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.

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!