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