduces wear and tear on many areas of your home such as your flooring.

5. A beautiful home – When you have your home deep-cleaned by professionals who specialize in this kind of work, the benefits go beyond just saving time and money but also helps keep your home looking beautiful.

6. Professionalism – When you hire a top-notch professional cleaning service, you don’t have to worry about any corners being cut or cost-cutting measures that can compromise your safety and wellbeing when they clean your home.

7. Convenience – Not having to drag out the heavy vacuum, take out the rugs or even own a vacuum yourself is another benefit that you experience when you hire quality professionals to clean your home for you. It’s also convenient for people with super busy lives who just don’t have time for cleaning.

8. Like new again – When cleaning companies come into homes that have never been cleaned before, or perhaps haven’t had deep-cleaning in many, many years, they can make your home look like new again.

9. Knowing the job is done right – Hiring professionals ensures that your home is deep-cleaned and the job is done right.

10. Availability – The benefits of using a reputable, professional cleaning service are available for you whenever you need them and will accommodate your schedule.

Discover why more and more people choose to hire experienced professionals to clean their homes for them. Call The Clean Up Club and let us clean it up!

Cleaning for Holiday Houseguests

When you have guests planning to stay with you for the holiday, you want to create a clean and comfortable space for them without wearing yourself out. This starts with knowing what to clean and what to skip. Are your houseguests really going to be investigating your bedroom closet or checking if you’ve cleaned underneath your oven recently? Likely not. So, here is how to clean and prep for guests staying overnight, for the weekend and for a longer stay.

Overnight Guests

For overnight guests, make sure you provide fresh, clean linens and bedding. Provide a set of freshly cleaned towels and do a good cleaning in the bathroom they’ll be using. You can tidy up the kitchen and living areas like you normally would but no need to put in the effort of a deep clean as your overnight guests likely won’t be there long enough to appreciate your cleaning prowess.

Weekend Guests

For guests staying for the holiday weekend, you’ll want to do the same prep work as you did for the overnight guests but also spend a bit more time doing a deeper cleaning of the guest room and guest bathroom. You’ll also want to spend a little extra time on the kitchen and around the seating area where you might be sitting together to watch a movie or the like. Also, be sure the guest bedroom closet is clean and organized with plenty of space and hangers for them to hang a few outfits up.

Longer Stay Guests

Guests staying for longer than a weekend require the most cleaning prep work as they’ll be there long enough to see more of your home. For example, longer stay guests might need to do some laundry while visiting so you’ll want to clean down your laundry room. Here are some other areas that should get a deeper clean: bathrooms, kitchen, guest room and laundry room. In addition, you’ll want to out your vacuum and its set of attachments to use so you can clean baseboards, windowsills, between furniture pieces and other less often cleaned spots. You’ll also want to provide extra towels, pillows and blankets and possibly plan to provide some basic toiletries as well.

Of course, if you don’t have the time or the energy to clean for guests, call The Clean Up Club and we’ll help you clean for your holiday guests. Your guests will be comfortable and impressed with your super clean space and you can take all the credit – we won’t mind!

Create a Cleaning Schedule You Can Stick To

Life gets busy. We get it! But your cleaning schedule need not suffer. Here’s how you can create a cleaning schedule you can stick to!

1. Start out small – Pick two or three tasks to focus on and avoid the 40 item checklist. While checklists are great, they can cause a sense of overwhelm and when people feel overwhelmed, they tend to avoid the task altogether. Even just 15 minutes per day or every other day can help you make a dent in your cleaning tasks.

2. Get the family involved – The more people helping out with the cleaning, the better. Assign each family member a task or two that they are solely responsible for and how often the tasks need to be done. This spreads out the cleaning duties and avoids causing burnout for any one person. It helps to build in a reward like a family movie night for keeping up with the tasks and schedule.

3. Schedule out your cleaning time – Put your cleaning time into your calendar or schedule. If you set aside time for it, you’re more likely to stick to it. Whether the tasks are daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly, having them scheduled on your calendar can help you stick with it.

4. Set up a two-day rule – Life happens. Things come up, people get sick (especially this time of year) and the cleaning schedule goes out the window. Try setting up a two-day rule where you don’t let a cleaning task get more than two days behind schedule. This will help you catch up when you get behind.

5. Toss things as you go – As you set about each cleaning task, clear out clutter as you go. Throw out items that are not needed by anyone, like junk mail. For items you no longer use but could be reused or repurposed, put into a box to donate to a local charity.

6. Try an app – There are a few apps out such as Tday, OurHome, Spotless and Homey that help you schedule household tasks and check them off as you complete them. This is great for giving you a sense of satisfaction as you complete each task and help you feel like you’re making progress.

Keeping up with a cleaning schedule is the best way to keep your house from getting overrun with clutter, dirt and grime. If your life is just too hectic and busy to keep up with a cleaning schedule or you can use some extra help, call The Clean Up Club and we’ll help clean it up!

Top Cleaning Tips to Avoid Attracting Mice

It’s fall and that means that pests like mice are looking for warm places to spend the winter. Did you know that the way you clean your home (or don’t) can have a big impact on whether mice are attracted to your home? Let’s check out the top cleaning tips to avoid attracting mice!

1. Keep up with the laundry – Laundry can be attractive to mice because they can chew away fabric to create a nest. Whether your clothes are clean or dirty, it’s best to keep up with the laundry. Hang up or put away clean clothes immediately and don’t let dirty clothes build up. Also avoid letting clothes collect in piles on your floor or furniture.

2. Clean up food debris immediately – When you have crumbs or food spill on the floor, stove or countertop, clean it up immediately. Leaving food crumbs behind gives mice the food source they’re looking for.

3. Wash dishes right away – Avoid piling up dishes in the sink or soaking them in the sink overnight. Mice can be attracted to the food debris on dirty dishes. Rinse and pop dishes into the dishwasher right away. If you have to soak a dish, an hour or so is usually more than enough time to loosen stuck-on food.

4. Mouse-proof your pantry – Food crumbs, boxed food and bagged food are all going to attract mice to your pantry. Store food in air-tight containers to keep mice away and clean up any food crumbs that have shifted loose from boxes or bags. Pay special attention to food in plastic bags as they are no match for a hungry mouse.

5. Take out that stinky trash – Take your trash out frequently or every day, if possible. Food scraps in the trash will attract mice. Just like in your pantry, plastic bags do not keep mice away from a potential food source.

6. Organize with plastic bins – If you have stored items in your attic, garage or basement, make sure you store them in plastic bins. Cardboard boxes are attractive to mice. Keep your stored items organized in sealed plastic bins to keep the mice away.

7. Clean your floors Clean your floors often to ensure you aren’t leaving food debris laying around to attract mice. Clean your floors thoroughly at least once per week and clean up any food crumbs or debris immediately.

8. Pick up Fido and Fluffy’s food – As part of the “don’t leave food laying around” adage, don’t leave your dog or cat’s food out overnight either. It can attract mice, ants and other pests into your home. And never ever leave pet food outside or you’ll be leaving out a welcome mat for mice.

This is the time of year when mice look for homes to spend the winter in. Don’t let your home be one of their choices! Mouse-proof your home with these top cleaning tips to avoid attracting mice! If you do end up with an infestation of mice or any other pest, call our partners at The Pest Force to help rid your home of unwanted critters. And don’t forget, if you need help keeping your home clean, call The Clean Up Club and we’ll clean it up!

The Ultimate Fall Deep Cleaning Checklist

Fall is an important time to do a good deep clean. It’s the time when most people are transitioning to spending more time indoors instead of outdoors. It’s also great to prepare your home for guests that will be coming for the holidays. Doing a deep clean now gets your home in tip-top shape and you’ll only have to spot clean and touch up to keep everything looking sparkling clean.

All Rooms

  • Wash windows, window sills and grooves in and around windows
  • Clean washer and dryer inside and out
  • Clean door fronts, door knobs and light switches
  • Dust tops of doors and door frames
  • Check and replace smoke detector and CO2 detector batteries
  • Clean baseboards
  • Condition leather furniture
  • Vacuum upholstered furniture, underneath it and underneath furniture cushions
  • Change your HVAC air filter
  • Dust pictures, artwork and tops of picture frames
  • Wash curtains or have dry cleaned
  • Remove and wash window screens
  • Clean ceiling fans and switch direction of operation

Kitchen and Bathrooms

  • Seal and polish granite countertops
  • Clean kitchen and bathroom cabinets
  • Clean grout in the bathroom and kitchen
  • Clean inside, underneath and behind refrigerator (including refrigerator coils)
  • Clean inside the dishwasher
  • Clean inside the oven
  • Wash and disinfect all the garbage cans

Living Areas

  • Polish all wood furniture
  • Wash artificial plants, dust leaves of live plants
  • Dust bookshelves and tops of books
  • Wipe down screens (computer, TVs, monitors)
  • Clean all keyboards and remote controls
  • Spot clean rugs or carpets
  • Clean floors under rugs
  • Clean underneath furniture

Bedrooms and Closets

  • Vacuum and flip mattresses
  • Put cold weather linens on beds
  • Refresh bedding that isn’t cleaned regularly (comforters, pillows)
  • Switch out seasonal clothes

Whew! There is your ultimate fall deep cleaning checklist! It’s a lot of cleaning so if you need help with your deep clean, call The Clean Up Club and we can help you clean it up!

 

 

 

Quick Cleaning Tips to Get Your Kitchen Sparkling Fast

Of all the rooms in your house, the kitchen is the one that gets used the most. So, it’s the one room that needs attention and cleaning every single day. You don’t have to do a deep clean every day to keep your kitchen sparkling. A quick wipe down goes a long way. Here are the quick cleaning tips to get your kitchen sparkling fast – like in 15 minutes or less fast!

Follow these steps in order to make the most of your quick clean up:
1. Scrape debris from dishes into trash or disposal.
2. Run a sink full of hot soapy water.
3. Place dishes that need soaking in the water first, followed by dishes that need less soaking time.
4. While dishes are soaking, collect trash from counters, floors, cupboards and fridge and toss in the trash bin.
5. Gather items that don’t belong in the kitchen and place in a basket. Then place the basket outside of the kitchen.
6. Put away items that do belong in the kitchen but just aren’t in the right place.
7. Load dishwasher. Scrub dishes that need a quick scrub with a handled scrubber and wash any dishes by hand that don’t go or fit in the dishwasher.
8. Wipe down counters, appliances and sink – this is just a quick wipe down, not a deep scrub down.
9. Take out the trash.
10. You’re done! Admire your clean kitchen!

Of course, moving quickly is part of the deal when you’re trying to clean down your kitchen fast or in 15 minutes or less. To make this time go even faster, here are some more tips you can use!

1. Train your family to scrape and rinse their dishes immediately after use and place into the dishwasher. Less dishes to clean means less time spent cleaning your kitchen.
2. Run a sink full of hot soapy water before you begin food prep. Then you can wash down utensils, measuring cups and other items while you cook so there is less to clean up after the meal.
3. Enlist family members to help in the clean-up. Many hands make light work! Assign each family member a different item or two from the list and watch your kitchen cleaning time get even shorter!

You don’t have to spend hours a day cleaning the kitchen. These quick cleaning tips to get your kitchen sparkling fast will have you in and out of the kitchen in 15 minutes or less. Getting your family in on the cleaning action also helps the time spent cleaning go down. And when you’re ready for that deep scrub down cleaning of your kitchen and your home, call The Clean Up Club and we’ll clean it up!