Original Cleaning Blog

Dealing with Smoke Residue

cigarette in ashtray

Smoking indoors at any public place, whether it be in the office or at a restaurant, has been banned in Toronto for several years now. The ban was put into place to protect the health of the general public, but form a Professional Janitorial Company’s point of view, other more practical benefits exist.

What makes cigarettes so addictive is their composition. Smoking releases ingredients into the air, including tars, resins and nicotine. These particles float around for a bit then settle on surfaces around teh room, like the windows, furniture and even ceilings. Accumulation of particles creates a film that becomes a disgusting yellow, thickening with further smoke. It also attracts other airborne pollutants, offering them a sticky surface to easily adhere.

The janitors at Original Cleaning are far too familiar with smoke residue. While the ban has significantly reduced the number of establishments that require this type of cleaning, there are still some places that require smoke residue clean up.

Cleaning Smoke Residue

Smoke gets everywhere and to maintain a clean environment with better air quality, residue from cigarette smoke must be removed. Air cleaning equipment definitely can help, such as odour neutralizers and carbon filters, but they can be expensive to install and maintain. On top of that, residue will still form on surfaces and must be tended to.

For surfaces that are smooth and non-porous, like tables and glossy walls, a solution of warm water, white vinegar and a few drops of dish soap will help. Wipe with a clean rag and dry with another. This can also help with windows.

Porour surfaces, like upholstery, drapes, and other fabrics should be vacuumed thoroughly, then cleaned following the most suitable method (dry cleaned or we tcleaned with appropriate cleanser).

Acoustic ceiling tiles that are heavily soiled cannot be cleaned sufficiently and must be replaced, therefore they should be tended to on a regular basis.

Removing the smoke residue is a time consuming task that is also expensive. If you can’t kick the habit, it’s better for indoor air quality, hygiene and interior furnishings to smoke outside.

Natural Air Fresheners

Air fresheners available on the market today contain a host of chemicals to make the air smell “better”. In spray or “plug in” form, the term air freshener is really a misnomer since they serve more to mask undesirable odours rather than freshen them.

The following ingredients are always present in your average air freshener product: petroleum distillates, p- dichlorobenzene, formaldehyde, and aerosol propellants. Petroleum distillates are designated as volatile organic compounds (VOC) and are commonly found in pesticides. P- dichlorobenzene is used in insecticides and exposure can have a negative impact on the body both short and long term. Research on formaldehyde has shown that long term exposure can cause nasal sinus cancer. A typical aerosol propellant is Di Methyl Ether, which has been shown in research as having a negative impact on reproductivity.

A true air freshener improves air quality. In addition to general cleaning, the best way to improve indoor air is by plants, according to research conducted by NASA. They add oxygen and remove a number of pollutants, including formaldehyde and trichloroethylene.

Improving indoor air quality should be a concern for any home or working environment. Although it may not have an impact immediately, breathing bad air on a regular basis can seriously affect your health, causing respiratory problems, infections, and headaches.

NASA found that tropical plants that survive in areas of low light are the best in removing gases. A combination of the following plants should be used, since some are better at eliminating specific types of pollutants than others. To be precise, an area of up to 2,000 square feet should contain a minimum of 15 of these plants, potted in containers larger than 6″.

1. Philodendron scandens ssp. oxycardium, commonly known as the heartleaf philodendron
2. Philodendron domesticum, commonly known as the elephant ear or spade leaf philodendron
3. Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana’, commonly known as the corn plant or cornstalk dracaena
4. Hedera helix, commonly known as the English ivy
5. Chlorophytum comosum, commonly known as the spider plant
6. Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig’ or Janet Craig dracaena
7. Dracaena deremensis `Warneckii’, or Warneck dracaena
8. Ficus benjamina, commonly known as the weeping fig or Benjamin’s fig
9. Epipiremnum aureum, commonly known as the golden pothos
10. Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa’, commonly known as the mauna loa, spath or peace lily

Using these plants will truly freshen the air. You’ll certainly notice a difference!

3 Tips to Get Your Oven Clean

When it comes to the oven, harsh detergents and toxic cleanng agents have always been the norm for getting it clean. They’re effective, often inexpensive and most all easy. But they can also be lethal, containing a slew of carcinogens that can seriously harm you and your family.

At Original Cleaning, we are committed to using environmentally friendly products and techniques. We steer clear of nasty products, even when we have to clean ovens. To clean ovens, here’s what we often do instead, at home and at the workplaces we provide janitorial services for.

1. At home, deal with spills as soon as they happen after the oven cools. Wipe spills with a rag and plain water so taht it doesn’t have a chance to get seriously caked on during the next chicken you roastr. Use diluted non-toxic dish soap if it’s oily. You might need a little elbow grease to  get rid of the mess, but it’s well worth the effort when faced with the toxic alternative.

Wipe the mes clean after you’ve scrubbed it, using a microfibre cloth or something super absorbent.

2. Use the self cleaning button. Switch it on and open some windows (since it can get a little smelly). Afterwards, let the oven cool and wipe away the debris that’s left. Following this step makes it easier to deal with serious messes.

It’s best to use this technique after you’ve used the oven, since it’ll be hot already and won’t take so long to heat up to the self cleaning temperature (which is usually up to 900 degrees farenheit!)

3. Use a steam cleaner to target messess. The power of steam will erase caked on messes without any cleanser. Just wipe away what’s left over when done.

But of course, the best way to prevent caked on messes from happening in the first place is by simply placing dishes filled with food onto larger baking sheets. That way, any spills will fall onto the baking sheet, which is far easier to clean than the oven!

When Cleaning Goes Bad: Eight Mishaps Resulting From Well Intentioned Stupidity

There aren’t a lot of people who enjoy cleaning things, so anyone tackling a project as seemingly simple as removing a dishwasher stain, or as advanced as cleaning out a cement mixer, should be commended for their can-do spirit. That being said, there are some ideas for going about this that are simply better on paper, and make you wonder what in the world these people were thinking in the first place.

Using Windex on a DLP

Sure it gets smudges like any other surface, but using glass cleaner is a huge no-no. The liquid will be sandwiched between the screen and the protective plastic, and you’ll be left with an awesome streak across the bottom of the TV that’s way more distracting than any finger prints.

Instead, try using a microfiber dust cloth.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/this-is-why-you-shouldnt-clean-your-hdtv-with-windex-251527.php

Cleaning Your Keyboard with a Vacuum and Goo Gone

While compressed air is the generally accepted method, if you’re thinking it would be a good idea to bust out the Dyson and suck up those crumbs from the bagel you just finished, it might be best to reconsider. As discussed here a powerful vacuum is likely to dispose of more than just the food remnants you were trying to get rid of. Also, using Goo Gone as a means to eliminate the Cheetos dust stuck to your escape key is more likely to melt the plastic than actually help.

Removing Dishwasher Stains with Comet Spray

Although this won’t ruin the dishwasher, your floors will be in jeopardy when the nightmare of overflowing bubbles begins to ensue. Obviously it seems like a good idea on paper to simply dump some cleaners in there, run the dishwasher, and let it do the work for you, but trust us, you’re going to save a lot of headaches by doing the scrubbing yourself.

Source: http://curiousvillager.wordpress.com/2007/08/15/how-not-to-clean-a-dishwasher/

Washing Automatic Doors While They’re Still On

For maximum hilarity this video should be set to the theme song from Benny Hill, but as it stands, it kind of just makes you feel bad for the lady that’s trying to clean them. We’re assuming the poor woman wanted to turn the doors off for the whole 90 seconds it would take to clean them, and was told no solely for the sake of the owner’s amusement.

Getting the Pedals Mixed Up at the Carwash

Somehow confusing the gas and the break, this woman manages to bring down the entire carwash and nearly ram into an innocent bystander in the process. She should probably be required to stick to the do-it-yourself variety in the future.

Source: http://www.shecandrive.com/item/44/How-Not-To-Clean-Your-Car.html

Rinsing Out a Cement Mixer with Soap

There are a few obvious problems with this. Just to scratch the surface, if for some reason you choose to wait until the cement has already dried to start your cleaning process, a bottle of soap is probably not going to do the trick. It’s also unlikely that many cities would be very happy with cement being poured directly into the storm drain.

Hosing the Car Out

We can give this woman the benefit of the doubt and say that this might be the result of a car-sick child or a horrific fertilizer spill on the way back from the nursery. However, those two possibilities aside, there aren’t a lot of scenarios where you should be hosing down the inside of your car like it’s just arriving at Shawshank.

Dousing your Camera Lens

Nobody likes a smudged lens, but much like putting Windex on a DLP, trying to wash your lens off will do considerably more harm than good. If you actually need some anecdotal evidence you can read up on the negative effects here.