Always start at the top and work your way down. Be sure to wipe out shelves from top cabinets and clean behind and under any appliances that sit on top of the counter as well as appliances that can moved out; i.e, the refrigerator and stove…

WARNING: Be sure that you turn off appliances at the circuit breaker or fuse box. When dealing with gas its best to call a professional to assist you.

When cleaning your counters or cabinets its best to use a product that has no acids or bleaches. My suggestion is Green Earth RTU Peroxide, which is also great for cleaning showers, tubs, tile and chrome.

A tip to help your refrigerator run better and longer is to dust the coils. To do so, again make sure that the refrigerator is completly turned off and locate the coils. They are usualy at the bottom under the grill. Its best to use the crevice attachment for the vacuum to suck the dust out.

Next week we will be cleaning your Living or confrence room.

Safe cleaning,
Common Sense and Cleaner Corner

Well, to try to alleviate some of the headache, we here at Common Sense have put together a product and checklist with tips and precautions to help you out. For the next few weeks leading up to spring we will be going room to room, giving you the tools for the cleanest home or office

Before we start on a specific room it best we start at the top and dust off everything. But with so many dusters on the market you want to make sure you are using the right one for the right jobs. A personal favorite of mine is the Lambswool Duster with Extendable Handle. Its 100% natural, hygienic, washable and very versatile. The extendable handle is perfect for the vertically challenged and is also ideal for your vehicle. the Lamswool Duster can be found at www.cleanercorner.com along with many more dusters to fit your needs.
Next week we will be focusing on your kitchen or community break room.

Safe cleaning,
Common Sense and Cleaner Corner

Detecting mold
Mold will give a room or piece of furniture a “musty” smell and could leave dark stains.

How to prevent mold

• Check for leaks in pluming; under sinks, shower pipes, under refrigerators, etc…
• Keep all storage areas clean and dry; closets, attics, laundry rooms, under stairwells.
• Keep the air circulating through your house.
• Vacuum frequently. A HEPA Vacuum is best for removing mold spores.

Usually, by this time of year cleaners are well into the battle with salt, snow, and slop. But this year has given us in the north minimal amounts of snow compared to previous years.

This has allowed cleaners and cleaning companies to keep the time and effort they spend in a facility similar to what they would durning the summer months.

If you’ve budgeted extra time for the sloppy winter months that’s not being used then have your cleaners doing an extra floor scrub, clean the insides of the trash containers, or just pay extra attention to those hard to reach areas that don’t get cleaned as often. This type of effort will go along way in keeping your customers happy and loyal to your cleaning service for many years to come.

Rest assured, this unseasonable, lack of snow won’t last much longer, so take advantage of the easy cleaning, and get the extras done while you still can.

Happy Cleaning & Happy Holidays!

Common Sense is a member of the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA). Each year we go to the ISSA show to find new and innovative ways to clean.

Two years ago we found the Tornado Vario, cylindrical brush floor scrubber. We have used the Vario to make restrooms and tile floors throughout our customers facilities look brand new again!

This year the ISSA show is in Las Vegas! It’s a safe bet that it’s going be a great show, and Common Sense Building Services, Inc. will come back with other products and ideas to improve the ways we do business.

Have a great day!

One of the top complaints in the cleaning industry is dust. Dust on the air diffusers, dust on top of cabinets, dust on bases of chairs, DUST EVERYWHERE!

Common Sense Building Services can help you take a stand against dust. But how? Here are 2 easy ways to cut back on the dust in your facility:

1) Choose a service that uses only HEPA filter vacuums such as a Sandia HEPA Raven Back Pack Vacuum, or if you like an upright vacuum, use the Tornado CK 14/1 vacuum

HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particle Air (Filter). HEPA filter vacuums started out in the cleaning industry as a standard practice for healthcare cleaning. But now they are used every day in museums, office buildings, factories, and many other facilities.

HEPA filter vacuums, unlike conventional vacuums, filter and trap dust, allergens, and micro organisms and keep them inside the filter, and in the vacuum. Conventional vacuums tend to kick dust back into the air, and on top of the places in your facilities.

2) Use disposable dust cloths. Using a duster is great, but when the duster is full of dust you’re only spreading the dust around. You can shake it out all you want, it’s not helping to make that duster new again.

Wrap your duster in a disposable dust cloth and use it until it’s full of dust and time to grab a new one.This is an inexpensive way to be sure you are not spreading dust around your facilities.

Choosing a cleaning service that uses these products will help you take a stand against dust once and for all.

In 2009 a new type of green clean was introduced to the world by Activeion. Minnesota based, Activeion produced the first tap water only cleaning product, the Ionator. Research has shown that the Ionator kills 99.9% of germs, all by using only tap water.

Common Sense Building Services has been using the Ionator as part of our Green Cleaning Program for the past 6 months, and the results have been great! We’ve used the Activeion Ionator on door and window glass, conference room tables, kitchen counter tops and tables, in restrooms, and really anywhere in an office building or museum that you can think of.

The level of cleanliness that Common Sense Building Services provides has remained the same, and all by using only tap water! We are really excited to be helping the environment by cutting back on the amount of chemicals that are used in the cleaning process. The best part, by going green with Activeion, Common Sense has not sacrificed the cleaning standards we’ve developed over the past 20 years.

In the past night time has always been the right time to have the janitorial services in your offices done. Lately, there has been a large shift to daytime cleaning for a number of reasons. Security, Green Cleaning, and Personal Attention are some of those reasons.

When it comes to making the choice to bid your services for day time or night time consider the following: Day time cleaning typically will cost your company more, but will allow your company to be more green friendly (If no one is cleaning at night there’s no reason to have lights on, or to have the heat or air on anything but low).

Night time cleaning is going to be more detailed. The last thing a cleaner wants to do is disturb a person working in their office. If you like to see what your cleaner is doing, and appreciate a little interaction with the person doing your cleaning, then the daytime is for you.

Day time and night time? This is a great option for facilities with heavy traffic. The day cleaner in this situation is called the Day Porter and will handle cleaning of the common areas (entrances, rest rooms, lunchrooms, etc.) after busy times in the day, and also take care of any spills, specialty projects, or emergencies that come up during the day. The night time cleaning staff will have an easier time cleaning everything at night, because the Day Porter will have lightened their load.

The decision of Night vs. Day (or Both) is ultimately up to what you want the cleaning goals to be at your facilities, and the budget that you have for janitorial services. Look into all options possible and chose the best fit for your facilities.

People will spend thousands of dollars this year on plumbers trying to figure out what the musty, sewage smell is in their office restrooms. Save your money, because the answer to your problem is simple.

The floor drains in your restrooms are meant to have water going down them more often than they actually do. Therefore, with no water going down, the musty, sewage smell comes up.

Take 6-8 ounces of Betco PUSH, and mix with a gallon of warm water for each drain, and pour it directly down the floor drain. Do this 1 time per week, and in a few weeks your restrooms will be back to smelling like roses.

To maintain, use PUSH and warm water on your floor drains every other week. PUSH can also be used in sinks, toilets, grease traps, and also for carpet spots.

I think we all can agree this winter was snowy, icy, and cold. Because of all the salt you put down due to these conditions you may be seeing the effects in your office carpet this spring.

Salt being tracked into your office day after day, week after week, can cause a white build up near your entrance and in heavy traffic areas. No matter what you do those white spots just won’t seem to go away.

Here’s a tip: you should have a neutral cleaner you’re using in your facility, (Such as: Betco PH7 Neutral Floor Soap). Lightly mist your neutral cleaner over the white areas using a spray bottle.

Next, take a carpet extractor, (if you don’t have an extractor or spotter, this will take longer, but grab yourself a towel, water, some elbow grease and get to work) and go over the spot using warm water and pulling every direction that you can. You may have to repeat this step a couple times to get your carpet back to where it was.  If you don’t have any of these tools, don’t have the time, or just want a reliable outside company to clean your carpets, call Common Sense Building Services, Inc.