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Part of what makes your house a home is the welcoming, cozy environment you create within it. But when bad odors start to linger, it can make your home a less-than-inviting place to be. Rest assured, home odor is normal — inevitable, even. With a little help from some common household products, you can eliminate bad smells in your home and ensure your family and guests have an enjoyable place to gather.

First, Look for Potential Sources of the Odor

Deodorizing or masking odors only gets you so far, especially if a smell is persistent or out of the ordinary.

Some odors are just to be expected, resulting from your everyday activities and habits (old clothes in the hamper, dirty dishes in the sink, dogs or cats sleeping on the furniture, etc.).

However, some odors may be caused by a specific problem that requires you to find and eliminate the source. For example, if you suddenly start smelling mold, must, or mildew, you may have a leak in your plumbing system and water is pooling somewhere undetected. If you think that could be the case, call a plumber and have your home’s pipes inspected.

Or, it’s possible an animal could crawl down your chimney, get into appliances, or otherwise make their way into your home. If the odor is coming from a particular area of your home and is especially pungent, it’s possible an animal may be taking up residency in your home or, worse yet, has died. If you suspect this is the case, call an exterminator to have the pest removed.

Wash Fabrics Regularly

To eliminate those day-to-day odors, turn your attention first to any soft or plush items in your home. Furniture and fixtures made of fabric include couches, curtains, carpets, dog beds, towels, bedding, and mattresses. These are all notorious for attracting and retaining the odors around them. Even if you’ve eliminated the source of the smell or used an odor-eliminating spray to neutralize the air, stubborn smells will still cling to fabrics throughout your house.

Wash all pillow covers, blankets, dog beds, curtains, and anything else that can easily fit in your washing machine. Make it a habit to clean these regularly, and that should help eliminate persistent odors.

For surfaces you can’t throw in the wash, like carpets, rugs, and furniture, two kitchen staples will help take care of the problem. Sprinkle baking soda on any desired surface, allow it to sit for a few hours (overnight if possible), and simply vacuum it up. Or, lightly mist vinegar on fabric and allow it to dry. Once it dries, the smell of the vinegar (and the original odor) should dissipate.

If you’d like something more heavy-duty, there are a number of odor-eliminating sprays and foams that are safe for soft surfaces. Just be sure to spot test any new product to ensure it doesn’t discolor or stain your furniture.

Consider a Dehumidifier and Air Purifier

From large rooms and basements to small closets, dehumidifiers help keep areas of your home from smelling musty and damp. Anywhere that lacks ventilation or isn’t connected to your central air conditioning unit (if you have one) could benefit from a dehumidifier.

Air purifiers make a great addition to any room in your house, especially areas where you and your family sleep or your furry friends hang out. Air purifiers collect the air, run it through a filter, trap odor-causing bacteria and dirt, and release the purified air back into the room.

Focus on Stubborn Areas, Like the Kitchen

The kitchen is, by nature, the area of your home most prone to odors. And that’s okay! By incorporating a few extra steps in your cleaning routine, you can help reduce the build-up of bad smells and keep your kitchen smelling fresh, clean, and inviting.

Here’s how to address the most common sources of smell in your kitchen:

Fridge: Keep items wrapped up tightly in baggies, plastic wrap, or containers with sealed lids. Once a week (or at an interval that works for you), remove any food that’s hit its expiration date. By regularly cleaning out old food, you’ll have a better chance of avoiding smells in the first place. If you do find that your fridge is still emitting unwanted odors, keep an open box of baking soda in there to help eliminate odors. You can also shop around for fridge air filters or odor-absorbing gels.

Garbage disposal: After weeks of sending food down the garbage disposal, it’s likely your disposal will start to stink. To clean it out, put ice down the disposal followed by Borax. If you don’t have Borax on hand, you can follow the ice with a bit of baking soda and vinegar. Allow the mixture to fizz before washing it down with hot water.

Garbage can: You may surprised to know that it’s not always the contents of the garbage bag that are causing odors in your kitchen. Over time, the can itself accumulates dirt and grime. Use cleaning wipes to clean the surfaces of your trash can thoroughly between bags. In addition, you can use an odor-eliminating spray (such as Febreze or Lysol) to help freshen up the area around your garbage can.

Microwave: If you’ve ever microwaved a piece of fish, you know just how much odor can linger in your microwave. Microwave a bowl of vinegar or water and lemon for five minutes. When time is up, take a damp cloth and wipe down any remaining residue.

Dishwasher: Your dishwasher accrues food debris and dirt. Eventually, these can cause it to smell. If you see food particles stuck at the bottom of the washer, use a damp cloth or paper towel to get them out. To eliminate the odor, use dishwasher cleaning tablets regularly.

Eliminating Odors in an Eco-Friendly Way

While there are hundreds of products on the market geared toward eliminating odors, you really don’t have to look much further than your kitchen cupboards for an effective and eco-friendly solution.

Both baking soda and white vinegar are effective and safe deodorizers for almost any surface in your home. If you’re concerned about pets or kids coming into contact with harsh chemicals, baking soda and vinegar are great alternatives — even coffee grounds and tea leaves can help keep a space smelling cleaner.

If you do want to use commercial products but do so in an environmentally conscious way, consider purchasing products in glass or reusable bottles.

Persistent Odors May Need Addressing By a Professional

A clean-smelling home requires ongoing maintenance and a dedication to keeping surfaces clean and sanitized. If you’d like to ensure your home always smells fresh and clean, but don’t have the time to dedicate to regular deep cleanings, contact us today to learn about our professional home cleaning services.

When buyers start looking at new homes, their expectations are sky-high. They want to walk into a space and be able to envision a future living there. So as someone looking to sell your home, this means doing what you can to help make their vision come to life. Namely, you need to look at your house from the buyer’s perspective and create a welcoming, clean, and friendly environment. To do that, you must declutter and deep clean.

Here are a few hidden, yet important, areas of your home to address before your next open house.

Make a Great First Impression

The entryway is the first thing buyers see when entering your home. While we may not regularly put much thought into how the sidewalks look, the front of your house serves as the first impression and needs to be prepped with care. Take a broom to any spider webs on your front porch, clean your front door, weed the garden beds, sweep the leaves off the sidewalk, and clean up any decorations or plants framing your front porch.

Evaluate the inside of your entryway or foyer as well. With so much heavy foot traffic through your front door, this area tends to accumulate more mess than other areas of the house. Declutter the coat closet, thoroughly clean the floor and any area rugs, wipe down mirrors, and make sure your entryway creates a warm welcome for potential buyers.

Look High and Low

Out of sight can mean out of mind, but when it comes to preparing for an open house, expect peeping eyes to see just about everything. That means as you prepare, consider the hard-to-reach places in your home both above and below eye level. While you probably vacuum and mop regularly, remember to deep clean the baseboards as you prepare for your open house. They often go undetected, but dust and dirt can accumulate quickly on low surfaces.

If you have pets or small children, be sure to give the lower half of your walls a thorough cleaning as well to remove any fingerprints, food debris, etc. In addition, check your vents for unsightly dust bunnies and pet hair.

Turning your attention upwards, be sure to thoroughly wipe down ceiling fans, chandeliers, and light fixtures that may be collecting dust, dirt, and cobwebs from the ceiling. While you have the ladder out, check the top of every window frame as well, as this is another commonly overlooked spot.

Deep Clean Appliances

Whether you plan on including appliances in the sale or not, potential buyers will be evaluating their condition when walking through your home. Not to mention, appliances like ovens, dishwashers, and washing machines can create unwanted odors over time. Give your appliances a deep cleaning to restore their appearance, remove dirt and grime, and eliminate odors.

While you’re at it, be sure to give other areas of your kitchen some extra attention as well. When was the last time you cleaned your garbage disposal? That’s another common source of unwanted smells. If you have countertop appliances like coffee makers or toaster ovens, those should be addressed as well. Your kitchen is one of the most-used and most-scrutinized areas of your home, which means it’s well worth having every nook and cranny cleaned before your next open house.

Check for Common Dust Collectors

If you have a lot of knick-knacks or bookshelves full of collectibles, be prepared to dust every surface thoroughly. Common decor items like fake plants, candles, wicker furniture, and the top of books are big dust magnets that can often go undetected. Before your open house, set time aside to dust all decor items. This may be a good opportunity to declutter areas of your home as well by packing away extra items, which means fewer surfaces to clean in the future.

Wipe Down Cupboards and Closets

Potential buyers want the illusion that they’re getting a brand-new house. During an open house, you can expect them to open every drawer and inspect every closet. Give the inside of your kitchen cupboards and drawers a thorough wipe down, as well as shelves, hanging rods, and hooks in closets. These areas tend to go unnoticed during our daily routines, but storage spaces are looked at with a critical eye during open houses.

Making Your Home Open-House Ready

Spending extra time and effort to make your home ready for an open house is an effective way to boost buyer offers. But selling your home is a long and time-consuming process, which means you may not have the bandwidth needed to give your house a thorough deep clean. Our cleaning professionals understand the tight deadlines involved with preparing for an open house. We work in sync with you, your realtor, and other contractors to ensure your home is looking like-new and ready to be showcased at your upcoming event. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you prepare your home to hit the market.

Customer loyalty and trust mean everything to the success of your business. Not only does your food need to meet expectations, but your restaurant must be presentable as well. The moment a customer steps foot in your restaurant, they’re assessing the cleanliness of the establishment. Everything from how your restaurant smells to what shape the bathrooms are in will influence how they feel about eating your food.

Here are a few reasons why restaurant cleanliness is important, and what you can do to keep your restaurant sparkling clean for customers.

Food Safety

Your function as a restaurant is to deliver food to customers that tastes good and is safe to eat. When a customer sits down to enjoy a meal, they should feel confident that the food was prepared correctly and in a safe manner. If the cleanliness of your kitchen comes into question, you may lose the trust of your customers.

Unclean equipment like fryers, griddles, and storage containers can become breeding grounds for germs and bacteria. Not only does this increases the risk of cross-contamination, but it impacts the taste of the food as well.

Even just one report of a food safety issue in your establishment can tarnish your restaurant’s reputation for years. By keeping both the front and back of house clean, you’re assuring your customers that their food is being prepared in a safe and sanitary environment.

Ambiance

People choose to dine at a restaurant for two primary reasons: the menu and the atmosphere. In other words, a positive dining experience needs to take into account all five senses, not just taste. People should be able to enjoy the decor, smell delicious food wafting through the restaurant, and see a space that’s clean and inviting.

Customers are often more aware of the ambiance than you and your staff may be, which makes keeping your space clean especially important. As an employee or owner, you’re constantly moving around and focusing on operational tasks. But the customer is there to enjoy themselves, and that means they’re waiting in the lobby, sitting at the bar, or relaxing in a booth for long periods of time. Even if you don’t see dust on the lampshades or stains on the carpet, they certainly will. And when dirt and grime become prevalent, that ambiance gets disrupted.

Customer Service

Customers want to be treated as welcomed guests to your establishment. Along with a friendly wait staff and inviting atmosphere, having a clean place to sit and enjoy their meal is important. The table top should be free from stains, spills, or residue, and the chairs should be thoroughly cleaned and dusted regularly.

A clean space creates a more inviting environment, which creates customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Management

Even if it’s far from the truth, an unclean environment can lead both customers and staff to make assumptions about your ability to manage the business. It can create distrust from customers, especially in terms of food safety, and employees may be less inclined to complete their duties or respect their workspace.

Customers may question how much you, the owner, care about their experience. If they don’t believe that you’re invested in delivering an exceptional experience, they may not return.

Health Code Regulations

Aside from customer perception, high sanitation standards are critical to staying compliant with your local health department. The purpose of regular visits from the health department is, of course, to ensure you’re serving food to customers in a safe manner. When your cleaning regimen slips, however, you’re putting your restaurant at risk of racking up health code violations.

The Key to Keeping Your Restaurant Clean

There are tasks your employees must do on a daily basis and in-between customers to maintain a safe and clean environment—mopping the floors, wiping down tables and chairs, cleaning the grill top, etc. But with the high level of output and heavy foot traffic, restaurants require regular deep cleanings in order to maintain health code regulations, eliminate lingering odors, and maintain a pleasant dining experience for customers.

With limited time and staff available between your restaurant’s hours of operation, performing routine deep cleaning can be challenging to do all on your own. Our team of cleaning professionals work with business owners like you to achieve a higher level of cleanliness for restaurants. Your energy and focus should be on executing high-quality menu items that will have your customers coming back time and time again. Contact us today to request an estimate on our professional restaurant cleaning services.

Between having the kids at home, weekend getaways, and trips to the pool, summertime is busy for most families—which can leave little room for knocking any big cleaning projects off your list. Whether you’re looking forward to hitting the beach or relaxing at home, you deserve to enter the summer months with your to-do list already tackled.

To get your house ready for some summer fun, here are five tips for conquering your biggest cleaning projects.

Create Your To-Do List

You likely have an idea of what projects you’d like to tackle or what rooms you’d like to clean, so write down what you want to accomplish. This is an effective way to stay organized as you clean. If you have other family members getting involved, a to-do list is helpful for delegating tasks and giving others a reference point as they begin cleaning.

When you’re able to complete a task and cross the item off your list, it serves as motivation to keep going. Maintaining motivation is especially important when tackling large projects like deep cleaning your garage, kitchen, basement, etc.

Be Realistic With Your Timeline

You might find it helpful to give yourself and your family a deadline. Work backward from it to decide how you’ll spend each day and what tasks should be completed when. Not giving yourself an “end date” makes it more tempting to allow big cleaning projects to drag on indefinitely—and nobody wants to spend the start of summer worried about cleaning the garage or decluttering the basement.

All of this to say, don’t be too hard on yourself either. Summer should be a time to relax and have fun with your family. A deadline is meant to bring structure to your cleaning schedule, but you can still be flexible and accommodating when needed. It’s always better to make progress at a steady pace than to quit altogether.

To create your timeline, consider how long various cleaning projects will likely take. Of course, the exact amount will fluctuate depending on the size of your home, number of people helping you, and your overall cleaning goals.

As you get started, here’s an idea of how much time you’ll likely spend deep cleaning different areas of your home:
● Garage: 1-2 days
● Bedroom (including closet): 3 hours
● Kitchen: 4-5 hours
● Bathroom: 2 hours
● Basement: 1-2 days

Decide on Your Cleaning Strategy

There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to cleaning your space. Before you get to work, think about what will be the most efficient and effective strategy for you and your family. Would you prefer to go room by room? Or is it better to go task by task (vacuuming, dusting, decluttering, etc.)? Either way, it’s important to stay focused and methodical. Bounding around between rooms or tasks wastes time and makes it easier to miss something.

You can get creative and organize your plan of action based on what will most help you stay motivated. Perhaps you want to start with the messiest area or the largest room first. Or consider what will bring you the most satisfaction. A clean bedroom, for example, can give you a better night’s sleep—so maybe prioritize that first.

As long as you’re thoughtful and your strategy makes sense to you, there’s no wrong way to go about it.

Refamiliarize Yourself With Your Cleaning Products

If it’s been a while since you did a big cleaning project, you may want to take stock of your cleaning supplies. Or, if you have younger children helping out, sit down with them to discuss how to safely and properly handle these products.

Read the warning labels and take note of what products can be used on which surfaces. If you’re using something new, do a test patch first to ensure it doesn’t damage or stain your belongings. Don’t forget to check for expiration dates as well.

As you’re refamiliarizing yourself with your products, do a quick inventory to make sure you have plenty of everything you need to complete your cleaning projects from start to finish. Nobody wants to have to stop halfway through a task to run to the store. When you break your momentum, it’s easier to get sidetracked and lose focus.

Make a Maintenance Plan

Once you get your space in tip-top shape, make a plan to ensure it stays nice and clean all summer long. If you have kids home from school, give them a weekly chore chart for example. Create a regular routine for you and your family that includes small, simple cleaning tasks that are easy to stick to and prevent major build-up.

Over the summer months, much of the outdoors tends to make its way inside—grass, weeds, dirt, water, mud, etc. But if you don’t want to spend your summer days inside the house scrubbing and dusting, we’d love the opportunity to help you maintain your home with our professional cleaning services.

After all that hard work, you want to make sure your space stays exactly how you want it. Frequent cleanings are an important way to keep your home a clean, relaxing environment all summer long. Contact us today to request an estimate for professional office cleaning services.

April showers bring May flowers. While the fresh bloom of May’s flowers may be something to look forward to, we must first get through the rainy spring season. After a rainy day, a clean office can quickly become wet and dirty. This article covers a few tips for keeping your office clean throughout the rainy season.

Give Guests a Place To Wipe Their Feet

Giving guests a place to wipe their feet helps keep water and mud in one location, which then eventually leads to easier cleanup. Try designating a mud room area where you can place a large, dark mat at the front door. A non-slip fiber mat traps water and mud and can reduce the risk of slipping accidents. Ensure that the mat is large enough to accommodate the average number of visitors or employees who visit the office daily; otherwise, the mat may get dirty too fast.

Designating a place for guests to wipe their feet also prevents water from being tracked onto the office’s carpets, which could turn to mold over time. Add a rug to each building entry, and keep a few extra handy so you can easily change them out if they get too dirty.

We even recommend adding a sign instructing guests to wipe or stomp their feet. Place the sign in an easy-to-notice place that guests won’t miss. A slippery or wet floor sign can also be helpful, which reminds visitors that the floors may be dangerous on rainy days.

Keep Carpets Clean and Sanitized

You may not be able to see rainwater on your carpets, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Additionally, mud can be a lot harder to get rid of on carpets than tile or wood floors. If carpets lead right up to the entrance doors, you could place a few carpet protectors just inside the door. These are plastic coverings that sit right on top of the carpet.

You can also purchase long plastic runners that go from the front lobby to the most frequented parts of the office. Keep in mind that these plastic runners can get slippery when wet, so you’ll still need to wipe them down from time to time. The great thing is that carpet protectors are typically affordable, meaning you can replace them when they get too worn or dirty.

You may also need to clean your carpets more frequently during the rainy season. A quick vacuum at the end of the business day can remove loose dirt and debris, but the occasional deep carpet cleaning — which is recommended to be done once a week — can prevent mold growth. Not only will frequent carpet cleaning keep your carpets looking new, but it can also maintain a good-smelling office.

Add a Coat or Umbrella Rack

Adding a coat or umbrella rack gives employees and visitors a place to store their wet items, which can then help keep other parts of the office clean. Put the coat or umbrella rack over a heavy-duty water-resistant rug or mat to capture water dripping from the items. Installing a few coat racks can be an easy DIY project that gives staff and customers a place to store their wet coats.

If you don’t have room for an umbrella rack, or it doesn’t make sense in the layout of your office, you can also offer umbrella bags. Umbrella bags allow visitors to keep their umbrellas with them without dripping rainwater all throughout the office. Ensure the coat or umbrella rack you choose is large enough to accommodate everyone’s items. You can also place employee-only racks in employee entrances of the break room whenever possible.

Plan for Hourly or Daily Cleaning Maintenance

Even with heavy-duty mats at the front doors, coat and umbrella racks, and carpet protectors, some water and mud will still make their way into common areas. Keep a mop handy for fast, frequent cleanups. Store the mop in an easy-to-reach spot near the mudroom or entrance for convenience. Add a few dry towels to the closet to quickly wipe up spills or rainwater to keep employees and visitors safe.

Routine cleaning is also important in the entranceways and other highly frequented areas. You can request that the front desk employees run a dry mop through each area once per hour or on any other schedule that works for your office. We suggest focusing on rooms such as the front lobby, the break room, bathrooms, stairs, and elevators. It is important to note, however, that any room with tiled or hardwood floors may need to be monitored more frequently and regularly dried during heavy rain seasons as these tend to be very slippery.

Promptly wiping up rain or mud helps keep your office clean on rainy days. Frequently scheduled professional cleaning services can also give your office space a deeper cleaning, making daily cleaning easier for your staff. If you already have a cleaning staff, increasing their frequency during the rainy season may be worth it. Contact us today to request an estimate for professional office cleaning services. We offer affordable, convenient cleaning services that keep your office clean during even the rainiest seasons.

Spring brings rain, flowers, and the official start of the spring cleaning season. Spring cleaning is the perfect time of year to declutter, organize, and start fresh. This allows you go over some of your precious belongings to see which ones you will keep, and which ones you might have to chuck to the bins. To some individuals, the idea of spring cleaning may be overwhelming, but we are here to provide you with a few tips and tricks for a productive and efficient method of tidying up.

Plan Ahead

Planning ahead is a great way to fully understand the job ahead. Make a list and divide each room into its own tasks. You can write down specific things you want to complete in each room, such as organizing the towel closet in the guest bathroom or going through a child’s toy box to get rid of any items they no longer enjoy.

You could also make a list of the tasks most vital to you to complete and then prioritize them above other organizational goals. For example, cleaning and organizing the guest bedroom may be a priority if you plan on welcoming guests over the summer months. Planning ahead and dividing rooms and spring cleaning tasks can prevent the whole project from feeling too overwhelming.

Choose one room on your list and start there, and remember “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” “Better late than never,” and “Good things take time, great things take a little longer.” While these may be cliches, they still highlight the importance of taking your time, and we at Kingdom Keepers Cleaning believe this also applies to spring cleaning.

Designate a Place for Everything

Once every item in your home has a designated storage place, you’ll find it easier to regularly put everything away. Spring cleaning is a great time to consider individual items and where they should go. Before designating a place for everything, review your space. Take a walk around the room you’re working on and identify any areas of improvement.

Are there ways to increase storage or better use current storage? Do some items need to be moved to other rooms? Sometimes, adding a few shelves or organizational compartments can significantly increase your storage options. Make a drawing of the room you’re organizing, including current storage. This visual representation can make it easier to identify a place for everything.

You can also designate a specific purpose for each storage place in your home. For example, you might designate a closet in the spare bedroom for extra bedding or towels. The storage corner in the basement may be where you’ll store holiday decorations. If you can’t find a place for something, you might consider whether or not you still need it. You may also find that you need to add storage to certain rooms to accommodate items that don’t currently have a spot.

Divide Everything You Own Into Piles

Creating piles can help you make progress when spring cleaning. Organize all your items into four categories: keep, unsure, donate, and trash. You can use an empty box for each category for organizational purposes. Once the box is full, find a place to store the items, drop them off at your favorite charity, or put them out on trash day.

Place all items you want to keep in the ‘keep’ pile, but take note that you will eventually have to find a place to store these items in. Move any clothing or household items you no longer want — but that are still in good condition — to the ‘donate’ pile. Any items that are no longer usable can go in the ‘trash’ pile. The category that most people get stuck at are items they’re not yet sure what to do with. Don’t spend too much time on these items just yet; you can always come back to them later after you have made progress with the other categories.

Sometimes, moving items that are still in good condition but you haven’t used recently to the ‘donate’ pile can ease any guilt related to throwing them out. If you’re unsure if you want to keep an item, consider whether or not you would replace the item if it broke.

Flip Your Hangers Backwards

Many people find that organizing and decluttering their home’s closets is one of the biggest challenges. Ideally, you should try to remove any clothing you haven’t worn in the last six to twelve months, but tracking the last time you wore an item isn’t always easy. Flip your hangers backward. After washing any items you wear, return the hanger back to its original position.

Return to your closet in six months, and go through any items on hangers that are still reversed. These are items that you haven’t recently worn and may be taking up valuable space in your closet. Donating any clothing items you no longer wear gives you more room to organize the items you do keep.

Once you finish spring organizing, a deep clean can add the final touch and freshen up your space. Contact us today for a free estimate for professional residential cleaning services. We offer affordable, friendly cleaning services that fit your schedule.