How to keep bugs at bay

With the raging monsoon, bugs, pesky mosquitoes and flies are all over your home and outdoors. Here are a few tips to keep them at bay

Mosquitoes: They fly in still air, so if you keep your fan on, it will keep them off by circulating the air around you. If you have plants in your house, make sure you have marigolds since they hate the smell of it. Marigolds contain a natural insect repellent that keeps them at bay. Garlic is also known to ward off mosquitoes. Place garlic cloves or powder around your balcony or patio. Mosquitoes are easily attracted to damp environments so check for any stagnant water in your house. If you have any, make sure that you clean up the area to prevent mosquitoes from breeding there.

Ants: They can be very annoying during the rains, since they tend to breed inside your house. Sprinkle some talcum powder, chalk or salt around points of entry like doors and windows or walls even. These substances are natural repellents and keep ants at bay. Apart from this, build a moat. To keep ants from climbing up a table top, fill small plastic containers with water and put them near your table. If you are food kept on your dining table, fill a container with water and place the dish on top of it.

Fruit flies: There can be nothing more irritating than fruit flies hovering over your head when you sit down to eat. Check for any stale food in your house, since these flies are attracted to rotting produce. You can also lure these flies into a trap with some red wine and vinegar. Pour a small amount in a dish and place a few pieces of fruit on it. The scent will attract the flies to the trap. Once in, you can place a cover and then throw it outside.

- SpringClean is provider of  Housekeeping Services in Delhi NCR which offers Pest Control Solution in Delhi NCR

Monsoon Management

Housekeeping Services takes a beating mostly during rains, as even a flexible and dynamic cleaning schedule makes achieving 100% result a challenge. Managing flexible and demanding housekeeping schedules get tricky in high traffic and sensitive areas. Wet floors, damp indoors and unpleasant odor are common to most premises.

“Every hotel has its respective predetermined checklist of action plans. Problems may arise anytime and accordingly various teams are assigned to carry out deadline based pre and post monsoon tasks in order to safeguard the hotel and surrounding areas during the monsoon. These checklists are prepared keeping in mind the past experiences. The premonsoon preparation starts from the month of April and checks implemented.”

Of the many pointers in the premonsoon checklist, proper handling of drainage system is a priority. The drainage system should be cleaned, flushed out with fire hydrant water pressure and covered. Pit drains and storm water should be checked and broken pipes mended. The slope is properly maintained so that there is no water logging anywhere.

Drains of terrace basements should be cleared of any kind of debris.

Terraces are checked for any type of dust and waste materials since these cause the drain to choke. Also, it is necessary to check that water does not stagnate on terraces.

Leakage is another major issue, which has to be tackled appropriately, as it is not limited to one place and can surface anywhere. Waterproofing treatment should be done prior to the monsoon. If possible, leakages should be rectified or else valuables, furniture should be removed from that area.

In the lobby area, appropriate arrangements are required to prevent inconvenience to guests: Extra doormats to prevent water from entering inside, umbrellas for guests and dedicated staff to keep the floor dry by regular mopping. The staff is to be provided with raincoats to ensure they move around clearing any kind of water logging.

- SpringClean provides Housekeeping Services in Delhi NCR which also offers best quality of Cleaning Services

Natural cleaners you did not know

Here are some natural food items which are superb cleaners too

We never knew their benefits until now! Here are some food items, which can also be great cleaners -

Ketchup: It can be used to remove tarnish from copper utensils. But don't forget to rinse them with warm water once you have scrubbed them with some ketchup.

Oatmeal: It acts as a natural cleanser of dirty hands. Slather some oatmeal with water and rub your hands together to remove all the dirt and germs.

Club soda: When was the last time you cleaned your kitchen sink? Take some baking soda and scrub it till it shines. 

Soaked rice: While cleaning glass bottles and jars, use a cupful of uncooked rice to clean all of them. Fill a little more than half a jar with warm water and add a few grains of rice. Cover it up and shake it vigorously and then clean.

Black tea: Do you have a bucket full of tools which are rusty? Brew some black tea and let it cool down. Then immerse the tools for a few hours in the tea and wipe them with a cloth later.

- SpringClean is a housekeeping agency in Delhi NCR which provides Eco friendly cleaning services in Delhi NCR

Don’t let your home make you sick

It often happens that in the hustle and bustle of daily life, we tend to neglect our housekeeping practices. And over time, an untidy home becomes an unhealthy home. Imagine coming home after a long and tiring day to a messy and unkempt house. Not only will this affect your mood but also play a detrimental role on your health. Here's how you can keep your home healthy...

Your living room is probably where you and your family spend a lot of time. Make sure you clean your couch every night - studies say that couches and sofas are some of the most unclean places in the house because they tend to accumulate food droppings, dirt and a lot of other stuff.

The carpets and rugs in your house may look great but can also attract a lot of dust and cause respiratory ailments and allergies. Make it a habit to dust them out every couple of days and regularly vacuum them.

Your surroundings can play a big role on your psyche. Surround yourself with cheerful paintings or photographs, something that will make you happy.

Is the lighting in your house done correctly? Very often, people don't even realise that incorrect lighting is giving them headaches. Replace harsh lighting with subtle lights especially in the bedroom.

People often tend to neglect their linen, which ideally should be changed on a weekly basis. Your bedsheets, pillow covers and curtains can gather dust mites and other allergens causing anything from skin problems to breathing ailments. Use a disinfectant while washing linen.

The bathroom is another place which tends to gather a lot of bacteria, thanks to its damp environment. An exhaust fan keeps the bathroom airy.

- SpringClean is a housekeeping agency in Delhi NCR which offer Eco friendly cleaning services

How to remove common stains at home

How often have you poured something on your dress and toiled to get the stain out? Even when you run it through water or hand wash it, the stain stays put because every stain is different and must be treated differently. Here are some effective ways to get common #stains out.

Stains from drinks like coffee, tea, alcohol, fruit juices and soft drinks: Soak the stain in cool water for 10 minutes and using either a bar of soap, liquid detergent or a paste made with washing powder and water, dab on the stain and rub. Before the paste dries, wash the dress with detergent in hot water.

Chocolates: Try to scrape off as much of it as you can with a blunt-edged knife. Soak in warm soapy water and if a brown stain is still visible, soak in a mix of water with sanitizer and rinse with warm water.

Cosmetics: Before you put the dress for wash, dab on the stain with either a prewash stain remover or a paste of washing powder with water.

Oil: Using a tissue, remove the excess oil. Wet the stain and apply liquid detergent directly on the stain and leave it for 15-20 minutes. Wash with hot water. Alternatively, try putting a paper on both sides of the stain and ironing over the paper.

Things to remember

- Always take the stain out before you wash your dress.
- Always blot the stain, don't rub.
- The longer you leave the stain, the more difficult it is to remove.
- Nail polish stains are close to impossible to remove, so the best thing would be careful about not spilling it on your dress.

- SpringClean is the best cleaning company in Delhi NCR which offers professional housekeeping services.

7 Tips for hand-washing dishes fast

Not every home or apartment owner is lucky enough to have a dishwasher, and most of us don't have a tonne of time to spend cleaning dishes. 

The dish-washing process is tedious, to be sure. But there are hacks to make it go faster. Jolie Kerr, columnist and author, and Dr Kelly Reynolds, a professor specialising in food safety and disease transmission, give us seven tips for ultra-speedy dish washing so you can clean up, dry off and get on with your life. 

1. Switch to a soap with the right ingredients. 

Look for soaps with lactic acid, which provides antibacterial benefits and gets the job done fast. Soaps with lauramine oxide have grease-cutting. 

2. Use a sanitising rinse. 

Dipping dishes in the rinse will mimic part of the process they go through in a dishwasher, and it'll provide peace of mind that your dishes are clean, even if you don't scrub them for hours. Next, dip your plates in one tub of water with one teaspoon to one tablespoon of bleach. You can also use this solution to clean your dish sponge and your sink in a jiffy. 

3. Let dishes soak. 

It's tempting to start scrubbing caked-on food right away, but do yourself a favour and let pans soak in warm water first. It'll loosen food particles and save your hands from sponge-induced fatigue. Soak pots with burn marks on the bottom in salt and cold water overnight, then boil the water to remove grime. 

4. And while you're waiting, go get a serious sponge. 

Sponges covered in a plastic netting allows you to scrub well, and doesn't cause any scratching. 

5. Use cold water to un-stick dairy and starches. 

Rinsing ice cream or butter off a plate with hot water can cause it to gum up. Get these foods off with a cold rinse before continuing to wash the dish in warm water. 

6. Make baking soda your grease-dissolving best friend. 

Coat a sticky, greasy pan with baking soda and cover the bottom with water. Heat it up a bit, then scrub the gunk off in mere seconds. 

7. Never ever stack dirty dishes in your sink. 

Have your guests leave their dishes on the counter next to the sink, not inside it. Remember, you need to leave your sink open so that you can actually wash those dishes. Unstacking and re-stacking is going to make washing your dishes take longer, and ain't nobody got time for that. 

- SpringClean is a housekeeping agency in Delhi NCR which offers corporate housekeeping services to MNCs in India

How to clean your persian rug

You should have a spot remover kit readily available. Prepare the cleaning materials before any accidents occur, so you are ready for any eventuality. Bottle and label all your cleaning solutions. Your spot remover kit should contain:

-A clean white, absorbent cloth; a sponge, an eyedropper, or a squirt nozzle (not a spray nozzle) to apply the chemical.

-Dry cleaning fluid (non-flammable, such as perchlorethylene). If dry cleaning fluid is unavailable, substitute a paint/oil/grease remover.

-Detergent solution — mix one tsp of neutral powder type of detergent in a 1/2 pint.

-Ammonia solution to neutralize type stains, such as fruit juice (mix one tbs of ammonia to 3/4 cup of water).

-White vinegar solution to neutralize alkaline type stains (mix 1/3 cup of white vinegar with 2/3 cup of water).

-Enzyme detergent (mix one tsp of laundry detergent that specifically states that it contains enzymes with 1/2 pint of water).

-A can of dry ice.

The longer a stain remains in the fabric of your Persian rug, the harder it becomes to remove. Scoop up solid material with a spatula or a spoon. Absorb any excess liquid with a clean, absorbent cloth, towel or paper towel. To prevent spreading a stain, work from the outside edge of the stain toward its centre. 

Do not use bleach. When cleaning Persian rugs, bleach can remove a lot of stains, but it will also remove the color from your Persian carpet.

- SpringClean provides eco-friendly cleaning services in Delhi NCR

Clean furniture the right way

Sparkling furniture makes for an impressive home. Make sure you use the right cleaning and maintenance methods for different kinds of furniture items.

we have listed ways to ensure that everything from your dressers, tables, couches, chairs to bookcases look squeaky clean all year round:

Painted furniture: Painted furniture is the easiest to clean. On a weekly basis, dust or wipe it clean with a cloth dampened with water. Be sure not to leave water spots on the surface as they can leave permanent marks. Add an oil finish for the best possible protection.

Wooden furniture: Wooden furniture needs to be cleaned with extra care. For everyday cleaning, use a soft and dry piece of cloth to dust such pieces. Special cleaning will involve the use of a lint-free cloth to polish the furniture on a regular basis. To avoid polish smudges, always use the same type of polish, oil-based or wax-based, throughout. Wipe in the direction of the grain of the wood whenever possible. When it is time to remove the built-up wax, use either mineral spirits or synthetic turpentine with a soft, lint-free cloth. Clean the entire piece of furniture with the polish and not just the area that's soiled.

Leather furniture: Leather is one material that can crack easily so keep it away from heat or direct sunlight. Cleaning it is relatively easy if done regularly. Use a damp sponge or soft cloth and dust the furniture daily. If there are excessive marks, make a solution with one-fourth cup white vinegar and half cup water. Dip a soft cloth in this solution and clean the furniture. Follow this with a wash of leather saddle soap. Afterwards, rub the furniture with a dry soft cloth.

Wicker and cane furniture: Dust regularly and vacuum often to get rid of the grime settled in the cracks of the finishes. When exposed to intense sunlight, the natural fibres of wicker, cane and rush furniture tend to dry out. In such conditions, place the piece of furniture in a bathtub full of warm water or spray with a hose outside. This will help your chairs, stools and tables to retain their natural fibre setting.

Upholstered furniture: Keep upholstered furniture away from direct sunlight as most fabrics tend to fade. Vacuum the surfaces weekly. Flip cushions and pillows regularly so both sides wear out evenly.

- SpringClean is one of the best providers of green cleaning services in Delhi NCR

Simple cleaning techniques that never go wrong

Want to be a domestic goddess but having trouble getting that elusive crown? Not every woman is blessed with the natural gift of having amazing housekeeping skills.

But that doesn't mean you can't learn. Start by learning basic things, cleaners, detergents, powders, etc. And make sure you don't make these mistakes:

- If you have wooden flooring in any part of the house, make sure that you don't ever clean it with water. Mopping a wooden floor with water will be its death knell , it will damage the wooden flooring in no time. Use a slightly damp cloth to clean it instead. The idea is to minimize the use of water as much as you can. The same goes for laminated floors as well.

- While polishing your wooden furniture, don't go overboard with the polish. While it might make the furniture look shiny and new, it can also make smears look more noticeable, which is the last thing you want. Instead, just use a clean cloth every other day to keep your furniture clean and use the polish sparingly for special occasions.

- Whether you're the most careful person in your family or not, everyone spills things. Even the smallest and most innocuous things can cause ghastly stains on your lovely upholstery, carpets or clothes. Instead of reaching out for some water and scrubbing the stain with your fingers, use a tissue paper or a dry towel to blot out the stain. Keep the stained item in a bucket of water and detergent and try the blotting technique again.

- Thanks to the omnipresent dust and pollution in Delhi, windows get dirty very quickly. But the trick is to clean your windows after the sun has set or before the sun rays hit your windows. This is because the harsh rays of the sun can cause the cleaning liquid to make streaks across the glass , just the thing you don't want.

- SpringClean is the provider of best window cleaning and facade cleaning services in Delhi NCR

How to plan a Good Housekeeping Program?

A good housekeeping plan is imperative to plan and manage a facility or a house properly.

Why does one needs to plan housekeeping program?

• To ensure orderly storage and movement of the materials from entry to exit point
• To ensure that there is minimal handling of the material
• To manage the workforce attendance and skill enhancement/ training effectively
• To delegate adequate amount of work to the workforce, based on their availability
• To save the consumer from any damage or loss due to improper handling or storage of the materials. Hence, professional housekeeping services are preferred to avail services from as their team constitutes a set of trained work force
• Supports your efforts with  the records

Housekeeping services always stay in order if they are planned properly. Cleaning and maintenance is an on-going process, which does not end only with the last minute cleaning at the end of the shift.

A good housekeeping planner or a program, to put it in a better way, identifies the objectives and assigns tasks accordingly.

Dedicate a diary or a notebook to record such activities

Workers will be timely and trained

They are briefed a bit about the work. This helps them in maintaining the quality of services. Their tasks are monitored regularly

The entire day’s routine can be broadly broken in to various segments:

• clean up during the shift timings
• Everyday cleanup activities
• Careful and judicious waste is a necessity.
• Dumping and Removal of unused materials
• inspection to ensure cleanup is complete
• Attendance is up-to-date

However, one should not forget out-of-the-way areas like shelves, porch, window sill, common areas to be cleaned. They collect a lot of dust and other pollutants that keep escaping through small, tiny-winy hole. In case deemed necessary, help from the professional housekeeping agencies in Delhi NCR is preferable.

It goes without saying; a final addition to this program would be a supervision and inspection. The supervision or inspection records should be well-maintained. Without this a housekeeping program won’t be effective.

SpringClean is provider of professional housekeeping services in Delhi NCR

Attention: Housekeeping @Work

Why housekeeping at all is necessary, forget about within office or home?

Of course, the reason is one’s safety and good health. Moreover, one spends more than 80% of time indoors; therefore, housekeeping becomes a necessity. Avail some professional housekeeping services in Delhi NCR that experience the difference.

Let us roll our eyes down on some of the benefits of paying attention to housekeeping at work.

•     Choose effective housekeeping that help in eliminating the chances of some workplace hazards.
•     Such practices help in getting a job done safely and accurately without any mismanagement
•     In addition to keeping the environment clean, it also includes neat and organized work areas. In such a scenario getting this done by a provider of professional cleaning services in Delhi NCR that yield better results.
•     Prevents accidents
•     Removes trash/ waste materials properly
•     Reduce the incidences of fire hazards effectively
•     Use professional labels to inform people about the work in progress

SpringClean that provides corporate housekeeping services in Delhi NCR has deployed trained workforce to take care of the housekeeping activities at work. By availing services from such an agency can actually reduce the wrinkles of an admin guy.

SpringClean is provider of Green Housekeeping Services in Delhi NCR

Tips to remove oil and grease stains

Here, SpringClean shares some of the useful cleaning tips

- Rub white chalk on the stained cloth - it'll absorb the oil. Wash normally after that.

- If the stain persists, repeat the process immediately, while the cloth is still wet - if it's dried, the stain will set.

- Also try dabbing a mixture of dish detergent and water on to the stain and letting it sit for a short while before washing the cloth.

- SpringClean is one of the best cleaning company in Delhi NCR