Ten Golden Rules of Cleaning

Your primary goal of cleaning is to remove dirt, whether it be in your home (inside or outside) or on your garments. But you do need to determine at what cost. Surely you do't want to injure yourself. Surely you don't want to damage the very thing you're trying to clean. And surely you want to get it done so quickly and with as little effort as possible. Stick to the following ten golden rules, and you will achieves safe, effective cleaning that attacks the problem early and with the least amount of effort. On the other hand, you could always  get quotes for a cleaning service in Auckland from our database of trusted and approved local cleaners.

1. Clean it up sooner rather than later: spills and stains are generally much easier to clean up when you attach them right away. When you treat that tomato sauce splatter on your dress shirt without delay, for example, if offers little resistance. If you wait until the next day, you'll have a permanent-looking red polka dot stain that you'll expend a lot more cleaning solution and time getting out. Similarly, clothing or carpet stains are easiest to remove when they're fresh. The longer you wait, the more chance the stain has to set and become more difficult to remove. 
2. Clean from the top down: Don't fight gravity when you clean. You'll lose. Working from high to low almost always works better in cleaning situations. When you're cleaning the entire house, always start on the top floor and work your way down. This will avoid tracking through the rooms you have already cleaned. When you're cleaning a room, first remove the cobwebs from the ceiling and cornices. Then dust the ceiling fan and light fixtures, followed by window frames and wall hangings. Moving downwards, work on the furniture skirting boards and floors. This ensures that any dust shaken loose from high up does not settle on something you've already cleaned below, so you don't have to dust the room twice. Similarly, when you clean windows and mirrors, start up high and work your way down, because your cleaner, obeying gravity, will drip down. This saves you elbow grease and time. The rare exception to this rule is wall washing. If you start at the top wen you're washing a wall in your home, dirty water will drip onto the lower areas you haven't cleaned yet, making streaks that will be tough to remove.
3. Think dry, then wet: When you're cleaning a room, start wit the cleaning jobs that require dry methods (dusting, sweeping and vacuuming, for example). Then move on to wet methods (using an all-purpose cleaner and glass cleaner, mopping and such like). This way, there will be less dirt floating around in the room to cling to we surfaces.
4. Start with the least harmful approach: use your gentlest cleaning methods first and move up to more aggressive techniques only if necessary. And know your materials well enough so that you will stop your cleaning efforts before you do any damage. It is better to suffer the small spot on your stove-top, for example, then to ruin the surface with steel wool.
5. Let time do the work for you: a little time management trick will make your cleaning easier and faster. When you organise your approach to a cleaning task, remember to spray on your cleaning chemicals first and then find another little job to do while the cleaner does its dirty work. If you're cleaning in the kitchen, for example, spray your cleaner on the bench-tops and appliances, then occupy yourself with removing old food from the fridge while the cleaner soaks in. When you come back to wipe the cleaner off, there will be little or no scrubbing to do. 
6. Carry your supplies with you: carry your core cleaning products with you. This will save  you from making multiple trips around the house looking for the right tools and cleaners. Pick up one of these accessories at a home improvement shop or hardware shop, a cleaning caddy (a plastic or rubber carrier with a handle and compartments for holding your gear), a sturdy, large plastic bucket with a good handle, a small-cleaning trolley and an apron with roomy pockets. Put all your cleaning supplies into the receptacle you're chosen from above, including clean rags, paper towels and a rubbish bag for emptying wastebaskets, and cart it with you from room to room. If your house has more than one floor, keep a fully stocked caddy on each level. Don't overburden your carrier with specialty products that are needed for only one job around the house. Store toilet bowl cleaner, for example, under the bathroom sink. 
7. When in doubt, test first: before you use a new cleaning technique or product, test the method of an inconspicuous area of the object you're cleaning. This rule also applies when you first clean and object that is delicate and might be damaged by a cleaning compound. Testing will show you whether the object is colour-fast and whether the cleaning method is likely to do damage.
8. Use cleaning liquids sparingly: when you clean an item that could be harmed by a liquid cleaning product (electronics, computer screens, framed artwork or framed photographs, for example), first spray the cleaner on your cleaning cloth and then wipe. Don't spray cleaner directly on the object you're cleaning. Cleaner dripping into your electronics could do them damage, and cleaner dripping into a frame and soaking the mount could harm your artwork.
9. Read the instructions: you would have heard this before, but the makers of all of those wonderful furnishings in your home do know best how to clean them. And the makers of your cleaning products know best how to use them. So when at all possible, follow the manufacturer's instructions when cleaning anything. This goes for everything from toasters to silk blouses and Doonas to blinds. File the instructions and cleaning tips that come with any new appliance, rug or other household item. Don't remove those care labels that come on clothes, linens and any other potentially washable objects. They are there for a purpose - to teach you how to properly clean the item.
10. Protect yourself: least but not least, take care of yourself. Many of the cleaning products you use container acid, bleach, abrasives and other ingredients that you can damage your eyes, skin, nose and even your lungs. So make sure your cleaning kit includes a pair of rubber gloves and protective safety glasses. If it's not too hot, wear old long pants or tracksuit pants and an old long-sleeved shirt to cover your arms in case of spatters from cleaning products. Cover you hair with a scarf or baseball cap. To protect your nails, a good trick is to dab a line of petroleum jelly underneath your nails to keep the dirt out, roughening and splitting from the continual exposure to harsh cleaning chemicals. It is important that you don't let your cleaning products get mixed together. Some chemical combinations, chlorine beach and ammonia, for example, will produce poisonous gases. As an extra safety precaution when you're using cleaning chemicals, make sure the room you're in is properly ventilated.  

If you are looking for a cleaning service in Auckland contact us today to arrange your free cleaning quotes. 

Is your pet making you sick?

Apart from leaving hair all over the house and adding to your dust problem, pets are also constantly shredding dander, the old skin scales which, like dead human skin cells, provide extra fodder for the festing mites. Dogs and cats are the most common sources of animal allergens, but almost any furry or feathered friend, from hamsters to budgies, can trigger allergies.

1. If you are sensitive to animal dander, wear an allergy-proof face mask when grooming animals and while vacuuming. If possible delegate the task to some one else.
2. If you have pets, keep bedroom doors closed. Don't let them wander into the bedroom. Definitely don't let pets share your bed. Inevitably they will shed hair and skin particles which will exacerbate allergic reactions.
3. Thoroughly vacuum pet bedding daily and anywhere else your pet spends time. Allowing pets to sit on soft furnishings creates extra work.
4. Keep litter trays, bedding and cages in a well-ventilated room or area.
5. If possible, let your pet outside for part of the day. Take bird and hamster cages outdoors when the weather is fine. This will help keep the levels of animal dander, and the smell, down. Your pet will appreciate the change of scene too.
6. After touching or playing with pets always wash your hands, and wash clothes in the hottest wash the care instructions will allow.

Top tips for a clean and safe kitchen

The kitchen can be a very hazardous area, one where a multitude of sins can easy happen. There's a lot going on in here, with cooking, eating and laundry. The kitchen is the heart of the home, so don't give it a coronary!

1. Remove unnecessary clutter from surfaces. Discard or store appliances and gadgets that you don't use anymore.
2. Follow food storage tips.
3. Keep you fridge clean and tidy. Before you do your weekly shop remove the contents, discarding old food and cleaning shelves and racks.
4. Wipe your hob each time you use it. Wipe down the surfaces of the oven after each use. It will be much easier to keep it clean that way.
5. Wipe up spillages in your microwave whenever they occur.
6. Use a bin with a lid to keep smells at bay and flies out. Empty it as soon as it smells, even if it's not full. Wash and disinfect once a week.
7. Wipe surfaces down before and after preparing food.
8. Change the dishcloth you wipe surfaces with every day.
9. Use two chopping boards, one for raw meat, a separate once for vegetables.
10. Don't leave dirty crockery and pans to fester where they can attract harmful bacteria.
11. Keep sink and drainer clean and tidy.
12. Keep kitchen floors free from debris and grease by sweeping and washing regularly.
13. If you have pets, don't leave their dirt food dishes out of meals as they will attract flies and, potentially, rodents.
14. Cat-litter trays should not be kept in the kitchen. If possible a bathroom, hall or lobby is a better spot.
15. Don't leave damp or dirty laundry festering in the washing machine or drier, and avoid sorting dirty laundry on food preparation surfaces.

Food storage

Don't buy too much food - why buy food you can't eat? It's not cheap, you know. Don't over-stock on fruit and vegetables either, they will rapidly ripen and attract flies. Flies love to lay their eggs in rotting vegetables and fruit, so keep a regular eye on your vegetable rack and fruit bowl too. Be fastidious in your cupboards - you've got eyes, you know when you cupboards are dirty, dear. You don't want to larder beetles and moths moving in to devour your food. Keeping dried foods in those super stack-able heavy plastic containers is a wonderful way to keeping them out. Here are some handy tips to avoid sharing your meals with a whole host of unwanted guests.

1. Don't allow fruit kept in bowls to become over-ripe. It will attract fruit flies.
2. Keep an eye on your vegetables. Discard rotten ones, as they will cause others to rot quickly too.
3. Check the contents of the fridge every couple of days. You're always popping in for milk, so have a nose round. Discard foods that are past their best.
4. Keep raw meats on the bottom shelf as that they can't drip and contaminate foods below.
5. Cooked meats should always be stored above raw meats.
6. Know your cupboards. Go through food cupboards every couple of months, wiping the shelves and discarding food that has passed its best-before date. Dry the shelves thoroughly before bringing the older stocks to the front, putting newer to the back.
7. Keep flour, nuts, biscuits, rice, past and other dries foods in tightly sealed glass or heavy plastic containers to stop pantry-pest beetles and moths getting inside.
8. Don't leave foodstuffs out on work surfaces after preparing meals.

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After years of helping clients organize all of the necessary steps of their moves, they decided it was time to develop a streamlined economical services for clients looking to move to Australia (still the most popular export destination for many kiwis). 

The most important skill in having a smooth, efficient, cost effective move from one home to another is to take time to prioritize organization of three things...your time, your stuff, and your paperwork. 

Most of us do not live in an orderly, minimalistic dwelling with everything in its place. We lead very busy lives and our possessions, debris and papers begin to hold us hostage inside our homes. We feel we can never sell our homes because we can never find time to sort through everything that needs to done to move on. New Zealand Van Lines can give your systems, resources and checklists and other suggestions to help make your move to Australia as stress-free as possible. It is not easy to maintain this level of orderliness.

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Monthly Cleaning Routines

Now don't go thinking we've gone all obsessive here, dear. This isn't about getting down the calendar and marking off great lists of tasks on the first of each month. These are just the little extra things. It would be daft to do them every day or week, why waste your time? But every now and then again your home will be cleaner if you tick off some of these extra things. Do you know what I do? I love watching television, but some nights I have a look and I think 'Well, there's nothing on'. So I think to myself, 'I'll just go and clean a room I haven't done for a while.' Try it - come the end of the evening you feel so good you haven't wasted your time watching a load of rubbish - and you've got a lovely clean room.

1. Clean windows, inside and out.
2. Launder under bedding, mattress covers and pillow protectors.
3. Turn mattresses (at least every other month)
4. Sort through cupboards and drawers regularly, discarding things you don't use.
5. Vacuum areas you normally neglect - under the bed, curtains, cobwebs in high corners.
6. Clean lamps and lampshades.
7. Polish wooden furniture. 
8. Polish mirrors, including frames.
9. Wax floors after washing them.
10. Thoroughly clean inside the oven.
11. Dust blinds, door tops and picture rails. 

Weekly Cleaning Routines 

Of course there are some jobs you don't need to do every day. That doesn't mean you have to save them up all for a mammoth cleaning blitz at the end of the week. Oh please, get a system or you'll be in one heck of a mess. Do a couple of these things along with your daily routine and you'll never spend a whole day cleaning again.

1. Change the bedlinen (twice weekly is best in hot weather)
2. Change bath and shower towels two or three times weekly.
3. Vacuum carpets and floors.
4. Wash or mop all hard floors.
5. Dust the surfaces (if you're pressed for time, dusting will always wait - dust doesn't smell but toilets always do).
6. Wipe finger prints from door handles and light switches (do this as you go round, it only takes a second and keeps germs away).
7. Thoroughly clean the bathroom: toilet, sink, shower, tiles, toothbrush holders, mirrors and floor.
8. Attend to the areas of the kitchen not covered by daily routines: wipe cupboard doors, splashbacks, oven, microwave, fridge, windows, and rinse and disinfect rubbish bins.
9. Iron the laundry.