Ashley's A1 Sparkles

HOUSE CLEANING
FACT OR FICTION

Home Remedy Cleaning Myths
1. Vinegar is good for no-wax and hardwood floors. The truth? Vinegar is an acid on the pH scale
and can actually deteriorate the floor's shine. Use a safe floor cleaner, and save the vinegar for
your next salad recipe.

2. Newspaper is great for cleaning windows and mirrors. The truth? Newspaper leaves ink residue
on the surface and can actually cause smears. Your best bet is quality paper towels with a name
brand window or glass cleaning solution. No harsh chemicals, no streaks, no smears!

3. Ammonia is a good cleaner for no-wax floors. The truth? Ammonia is used as a floor stripper and
can deteriorate your non-wax and hardwood floor's shine. Stick with a neutral floor cleaner.

4. Furniture polish is good for all wood. The truth? Yes, however over spraying polish on wood
furniture leads to a gummy build up. Try using a micro fiber cloth, half dry- half damp, weekly, and
limit your polish use to once a month, Be sure to spray it only on your cloth, not the furniture itself.

5. Vinegar on carpets to clean up pet accidents. The truth? Pet odor carries a strong urine smell,
mix that with vinegar and you get nothing but a vinegar and pet urine carpet spot! Vinegar is not a
disinfectant by itself and can only disinfect when it is mixed with peroxide as a spray. When dealing
with bodily fluids from people and pets proper disinfection is important. A disinfectant cleaner with a
uric acid eradicator (ENZYME CLEANER) can be purchased at most janitorial suppliers or at most
pet stores. The enzyme cleaner not only disinfects but digests the bacteria and stops the odor. I
recommend buying the enzyme cleaner and injecting your carpet spots enough to go into the pad
Without saturating it. Press down on the spot with an absorbent towel to pick up the liquid. Rinse
with cold water. Press down again with towel. Blow dry the clean spot to inhibit any moisture from
growing mold bacteria.

6. Ammonia is good for cleaning the inside of the oven. The truth? It gives me a terrible headache!
The fumes from the oven almost knocked me off my feet! I prefer to spend $5 and buy a
professional strength oven cleaner from a janitorial supplier that has no harsh fumes and that you
can spray on the surface for 10 minutes and wipe clean effortlessly.

7. Baking soda works on soap scum. The truth? It may be a safe product, but it is not an
aggressive cleaner. Better lift some weights, because your arms are going to be scrubbing that
soap scum a long time. What's the best thing to use? I like Soft Scrub that works on soap scum, lime
scale build up and rust spots with no harsh fumes. Spray it on, wait 1-3 minutes and wipe it off.
Rinse. Go to the Mall.

8. Floor cleaners can "clean and wax" with no build up. The truth? That claim needs to be debated
on Judge Judy! If you mop a dirty floor, with a dirty sponge mop and spray a wax on it to clean, you
have in fact, waxed your dirt right into the floor. Don't believe me? Read that back label on those
no-wax floor cleaners next time you head to the grocery store. Caution: "After repeated use you
may experience buildup.

Carpet Cleaning: What Do the Experts Know?
BY: David Hollies is a remodeling industry educator and consultant. He is also the founder of
Washington D.C.-based Home Connections, Inc.

While your carpeting may not require the regular cleaning that other types of flooring demand, your
carpet should be professionally cleaned once every year to 18 months, even if you vacuum regularly.
Professional carpet cleaning extends the life of the carpeting and contributes to better air quality,
reducing allergies and illness.
Do-It-Yourself Carpet-Cleaning Damage
Ideally, your carpet should be professionally cleaned. However, to save money, many people alternate
between the do-it-yourself cleaning and professional cleaning. While the do-it-yourself approaches are
far less expensive, they are almost never as effective as professional cleaning and involve a considerable
amount of time and hard work. Depending on the method used, it is also easy for the novice to damage
the carpet.
Beware of the three most common ways do-it-yourselfers (and inexperienced pros) damage carpets:
Over-shampooing
Over-wetting
Failing to protect the wet carpet from furniture

Over-shampooing occurs when either too much shampoo is used or the carpet is not adequately rinsed.
Both are practically inevitable with some wet do-it-yourself approaches. This is the biggest reason why
even hard-core do-it-yourselfers should occasionally use a professional. If they don't, the build-up of
soapy residue can be impossible to clean out, leaving a carpet that is a virtual dirt magnet.
Over-wetting occurs when too much water soaks into the bottom of the carpet. Some backing materials
cause the carpet to discolor if they get too wet. Some carpets will shrink, literally tearing themselves up
from the floor. If the backing and pad get wet, it is very difficult to dry them, and you run the additional
risk of mold and mildew problems.
The final carpet-cleaning hazard is stains caused by furniture coming into contact with wet carpeting.
Many kinds of wood furniture will release some of the dyes in their stain if left in contact with a wet
surface. Many pieces of furniture have feet that are at least partially metal. The metal can rust, leaving a
stain in the carpet.
Do-it-yourselfers are more likely to encounter these problems because they often don't remove all the
furniture from the room when cleaning, and they often don't have ready access to the foam blocks and
foil-backed cardboard squares that the pros use to keep the furniture off the carpet until it is dry.
Professional Carpet-Cleaning Methods
One carpet-cleaning method, dry extraction, isn't technically a "dry" procedure; it's more a
"moisture-controlled" process. That is, it applies a controlled amount of moisture to clean the carpet and
still leave it dry. This process is similar to the do-it-yourself "dry" method, but the equipment is larger
and much more thorough.
Though it uses the same cleaning chemicals, the dry process alters the amount of chemicals used and
how they're applied. A machine with two counter-revolving brushes moves the cleaning agents through
the carpet's material. The cleaner supplies enough liquid to dissolve the dirt, then re-absorbs the soil and
liquid, which leaves the carpet dry for vacuuming and immediate use.
Some carpet-cleaning professionals spray a carbonated cleaning solution onto the carpet. The
carbonation allows the cleaning agents to get to the carpet fibers with minimal wetting. The solution
doesn't contain the oil or detergents that typically leave a dirt-attracting residue. Dissolved dirt is
removed with a machine that rubs soft cotton pads over the carpet.
When compared to wet systems, this method may not get as much of the deeper dirt out, but is very
effective at cleaning the visible portion of the carpet. It does this Without the risks of residue or
over-wetting. Many businesses use this system because the carpet is usually dry and ready for traffic
within an hour.
Otherwise, professionals use methods similar to do-it-yourself approaches, with two important
differences. First, pros do this all day every day, and that experience helps them realize the maximum
cleaning potential of each system and avoid the hazards of each.
Second, pros usually use much more powerful and sophisticated equipment and cleaning agents.
Because they know what they're doing, they can use all that extra power Without succumbing to the
risks that power entails.
For example, on heavily soiled carpet a professional might first use a power shampoo system and then
follow it with hot water extraction. There is equipment that does both in one pass. Often, the vacuums
used in hot water extraction systems are extremely powerful and are mounted on a truck that is parked
in front of the home.
Professionals have two other advantages as well. First, they're accustomed to moving the heavy
furniture. Second, they usually know a lot more about how to handle specific challenges like heavily
soiled areas and stains.
Carpet Stains and Carpet-Cleaning Extras
Carpet stain removal: Some firms include stain removal in the base price. Other firms charge extra for
highly soiled areas or for individual stains. Ask about this up front.
Carpet pretreatment: Most wet-cleaning results can be improved by spraying a cleaning agent on the
carpet a few minutes before cleaning. The chemicals help dissolve grease and oils so that the final
cleaning extracts even more dirt. For some firms this is standard procedure; others may charge extra by
the square foot or room. Be sure to ask.
Soil retardants: Most carpets are now factory-treated with a coating that helps the carpet fibers shed
water and spills. The key is cleaning up the spills quickly. Once a carpet is five years old or so, you may
need to have it retreated, at least in the high traffic areas.
The easiest way to check whether carpet pretreatment is necessary is to place a few drops of water on
the carpet in the questionable areas and see whether the drops bead up or are absorbed quickly into the
fibers. If they are absorbed, it's time to retreat the carpet.
The best pretreatment chemicals (and usually the only ones recommended by the manufacturers) are
fluorochemical based. Scotchgard or any treatment containing DuPont's Teflon are made from this
material. The treatment should take place after cleaning and, for best results, should be gently brushed
into the carpet while it is still damp.
Deodorizing and pet odor treatments: Most of the possible carpet odor reduction that can be
accomplished will be accomplished by the cleaning itself. Many odors come from mold, mildew, or urine
that has penetrated the carpet backing and pad. There is no practical way to get at the source Without
damaging the carpet through over-wetting.
Applying an anti-microbial agent (see below) will help slow the return of mildew and mold. Other than
that, "deodorizing" is really nothing more than masking the odor with some stronger and more pleasing
scent. Carpet perfumes have only a temporary effect and may be irritating to some people.
Anti-microbial treatment: The cleaning itself will kill most mold, mildew, yeast and other microbes, but it
is practically impossible to kill all of them. The anti-microbial treatment creates a hostile environment for
these microbes to reproduce and spread and will help control odor problems, extend the carpet's useful
life, and provide considerable relief to allergy sufferers.
Anti-static treatment: Static electricity often becomes annoying in the winter, when heating systems dry
out the air in our homes. Carpet manufacturers have responded by developing new finishes, fibers, and
backings that prevent the build-up of static electricity. If you are having a problem with your carpet, the
easiest, best, and healthiest remedy is to increase humidity with a humidifier.
Once the relative humidity gets above about 40 percent, the static problem disappears. There are
several treatments and finishes that can be applied that reduce static electricity, but nearly all act as soil
magnets, greatly speeding up the rate at which your carpet gets soiled.

Allergies and Asthma Are Nothing to Sneeze At!
If you are one of the 17 million people who suffer from asthma, or one of the 42
million people that suffer from allergies, then you need to know the correct way to
"clean healthy" in your home. Here are some easy things you can do:

1. Keep air ducts and vent work clean. Clean them at least 2x per year for severe
sufferers. Replace furnace filters monthly. Purchase allergen filters, such as the
brand 3M that capture all the airborne particles.

2. Keep windows and doors closed during high pollen seasons. Take a shower and
change clothes if you have been outside on a high pollen day.

3. 85% of household dirt comes from the bottom of shoes. Take your hoes off at the
door and keep this dirt out of your home.

4. Purchase a vacuum with a hi-filtration, Micro filtration or HEPA filtration filter.

5. Keep the carpets clean and "carpet protected" by certified carpet cleaners.

6. Get rid of heavy drapes and curtains. Choose blinds or light weight curtains. There
will be less area for dust to accumulate.

7. Vent clothes dryers and attic vents to the outside.

8. Shampoo pets monthly with an allergen control shampoo.

9. Dust twice a weekly to decrease the dust and reduce the allergen level.

10. HAVE A PROFESSIONAL CARPET CLEANER CLEAN THE LARGEST AIR
FILTER IN YOUR HOUSE, YOUR CARPETS!

2001 All Writes Reserved
A1 Sparkles Cleaning Service, LLC