I love learning about cleaning. I love learning about the cleaning techniques, the science of cleaning, the business of cleaning, just about everything there is to do with cleaning, I love learning about it.
One of my favourite ways to learn is from other cleaning companies and professionals. This is an industry where we truly love what we do. Where we feel honour and pride in what we do every single day.
It’s this excitement that has helped me and the rest of the Clean Club Calgary team continue to evolve, grow, and provide better quality cleans. In this spirit, today we’re going to share a few of our team’s favourite cleaning tips and tricks that we’ve learned over the years.
Clever Cleaning Products
Cleaning products aren’t always great, which is why we tend to stick to mild soap, water, and bleach for the most part. However, there are some products that we love because of their versatility and effectiveness. Three include Bar Keeper’s Friend, Tide, and Easy Off.
Bar Keeper’s Friend
Website: www.barkeepersfriend.com
This is a super versatile cleaning product, great for all kinds of scuffs and scruffs. You can use it on all types of surfaces, such as sinks, pots and pans (except non-stick), and bathtubs. Here are two fun clearing tricks to do with this product.
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Front-load washing machine. The door is meant to stay open after running a load to let it dry out. This doesn’t always happen, causing mold to build up. Simply run a cycle with a scoop of their cleanser and you’ll freshen your machine right up.
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Sneaker bottoms. Use a bit of Bar Keeper’s Friend to brighten up the bottoms and keep your sneaker bottoms scuff-free.
Tide
Website: tide.ca
Great for laundry AND great for cleaning other household items.
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Baseboards and walls. Use a small scoop of Tide, mixed with warm water to wash down your baseboards and walls.
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Barbecue. It’s barbecue season right now so this a timely tip! Fill a bucket with warm water, add a bit of Tide, wipe down the barbecue. Easy.
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Sneakers. Want to get your whole sneaker clean and not just the bottoms? Then soak your sneakers in a bucket with Tide and Borat/Baking Soda. After soaking for an hour, remove and run through your washing machine. Wash with towels to keep the sneakers from bouncing around, helping to prolong the life of your washing machine.
Easy Off
Website:www.easyoff.us
This may be a bit controversial as this Easy Off can be a bit harsh of a product and many homes do not want to use this product. However, we find that if the self-cleaning option on your oven doesn’t do a good enough job of cleaning the racks do the following:
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Pull the racks out and put them in a garbage bag.
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Spray inside the bag with Easy Off.
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Close the bag and leave for 1 hour.
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Take out racks and rinse off.
You can also do this with your barbecue grills. Works like a charm…or a Clean Club Calgary team member!
If Easy Off isn’t for you, not to worry. Do the following:
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Lay down an old towel in the bathtub.
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Put in the oven racks.
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Add 2 dishwasher pods with hot water and let soak overnight.
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Take out, rinse off, dry and put back. You may have to scrub the racks, but the overnight soak loosens the grime, making this easier.
The Many Uses of Vinegar
There’s a reason why vinegar disappeared off the shelves in March 2020 alongside toilet paper and all other cleaning products. It’s because this is one of the most versatile household items that almost every house has.
Bathtub Jets
Issue: cleaning out the jet spouts. This allows the inside of the jets to be cleaned, removing any mold, soap scum, etc. from the jets themselves.
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Items needed: white vinegar, one dish pod tablet (e.g. Cascade)
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What to do: fill the jet tub with hot water. Add one cup of vinegar and 1 dish pod. Let jets run for 30 minutes. Drain tub. Refill and relax with your freshly cleaned jets.
Dishwasher
Dishwashers often become scaled with lime. This lowers the power of the cleaning and removal of food bits.
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Items needed: white vinegar
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What to do: place one cup of vinegar in the dishwasher and run through a regular cycle. Do this once a month to maintain.
Laundry Machine
Whether top or front loading, all laundry machines need to be cleaned once every month or two. This helps keep your machine clean and your clothes super fresh.
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Items needed: white vinegar, baking soda
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What to do: combine 1 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar in your laundry machine. Run through a regular cycle. Once finished, open the door to let the machine air dry. Do not do this with clothes in the machine.
Coffee Maker
One of my personal favourite home appliances, the coffee maker often needs to be descaled of lime. This will help keep your coffee tasting delicious and perking you up the right way!
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Items needed: white vinegar, glass cleaning cloth.
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What to do: Add ½ cup of vinegar to a pot of water. Run the water/vinegar mix through the machine as you would if making a normal pot of coffee. Afterwards, rinse and dry. Make it sparkle and shine – a coffee pot fit for scrumptious coffee – with a glass cleaning cloth.
Pleasant Freshening Tips
There are always forgotten items in the house when it comes to cleaning. Not to worry as we have fun tips to freshen a few of these often overlooked things.
Pillows
Pillows have so much hidden on them…even itty bitty mites. Washing pillows is a must – and you can use your washing machine more! Do it the right way, though, to keep your pillow nice and fluffy. Wash a minimum of two pillows at a time to keep the machine balanced. This also goes for dog beds (if they fit).
Stuffed animals
Did you know these can be washed? Trust us…you want to wash them if you haven’t yet. Just…trust us. Use the gentle cycle. If possible, place the plush friend in a laundry bag. You can find these in most dollar stores or in the laundry aisle at the grocery store.
Feather Duvet
To thoroughly clean this, they should be drycleaned. However, freshening up your duvet is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your sleep peace of mind. Put your duvet into the dryer. Add in dryer sheets and/or dryer balls. Run the heavy-duty program. This helps to kill any of those tiny mites who may have burrowed in somehow.
Bedsheets
I was born and raised in Hungary, where it is common practice to iron our bedsheets. To this day, when I am feeling low, overwhelmed, or just need a pick me up, I’ll iron my sheets before putting them on the bed. Crawling into a bed with freshly washed and ironed sheets is heavenly! There is nothing quite like it and I instantly relax and feel better. Ironing your sheets is essentially creating a fresh space for your mental health.
Air vents
Grime, dirt, hair, mud – so much gets caught in the air vents. Depending on just how dirty the air vents are, you can put them in the dishwasher, top shelf, and run them through for a turbo clean.
Do you have a fun cleaning trick you’d like to share? Did you try one of the above? I’d love to hear all about it your experience and your own unique hacks. Connect with me here.
Or – if you are really just looking for how to get someone to give you a quote so you don’t have to know these super fun tips, connect with me here. Happy to provide you with a quote that fits you!
How to Know What Cleaning Services to Hire for You
“Oh – just a quick clean” is a sentence I never assume is just a “quick clean.”
Why – because one person’s clean may not be another person’s clean. Cleaning includes a whole spectrum of definitions and skills. Today, that’s what we’re going to dive into a bit deeper – how to know what type of cleaning service you need for your home. It’s the best way to ensure that your clean is THE clean that is being met!
Regular Cleaning
Regular cleaning is exactly that – cleaning that happens on a regular cleaning schedule. For residential services, these are most often weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly schedules.
Typically, a regular cleaning includes a:
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Wipe down of the kitchen, particularly now since more people are cooking at home these days
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Deep clean of the bathroom (toilet, tub/shower, etc.)
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Good vacuuming
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Mopping – twice!
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Removing those pesky prints – whether human or animal – from surfaces (such as cabinets, walls, windows, light switches.)
The specific details of a regular clean very much depend on the personality and preferences of the home itself.
At the end of the regular clean, we provide you checklists of what was done so you know what was included in your cleaning service.
A sample of these checklists can be found here, just scroll to the bottom of the page: Residential Checklists.
For all other cleans, know that there is A LOT of crawling around. Regular cleanings, while strenuous on the body, are gentler than the others for this reason alone. The other cleaning types we’ll talk about involve way more crawling, bending, elbow grease, sometimes even a handstand or two!
Deep Cleaning
Deep cleaning is essentially what one thinks of when you hear “Spring Cleaning” – intentionally done with a very clear purpose over and above “to maintain a clean.”
At Clean Club Calgary, we always begin with a deep clean when we onboard a new regularly scheduled client. This allows us to get the house ready prepared for their ongoing regular schedule.
Other deep cleanings are typically done by request. These cleanings are best done once or twice per year and require additional time and detail than a regular clean. Involved in the cleaning are a lot of additional wiping down and washing of items such as ceiling fans, walls, inside/outside of appliances, inside of windows and blinds, baseboards and door frames, and so on.
One of the other differences between a regular clean and a deep clean is cleaning underneath and behind appliances. This is not included in a regular clean. For appliances that we are easily able to slide out without scratching the floor, we remove the additional dust, dirt, hair (pet and human), and all other bits of grime that have fallen behind.
To learn more about the ins and outs of how to do a deep clean, read our post on Spring Cleaning considerations here.
If you’re curious about our deep cleaning checklist, you can find it here. Again, just scroll to the bottom of the page: Deep Clean Checklist.
Move-In/Move-Out Cleaning
Move-in and move-out cleans are deceptively detailed. Sure, they may seem like a quick and easy task as there is (typically) no furniture or other items to move out of the way, but did you know that these cleans take quite some time and deep, deep elbow grease.
For instance, a regular size kitchen will take between 3-4 hours to finish. This is because we clean EVERYTHING. Sliding out appliances to clean behind, scrubbing away long forgotten fingerprints or dried-on food bits, washing the ins and outs of cabinets, and so much more.
These cleans also include the not so regularly cleaned (if ever) rooms, such as the furnace room, storage areas, sweep out the garage, etc. It’s about removing all grime and dirt to prepare the home for the new owner.
If you’re looking for a move-in clean, check with the Realtor to see if the previous owner is doing a move-out clean. If so, then chances are you will not need to do a move-in clean.
Other things to know when booking a move-in or -out cleaning are that cleaners are not handymen. We are not able to take things apart, nor can we put things back together. (This even includes IKEA furniture!) Make sure that when hiring for this service, you know what the cleaners are and are not able to support you with.
What to look for with a move-in or-out service? Have a look at our checklists right here: Move-In/Move-Out.
Post Renovation/Construction Cleaning
The dustiest cleaning of them all! That’s right, if you’ve been through any sort of renovation, you know that there is always a lot of drywall dust to clean up. And not a quick dusting either. This is the kind of dust that sticks and needs two, three, even four wipe downs to fully remove.
Everything must be freshly wiped down with the post-renovation cleaning. Top to bottom, left to right, not a single surface is left unwiped and shined. Baseboards to door hinges; high corners to itty bitty nooks and crannies; and everything in between. “Detailed” is the word of focus for cleaning.
The primary factor that impacts how long a post-renovation cleaning will take depends on how contained the renovation area itself is. If your contractors diligently taped off the room, covered the air vents, and cleaned up every day, cleaning time is typically minimal. If protecting the rest of your home from the renovation didn’t happen, then in-depth cleaning across rooms will be required.
What is also different with a renovation clean are the tools we use. We tend to use the bristle head and pointed brush attachment for our vacuuming tools to get the dust that is hiding in the corner. We also use a flat blade to remove paint splatters that may be left behind by the painters.
For appliances and renovations, we very rarely need to clean these as they are typically new post-renovation and simply need a wipe and dry down.
Download our Post-Renovation Cleaning Checking to learn more about all the details.
Knowing that there is a difference between cleaning is important in building a relationship with your professional cleaner. It helps to make sure that you get cleaned what you want when you want.
To learn more, download the individual checklists:
If you’d rather chat about what type of cleaning you need, connect with me to share what is perfect for you!
Cleaning House Does Not Mean Cleaning Office: The Differences in Residential and Commercial Cleaning
Cleaning is cleaning. Everyone does it the same. Every space requires the same effort and order of cleaning. It’s all the same.
NO!
This is the farthest thing from the truth. It truly hurt my heart to write that very sentence! One person’s clean may very well be another person’s dirty – that’s what we say here at Clean Club Calgary. And this applies whether in a home or a workspace.
And just as there are differences in cleaning preferences, there are even further differences in how one cleans a residence versus a commercial space.
The Dusty Devil in the Details
Residential Dusting
As much as we love our dust bunny friends, they need to be evicted as they impact air quality. Dig into the exact details on how and why to dust at home right here. A quick overview: go top to bottom, left to right; feather dusters are bad; use the right materials properly and use them often!
Commercial Dusting
Traditionally, dusting in workplaces was minimal. Today, as we’ve become more aware of how dust impacts our health, companies are regularly requesting dusting. Now, cleaners wipe everything on one’s desk (keyboard, mouse, phone, desk surface). *
Interestingly, many of our clients are in spaces where their landlord is responsible for ensuring the duct systems are cleaned. This allows for proper ventilation. While we can dust as part of a cleaning package, it is virtually impossible to remove all dust if the air ducts are circulating with dust from the rest of the building.
Dusting is definitely not a one size fits all
*Note: we recommend you implement a clean desk policy as, by law, cleaners are not allowed to touch and/or move any paper remaining on a surface. If your employees do not remove the paper, we are not able to take all the necessary steps to ensure proper cleaning, sanitizing, and/or disinfection.
Floor Fashions that Differ
Residential Floor Cleaning
Vacuuming is VERY detailed for residential services. As much as we can, we move furniture, lift area rugs, vacuum under, heck sometimes even over. Anywhere that’s easy to reach gets a detailed vacuum every, single time.
Once we’ve vacuumed, we solidify the work by mopping. Using a freshly cleaned microfibre cloth, mopping picks up any dust that beat the initial vacuum power!
Commercial Floor Cleaning
Commercial vacuuming is done once every 1 – 2 weeks and is not quite as detailed as residential vacuuming. For Clean Club Calgary’s commercial cleaning clients (contract stipulations apply), we provide a once/year deep clean, which ensures digging into the nooks and crannies to remove as much as possible. This requires support in lifting stuff off the floor, pulling out desks from walls, and other such involvement from the client.
For commercial mopping, we have special mop heads. Unlike the microfibre cloths we use in residences, these must be sent away to be laundered because of the special material and size they are. It is an additional step in how we care for our cleaning materials that is one of the major differences between residential and commercial clients and cleaning frequencies.
Busting Bathroom Rumors
Residential Bathrooms
Each time you ask us to clean the bathroom, it is always a thoroughly deep clean as we do not offer the same frequency cleaning packages as we do for commercial cleaning. With more and more people working from home, a deep bathroom clean, particularly the bathroom, shower, and sink surfaces, is always one that is included. Other things for the bathroom that need deep cleaning, but not every time include the lights, which should be done monthly, and the ceiling fans (and vents), to be cleaned quarterly. The cabinets and baseboards are cleaned every 2 – 4 weeks.
Commercial Bathrooms
While the actual cleaning techniques are similar, it’s the frequency and depth of clean that vary. With Clean Club Calgary, our commercial cleaning packages typically offer daily, 3 times/week, 1 time/week, or monthly (our most common) service.
For daily commercial cleaning clients, we are able to replenish their supplies (e.g. paper products, hand soap, and sanitizer). We also do the surfaces and toilet cleaning as well every time. Once per week, we do a deeper clean, getting into the corners, scrubbing the base of toilets, washing stall dividers and the wall tiles.
The touchpoints for both residential and commercial are always sanitized with each clean. These are areas such as doorknobs, switch plates, faucets, knobs, etc.
Kitchen Cleaning
Residential Kitchens
More and more meals are cooked from home, and the beautiful messes left behind are showing us that kitchens are being USED! While we have our usual cleaning, which involves wipe down, sanitize, and make it sparkle, we also complete deep residential kitchen cleans by request. These include things such as washing the counters and/or backsplash, cleaning the stove, washing the fridge (inside and out), cleaning the oven, wipe down the cabinets, wipe inside the cabinets, etc.
With our mopping, we have one rule of thumb, taught Day One of team member training: Mop Twice!
Commercial Kitchens
For our daily and 3x/week service, we do surface level every week. Once a month, we do a deep clean of the kitchen, including a fridge wipe (and throw) out.
While there are not as many large appliances as there are in residences, we do still wipe down the small ones most kitchens have (coffee machine, toaster, and microwave). 99 percent of the time, people in the office take the responsibility for office dishes, whether washing by hand or in a dishwasher.
The kitchen is probably where we spend most of our time mopping as it is one of the most heavily used rooms in an office. There is a lot of traffic with numerous coffee breaks, water breaks, breakfast, snacks, lunch, afternoons snacks all leaving behind scuffs, dirt, and spills.
Whether residential or commercial, what’s important is the work is done by a professional, in a manner that provides a higher quality of living.
If you’re curious as to how we can clean so you don’t have to, connect for an instant quote.
How to Add Extra Freshness to Your Spring Cleaning
I just love the birds chirping outside these days. They bring a beautiful sense of calm and lift my spirits after winter kept us inside.
Even more, I love that spring allows me to open my windows wide, letting the breeze flow through my home as the sunbeams…well, the sunbeams bring my attention to all the floating dust and dirt that we tracked in over the past few months.
This is how I know that we have officially entered the season of “spring cleaning.”
What Exactly Is “Spring Cleaning?”
Most of us know it to be the season of airing out our homes to remove the stuffiness of winter. But did you know that it has deeper origins than, “let’s get clean!?” It’s true. Across different cultures, spring cleaning can be traced back, often tying into religious holidays or new years.
From the Persian new year to ancient Jewish practices leading up to Passover, even in Christianity in the Catholic Church and more Orthodox nations, such as Greece, origins of spring cleaning can be found across each.
In more recent times, particularly in North America and European nations where winter keeps us inside for months on end, spring cleaning has become of practical value, where it is an opportunity to open the windows and push the dust and soot (for coal-based furnaces) outside.
Why is Spring Cleaning Still Important?
In my opinion, we’re busy throughout the year. Most days, we just clean our more heavily used items, doing what we can with the 15-minute “spare time” we have.
Spring cleaning allows us to really get into the corners and remove dust, dirt, fur and hair, and other particles we miss with our every week (if that) cleaning process. It’s the time where we can bring new life into our home by removing all the dust and dirt that has accumulated over the past few months.
For myself, I use this as a time to strip my mattress bare, pulling off the sheets and mattress pad, and freshen absolutely everything. For duvet covers, it’s time to send them to the dry cleaner. Many people have a heavier duvet for the fall and winter months and a lighter one for spring and summer. This is when they switch over to the lighter one.
Spring cleaning is also a wonderful mental health activity for multiple reasons. One of which is that being productive feels good. Another is the feeling of accomplishment and comfort of knowing your home is clean. Truly, truly clean. It gives us a sense of pride in our space. Our home. From a physical standpoint, the air itself is healthier since we’re removing additional dirt/fur/hair that often contributes to breathing issues, such as asthma.
What To Focus On For Spring Cleaning?
Knowing that spring cleaning is beneficial is one thing. Knowing what to clean is a whole other. I know it can seem like an overwhelming list, but trust me, it’s much easier when you break it down, room by room.
So, roll up your sleeves and let’s get to work by moving our way through each room with the following cleaning sequence.
Think Top-to-Bottom, Left-to-Right
Start with your ceiling fans and light fixtures. Those places are where dust loves to cling, but we rarely think of to move a microfibre cloth over.
Then work your way down, moving left to right, cleaning windows, windowpanes, wiping and washing down the walls and even your baseboards. Remove anything on the walls as well, dusting off picture frames along the way.
Complete a general dusting of your shelves, tabletops, and other surfaces, along with the items on them.
Pull out any furniture and vacuum under it. Put everything back in place, do one final vacuum, and voila! You’re done with the room. For the best way to get the deepest clean in your vacuuming, read this blog all about how to vacuum so it doesn’t have to suck.
Now, onto the next room!
Depending on the room itself, along with how organized it is to begin with, how much clutter there is, and so forth, each room will take roughly one-two hours to complete with a deep clean.
Unique Aspects of Each Room
Not all rooms are as easy as wipe, wipe, vacuum, finish. The following are some things to consider for those special rooms.
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Kitchen: Pull out the fridge and oven as fur, hair, fallen food bits, and other dust particles tend to gather behind and underneath. Don’t forget to clean on top of the fridge and give the stove hood a thorough washing. Now is also a good time to give the backsplash a deep scrubbing, removing any splashes that may have been missed throughout the year.
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Bathroom: As with all other rooms, clean top to bottom, left to right, giving a good scrubbing of the bathtub/shower, getting into the corners, and even cleaning behind the toilet. The exception here is to make sure the toilet is the last thing you clean before you mop the floor. This will make for a more sanitary clean. Read this blog to learn all about the right way to deep clean your toilet.
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Garage: remove everything, bikes, storage, vehicles, and do a great sweep and spray down of the floor. This helps to remove all that dust, dirt, and grime that has built up over the winter months.
Extra Spring Cleaning Tips
A few extra tips and hints to help make your cleaning easier.
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Hidden Spots: These include the ceiling fans, switch plates, doormats, the outside of your front and back doors, inside your cabinets, and even your pots and pans.
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Cleaning Tools: your cleaning tools will save you from unnecessary headaches. Invest in a good cleaning cloth rather than paper towels as this will not leave a film or streak when wiping down stainless steel, mirrors, glass (windows and stovetops) or anything else that has a shiny finish. You can find a detailed list of which tools to use on what and why right here.
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Cleaning Products: You do not have to go and invest in products that make all kinds of promises. Rather, diluted dish soap goes a long way, as does vinegar. That said, over here at Clean Club Calgary, we are a big fans of Bar Keepers Friend for when we need something over and above dish soap and vinegar.
This can seem like a lot and feel overwhelming. The key is to break it down, room by room, into smaller, more achievable tasks. Do not feel like you have to complete it all in one day or even in one weekend. For ease, we’ve created a Spring Cleaning Checklist to guide you. Simply download it below and work your way through it over the next month or so.
Of course, you may not want to do any of the spring cleaning yourself. That’s exactly why we’re here – to help with the deep cleaning. Know that there are some things we will not do, such as ironing (you can find these in the FAQ section of our website) but for the most part, deep cleaning is where our sparkle really shines!
If you’re ready to get the freshness of spring back in your home, but prefer to leave the elbow grease to us, then connect for a quote on deep cleaning. Our mops and cloths are ready and waiting!
What’s Your Cleaning Personality?
Leave it to me – a self-proclaimed lover of all things cleaning – to find an online quiz that helps me identify my own cleaning personality (fun note…I got “Neat Freak.” No surprises there!).
But, this fun little quiz got me thinking about the customers that Clean Club Calgary works with.
There are a few common traits that each of our clients has, but there are also very distinctive personalities and cleaning preferences we work with. The good news? We love them all!
So, for this month, I thought it would be fun to break down the more common personalities we come across and see if you can see yourself in any of them.
Common Cleaning Client Traits
Each of our customers is truly unique. However, they all have three key things in common:
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Trust. You trust us to do our job. To care for your home and property. Whether you’re there while we clean or not, you just trust us. And, you trust us to have an honest conversation to ensure that your clean is done the way you want.
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Timely. You pay for the services provided. And, you pay on time because you know that we are providing a service for you, giving you back your time to do the things you’d rather be doing.
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Respect. You respect our people and the profession that we are in knowing that, at the end of the day, we are removing chores that you simply do not like or have time for.
The Differences in Our Clients
Of course, what we truly love about our customers is how different each one is. Below are some of the differences we’ve noticed in the clients we work well with and have created solid relationships with.
See if you can spot yourself!
Pristine Home Owner
The Pristine Home Owner are those homes where we walk in and everything is organized. This is a very hard-working home that wants to enjoy time off rather than chasing dust bunnies (who doesn’t, really?). The reason you work with Clean Club Calgary is that, while you are organized, you want a consistent person to come in and complete the nitty-gritty elbow grease work.
Even more – you love the details that are considered. It’s not just about cleaning, ensuring things are scrubbed, sanitized, and disinfected. It’s about using both a damp and dry cloth to remove all dust for the extra sheen, along with specialized glass cloths to make your mirrors sparkle that much brighter. It’s about the pillows being fluffed, the bed made, and your accent carpet with its delicate fringes being placed “just so” after vacuuming.
You may or may not have kids. If you do, their rooms are their responsibility…and we are encouraged not to go into them. You are teaching your children to be responsible for their things in their space…because eventually, they will move out (if they haven’t already).
You love how easy and consistent scheduling is and simply trust us to be in your home, even when you’re not there.
Your home is your absolute pride and joy. We simply help you take the extra step to make it dazzle!
Get Someone In…NOW
Regular cleaning doesn’t always happen, but when you need it done, you need it done NOW! That is why you love working with a flexible company with a well-developed scheduling system and a solid cleaning process.
You are busy and cleaning is often the last thing on your mind. Not looking to have a regular cleaning date on your calendar, you know the Clean Club Calgary team can come in and simply know what to do. This is because you trust the system and customer preference profile we developed for you and your house so when you call, we’re ready!
The convenience of cleaning and scheduling is what is crucial for you as your life is very much lived “on-the-fly” and you need a team of professionals who can jump in at any moment.
Your home is your place to relax and when you realize it needs to be cleaned, you take action…and call Clean Club Calgary.
Weekend Cleaners
Oh, your week is filled to the brim and cleaning…well, that simply won’t happen between Monday and Friday. So, you spend your weekends going nuts, trying to clean everything while running around to complete ALL THE CHORES. You are so exhausted on Sunday evenings that you dread starting your weekly grind on Monday.
That is why you reach out to Clean Club Calgary – you want your weekends back to have time with your family, or to calmly complete your other chores, such as grocery shopping.
You want a partner who you can trust to be in your home so you can just relax, knowing that everything will be taken care of…including your exhaustion.
Our goal is to support you in getting out of the weekend cleaning mad dash. In fact, you often enjoy a Monday cleaning after the busyness of the weekend or even a Friday clean to allow you to just sit back and relax on your couch Saturday and Sunday!
What you really want is to know that your home will be taken care of, even if you’re not there. And this is what Clean Club Calgary always strives for – to build trust with you, giving you the space you need to be yourself.
Attentive Cleaner
You yourself do not like cleaning, but you love watching it being done. You know exactly what you’re looking for and want a cleaning relationship with a team that will listen and understand.
Your routine is very important to you, and you need cleaning professionals who respect this. Having consistency in who is in your home is crucial, which is why Clean Club Calgary connects you with a cleaner who you can trust.
You love that we have a system in place that identifies your preferences in cleaning so you do not have to repeat yourself and can simply enjoy building a relationship with your cleaner.
Your home is exactly how you want it. And that’s what we do.
Cleaning? Who Cares?
Throwing things in closets and hiding things under the bed – that’s your style of clean. If left to you, cleaning would never happen. You know it’s important, but investing in cleaning supplies just isn’t your idea of a good investment.
Investing in a cleaning team that doesn’t force you to understand “what is cleaning” is the perfect relationship. You know a clean space impacts your overall health…but it just is not a priority for you to spend your time understanding how or even what needs to be cleaned. That’s why you work with a cleaner. To take care of the chores you cannot – and will not – be bothered with.
You love your home, but you value your time so much more. You are just tired of the musk that hangs in the air and want to remember the freshness that was there when you first moved in.
Clean is Different for Everyone!
This includes the different cleaning personalities we work with every single day. What’s crucial to know is that we never judge any of the above. We are simply there to clean and meet the standards that we have set for ourselves.
The main thing is that we love and are able to work with each of the above personalities. We know the quirks of our customers and understand how to navigate between each one…without ever reducing the quality of our own cleaning expectations. That is what a quality professional cleaning company should do.
After all, at the end of the day, your home is your sanctuary and you should never feel out of place in it.
Are you ready to connect with a cleaning company that understands your specific cleaning style and needs? Then connect with us today as we are here to clean for you, exactly how you need us to!
Scrub A Dub-Dub: The Truth in How to Clean a Toilet
Cleaning the toilet. It’s something that must be done…but is rarely the chore that anyone raises their hand to complete.
Still, the toilet can cause health, well-being, and aesthetic problems when not properly cleaned. And, if it’s not done effectively, you’re putting yourself and your family at risk.
Today, we’re breaking down how to scrub the toilet to remove both the visible and the not so visible dirt and other particles (you know what I mean).
When Clean Club Calgary goes into a home, there are seven typical areas of the toilet that must be cleaned. That’s right, SEVEN!
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Toilet bowl
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Seat Cover
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Flush handle/buttons
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Tank
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Walls around the toilet
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Toilet lid
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Floor and baseboards and a possible carpet or area rug
And here you thought it was just cleaning the toilet!
So, how do we clean these well-used seats in every single home?
Well, it’s not pretty, but it starts by getting down on our knees for the best elbow grease power. Then, we tackle the toilet section by section.
THE TOILET BOWL
Every single inch of the bowl should be scrubbed…unfortunately many homes ignore this and do a quick swish of the toilet brush. But, because water and urine flow down the sides, when dried, it sticks and leaves behind germs.
THE TOILET SEAT
The seat itself does not have one or even two sides. It has four! Of course, it’s important to clean the top of the seat, but the bottom is often much dirtier due to sewage backsplash…that’s dried! It’s a serious hotspot for collecting germs and, if not regularly cleaned, these particles enter the air you breathe. Who wants that?
THE FLUSH HANDLE/BUTTONS
Yes – even the handle needs to be cleaned as everyone touches it, often with unwashed hands. The toothbrush comes in handy to get right into the tiny cracks of the handle. Here, Clean Club Calgary members also disinfect the handle over and above cleaning it because of the amount people who touch it.
THE WATER TANK
This is often hidden, so it makes sense to miss cleaning it. However, it doesn’t hurt to toss in a chlorine tablet from time to time to keep the tank clean and disinfected. If the tank is exposed, dust – especially toilet paper dust – will fall in. We also make sure that we always clean the top of the tank, along with the sides to remove any dust or backsplash that may have gotten away from you during your “private time.”
THE WALLS AROUND THE TOILET
I don’t want to scare you, but have you ever looked at the walls behind your toilet? They are dirty with both toilet water and urine. While you may have cleaned the toilet, if you’re not wiping down the walls around it, you’re leaving urine and fecal particles behind for you and your family to breathe in. Make sure you wipe down the walls!
THE TOILET LID
The lid itself must also be cleaned and disinfected (top and bottom) to ensure a true cleaning of the toilet.
THE FLOOR, BASEBOARDS, and CARPET
Much like the walls, the floors, baseboards and toilet area carpet (if you have one), must be cleaned. Plain and simple – gravity takes over when we use the washroom, causing splashing and overflow. Cleaning these are MANDATORY (I mean…many of us use the bathroom without socks or slippers…just think about what you’re stepping on for a moment). When Clean Club Calgary cleans, we vacuum and then handwash around the toilet to get the best results and sparkle.
Now that you know WHAT needs to be cleaned, let’s chat about the HOW.
YOUR TOILET CLEANING TOOLS
Gather all your tools ahead of time
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Toilet brush.
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Bucket of clean, hot water.
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Cleaning product. Dish soap with a splash of bleach in water will do the trick.
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Toothbrush (not the one you use on your teeth!!! A separate toothbrush solely for scrubbing nooks and crannies. Make sure you keep it separate from your actual toothbrush. No one wants to mix these up).
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Two cloths – one damp and one dry.
CLEAN YOUR TOILET IN 10 STEPS
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Fill the bucket with clean, hot water, and then add your cleaning product. We use dish soap and bleach as this cleans AND disinfects.
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Use the damp cloth to wipe down the toilet lid first, followed by the dry cloth. If there are any tough to remove stains, use the toothbrush to scrub them off. To use the toothbrush, dip it in your hot bucket water first to ensure there is disinfectant on it. When finished, run hot water on the toothbrush before putting it away for next time.
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Add your cleaning product directly to the toilet bowl and scrub with a good toilet brush. Then flush. Note – if you are a fan of bleach in your toilet do not mix it with the toilet bowl cleaner! This produces toxic fumes and is extremely harmful to breathe.
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Using the toilet brush, scrub under the rim of the toilet bowl. This is often overlooked, however, it is prone to black mould as urine/fecal splatter deposits here. If you have kids, they may put their tiny fingers here to hold onto while going and you do not want them touching this.
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Take your damp cloth and wipe down the toilet tank, along with the handle/buttons, followed quickly with your dry cloth to add some shine.
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Next up, the toilet seat itself! Start on the underside, at the back where the seat attaches to the bowl. Wipe down the whole seat; remember all four sides. Then follow up with your dry cloth. Again, if there are any super tough stains, use that toothbrush to scrub them off.
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Now, wash the outside of the toilet with the damp cloth, paying close attention to where the bottom of the bowl meets the floor. This is often where “drippings” collect. If needed, use your toothbrush here too.
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Wipe the back of the toilet and then behind it. This is where the water pipe connects to the wall and is notorious for catching lint and dust from toilet paper.
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Wipe down the walls and baseboards, removing those unsightly stains that have splashed onto them.
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Finally, clean the floor. I recommend doing this by hand rather than a mop to make sure your elbow grease removes any stains on the floor.
TIPS TO REMEMBER FOR A COMPLETE TOILET CLEAN
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It takes ~10-15-minutes to do a proper cleaning/disinfecting of the toilet alone. This is not a quick two-minute job. If it is, well…you’re fostering more grime, more urine, and more fecal particles that impact the quality of the air not just in your bathroom but throughout your entire home.
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Clean the toilet last so as not to spread the germs around your home.
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Always disinfect the toilet paper holder.
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Clean and disinfect the toilet brush and holder as well.
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Replace the toothbrush every so often, just as you do the toilet brush.
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Do not use the rags and sponges you use to clean the toilet anywhere else. If you do not want to throw them out, wash them with detergent at a high temperature. Even if you do this, still only use them to clean the toilet.
Not the quick swish you may have thought, but an in-depth technique to ensure your home’s “throne” is truly clean, keeping you and your family’s health intact.
Of course, even with all this information on how to properly clean your toilet, you may still not want to rush and tackle this chore. That’s exactly what Clean Club Calgary is here for – scrubbing toilets to keep you healthy and your home all sparkly.
To forget about cleaning the toilet, simply book Clean Club Calgary for this truly gross chore and we’ll do the dirty work for you.
Don’t worry – we’ve got the stomach for it!
How to Create a More Calming Home Using Colour
If you’ve been considering a home refresh for a while, but you still can’t decide on what you’d like to change, it’s time to go back to the basics. When was the last time you switched up the colour of your walls? Most people underestimate the power of colour to revamp a space and create a more peaceful, enjoyable environment. It turns out that the effect of surrounding colours is not just your imagination. There are psychological reasons why certain hues are more soothing than others.
When you maximize your knowledge of colour theory and opt for calming colors, you can make your home more zen with a low effort interior painting job. If you think about it, mixing up the colours of your walls from time to time is almost equally as important as maintaining an organized space. You can easily become complacent with the same colour palette, which might make you bored about your own home—which is supposed to be a beloved sanctuary.
How Does Colour Theory Work?
If you’re unsure about how changing the colours of your walls can affect your mindset, consider the concept of color theory. The principles of colour theory detail how humans interpret colour and how the visual effects of how colours match, clash and complement one another. By taking advantage of the qualities of different colour families, you can tap into the magic of colour theory and its psychological effects.
Just like an organized home helps your mind feel more at ease, certain softer shades are soothing. Have you ever noticed yourself gravitating towards pastels and neutrals when you’re stressed? It’s no coincidence. Many living rooms and bedrooms are neutrals and pastels because they are reassuring and tranquil. Many recommended colours for creating a relaxing home base are more neutral, less saturated shades.
Can You Really Reinvent Your Home With Paint Colours?
Fortunately, you can reinvent your living space with a relatively inexpensive, low-effort interior painting project. When you take into account the effect of colours on your mental state, it’s an incredible concept. Therefore, picking the right colors can be revolutionary in updating your home on a budget.
Paint colour has the potential to help you make your home into a comforting haven. Not only is it simple to repaint your interior walls, but it’s also proven to have an excellent effect on our mental health and overall wellness. As we’ve mentioned, it makes sense that soft pinks, blues, greens, and light purples contribute to a feeling of being at ease and grounded, whereas bright reds and yellows have the opposite effect. We’ll further elaborate in the next section.
How to Make Your Dreams of Calming Colors Come True
As you can see, making your home into a supportive, sanctuary-like environment can start with the colours you choose. One of the best things about incorporating stress-relieving colours into your home is that if you change your mind, it’s easy enough to start over and repaint.
Here’s a quick rundown of peaceful colours to consider:
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Purple: Authentic, confident, and promoting a sense of spirituality and alignment.
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Pink: Bright, joyous, and promoting a sense of expansion.
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Green: Refreshing, reviving, and promoting a sense of emotional balance.
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Blue: Relaxing, clearing, and promoting a sense of fluidity.
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Beige/Brown: Welcoming, warm, and promoting a sense of groundedness.
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Gray: Reassuring, polished, and promoting a sense of peace.
These various shades help promote a sense of calm and happiness throughout the house. Maybe the best part about updating your home by repainting your walls is that it’s an attainable project for any situation or budget. You probably won’t need a professional team’s assistance to paint your walls.
However, it does help to consider getting pros involved sometimes. HomeAdvisor is one website that has a wealth of free information and can connect you to local pros as needed. We hope you’ll enjoy more details on calming colours and some specific paint colours we’ve rounded up in the guide below.
The Materials You Need to Design an Easy to Clean Home
Any designer or contractor worth their weight should be informing clients about material details and lifespan. I believe that we need to offer this information – it’s part of the service aspect that we do!
– Jacqui Loucks, Jacqui Loucks Interior Design
Last month, I had the opportunity to chat with my colleague Jacqui Loucks of Jacqui Loucks Interior Design about the larger considerations for interior design that is functional, aesthetic, and easily maintained. The only hiccup?
She had SO MUCH AMAZING information to share, that I had to split her insights into two blogs! This month, we are going to dive a bit deeper into a few products and materials for interior design, helping you to make even more informed decisions when creating your dream space.
I personally learned so much from Jacqui about the role an interior designer has in supporting their clients to create the functional home and aesthetic they want, and how it relates to their long-term lifestyle goals post-renovation.
As a professional cleaning company, and a self-proclaimed “cleaning enthusiast,” I was naturally drawn to her insights on materials and how to ensure clients are satisfied long after the interior work is completed.
Sparkling Surfaces and Counters
As gorgeous as high sheen surfaces are (aka: shiny and reflective), they are not particularly easy to consistently return to their original glory.
After all, there are some finishes that are much more forgiving than others and high sheen…well that is just angst waiting to happen. This comes down to knowing that not all high sheen materials are created equal. The following are Jacqui’s recommendations for consideration when looking at adding a high sheen surface to your home.
Countertops: Countertops are hard-working task areas and the right performing materials must be considered for long term use. Jacqui recommends natural granite or man-made composite stone surfaces (e.g. caesarstone or equivalent) in a low-sheen finish. The density, or porosity, of these materials makes them less susceptible to nicks and scratches. The natural, organic patterns of granite are not only beautiful, but they help to conceal any mishaps that could occur over time. The composite products have anti-microbial properties that stop any bacteria or harmful germs from harbouring on the countertop surfaces.
Cabinets: High sheen or glossy cabinets are a gorgeous aesthetic! The rub? They tend to act as reflective mirrors. This means that they must then be cleaned as such because they’re prone to fingerprints, dust, and sunlight. The best result for high-gloss cabinets is to specify an autobody paint finish, which increases the hardness and durability of the cabinet fronts.
Jacqui shares, “if the client wants a high sheen look, we would definitely specify finishing the millwork with an autobody paint finish, as there is a better degree of hardness to keep it more scratch and fade resistant. What’s important to note is, they are NOT resistant to everything.” Meaning, the high sheen may capture sunshine and reflect light more harshly at different times of the day. Most of the time, this can be managed with window treatments and/or dimmer switches. What I personally respect about Jacqui is that she feels that it’s crucial for interior designers to share this information with clients as it helps them understand how products perform once installed.
Appliances: Stainless steel is truly one of my favourite looks when it comes to appliances. BUT, not all stainless steel is created equal. Therefore, not all stainless steel will be easy to clean…and our team knows this from cleaning A LOT of stainless steel. This comes down to understanding the gauge and finish of the steel. The best guidance here is to “test-drive” your options in the showroom before purchasing, and invest in the best quality stainless steel for your budget. This includes knowing what your budget can afford and what to expect of the products once they’re installed.
If you are not keen on stainless steel appliances, Jacqui loves – and often recommends – adding millwork panelling to fridges and dishwashers fronts, when possible. This not only offers a seamless and cohesive look to a kitchen, but you also won’t have to worry about fingerprints on stainless steel every time you use your fridge. Of course, while there are other material options to consider for appliances, stainless steel is one of that is most common ones we come across in our Clean Club Calgary clients’ homes.
Sinks: Similar to appliances, I love a quality stainless steel sink. It is an excellent product that is anti-microbial and repels germs…Who wouldn’t love that?! Like stainless steel appliances though, there are different gauges and finishes based on the manufacturer, so it’s important to understand the best option and performance for your lifestyle and budget.
All in all, if you love the look of high sheen surfaces, then you should have them and embrace them for all they do! Just know that they tend to have a bit more maintenance to them.
Flooring for Your Feet and Vacuum
Floors can be a professional cleaner’s best friend or our absolute worse nightmare depending on the type of material installed.
Selecting appropriate flooring materials is an important aspect to consider when renovating or building new. For instance, a hard, flat surface is typically easier to maintain than a material that is highly textured. There are several surface options in a variety of budgets to choose from to ensure you get the best floor for your needs. A few of the more common ones that we come across in our daily cleanings are:
Natural stone tile: Limestone, granite or marble flooring is absolutely stunning to look at. To help maintain these surfaces, there are excellent sealants out there to protect them so you don’t have to worry (as much) about scratches or staining. However, even if they are sealed, absolutely NO HARSH CHEMICALS should be used on natural stone. Knowing this will save you from accidentally causing harm to your stone floor and impacting its lifespan and look.
Hardwood: As beautiful as dark, shiny hardwood floors are, they can be difficult to keep looking pristine, similar to high sheen cabinet surfaces. When selecting hardwood floors, consider a finish that has a low sheen finish and a wood species hardness rating that works best for your lifestyle. For instance, if you are an active family and/or have large pets, avoid softer wood species, such as walnut. Rather, opt for a harder wood, like hickory, oak or maple.
A low-sheen finish and lighter stain colours are typically better at concealing surface scratches and can give you some extra time by not needing to maintain a glossy shine by mopping every day. Lately, many hardwood manufacturers are offering highly textured or distressed options for you to consider. The installed look of these is gorgeous, but it is important to know that the more distressed the flooring finishes are, the more opportunity there is for dirt to hide in, therefore requiring more elbow-grease with each cleaning.
Bathrooms with Grout, not Grit
Next to the kitchen, bathrooms are the most used room in the house (…sometimes, they’re used a whole lot more!)
When cleaning bathrooms, it is evident that not all tiles (and grout!) perform the same way.
Below are some simple guidelines that Jacqui uses when selecting tiles for any bathroom project:
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Large-format tiles are a favourite go-to size. Not only will this reduce the number of grout lines required, but this larger size also looks more luxurious and seamless.
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Avoid highly textured tiles where mould and mildew love to live when wet.
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The choice of grout is just as important as the choice of tile.
Diving deeper into this topic, Jacqui let us know that not all grout will perform the same way. Spaces like bathrooms require a grout that has stain and humidity resistant capabilities (epoxy or high-performance grouts).
If a standard porous grout is used in a bathroom, it will hold onto moisture and be prone to mildew and mould. When cleaning, no matter how hard and how many times you scrub, this type of grout discolours in wet spaces. Also, if scrubbed too hard and too much, the likelihood of the grout breaking down increases, negating all effort you put into making your bathroom beautiful.
Other recommendations and thoughts on bathroom maintenance:
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Consider adding a water softener to help minimize hard water and mineral build-up on tile and glass within your shower and tub areas.
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Know how often you are going to clean your bathroom as a once a week cleaning requires a different level of effort than every two weeks.
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Smaller tiles add more texture and can add to your cleaning time.
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Natural stone requires applications of sealant more often, making it a bigger commitment to maintain. There are many porcelain tiles that are as convincing as natural stone without the maintenance.
The main takeaway that I took from Jacqui is that there are excellent choices for all your aesthetic goals to give you the best results that you’re looking for. Understanding how your materials need to be maintained and how they will perform once installed are the best questions to ask while you’re in the process of your renovation or build. An experienced interior designer and your general contractor would be the best resources for these answers.
There is so much more to interior design than making a home aesthetically pleasing. A professional interior designer will create solutions to support a better function of your home while helping you understand the quality and performance of the materials being installed within your budget. This allows you to make better-informed decisions, giving give you more peace of mind that you are getting it right the first time.
If you are ready to turn your home into the functional and beautiful space you want, connect with Jacqui to learn more about the details to get you there.
If you are happy with your home and are ready to live in it without the stress of cleaning it, connect with me to see how Clean Club Calgary can clean for you!
How to Have Gorgeous Interior Design that Cleans with Ease
The beauty of cleaning people’s homes? Seeing the creativity that went into designing it.
I love interior design. The concepts; flow; personality; and aesthetic. BUT every now and then, the Clean Club Calgary team comes across a gorgeously designed interior that is next to impossible to bring its original sparkle back.
Confused about why something would be designed so beautifully, but so difficult to maintain, I connected with my colleague, Jacqui Loucks of Jacqui Loucks Interior Design, to get into the mind of a professional interior designer.
The first thing Jacqui shared?
“Great design must be able to function first. Interior design is always function first. Always.”
Even the most well-designed home, if not easy to maintain, quickly loses its allure.
Function First. Always!
Just like cleaning, there is always a method to the madness. “Before we even start figuring out products, heights, colours, etc., we have to start at the MACRO level of the design’s purpose, and then move into the micro details from there,” Jacqui shares.
This means digging in and understanding your lifestyle, your expectations for cleaning and maintaining your home’s design, and how you actually function within your home. In other words, will the new elements installed in your home cause you headaches, or improve your life as you move through your home?
Consider this…if you are drawn to stonecast or granite composite sinks (lovely!), it’s not simply a matter of finding, and then installing, a stonecast sink. This type of sink is touted as having great durability. Its surface, however, is textured and pitted, making it harder to clean. It also tends to show water mineral stains – especially in hard water cities, such as Calgary. Knowing this, are you prepared for the effort and maintenance to keep the same awe and beauty you had, before first use?
Should you still want that stonecast sink, Jacqui recommends two additional installs: install a water softening system and a pull-out spray nozzle on your kitchen tap for rinsing/eliminating particles after each use. There are also other excellent sink choices for high-task areas, such as the kitchen. Knowing your lifestyle helps the designer direct you to options that are the best fit for you.
Glass Can Be Our Friend!
It’s no surprise that I love seeing glass spotlessly sparkle and mirrors magnificently reflect. This is something I take pride in and have invested in products for my team’s use. We love adding sparkle back into our clients’ lives.
Yet, untreated glass or anything with a high sheen surface – such as stainless steel or glossy cabinet doors – can quickly become a source of frustration. When function, maintenance, and long-term expectations are not discussed prior to ordering and installing the products, there can be regret knowing that there were better options.
Passionate about this very thing, Jacqui states, “As designers – we MUST address what to expect when it comes to the later maintenance of the products installed POST construction…This comes down to understanding what materials and finishes would be best suited for the occupants using the space.”
So, what can you do if you love the spotless glass look but hate the smudged glass look?
“There is tempered glass that has these sealants and applications. These sealants, however, must be applied at the factory prior to the installation,” shares Jacqui.
The applications, known specifically as hydrophobic or oleophobic sealants, help limit fingerprints, smudges, and watermarks. Knowing that there’s an option for this BEFORE shower glass walls or glass railings are installed, the client can make more informed decisions about products that can significantly reduce the upkeep or maintenance when they are consistently used daily.
Design Today for Tomorrow’s Expectations
An interior designer like Jacqui ultimately saves you time, creates functional design solutions (that you likely didn’t even know existed!), and will recommend beautiful finishes within your budget to receive that gorgeous house you’re so proud of. The up-front planning and decisions made within the design process are critical paths for the best outcomes when renovating or building new.
Understanding your long-term commitment to maintaining the design, helps you receive the right product or material choice for your budget. This allows for better expectations for what to invest in cleaning – either in personal energy and time or budgeting for a residential cleaner.
An interior designer should be there to support you in creating the home you want for the budget you have. This also means aligning with the right contractors who have the experience and knowledge to correctly build and install the intention of the design while engaging you in the decision-making process. An interior designer’s role is not only to project manage these details for a beautiful outcome; it is to present the best products, materials, and design decisions that reflect your priorities, lifestyle, and budgets.
There is so much more to interior design than what most people think. As Jacqui stated, good interior design should always prioritize function first. Then when combined with a commitment to maintaining the beauty and the function, your house will become – and stay – the home of your dreams.
If you are beginning your interior design journey, I highly recommend connecting with Jacqui to make it that much easier. Start a conversation on what to consider over and above the look. Send her a message right here.
If you’ve already designed the functional home of your dreams and require support to make it sparkle again, message me for a quote! Cleaning is one of my favourite topics!
How to properly kill all dust bunnies invading your home
You would think that scrubbing grime from toilets would be a cleaner’s least favourite job. But, I’m here to tell you that in reality, it’s dusting.
Dust – our sworn enemy. Our never-ending foe. Every time we think we’re finished, there’s always more. It’s so seemingly simple to remove…but the truth is giving a quick wipe down does not, in fact, provide a quality dust nor clean. Now that you’ve got me started on this topic, we’re going to dive even further into the hidden world of dusting.
DUST: YOUR HOUSEHOLD PET “BUNNY”…OR ENEMY?
Be aware – knowing what is dust, is not for the faint of heart. Yes, dust is dirt. But, it is also a mixture of sloughed-off human skin cells (and animals if those are in your home), hair, bacteria, dust mites and their feces, teeny bits of dead bugs, soil particles, pollen, clothing fibre, and even microscopic specks of plastic.
It gets worse. All of these organic items attract a number of the pollutants and chemicals we use in our homes. So, in addition to the soil from our shoes, we also have a concoction of pollutants, metals, chemicals and more…all adorably called a “dust bunny.”
Calling it a bunny does not make it any cuter, nor something to keep as a pet. The only way to get rid of the microscopic grub is to grab your microfiber cloth and vacuum and dust.
HOW TO ACTUALLY DUST YOUR HOME
As much as they accompany the Halloween “maid” costume, feather dusters do not work. They merely stir up the dust, allowing all those microscopic organisms to settle back onto furniture and other objects in the room.
Now that’s out of the way, let’s continue, shall we?
1. Dust top to bottom
Start at the top and work your way down. First, dust your ceiling fans and vents, working your way down to furniture tops, bookshelves (including the items on these), and furnishings. Finally, end with the floor.
Top to bottom dusting tip: if you have a lot of dust and pet hair already on the floor, I recommend doing a quick vacuum to start.
2. Dusting standing furniture
Use a damp cloth soaked in water with a bit of dish soap. This will remove any contaminants over and above the dust. For Clean Club Calgary’s dusting protocol, we make sure to remove all trinkets from the furniture prior to starting. We then wipe both the shelf and the individual items separately. After everything is free of dust, we put them back right where they belong!
Furniture dusting tip: do not forget to dust the top of cabinets and other shelving units. Dust LOVES to hide up there.
3. Dusting upholstered furniture
Beneath every soft, cushiony surface lies those dust mites and lint collectors. While it is recommended to have your upholstery cleaned once or twice a year, the easiest way to maintain a dust-free couch is by washing it with a damp microfiber cloth. This is for either fabric or leather furniture. However, with leather furniture, be sure to apply a specific leather protector solution a couple of times of a year to keep it from drying out.
Upholstery dusting tip: use the furniture tool that came with your vacuum to get in the nooks and crannies of the sofa and other seating surfaces.
4. Dusting electrical appliances
I know – you wipe the dust off your screen and it’s almost as though it never happened. So frustrating!
To have a slightly longer dust-free screen – from your television to your laptop – wipe your screen with a good quality, slightly damp microfiber cloth. Afterwards, wipe down with a dry microfiber cloth to polish the surface up. Check out our own personal favourite cloth for polishing up screens, mirrors, and glass surfaces.
For items such as keyboards, you can remove dust by using a can of compressed air. The same can be done for remote controls (including game controllers) where itty pieces of dust particles get stuck within the keys.
Electrical dusting tip: tell your professional cleaners what should not be unplugged. It is our job to ensure we always dust 100% and part of this is unplugging all items to clean around them. If you have modems, alarms, or other crucial items that must remain plugged in, always include this direction for your cleaners.
5. Dusting houseplants
Dust traps. Extremely large dust traps. That is what houseplants are. And, they are inefficient to dust.
For live plants, the most effective way to dust them is to put them in the tub and bathe them, gently removing dust and grime from their leaves. In the summertime, take them outside and wash them down.
If you have fake plants – these are even worse dust collectors. The best way to remove the dust? Take them down once a year and soak them in warm water with a bit of dish soap. When done, lay them down on old towels to dry.
Houseplant dusting tip: If you choose to wipe the leaves of your plants, DO NOT use a cloth containing a chemical cleaner when wiping down live plants. This will kill them.
6. Dusting the floor
Last, but not least, we come to dusting the floor. This is best completed by vacuuming. If able, pull beds, cabinets, and other furniture away from the wall so you can access the hair and other dust clumps hiding underneath. For uncarpeted floors, once vacuumed, wash the floor. The type of product to use depends on the floor material itself. However, when in doubt, use warm water with a small amount of gentle dish soap.
Floor dusting tip: Every three months sprinkle your carpet with baking soda. Let it stand for 2 hours, and then vacuum. This helps to kill dust mites hiding in the carpet threads.
DUSTING IS A HEALTH MATTER
Knowing what is in dust, it’s no wonder why it makes us sneeze, cough, have our eyes water, and so much more. This is why dusting is crucial to every single cleaning job.
Dusting is a key element for ensuring a true quality clean.
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Frequency matters
Not all homes need to dust the same amount. That said, a good rule of thumb is to dust once a week. However, if you have allergies, live with pets, tend to track a lot of outdoors inside, and so on, you may need to up your frequency.
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Vacuum type
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: a central vacuum is the best vacuum AND the most effective way to remove dust. The suction power on a central vac is typically 70 – 100% higher than that of handhelds, ensuring that it removes dust mites and feces responsible for allergies. Of course, not all homes come with central vacuums. To learn how to vacuum so it doesn’t have to suck, visit our blog on vacuuming.
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Dust cloth material
As I said above – DO NOT use a feather duster. Rather, the best type of material to dust with is either a microfiber dusting cloth OR a non-synthetic dusting cloth. If using the non-synthetic cloth, you may have to soak this in water with a dab of dish soap and then ring it out prior to using it.
The thing about dusting is that, no matter what, it will always be a cleaning chore to be done. The best we can do today is know how to properly dust in a way that minimizes its impact on our individual health and make peace with our “house bunnies.” After all, they’ll be removed once a week!
Want some help staying on top of your dusting? Contact us for a quote today!