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Give someone you care about the gift of a clean home. Whether it’s a one-time cleaning or an on-going cleaning service, the gift of clean is a gift anyone can appreciate. On a typical day, 83% of women spend an average of 2.6 hours on cleaning, cooking and lawn care. That’s a ton of time each day! Why give the gift of cleaning? Well, we have a few reasons to share with you.

1. One size fits all – No guessing sizes or worrying about gift receipts and exchanges! The gift of a clean home is a one fits all solution for your gift giving needs.

2. You get the credit without breaking a sweat – If you were offering to do the cleaning yourself, it would be a real pain. When you give the gift of clean from the pros, they tackle the job faster and more thoroughly than a single person can manage.

3. They can use it anytime – They can use your gift of cleaning when they need it most, such as when they’re really too busy to clean or if they have guests coming to town. Anyone can appreciate a pre-guest clean up.

4. You’re also giving the gift of time – Less time spent cleaning means more time spent with their loved ones or more time to spend on themselves. Eliminating the cleaning from their to-do list gives them precious time.

5. Everyone loves a clean house – Everybody loves a clean house. Your gift of cleaning gives them the clean house without the work, sweat and time.

6. It never goes out of style – The gift of cleaning never goes out of style. It’s timeless and so appreciated by the busy folks in your life.

 

So, who do you know who would appreciate the gift of cleaning? How about your parents or in-laws? Think of the busy moms and dads in your life and how much they could use a professional cleaning. You can give the gift of cleaning as a housewarming present that they can use on their new home or for a move-out clean on their old place. How many overworked professionals do you know? They can use the gift of cleaning too! There are plenty of reasons to give the gift of cleaning and plenty of people you can give that gift to. When you’re ready to gift someone with a clean home, call The Clean Up Club and we’ll clean it up!

The lazy days of summer are here. The days where the heat and humidity sap your energy for doing anything that requires effort, including cleaning. Well, we have some lazy days cleaning tips that will help you keep your house tidy, even when the summer heat has you sapped.

1. Hang clothes instead of folding them. Cut laundry time in half by hanging up clothes and avoiding folding.

2. Keep blinds from getting dusty. Clean blinds with a damp dryer sheet. You’ll clean the immediate dust and help repel dust in the future for less dusty blinds.

3. Use air fresheners. Homes that smell cleaner, feel cleaner.

4. Create extra storage space. Use storage ottomans and seating cubes with extra storage to stow clutter out of the way and make your house look cleaner.

5. Keep cleaning supplies handy. When supplies are within reach, it’s faster and easier to use them.

6. Use rubber gloves to easily remove pet hair. Simply slip the gloves on and run your hand over furniture to collect pet hair and toss in the trash.

7. Time yourself. Take a cue from productivity timers and set a timer for your cleaning. Start with 10 or 20 minutes. When the timer goes off, you’re more likely to have momentum going to keep cleaning.

8. Don’t strive for perfection. Your house doesn’t have to be perfect!

9. Enlist some help. Have a friend come over for a short cleaning blitz followed by a relaxing glass of wine. You’ll get more done and get quality time with your friend.

10. Clean messes as they happen. Don’t let messes build up. Clean them up as they happen and keep ahead of the mess.

Summer days are often too hot and humid to get much done. That doesn’t mean you have to live with a dirty, messy house. Follow these lazy day cleaning tips to keep your house looking tidy, even on those less than energetic days. And if you need some more help, call The Clean Up Club and we’ll help you clean it up!

Summer is not the time to slack off on cleaning. In fact, the high humidity and hot temperatures make a regular cleaning routine even more important during the hot summer months. Check out these top 6 summer cleaning tips to breeze through your summer with a cleaner house.

1. Clean ceiling fans – Dusty ceiling fans can irritate asthma and allergy symptoms, especially during the hot summer. Clean the fan blades weekly to prevent spreading dust and dirt. Also, turn your fan to rotate counterclockwise to push cool air down to keep you more comfortable.

2. Clean the fridge – One of the best parts of summer is all of the fresh produce from farmer’s markets and even your own garden. The last thing you want to do is contaminate that fresh produce with bacteria like salmonella! In hot climates, bacteria grow faster–even in the fridge. Clean down the fridge weekly with an antibacterial soap and always throw away old, expired or moldy food right away.

3. Clean counters and sweep floors daily – Warm and humid weather is perfect for bugs. We know you don’t want bugs in your house. Prevent luring bugs in by cleaning down countertops and sweeping up any food and crumbs every night. You’ll have a clean kitchen and keep bugs at bay.

4. Clean the drain/garbage disposal – In the summer months, food rots quickly–including in your drain or garbage disposal. Avoid the sink stench by running your garbage disposal with cool water nightly to clear out any food particles. Then, two to three times per week, pour some baking soda followed by white vinegar into the drain. Wait for five minutes and then pour boiling water down the drain to wash away germs and food matter. Keeping your drain clean also helps prevent gnats.

5. Wash the windows – If the windows haven’t been cleaned in a while, use warm soapy water and a sponge to clean windows instead of window cleaner. Mold and mildew can collect in window corners due to condensation from the inside coolness and the humid hotness outside the window. Plus, clean windows let the sunshine in!

6. Clean window screens – The humidity of summer and the condensation mentioned in the previous point can also cause mold to grow on your window screens. When you open your windows, mold spores can blow into your house from the screen. Yuck! Use hot soapy water and a course sponge to clean window screens of dirt and mold.

These top 6 summer cleaning tips help you keep a cleaner house without much effort by preventing bugs, dust and mold growth. These tips also help your house smell better by preventing sink stench and getting rid of old, smelly food regularly. When you need a deep clean or just don’t have the time, call The Clean Up Club and we’ll help you clean it up!

Spring cleaning is a hassle, especially if you aren’t a “Holly Housekeeper” type of person. The good news is you don’t have to love cleaning to take advantage of these top 7 spring cleaning hacks to help your seasonal chores go fast.

1. Hack: Knock out showerhead grime with vinegar – Grimy showerheads can be impossible to get clean with all the tiny holes. Knock this task out by filling a quart size storage bag with enough white distilled vinegar to completely submerge the showerhead. Tie it on tight and leave it overnight. The next day, simply rinse and wipe any leftover grime away. The vinegar does all the work for you.

2. Hack: Use your bathtub for scrubbing – Cleaning some things in your home one by one can take forever. Things like dusty vent covers, dirty window blinds, grimy oven racks and dirty toys are much easier to clean if you take them all down or off at one time and scrub them all in the tub. When you’re done, clean the tub down with a solution of vinegar and a little bit of dish soap to disinfect and ready your tub for regular use.

3. Hack: Use flip flops to sweep up pet hair – Pet hair does a great job of sticking to rubber. Wear a pair of rubber-soled flip flops to use your feet to sweep up stubborn pet hair from rugs, tile and wood floors. Use a pair of rubber gloves to tackle the pet hair on your sofa and other furniture. Just remove the hair when it begins to collect so you can keep collecting fur for the trash. Wear rubber flip flops around the house regularly and avoid pet hair build up in the first place.

4. Hack: Steam the microwave – Got a dirty, grimy microwave? No problem. Put water, lemon and white vinegar in a bowl and heat in the microwave until it has a good rolling boil. Let the microwave sit closed for a minute or two to let the steam work. Then use a rag dampened with warm water to wipe away the built-up gunk easily.

5. Hack: Dust ceilings and fans with a paint roller – If you have very high ceilings that traditional cleaning wands don’t reach, just grab that extended handle paint roller from the garage. Attach your duster to the roller end or you can even just use a fresh clean paint roller cover. This makes quick work of reaching high areas like ceiling fans, tops of bookshelves, tops of door frames and high walls or ceilings without climbing ladders.

6. Hack: Wash pillows with vinegar and baking soda – Remove tough odors, freshen and clean pillows by tossing them in the washer with vinegar and baking soda, instead of detergent. The vinegar and baking soda mixture cleans tough odors better than almost anything else.

7. Hack: Hire someone – Perhaps the best spring cleaning hack of all is to hire someone else to do it. Avoid the hassle and get a deeper, more thorough clean by hiring a cleaning service for a deep clean of your home. Get the sparkling fresh clean without the effort, time and hassle!

These top 7 spring cleaning hacks are great if you plan to DIY your spring cleaning checklist. If you don’t have the time or energy for spring cleaning (and really, who does these days?) then hack number 7 is the one you need. When you are ready for your seasonal deep clean, call The Clean Up Club and we’ll help you clean it up!

When you manage properties or vacation rentals, you need a cleaning partner that knows how to create an inviting and spotless space for your guests and renters. The Clean Up Club is your thorough and experienced partner in creating that welcome for your guests and ensuring your unit or units are turned over and perfectly set up for the next guests. You save on stress and hassle while watching the great reviews roll in. Here are The Clean Up Club benefits for property management and vacation rentals.

Vacation Rental Cleaning

The Clean Up Club cleans and thoroughly inspects your vacation rental property and ensures a fresh clean between guests so you can have peace of mind and a spotless rental unit. Our cleaning and inspection includes:

• Cleaning all bedrooms, checking closets, under beds, under and in drawers for any items left behind or trash. We also change out the bed linens and put fresh clean linens on the bed, expertly made, to impress your most discerning guests.
• Clean and sanitize the bathrooms, including restocking any provided toiletries and putting out fresh clean towels and bathroom linens for your next renters.
• Clean and sanitize the kitchen including running and emptying the dishwasher and setting the kitchen up for the next guests.
• Clean and inspect all living areas, take out all trash, report any maintenance issues and create an inviting, spotless space for your next vacation rental customers.

Linen Services

The Clean Up Club also provides linen rental services for your beach house, vacation rental, condo or house. We have linens and bedding for beds of all sizes and we manage all of our linen cleaning and rental services right out of our Garden City location so you get the freshest clean linens in town. We also offer towel and bathroom linen rentals as well. We can change out the bedding for your vacation rental and provide fresh clean towels every time we turn over the unit so you can be sure your guests are getting the best comfort and the cleanest stay at your property.

We can set up regularly scheduled weekly or monthly cleans for your vacation rental properties so you always have peace of mind that your property is fresh and clean for each new guest. To get started, just give us a call and we’ll be ready to help you clean it up!

There are a number of cleaning tasks many of us overlook or simply don’t pay attention to. Now that it’s coming time for spring cleaning, make sure you have these top 10 most neglected cleaning tasks on your list.

1. Dust doors and door frames – This is a very overlooked cleaning task but dust builds up on doors and door frames just like it builds up on furniture. A damp microfiber cloth should make quick work of dusting your doors and door frames.

2. Vacuum lampshades – Lampshades are a magnet for dust and should be vacuumed with the dusting vacuum attachment. Follow up with a lint roller to capture anything the vacuum left behind.

3. Clean shower curtains and liners – Most fabric shower curtains can be laundered. For shower curtain liners, clean with a mixture of warm water and white vinegar. If the liner has mold or mildew build up, it’s best to replace the liner instead of trying to clean it.

4. Disinfect base of toilets – While seats, lids and bowls are cleaned frequently, many people overlook the base or pedestal of the toilet. This is often teeming with fecal germs and a hospitable place for mold to grow. Also it can be covered with dust and urine. Yuck!

5. Vacuum cabinets and drawers – Dust, dirt, hair, crumbs and other debris can build up in cabinets and drawers. Empty everything out (a good opportunity to get rid of things you no longer need) and vacuum out cabinets and drawers. Follow up with a damp rag and let dry before replacing items.

6. Wash the washing machine – Your washing machine isn’t self cleaning. Germs from clothes can build up in your machine and soil new loads with nasty germs. Run an empty cycle on hot and add white vinegar to disinfect and freshen your machine. Don’t forget to wipe out rubber folds along the doors as mold can grow there easily.

7. Clean curtains – When is the last time you cleaned your curtains? If you’re like most people, it’s been a while. If they can be laundered, wash them or vacuum if they are dry clean only (dry cleaning releases fumes that negatively impact air quality) to remove built up dust, pet hair and pet dander.

8. Clean behind the TV – Many people are great about cleaning the front and sides of the TV but not so many clean the back and behind the TV. Dust, dirt, hair, pet hair and other debris can build up behind your TV and can hinder it from working properly.

9. Clean showerhead and hoses – Clean showerhead by soaking in a solution of warm water and white vinegar. Use a similar solution to clean the hose, checking the braiding of the hose carefully for mold as you go.

10. Vacuum and mop under major appliances – If you’re like most people, you don’t often or never clean under and behind your major appliances. Dust, dirt, hair and other debris can collect under and behind your stove, refrigerator and other appliances. Pull them out and vacuum underneath and behind (don’t forget the refrigerator coils) and follow up by mopping with a warm water and vinegar solution. Let dry before you push them back into place.

How many of these top 10 most neglected cleaning tasks have you been neglecting? Most people would say most or all of them. That’s okay, now that you are aware of them, you can put them on your to-do list. Too much cleaning on your plate? Call The Clean Up Club and we’ll help you clean it up!

There are a number of benefits to having regular home cleaning services to clean your home. Let’s take a closer look at a few of these benefits.

1. A professionally cleaned house – Especially if you are often on-the-go, you might have very limited time for cleaning and maintaining your home. What little time you do have might barely scratch the surface of the cleaning that is necessary. When you hire a regular home cleaning service, your home gets a professional-level top to bottom clean down with no cutting corners. You get a thorough and professional clean.

2. Save on cleaning supplies – Cleaning services bring their own supplies with them so you can save on cleaning supplies you might normally buy.

3. More sanitary living space – When you and your family are out and about, you encounter a lot of germs that eventually make their way back to your home on your hands, shoes and clothes. Professional house cleaning services sanitize and kill germs on door handles, cabinet pulls, light switches and even your remote. This reduces the germs that build up in your home and lessens your chances of becoming sick.

4. Reduce pet odors – Professional house cleaning services have cleaning products that help neutralize pet odors, leaving your home smelling fresh and clean. They tackle the tough pet odors so you can have confidence that visitors will just smell clean and not wet dog when they stop by.

5. Healthier indoor air – Your indoor air can be five to 10 times more polluted than outdoor air. What is it polluted with? Dust, dust mites, pet dander, mold spores, pollen and other fine particles. Regular cleaning services clean away those pollutants from surfaces, floors and more so they have less chance of ending up in the air you breathe. So, your professional cleaning service helps you breathe cleaner too.

6. Clean nooks and crannies – Professional cleaning services get into the nooks and crannies to deliver a thorough clean. Many people don’t have time for the small details when cleaning and often leave the nooks and crannies or say, the baseboards, for another time and another time and another time. Professional cleaning services get into the small details and make sure your house is truly clean.

7. Frees up your time – Time you would have normally spent cleaning is now freed up for family events, work, errands or just plain relaxing.

There are a number of benefits to having a regular home cleaning service professionally clean your home. You save time, money on cleaning products and hassle. Meanwhile, you gain a clean, sanitized and fresh smelling home that you can be proud to show off. When you’re ready to reap the benefits yourself, call The Clean Up Club and we’ll be there to clean it up!

Cleaning your kitchen counters might seem like a simple task. However, there are common mistakes many people make that can damage your counters or perhaps not leave them as clean as you think they are. Are you making these kitchen counter cleaning mistakes?

1. Not sealing stone counters regularly – Stone countertops, such as granite, need to be sealed on a regular basis with a sealing spray and a good buffing with a microfiber cloth. How can you tell if your counters need to be sealed? Try the water test. Put a few drops of water on the countertop. If the water soaks in, it’s time to reseal. If the water beads up and stays on the surface, your sealant is working fine. Granite and other forms of stone are porous so keeping them sealed protects them from damage from cleaners and also microbial damage.

2. Not drying the counters – Leaving the counters wet after cleaning not only causes unsightly streaks and water marks, it can also allow bacteria to begin re-growing on the surface you just cleaned (bacteria loves water/moisture). After cleaning counters, dry thoroughly with a microfiber cloth for a streak free and germ free clean.

3. Using acidic or bleach cleaner on stone counters – Remember we mentioned that natural stone, such as granite, is porous? That means acidic cleaners or strong base cleaners like bleach can strip the sealant and get into those pores in the stone. Avoid vinegar and citric acid-containing cleaners as they can leave your counter looking dull and also begin stripping away the sealant. Bleach is a base rather than an acid but impacts the stone in the same way. Your best bet is water and dish soap or a special cleaner made for cleaning granite or stone counters.

4. Not following contact time – If you look on the back of the container, your cleaner should list a contact time for proper disinfection. This is the amount of time your counter needs to be wet with that product for proper disinfection to take place. Leave it on less than that time and you could be leaving dangerous germs like Salmonella behind on your counters. Always read the instructions and follow the contact time listed on the product.

5. Not cleaning underneath appliances and counter items – All of us have appliances such as toasters and coffee pots that live on our counters. It’s important to move everything off the counters at least once per week and clean underneath everything. Crumbs, water stains and spills can collect under or around these items if you never pick them up and clean underneath, leaving dirt and grime behind even after you’ve cleaned your counters.

Cleaning the kitchen counter isn’t complicated but simple mistakes can leave the counter not as clean as you think or can even damage the material your counter is made from. These are the top 5 most common kitchen counter cleaning mistakes. Have you been making these mistakes? If you don’t have time to clean or need help with a good deep clean, call The Clean Up Club and we’ll be there to help you clean it up!

When you’re doing a move-out clean, most of the time it’s to get a security deposit back or to prepare your home for sale. When going about a move out clean, your goal is to clean as quickly and efficiently as possible while still being thorough enough to get your deposit back

1. Prep and clean things you’ll be taking with you as you pack them up. This way they’ll already be clean when you unpack them in your new home.

2. Don’t start your move out clean until all of your belongings have been packed and moved out of the home. A move out cleaning is much easier to accomplish with a totally vacant house or apartment.

3. Clean down one room at a time and then close it off. You can also move through one task at a time but this has the potential to feel overwhelming and as if things aren’t getting done quickly enough so most pros go at it one room at a time.

4. Clean from top to bottom and from back to front. This moves dirt and grime from the farthest and hardest to reach places downward and toward the door or exit of the house or apartment.

5. Complete “dry” cleaning tasks before “wet” cleaning tasks. For example, you want to dust, sweep and vacuum before you start mopping or using wet cleaners that will clump up dry dirt and gunk up your broom or other cleaning equipment.

6. Clean up the walls. Even if you aren’t going to paint, it’s important to remove hooks, nails and screws from the walls and to also clean away smudges and dirty spots. Use a cleaner that is safe for paint or an eraser sponge to make quick work of smudges and grime on the walls.

7. Use bleach to kill mold but not for general cleaning. Bleach fumes can be toxic so it’s important to only use bleach where and when you need it most. Bleach-based cleaners are great at killing and removing mold so save them for that task to avoid causing breathing issues from bleach fumes.

8. Don’t forget to clean the exterior, if applicable. The exterior of the house should be power washed and leaves/debris raked up and disposed of. Also power wash decks and driveways if they are dirty and in need of a good clean. This is more applicable to houses than to most apartments or condos.

When going about a move out clean, your goal is to clean as quickly and efficiently as possible while still being thorough enough to get your deposit back or ready your home for selling. If you need back-up for your move out clean or you’re just too tired from moving to do it, call the Clean Up Club! We’ll take care of your move out clean and help you get as much of your deposit back as possible.

Whether you’ve remodeled part of your home or your whole home is a new construction, cleaning up after any construction project can be a big job. So what does a post-construction cleaning project entail?

1. Remove construction trash – Oftentimes, there is a lot of debris that gets left behind on a construction site. That’s where any good construction clean-up starts – removing the debris. Things like bits of lumber, chunks of drywall, plastic tarp, tape, drop cloths, nails, screws, bolts and staples can be left behind. Cleaning up the big pieces of debris is the first step.

2. Clean walls and baseboards – Walls and baseboards really take a hit during construction, getting dirty and scuffed. The first thing is to clean dirt off walls and baseboards. Next, touch up any scrapes and scuffs with a magic eraser pencil.

3. Clean and polish hard floors – Hard flooring gets a lot of caked on dirt during a construction project. Cleaning hard floors after a construction project requires mopping, waxing, polishing and buffing the floors to a brilliantly clean state.

4. Clean carpets – With construction comes a lot of dust, much of which can be trapped in carpet along with bits of wood and other construction debris. Cleaning carpet after a construction project requires an industrial shop vacuum to get all of the dust and trapped debris out of the carpet and get it totally clean.

5. Clean mirrors and windows – For many construction projects, windows and mirrors get a thick layer of dingy grime on them. This requires a heavy duty glass cleaning product to strip the grime off the windows and mirrors and bring them back to a brilliant shine.

6. Clean out cabinets, closets and drawers – During a construction project, dust collects everywhere. This includes dust build up in cabinets, closets, pantries and drawers. A thorough clean requires a good vacuuming with an industrial shop vacuum followed by a thorough cleaning and polishing for shelves, floors, inside drawers and of door and drawer fronts.

If this sounds like a lot of work, have no fear. The Clean Up Club can handle that post-construction cleaning for you. We have the equipment and supplies to make a post-construction clean a quick and efficient job. Don’t tackle the grime yourself when you have the Clean Up Club ready to clean it up!