Taking a hint from Heloise

Good Housekeeping may sound like an odd choice of reading material for a 12-year-old. But, as an avid reader growing up, often upon finishing the latest Laura Ingalls Wilder or Judy Blume book and feeling desperate for something to read, I would turn to my mother’s copy of the popular women’s magazine.

One of the regular features in the magazine was a column called “Hints from Heloise,” in which a lovely white-maned woman named Heloise would respond to readers’ urgent questions, like “My cat peed on my antique oriental carpet, what do I do?” or “What is the best way to clean the inside of my refrigerator?”

One thing stuck with me from those columns. Heloise’s helpful hints for almost every situation tended to involved one common ingredient: vinegar. Occasionally, she’d throw in another kitchen staple, like baking soda or lemon juice. But vinegar—that was clearly the magic elixir. Sometimes I wonder how she would answer if a reader ever sent in this question: “Dear Heloise, I’ve used your hints to clean up every stain in my house; now how do I remove the lingering aroma of vinegar?”

I’m no Heloise. My answer to almost any household problem would be to buy a cleaning product marketed for that specific problem. “Why make something when you can buy it?” has kind of been my philosophy regarding everything from birthday cakes to cleaning supplies. In short, I am the kind of consumer advertisers dream about.

But with age comes wisdom, and I have come to accept that Heloise was on to something. Vinegar is cheap and, in many instances, actually seems to do a better job than any store-bought cleaners. For example, I have a fancy insulated stainless steel water bottle that is not supposed to be washed in the dishwasher because that will eventually break down the insulation. Hand washing the bottle with soap is not a good alternative, because it starts to make the water taste soapy. Enter Heloise. I’ve learned to throw a spoonful of vinegar into the bottle, add some water, slosh it around, rinse it out, and, voila—a clean bottle that continues to keep cold liquids cold and hot liquids hot and tasting good.

In a previous post, I’ve talked about how I generally use a French Press to make coffee at home. However, we do have a normal drip coffee maker for when we need to make larger quantities of coffee. Occasionally, it starts acting wonky, like something is clogged. The solution, naturally, is vinegar. Run a mixture of equal parts vinegar and water through one brew cycle, then run it through another cycle using just water in order to rinse it out. Voila! Problem solved. (But take it from me—you don’t want forget to go through that rinse cycle before you brew your next pot of coffee!)

I’ve also started running vinegar through my washing machine when it starts smelling a little funky or when the suds don’t seem to all be rinsing out.

I assume you realize that in all of these cases, I’m talking about regular distilled white vinegar. But it turns out cider vinegar also can be useful in tackling one extremely annoying household problem—fruit flies. If you ever find yourself battling fruit flies after bringing home one bad banana, here’s how you can make a trap to rid your home of those little suckers for good. Pour a little cider vinegar into the bottom of a jar. Roll up a piece of paper into a cone shape, and stick the narrow end of the cone into the jar. Fruit flies will be attracted to the cider vinegar like a magnet, where their own gluttony will lead them to the bottom of the cone, where, unable to escape, they face a certain liquidy death.

So there you have it; I’m afraid that’s the extent of my handy DIY household hints. But if you want more, don’t worry—Heloise is still at it today!

3 Ways to Prepare Your Home for Cleaning Day

Hiring someone to clean your home is an awesome way to enjoy a sanitary space without having to sacrifice your free time. To make sure that you’re getting the most out of your house cleaning services, we’ve put together some helpful tasks and tips to help us help you. Let’s take a look.

Don’t Clean Before the Cleaners

When we come into your home, we’re going to focus on cleaning and sanitizing. To do that, we need to make sure that obstacles are minimized. A home that is picked up and tidy prior to our arrival enables us to work efficiently while bringing consistently effective results.   But please, don’t “clean before the cleaners”. Cleaning is our job, and we’re really good at it!

Let Us Know What Rooms Cause Your Family The Biggest Challenge

Do you feel like you can handle the brunt of the routine weekly maintenance cleaning of your home, but just wish you could “get a little help from your friends” in those high traffic areas that take too much of your time?   Bathrooms and kitchens always feel like they never stay clean for long? We can customize your service plan to only address the areas that you would rather not have to tend to. We are here for you and ready to go to battle for you, fighting those dirt and germs that never seem to stop.   With professional grade equipment, tools and cleaning agents, there’s no job to difficult. Turn to your friends at Immaculate Clean. Our staff is trained to tackle the toughest jobs. They are equipped with the right tools that will get the results that you have wished for. Imagine how proud you’ll feel when those unexpected guests pop in on you and your home has been maintained by the professionals.

Make Sure Your Furry Family Members Feel Comfortable and Not Afraid

At Immaculate Clean, our entire staff loves animals. In fact, most of us have furry family members of our own.   This is why it is very important to us that your furry friends feel safe and secure on day of service. We also want our staff to feel safe and secure.   Make sure that any questions or concerns are addressed at time of hire in regards to your pet’s(s’) favorite place to rest and play. Our goal is to ensure that everyone living in your home has a positive experience. We’ll make sure to address any concerns at time of hire.

Ready for The Pride that Results from an “Immaculate Clean” Home?

We’re ready to help bring a whole new level of harmony into your home.   You deserve it and we’re prepared to deliver a consistent level of service excellence.   To learn more about how we serve our clients, contact us today. We look forward to meeting your needs and improving your quality of life.  Life’s way to short for busy homeowners to stress over the cleanliness of their home. Immaculate Clean is here to help. There’s a pride that results when you place your trust in the hands of the professionals.  We hope you’ll choose to experience this for yourself. Your family will thank you for taking back your free time to spend it doing what you and your family enjoy the most.

Cleaning tips that could save your life!

How’s that for a headline? Do you think it’s a little dramatic? Well, I admit that I do have a tendency to exaggerate and be a bit dramatic sometimes, but in this case, it’s not really much of a stretch to say that cleaning your house the right way could possibly save your life.   That’s because it’s flu season. And if you’ve been paying any attention at all to the news, you know that this year’s flu is especially widespread and severe. Even people who received a flu vaccination are catching it, and otherwise healthy people of all ages are actually dying from this flu. This is not fake news! This is all coming straight from the CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm

Everyday preventive actions to stop the spread of the flu

So, with this deadly flu virus floating around, what is there to do, aside from locking yourself into a germ-free incubator, a la John Travolta from the 1976 classic made-for-TV movie, “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble?” (And if those of you reading this are too young to remember that one, perhaps you will recall “The Bubble Boy” episode of Seinfeld?) Clearly, bubble living is not a practical solution for many of us. Instead, the aforementioned CDC suggests that in addition to getting a flu shot, we should, “Take everyday preventive actions to help stop the spread of flu viruses!” By “everyday preventive actions,” the CDC means avoiding contact with sick people, covering coughs and sneezes, washing your hands frequently, avoiding touching your mouth, nose, or eyes, and disinfecting surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with flu viruses.

How the flu virus travels

There’s only one problem with that: “Surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with flu viruses” covers just about EVERYTHING. That is because, according to my other source for major medical news, The Today Show, droplets from a sneeze can travel 26 feet! And if there are flu germs living in one of those droplets, that virus can stay alive for 24 hours! Not only is that a really gross thought—it’s pretty scary. It means that some sicko could have sneezed at Wal-Mart, or in the school cafeteria, or in your office, or even in your own home, from far enough away that they could barely hear you say, “Gesundheit,” and you could end up with a real, live flu virus on your shoe, or on your lunch box, or on your cell phone, or on your kitchen counter—and that sucker is going to stay alive for one whole day, just waiting for someone to touch it.

Cleaning is the answer

So, aside from teaching your kids to cough and sneeze into their elbow instead of their hand, and to keep their hands out of their mouth, and to wash their hands constantly, the most important thing you can do for them is to clean, clean, clean. Make sure you are frequently wiping down things like doorknobs, light switches, remote controls, and keyboards with disinfecting wipes. Another thing I learned on The Today Show is, those surfaces carry a disgusting amount of germs. https://www.today.com/health/which-today-anchor-has-more-germs-their-office-t121656 If there is ever an important time to have your home professionally cleaned, it’s during flu season. Hire Immaculate Clean residential cleaning services in Sykesville, MD to come in and give your surfaces a good disinfecting. Let them put their professional products and expertise to work on your sinks, countertops, floors, appliances, and all the rest of the hard surfaces that could be harboring viruses. Give them a call today, and keep the flu at bay: (410) 549-0727.

’Tis the Season for Holiday Stress

A few days before Halloween, I was getting ready for our annual family pumpkin-carving night. With a college kid who doesn’t live at home, a too-cool-for-school 17-year-old, and a husband that hates the mess of pumpkin guts, this is a tradition that frankly just involves a lot of begging and arm-twisting to get anyone to even participate, but I refuse to give it up just yet. So I turned on the TV to see if I could find a Halloween classic to get us in the mood—preferably a good old-fashioned slasher thriller about Freddie Krueger or Michael Meyers or Jason in the hockey mask. Instead, I stumbled upon something much scarier: a movie called “Matchmaker Santa.” Yes, three whole days before Halloween, The Hallmark Channel was apparently already knee-deep into their “Christmas Countdown,” in which they show original holiday-themed movies 24-7 until Christmas day. This immediately threw me into a state of panic. I haven’t even thought about Thanksgiving yet, let alone started my Christmas shopping. What is wrong with me? Am I that far behind the eight ball? How will I ever get ready on time? This holiday panic attack is nothing new for me. It just never happened in October before. What is supposed to be a joyful time full of family, friends, food, and fun is often preceded by weeks of stress and anxiety. I know I’m not alone in this. So many of us women take on all the responsibility of creating a perfect holiday for our families, to the point that the holidays feel like a burden. That’s something that needs to stop. While I don’t believe there is any way to eliminate the holiday stress completely, I know there are a few things we can do to help ease it a little bit.

Make Your Lists, Check Them Twice

I’m a big list-maker. I’ve learned that if I don’t write something down (or have Siri put it into my iPhone Notes), I will forget to do it or buy it. For example, if I’m hosting Thanksgiving, I make a list of the menu for the main meal, as well as the kinds of food and drink I want to have on hand for overnight guests. Then I gather my recipes and make a grocery list of ingredients I’ll need. I even make lists of basic tasks that need to be completed (ie., changing sheets, ironing table cloths, stocking bathrooms with soap and toilet paper). Also, let’s face it, these days if you haven’t started Christmas shopping before Black Friday, you’re already behind. It helps me to remain calm and focused if I make a list of every person I need to shop for. I also include gift ideas as I come up with them. Tip: if you find yourself struggling for a gift idea, an Immaculate Clean gift certificate makes a really great gift for just about anyone, from a busy mom, a messy bachelor, to an elderly relative! You’re welcome. (By the way, Immaculate Clean offers pre-pay discounts up to 12% off. Gift certificates are a great way to take advantage of this discount!) Contact them for details.

De-Clutter in Short Bursts

Start early to make room for holiday decorations and for all of the new “stuff” that’s going to be coming into your home. If, like me, you only use your dining room for actual dining twice a year, chances are it has become a spot for collecting junk during the rest of the year. If you spend just a few minutes each day finding a home for any extraneous items that have accumulated there, by Thanksgiving Day you’ll be ready to set the table without much ado.

Schedule a Professional Cleaning

Think ahead and get a professional cleaning on the schedule to help you prepare for holiday gatherings. This will do two great things:

1. It will force you to clear out any clutter that still remains so that the cleaning crew has room to work
2. It will free your time so you can focus on something like baking or memory-making rather than toilet scrubbing.

Don’t worry if you don’t already have a regular cleaning crew: Immaculate Clean offers one time cleaning services! You can hire them to clean your whole house, or just have them focus on something like bathrooms and the kitchen. They even offer a One Time Holiday Clean Discount! Contact them for information. We all deserve to enjoy the holidays. Do whatever you can to take some of the pressure off of yourself so that you can relax and enjoy the time with your family!

It’s Clean to Me

If I’ve discovered anything as a divorced woman, it’s that not all men clean their homes equally. I suppose the same can be said of all women, but that’s not the issue for me. It makes me wonder, however, if there’s some appropriate level of cleanliness. We all seem to have our own standards. Clutter is okay, but not dirt. Dust is ok, but not junk. The countertops must pass the white glove test, or as long as there aren’t any creatures crawling around anything is acceptable.

Setting Standards

I was a slob as a child. At least, by my mother’s standards. When I moved out, I became a bit of a neat freak myself. Life gets in the way though. Keeping a home neat and tidy with young children around becomes a lesson in futility. As they, and you, get older, you just don’t seem to care quite as much. At least, I don’t. Still, I have certain expectations. Personally, I like a home to be relatively neat and tidy with no obvious dirt and grime laying around. It’s okay if there’s a pile of papers on the counter as long as it’s stacked neatly. A few dishes in the sink are tolerable as long as they’re not piled above the edge and covered with dried and crusty food. A sweater tossed on a bed that has been made is acceptable, while things thrown on the floor ought to be picked up.

What We Teach Our Children

There’s a fine line, I know, between what is okay, and what is not. And, I’m sure my standards are not easily decipherable by my children. This could be their excuse as to why they don’t bother to pick anything up, but I think it comes down to something else. They know I’ll do it. And, I will. I know there are some parents who are champions of teaching their children how to do household chores. I am not one of them. I could worry that my lack of expectations will create a set of young adults who have no idea how to keep a house clean. If that were true, however, I would have no idea what I was doing. My mother requested very little of me in terms of helping her around the house. I guess I could say she led by example. I choose to believe I am doing the same. But, what am I teaching them? What is acceptable? What isn’t?

What Our Homes Say About Us

As women, we don’t generally invite people into our homes unless we have them show-ready. Of course, there’s always the threat of a drop-in guest, but that doesn’t seem to happen much these days. I think we’re all too conscious of our own homes to drop-in on someone else. Men seem to be different. (And, please, don’t make this some sexist argument. I’m just talking from personal experience. I’m really not trying to make a broad, political statement about the difference between men and women. Of course, there are exceptions on both sides.) In some ways, they seem more real. It’s almost a this-is-who-I-am mentality. Of course, that’s assuming they make a conscious decision as to how to present their homes. I highly doubt that much thought goes into it. Yet, it tells you a lot about someone. Interestingly, I discovered that the cleanliness of a man’s home really matters to me. I’m not looking for the perfectionist who demands everyone removes shoes before entering his house, or requires coasters under every glass that may touch a table. I’m also not interested in the guy who has three-day old pizza boxes on the counter or cat hair covering his pillows. I suppose what I’m looking for is a person like me. How we keep our homes is a reflection of our priorities. It’s our own determination of what is acceptable and what is not. There is no right way of doing it. There’s only what’s right for me, or you. That said, there are days when I really don’t feel like cleaning. Yes, it matters, but I’m just too damn tired to do anything about it. That’s when it’s good to know that services like those offered by Immaculate Clean are available.

10 Rarely Cleaned Places That Could Use Your Attention

  When you bought your first home, did anyone warn you how much upkeep it would require? Replace that, repair this, and clean, clean, clean – which is a battle you’ll never win because things get dirty again. And if you look around, you can always find new places to clean! As a Maryland cleaning company, we understand your struggle. That’s why one of our goals is to help you free up your time by taking over some of your cleaning duties. You can probably do the weekly vacuuming and dusting by yourself, but when it comes to these rarely touched areas, we’ll be happy to lend a hand.

1. Carpet Edging

Ever notice those black lines along the edges of carpet near baseboards and under doorways? Your carpet acts as a filter and the air passing through its fibers in these tight spaces can cause these black filter lines to develop slowly over time. Detailed “edging” of your carpets with a special edging tool can help ward off the rapid development of these black filter lines that eventually become stains that are not easily removed. Immaculate Clean will focus on the edging of carpets during our Deep Cleaning Service.

2. Stove Burners

If you cook frequently, your gas stove could use a weekly wiping. This includes taking off the burner grates and cleaning underneath. If you are a messy cook, your stove-top might also have some debris and caked-on food directly around and under the burners. Depending on the type of stove you have, this may require some dis-assembly. Fortunately, most modern stoves were designed with such maintenance in mind and allow you to lift up the stove top like a car hood. This makes it much easier to get underneath. Bonus tip: clean spills and messes as they happen or before you use the stove again—heat causes stains to harden and penetrate deeper into surfaces.

3. Behind the Toilet

Let’s be honest here, the space behind the toilet is one of the worst to clean. It smells bad, it’s covered in dust, lint and hair, and it’s difficult to reach without basically hugging the toilet. That’s especially true if your toilet is in the corner and is blocked off by walls, a shower or a vanity on both sides. You probably somewhat clean behind the toilet when you mop your bathroom floor, but you know it could use a better cleaning and disinfecting than that!

4. Behind and Under the Fridge

So your fridge goes out or you get a new one, and the installer comes in to hook it up. He pulls your old fridge off the wall and you both stare embarrassingly at a dusty mess, a few century-old raisins (wait, are you sure those are raisins?), and long-lost cat toys. No wonder your old fridge broke—it had no room for air circulation with all this dust and dirt underneath! To avoid this unpleasant situation, regular cleaning or at least vacuuming under the fridge is necessary.

5. Sliding Window Tracks

If you like to keep your windows open, there are all sorts of things that can get in. There is dust, pollen, bits of cut grass, and even though you have screens, wasps and ladybugs somehow make it through. All of these things eventually end up in your sliding window tracks, which gradually turn black from dust and are riddled with dried-up bugs. Cleaning window tracks thoroughly can be a big pain due to their shape and construction. It’s best to wipe them frequently to avoid dealing with a bug cemetery later.

6. Behind the TV

Well, everyone is looking AT the TV, so no one sees what’s BEHIND it, right? It’s solid logic, but it’s no excuse to skip that area when you clean. Dust and electronics generally don’t go good together, so the cleaner the environment around, the longer your appliance will last. Cleaning the back of and behind the TV may be inconvenient, especially if your TV is in a built-in or an armoire, but it should be done.

7. Inside Light Fixtures

Speaking of bug cemeteries, have you looked inside your light fixtures? We are mainly talking about those upward-facing lights like most floor lamps, some wall sconces and certain ceiling lights. They are like magnets for insects! If you haven’t cleaned them in a while and emptied out all the dead bugs, you are in for an unpleasant surprise when you blindly reach out to unscrew the failed light bulb (yuk!).

8. Around the Kitchen Trash Can

When you are running around the kitchen like crazy, keeping an eye on several pots and cutting up veggies at the same time, it’s cooking mode! And in cooking mode, food debris doesn’t always make it to the trash can. This means over time your trash can and the space around it become covered in tomato sauce stains, onion peels and whatever else you discard. Not only is this the opposite of clean, but it can also create an ant problem. Cleaning around the kitchen trash can should definitely be on your weekly list.

9. Light Switches and Door Handles

When it comes to light switches and door handles, it’s easy to forget that they need cleaning too. We touch them every day, so there’s no time for dust to pile up. And if there’s no dust, they are clean, right? Not exactly. Light switches, door knobs and cabinet pulls are some of the dirtiest places in your house due to how many germs they collect after we touch them with dirty hands. Wipe them with disinfecting wipes regularly, especially if anyone in your home is sick.

10. Toothbrush Holder

Do you have an enclosed toothbrush holder? Have you ever looked inside? Once you set your tooth brush in it, the remaining water and tooth paste residue trickles down the handle and collects at the bottom of the holder. Due to poor ventilation, this may lead to a slimy mess and even mold. And you don’t want mold anywhere near your toothbrush, so check on it and clean it out every so often. Need help maintaining all these places clean and germ-free? Ask us about our deep cleaning services. We can customize the schedule and the cleaning list to meet your specific needs!