Blueberry Stains, I've got you covered!

Just thought of a small cleaning tip - apparently it is old knowledge, but I thought I would share it with you.  When my kids were small, I spent a lot of time with my mother'n law.  She hasn't been with us for the last 3 years as she has since passed on.  We do miss her.  She would often come and stay with us. |When I had each of my children, she was always there for the first couple of weeks to help us all settle in and adjust to our new situation.   Her presence was a God send for sure and I recognize how fortunate I was to have her with us. 

  Of course, when you spend a lot of time with a person who is at least 46 years your senior - you seem to learn a lot about them and their ways.  As a person who lived through the depression years of the 30's, the war time years of the  40's,  the victory years of the 50's and so on up until 2009, there is ton of accumulated knowledge - especially  in the areas of cleaning and household management. 

    This morning while putting together my smoothie for breakfast, I happened to get blueberry residue on my sleeve. I was reaching deep into a bag of frozen blueberries and my sleeve rubbed up against the side of the bag.

  We all know how difficult it is to remove strawberry and blueberry stains from our clothes, but I had a flash memory of what Jean had told me about blueberry and strawberry stains."BOILING HOT WATER", I remember her saying to me,"it works." This oneday, while she was visiting us, I somehow managed to get a mass of blue berry stains on a white tea towel and wondered if "Spray'n Wash" would get it out - I can't remember if I had tried that and had put the towel through the machine only to find that the stain hadn't been removed or if  I had just got the stain on the towel and was thinking about using this laundry aid.  Either way, Jean told me to boil some water.  I thought, "it wouldn't hurt to try".  Anyway, long story short, I poured the boiling hot water over the towel and voila! Stains were removed! Who would have thought? I am no chemist, but what an effective and natural way to remove a stain.  Raspberry, bumbleberry and strawberry (I am not sure about any other berries) stains can easily be removed with boiling water.  Be sure to test a small area of a garment first to check for colour fastness - I have only used this technique on articles that were cotton and hadn't any issues with colourfastness.

   Garments like white T-shirts, tea towels, sweatshirts - things made of cotton or some heavy duty polyester/cotton blends, this cleaning application should be effective with out any negative side effects.  Just chiming in this morning with  a cleaning tip from the "old school". I know this application works best for fresh berry stains and I believe it managed to effectively remove stains after they had set too - but those moments are fuzzy  for me - so I can't say for sure if it works great on set stains, but immediate stains, definitely.  Although we have good laundry aids on the market, this is good to know if we happen to be "out" of those products and need a quick fix. I am sure there will be a time when I need to share this with my children and their children in the years to come as I know that we all at some time or another will have "run ins" with fresh berry juices. At least for today,  I am relieved knowing I have just the thing for the blueberry goo on my sleeve!

When to draw the Line

My first client was a single Dad with 2 teenage children.  Their home was situated in a small country hamlet just outside our town. It wasn't a big house in the least - small 1300 sq. foot decently decorated split level home.  Easy place to do, you would think. This gentleman contacted me a few days after my friend and I had our combined cleaning/professional organizing businesses featured in our local paper.  I couldn't believe how soon after the article ran that we'd hear from anyone.  Well, this desperate gentleman was so happy to hear we had space for him in our schedule.

  I remember meeting with him and figured he's a nice guy who really needs domestic help - with two teenage kids, who wouldn't? .  Anyway, he introduced himself, his two dogs, He showed me around the house, not big, "do-able", I decided.

  He then proceeded to show me the note left by his previous cleaning ladies. Strange, I wondered why anyone would leave him a "nasty" note as he referred to it.  I read it, printed in red pen and CAPs: M, we've decided that we no longer can clean your house, we feel we're being taken advantage of and therefore won't be coming back. After many attempts to express how we feel and being ignored, we don't want to clean for you anymore." No signature, just the note. He says to me, "Can you believe this?" and me not really thinking, replied, "that's too bad, and yeah that's not very nice what they wrote" He looks at me with a look like, "yeah thanks for empathizing.". Never giving rise to a thought as to WHAT he must have done to deserve a note like this, I continued to learn more about his cleaning needs.  Surely, I thought, "they really must be nit-picky cleaning people" - his house at the time didn't appear to be in disarray.  Well, you'd think, and I have to admit I am not the "sharpest tool in the shed" - this is a bit of truth here, wish it were different for me, but because of my "people pleasing" personality, I seem to block out anything that may alert me to the fact that some people deserve what they have coming to them, that just maybe, they are "reaping what they've sown" -

   So at this moment, I am feeling bad for this single Dad with 2 teenage kids and a couple of cute dogs who has now been abandoned by his cleaning help. Most normal people would have pondered that note seriously, again most normal people with a SHRED of common sense and not a bleeding heart would have politely empathized with him but internally would have been completely re-assessing the situation they were entering into.  They  would have actually re-considered working for this guy.  No, NOT ME, newbie on the block, fresh out of the gate, green in the world of cleaning, bleeding heart(have to repeat this because it is so true!) needing the work, I think, "how bad could his house be that that these two ditched him and his cute puppies?"

       So I told him what I wanted for my rates and let him know that Mondays were free for me.  I'd be there at 9:30 and I could give him 5 hours as I wanted to be home for my kids after school - his home was 10min. ride from mine. He mentioned that I could let the dogs out and not to worry if they get under the fence and go away for a while, they'd come back.  Do you think I remembered what he had told me that first meeting? Of course not! 

First day I come to clean for him:

 

   I arrive to find a sink full of messy dishes, clothes all over his and his kids bedroom, the dogs had peed in places, the place in general was quite the untidy mess.  Good thing its a small bungalow - a bungalow that should have normally only needed a 3 hour or less clean,would definitely need the 5 hours allotted.  He knew he would need it!  Me, again, so green and yes, to be honest, I needed the money - 5 hours at 20 dollars an hours was great money for me at that time. That was more than anyone was making at the bank or retail - so heck yes, I didn't mind 5 hours at his place. Then, realizing the dogs need to be let out as they pined to be released, I let them out.  A period of time goes by and I figure the dogs need to come in, Ontario winters are not pet friendly. They were short haired breeds so I figured they would want to be let in.  I go to the back door, call for them.  I call, but cannot see a single movement in the yard.  I step out, there are no dogs to be seen.  Great, my first clean and I lose the owner's pets, this is truly just great! I get my boots and coat on and head out the front door - calling, walking up and down the street, the dogs are simply no where to be seen, no sign, no sound and I am feeling just sick to death.  I return empty handed, no pets, not sure what to say to M, but I know I need to let him know, 30 minutes of my time has passed - I am thinking I can't charge the man for this, I have lost his dogs!  I find my client's cell number - thank God he's left hat for me. I call him, and I am so upset - "Hi, M, everything is fine --er, well everything was going just fine and then I let the dogs out...um, B and R are missing - I let them out and they're gone, I am ...Amanda, I hear him say, "Remember our at our first meeting? Remember what I told you?

"Oh," details now coming back - slowly, yes, now I remembered.

"Remember how I told you, they are escape artists? No worries, they'll be back. Carry on, don't worry about it." Wow, what a relief, I say, to him, "ok, thanks, I'll carry on."   Details are fuzzy, I think they showed up at the door before I left or I just left and hoped they would be waiting for him when he go home.  This initial "clean" was a true indicator of what was in store for me over the next year while I worked therer - really, the note should have sent off alarm bells and me being me, completely ignored them.   

     In the year that I worked for this single Dad and his 2 kids, I cleaned up dog feces, cleaned out his fridge regularly, pulled apart his entire kitchen, chucked out old food and cleaned tons of dirty dishes, did the laundry, took down his Christmas tree, taped up wholes under the sink so that the mice couldn't get back in, yes, you heard that right.  I vacuumed up mice poo too! By now your'e thinking, I am not only NOT the sharpest tool in the shed, I must be "dullest".  Seriously, back then I wasn't familiar with Google - and blogging, I wish that I had been because I would have typed in keyword search: What is expected from professional cleaning agencies?"  I didn't do any kind of research as to what the general expectations were - I did work for local private cleaning lady for about 6 months before forging out on my own - when I took on this man, I did the things I was expected to do with her company and that was fine, but most of the houses we cleaned were nowhere near this type of "messy".

  I stayed with this client for about a year and a half - I was exhausted after cleaning his place and by the end I had had enough. Leaving broken beer bottles on the basement floor was truly a lack of respect - you'd think the dog poo and the pee would have been the deal breaker for me, but it was the broken glass that truly "did it".  I liked the dogs, I had a cat so I wasn't too grossed out, but the glass? He couldn't really control the dogs behaviour they did stuff when he wasn't home, but he definitely could have had the courtesy to clean up the glass.  If I had been smarter and less kind, I would have left this stuff for him to do - its hard because you're not sure what you're expected to cover and I needed the money too - I didn't want an unhappy client. I have since researched cleaning websites with information on how much to do, what not to do and what you can tolerate and how to deal with client's in general. 

   I would suggest that anyone cleaning houses go into any meeting with a client with a clear view of what you are able to offer and where you draw the line with some tasks.  Some things are simply the owner's responsibility, not yours. Since working for him, I leave the poo, I don't do laundry, and I don't deal with dead animals or mice droppings. Handling things like that are unsanitary. Unless you are deemed disaster relief, these things are in that category - hasmat suits, N95 mask, face guards are the type of equipment to deal with that sort of thing. I have had client's who have poorly cleaned up after a sick child and some that don't bat an eye when it comes to people puke - personally, I don't think its your job to clean up after people when they are sick - it too is unsanitary - truthfully, if the client really cares for you, they would never let you cover that kind of material.  However, messy toilets, well that's part of the job. 

     Just filling you in on my first experience with a client that required alot of time and care and certainly hadn't an ounce of respect for the people that kept his home. The nasty note from his former house cleaners - now I understood why they dropped him. I felt they did the right thing by saying good bye - at least they respected themselves and knew when to quit.  Can't say that for me - but in some ways, it was a good eye-opener and I stayed because I felt his daughter would benefit by company when she got home after school every Monday. (That's another story) When she left for postsecondary, that was when I said good-bye.  Today, if I had a similar client, he/she wouldn't last past the first visit....just saying:)

Cleaning Stainless Steel

     If anyone who has ever owned stainless steel appliances, they all know how difficult it is to clean them.  I love their look but they are a #$%%# to clean! So you may wonder what I use to get them looking brand spanking new!  Ok, I have tried a few cleaners, like Guardsman Stainless Steel Wipes, some natural ones like Ecomist's Stainless Steel Cleaner - but I found that they just don't do the best job.  I have tried Windex on some steel appliances and it worked but I notice it will eventually lose its ability to make the appliance look spotless in time.  Manufacturers don't recommend Windex or glass cleaners on stainless as well, but at one time I didn't know this.  It was all I had back then.  Some cleaners have odours and I would recommend using gloves - especially the aerosol forms of stainless steel cleaners like WD40 or Weiman's.

    I am not sure what provoked me to try this, but one time while at a client's, who's house should be featured in Better Homes and Gardens, I was cleaning her natural stone counter tops.  The manufacturer gave her mineral oil - just simple mineral oil - to wipe over the stone to give a bit of a sheen and to keep it conditioned.  Stone anything is pretty hard to wreck but it can be it can sometimes be dull looking. (**Bleach can stain it, as well as red wine - so be careful! Did I mention wet iron skillets - be sure to dry them!**) The countertop was black with natural lines of grey running through out.  In some places where there was a lot of use - areas near the sink and stove and that required a lot of wiping down, these areas had become a lighter grey shade. The manufacturer provided her mineral oil to gloss them up. I found it did the trick and restored them close to their original shade of black.

  While wiping along the edges of the counter top I happened to swipe the surface of the stainless steel dishwasher too.  Hmm, I noticed a real sheen on the area I had hit. I thought, maybe I'll try and do a little larger area.  So with a dry cotton cloth and an little of the oil, I gave spot on the dishwasher a larger swipe in the DIRECTION of the grain.  Wow, it was looking really good.  So with a little more oil applied to the dry cloth - taking a chance on all of them,  I swooshed over all the appliances - microwave, refridgerator and wine fridge and hood range - unbelievable - just like new! Everything looked finger print, smudge mark, liquid drip free!

    My client was impressed and she continued to use the oil when she needed it in a jiffy to touch up her kitchen before company came.  She did however mention that if you use too much oil the surface will smudge easily and had requested that I use less the next time I visited.  I would suggest going over the appliances again with a clean dry cloth to get any excess oil off.  So, this began my love affair with mineral oil and stainless steel. 

  I have looked for mineral oil in the grocery store - I am sure it is there but somehow, I haven't seen it. The bottle my client had came from the countertop suppliers - I haven't had time or remembered to ask her who they are or where their shop is located.  But I have found a substitute - BABY OIL  works just as well - I gather baby oil is pretty much mineral with a powdery scent.  Baby oil comes with me to all the houses I do that have stainless steel appliances. I would suggest that if you attempt this make sure you test it out in an inconspicuous area first - not all stainless steel surfaces are the same - not sure of the differences, but some manufacturer's coat their products with their own sealant - as I had found out with one lady's fridge - it was like strips of a clear substance had started to peel off?  I am not sure what that material was and at the time I didn't know about the mineral oil.  I wished I had, because I think the oil would have fixed the surface of her refridgerator. With repetitive cleans, the fridge's surface sort of healed itself but it was frustrating that it took so long to make it look like new again.

   I would recommend that if there is excessive debris and sticky gunk, as in 3D matter, on the outside of the stainless appliances that you wipe the excessive material off with a cloth soaked in warm water so that the surface is technically free of any dirt.  Dry the surface and THEN APPLY the oil to a dry clean cotton (cotton works best - especially flannel) cloth. Working in the direction of the grain and voila, the surface will be like it was before you brought it home! 

     Who knew that baby oil, and if in a pinch - olive oil too, would work so well?  Baby oil is great on stainless steel.  Happy Cleaning!

Best Degreaser! Ecomist's Degreaser works amazing!

  Just have to share with you about a fabulous DE-GREASER that I have found.  ECOMIST has its own "de-greaser" concoction - I don't know alot about the Ecomist product line, but their site claims they are "food grade". I wouldn't suggest eating or drinking their product, but you can trust that the ingredients are definitely non toxic.  Made from grains, potatoes, coconut extract, filtered water and tea tree oil and corn extracts, these products haven't any odour and are safe on bare skin. I have to express my excitement when I used this product on one of the dirtiest homes I had ever been asked to clean.

      My longtime friend, K., had just moved into a "reduced price" newer home in one of our town's blooming communities; a young age of 8 months, just a baby,  you would expect the place to not be too bad for dirt, it was so new!  The agent assured her he had it cleaned. Well, you could say, this simply wasn't the case, the former occupants, tenants, obviously hadn't a problem living with dirt! This is hard to believe, but the layers of dirt to be found in this place made me wonder if an episode of hoarders had been filmed there. You could imagine her horror when she claimed it. Of course, the place had been cleaned out of all their stuff, but the debris...seriously, who has the nerve to leave a place in that condition?  No wonder it was a "deal"!  Apparently this upscale modern home had housed a few cats, dogs, and a lizard or two.  Not sure if my friend had mentionned a snake and birds as well - wow, who knew you can have your own zoo in our town? The agent who sold the place to my friend assured her that he had it professionally cleaned - wow, if these people had been paid, they should be up on criminal charges for stealing - it's obvious they didn't even show or were they visually impaired? In which case, should they be allowed to drive?

  My "partner in grime" and I started into this house like a White Tornado (my company name) in a flurry of activity. We came to a halting stop when we came upon the puddles, and I mean puddles of cooking oil caught on the stove top and in the hood range light covers. It looked like it had been raining cooking oil on the wall behind the stove.  What we were going to use for this unbelievable greasy mess?  Who cooks with that much oil?  They had a gas range. I am surprised there wasn't evidence of a kitchen fire!  I would normally use Fantastik on this but my friend is an eco-minded consumer and really didn't want her favourite cleaning friends to inhale the toxic fumes from the regular fair of environmentally unfriendly cleaning products.  She had kindly went out and purchased a whole new line of cleaners we hadn't used before. 

    Well, what were we to do? We needed big help. We needed a tough cleaning agent that would cut through this oily swamp. Ecomist De-Greaser was all we had.  Crossing fingers, we forged on. We READ the label and tried it out.  Well, long and behold - hallelujahs going through my head (not out loud, or my cleaning partner may have wondered if the fumes, even though the products were natural, were getting to me) the stuff WORKED and worked well.  I sprayed and yes, almost used the entire bottle - we did the wood cabinets, the stove top, stainless, steel, the counter tops, under the sink, inside the cupboards, the baseboards, backsplash and yes, the dreaded lamp covers sopping with cooking oil, and  hood range. Unreal, "who uses this much cooking oil?"we wondered. I won't even try to imagine what their meals were like, who needs to dine at a greasy spoon when you can drown your food in oil at home?  Yes, my "partner in grime", Em, (I repeat it because I love the saying) we were overjoyed and relieved because we really weren't sure how to battle this oily disaster! 

    My friend, was ecstatic too.  This house took us almost 30 hours to clean! Yes, 30 hours for an almost brand new, 3000 sq ft. house! Well ECOMIST, your environmentally friendly and superior DEGREASER saved the day! As well, your cabinet and floor cleaners did a pretty good job too!

    Now, my delightful friend who owns this house has it completely redeemed and renovated - its a showstopper - she is an intierior Decorator - so we would expect no less for her home. (you must check out her site - www.CREATIVEINTERIORDESIGNS.com or her fan page on FB: Creative Interior Designs.) Thanks to you, ECOMIST and alot of elbow grease (not cooking oil - lol), this transformation could and did happen and my friend and her family are all breathing better and living better because of it! 

One of those Days ...We all have them!

Have to share this entry - it happened 2 summers but it was just one of those days you can't forget.
One summer day in 2011...
"Right now I am supposed to be at a client's house cleaning but as the morning progressed things just weren't going to accomodate this plan. I clean houses during the day but at night I create things with polymer clay - well, let me tell you a late night fling staying up until the wee, wee hours of the morning - two nights ago has wreaked havoc on my daily schedule for today - I guess I am getting too old to pull all nighters. I desparately wrestled with getting out of bed this morning - personally, I shouldn't have even been on the road but I did manage to drive my daughter to school - she had to make her own lunch.
When I returned home, I grappled with what my set of daily tasks were and everything was just too blurry to remember, so I tramped my way back upstairs and just laid down. I thought if I just read something inspirational maybe that would rouse me from my slumberous state. "Just 15 minutes, its all I need", I kept telling myself - I have to get to M's by 10:30. Ten AM arrives and I am still not up and about - just slightly awake, I rouse myself and realize I have to motor - has the dog been fed? I have to call my friend who was scheduled to walk with me later. She needs to know I am running behind and won't be able to join her later. I must eat something, pack a lunch. I have people to email and update - time is of the essence and my body is just not responding. I call my friend, her husband answered - she was out - I can't even put a proper sentence together - he probably thinks I am "on" something. I rush around, grab my cell, my cleaning schmock, purse, sunglasses - checked to see if the dog had food - finally out the door. I jump in the van, then stop, peer through my rearview mirror to catch a glimpse of what's in the back, "yep the cleaning stuff is there," I vaguely remember. Thank God.

I am on the road now, thinking, "I can do this! I'll be at my client's house in 20 minutes - I will do my 5.5 hours of cleaning and I'll be back just in time to get Emma from Rugby, rush home and get her ready to scoot up to Barrie for an acting class. So far so good, I can do this!"

Things are fine when I get to my client's - it's around 11:00 am - no one's home - good, I get more done when no one's there - no need to explain why I am late - I unload my van with my stuff - vaccum cleaner, mop, bucket, basket of cleaning supplies and promptly head up to the door to let myself in - hmm, where's the key? Where is the key, where are my client's keys! Memory starts to fill in - keys, on the chain with the others, where are the...memory flash, the key is on the key chain that's still hanging with the others, where, I rummage through my supplies, check my pockets, look in my purse, no keys, memory is fuzzy, yes, as the dawing realization materializes, "omg, are you serious?" I ask myself - they're 25 minutes away hanging in my foyer! Great! It's now 11:30 am - I have to do something - I ring the door - no answer - well, of course, this could be the case because there aren't any cars in the drive way - hey, one must always be hopeful. OK - what about the garage - I hate to do this but just maybe the garage entrance is open - I manage one of the doors and voila - it opens up - just maybe I am in luck. But is the laundry room entrance unlocked? After rummaging through the obstacles in the garage I go for the door - it's locked. So, now I guess I am going home to get the key - do I want to make another trip out this way and do only a partial clean? I have to weigh the options - tomorrow I have a morning client I can try to fit M. in the afternoon. It will be a late day tomorrow by the looks of it. Of course, I scour my cell phone contact list to see if I have M's work number - nada - n/a - of course, isnt' this how it always happens when you need something most?
In the van - going home - my thought processes goes something like this, "there's a vision of Donald Trump and I am in the board room and he simply says to me, "you're fired!" That's what I am thinking - "fired from life" - All because I stayed up late two nights before - probably didn't eat right last night and today I am paying the consequences.
I get home - my dog who is obviously mad at me for not taking her for a walk had a "joyfest" with all my garbage and recycling material and has so kindly decorated my house with it. I recoil in total disgust - do I want to love up my cute little dog at this moment or do I want to "yell"at her? but as she's lying there with all paws in the air with a look of " I know I have been bad but I am so CUTE! and so defenseless. Really, I am so damn CUTE, how can you be mad at me?". She seems to know what I am thinking and yes, I can't be mad and besides look at what a mess I made of my day - sleeping in, forgetting my key... I roll my eyes, utter something like, "bad dog" - barely - I haven't much energy to even "chew her out".

I call my client - she's so empathetic - I love this woman - she has to be one of the kindest souls I know in this world - she explained how the day before for her was like mine today. She's visiting with her brother for a few days and she soon found that she had packed the wrong clothes for the weather and had brought a pair of jeans she thought were hers. At first glance, she thought to herself when she first put them on, "Wow, miracle weight loss!" and soon realized she had taken her husband's jeans.. She too began to see that her day just wasn't going to be "right" from the "getgo". Thank you M. for knowing and understanding my "flurried" state of mind. She kindly told me to have a nice cup of tea and to get some rest.

So here I am relaxing - still feeling guilty - I must get working as I have a workshop to host next Tuesday at a private boys school - I must get the clay and the project that we're going to do prepared for them.
I know that life is about finding a rhythm and that planning ahead is essential to stress free living. (well at least a little less stress) Obviously, great in concept, but rather hard to execute - I am living proof of this! Anticipating how to approach the day's events - organization and discipline are admirable pursuits; like not staying up so late that you can't FUNCTION right for the the next day or two. I know some people are wired differently and they seem to have more "wiggle room" in their schedules (or they're stoked on Red Bull) but I am realizing that I need to be more structured and that I must have good night's sleep if I am going to get anything done well and to plan ahead. I need to learn to be ready the night before - all the things your Mom taught you and you never listened to, well, take a mental note: Go to bed early, eat well and plan ahead - my friend has this saying, "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man prosperous and wise". You know what, I need to make that my mantra until I get it right:)

Cheers and make sure you get some decent "shut - eye".

Amanda