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Cleaning

Anthony Powell

2010-08-01 13:01:00

Question: Do you ever wonder about just how “clean” the quality of air you are breathing in daily is?

Answer: Air quality is an important aspect of cleaning our home or office. We may not think about it, since we do not spend a whole lot of time monitoring our air, but it is true none the less. There are all types of air pollution that we can be faced with in our personal and professional lives, and I am not talking about what we face outside. Just some of the examples that we are faced with at home are things like cigarettes, pet odors and so on. At work we may be faced with similar problems as well. Learn some easy and inexpensive methods for controlling the air quality in your home and office by using these simple ideas. Air Duct Cleaners Air ducts are situated throughout your entire place of living and are what help to contribute to the clean air you breathe every day. In order to keep yourself and others healthy, it’s important to clean them regularly. If you don’t want to hire someone, it’s rather easy to do yourself. Air Vent Cleaning Air vent cleaning is a vital, often overlooked part of HVAC maintenance. While it is always a great idea to have a thorough cleaning conducted by professionals once a year, you don’t need to have the professionals out every month. Not only would it be prohibitively expensive, it is also pretty inconvenient to traipse that equipment into your home each month. Lower the cost and hassle by doing the minor work yourself. Cleaning Air Conditioning Filters Cleaning air conditioning filters is a fairly easy, though often overlooked, piece of home maintenance and cleaning. By cleaning your air conditioning filters, you can improve the indoor air quality of your home while improving the efficiency of your air conditioner. Here’s how you can do it yourself and save the money for other, more important things—like going to the movies. Cleaning the Air with Aromatherapy There are many people out there that think, even believe, that there is something hokey about aromatherapy. What these people are really forgetting is that our sense of smell is more powerful than we give it credit for. Scent can often trigger many of our fondest or worst memories. Why not use that power to your benefit the next time you are cleaning your home? Clearing the Air You can clear the air in your home through natural or mechanical means. Plants, furnace filters, and range hoods can contribute to cleaner indoor air. Improving Home Air Quality Whether it is during the height of allergy season or in the dead of winter, the air quality in your home is important. Often people think that they only have to worry about the air outside their homes, but the air inside our homes is as important, if not even more so. Luckily improving home air quality is a relatively easy thing to do. Removing Household Allergens As the seasons change from winter to spring, allergens become more of a problem. It doesn’t matter if you are inside or outside, allergy season can wreak havoc on you. Exercise a little control over your life by removing household allergens. Air Purification Systems One of the largest environmental factors in our health and comfort is the air we breathe. Air purification systems have a specific role to play in making our environment just a little better. Cleaning a Swamp Cooler Evaporative coolers, also known as swamp coolers, are an inexpensive and efficient way to cool your home. They do, however, require regular maintenance and cleaning which can be tricky given that the location of most coolers is on the roof. Dealing with Cigarette Smoke Smokers, those who live with smokers and friends of smokers can all have problems dealing with smoke smells. Refusing to allow smoking in your home and using these other tips can help to eliminate smoke smells. Certain kinds of air purifiers, potpourri, or air fresheners can all help to disguise or remove smoke smells. Portable Air Purifiers Maybe you have allergies, or maybe you just like to breathe in clean air. No matter what the reason a portable air purifier could be your answer. Preventing Mold Growth in HVAC Systems Mold is much more than a simple problem that you can clean up every now and again. If you don’t take the proper precautions, then mold can quickly and easily become a serious health risk. Preventing mold growth in HVAC systems is one of the ways that you can begin making sure that you don’t have this problem in your home. Whole House Air Cleaner It seems like no matter where you turn these days you hear more and more about indoor air pollution. Whether you are working at a business or at the home, everyone is worried about the effect the air that they breathe is having on their health. Many businesses and home owners feel that they may have found the solution to their indoor air pollution problems through the use of a whole house air cleaner. Making sure that your air quality is of the best-quality possible, is just as important as ensuring you and your family have clean, pure water and a clean, safe home environment. Anthony Powell, a former anchor at KSN channel 3 and his wife Jennifer, have taken a new direction in life. They are the proud new owners of The Cleaning Authority franchise in Wichita The Cleaning Authority stands serving most of Wichita and the surrounding areas being the by being the leader in green seal authorized cleaning products, offering a flexible schedule, a patented detail rotation system, unparalleled customer service and quality control. All to ensure that you are satisfied with their services and have a smile on your face when you open the door to your freshly-cleaned home! Contact Anthony Powell at The Cleaning Authority today to schedule your free consultation, 316-733-7890.

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Cleaning

Anthony Powell

2010-07-01 12:04:00

What exactly is dust? Why can it be so dangerous?

Answer: Most people don’t think too much about dust if they don’t see it. It’s only when it starts to coat every countertop, every crevice, every surface in your home - even though you just got rid of it a couple of days earlier - that it really gets to you.

It’s dust. It’s inconvenient. It may make you sneeze, and most of us are familiar with the common allergen, dust mites. But did you know that the dust in your home could actually contain toxic compounds? Things like flame retardants and toxins from cigarette smoke are just a couple of examples of the chemicals that could be in your household dust. "Certain toxic chemicals, such as lead, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are routinely found in household dust," says Andrea Ferro, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Clarkson University and an air quality researcher. "Simple activities such as dusting and vacuuming generate or re-suspend the pollutants into the air that we then breathe in." Dust that collects in carpets can contain toxic chemicals like lead, pesticides and PCBs. Leaving your shoes at the door may help to reduce your risk. Dust is the collective term used to describe the wide variety of organic and inorganic particles that collect in our homes. Here’s an unpleasant thought: The majority of dust is made up from shed skin cells. That’s why the areas of your home that are used most often also tend to have the most dust. (Dust mites like to eat these skin cells.) Dust on mattresses, bedding and sofas will contain a particularly large amount of skin cells. Says Larry Arlian, an internationally recognized expert on dust mites, dust is a complex mixture of a lot of different materials, and a lot of it is unavoidable. Breakdown of Common Components in Household Dust •Shed human skin cells •Flame retardants like polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) •Paint particles •Cigarette smoke (and its toxic byproducts) •Pesticides •PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) •PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) •Fabric fibers from your clothes, carpets, upholstery, etc. •Sand and soil particles •Plant and insect parts (When dust is examined under a microscope, it is not at all unusual to spot ant heads or other insect body parts, says Arlian.) •Mold spores •Pet dander and feathers •Dust mites and their feces •Viruses •Rodent waste •Construction debris (adhesives, sawdust, etc.) •Pollen •Bacteria •Asbestos •Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury When you walk around or vacuum, dust particles are stirred up into the air, and along with them come the slew of potential toxic chemicals and other unsavory items like rodent waste and insect parts. You may then breathe in these particles or absorb them through your skin once they settle back down onto a surface you touch. Dust is mostly made up of shed human skin cells, but it can also contain flame retardants, heavy metals and toxic byproducts of cigarette smoke. This is especially concerning if you have small children or infants. Children who crawl and put their fingers in their mouth can ingest 10 grams of dust per day. And, since they’re smaller than adults and their systems are still developing, they are at a higher risk from contaminants. Allergies, asthma, itchy eyes, coughing and runny noses aside, the specific health effects of house dust depend on which contaminants are in the dust, as well as the levels and how long you have been exposed. In the case of flame retardants (PBDEs), for example, which one U.S. study found were present in every home they tested, they could affect brain development and reproductive hormones. And if you think simply inhaling dust isn’t enough of an exposure, the researchers found that two-thirds of the PBDEs present in adults’ bodies seem to be coming from household dust. In the case of infants, some 90 percent of their PBDE body level came from house dust. It’s impossible to NOT have any dust in your home. The key, however, is to keep dust, and therefore your risk of illness, to a minimum. Get rid of or minimize carpeting in your home. According to Arlian, one of the best ways to reduce household dust is to get rid of carpets or at least minimize carpeting. That’s because carpeting is a perfect place for dust to cling to, and they even produce dust of their own (from the fibers). Opting for hardwood floors with scattered rugs, which should be washed in hot water weekly, is the optimum dust-reducing choice. Dust often and with the right tools. Arlian also noted the importance of dusting horizontal surfaces regularly - but not just with an ordinary dust cloth. "People used to dust with things like cloth diapers, and they just kind of moved dust around," he said. "Many pollutants don’t just evaporate...the chemicals may then adhere to surfaces and carpets, but they may be released into the air again when you vacuum your house or simply walk across the carpet. In addition to the risk of breathing the chemicals, touching the contaminated surfaces can lead to exposure through the skin." Leave dirt outside your doorstep. 90% of all dirt in the home is tracked in from the outside (and much of it becomes dust inside the home). Doormats not only add aesthetic appeal, but the right doormat (one designed with fibers that truly capture dirt and liquids) is an important health and wellness tool. Wiping your shoes thoroughly before entering not only keeps the home visually more appealing, but far more important, it really can dramatically reduce the amount of dangerous dirt and dust in the home. Use a high-quality air purifier. According to many leading health organizations including the American Lung Association and the most respected health experts such as Dr. Morton Walker and Jordan Rubin, with the growing knowledge of air pollution in the home, it has become clear that every home needs an air purifier. All great reasons to put dusting on your "to-do" list on a regular basis! Anthony Powell, a former anchor at KSN channel 3 and his wife Jennifer, have taken a new direction in life. They are the proud new owners of The Cleaning Authority franchise in Wichita.

The Cleaning Authority stands serving most of Wichita and the surrounding areas being the by being the leader in green seal authorized cleaning products, offering a flexible schedule, a patented detail rotation system, unparallel customer service and quality control. All to ensure that you are satisfied with their services and have a smile on your face when you open the door to your freshly-cleaned home! Contact Anthony Powell at The Cleaning Authority today to schedule your free consultation, 316-733-7890.

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Cleaning

Anthony Powell

2010-05-01 14:25:00

How can I incorporate more conservation methods into my home?

Answer: Waterworks for Teeth

Brush, brush, brush! Instead of allowing the faucet to run while brushing your teeth, turn it off. This simple act makes a huge impact. By leaving the water running while brushing for the dentist recommended time of two minutes, twice a day you use 12 gallons of water daily, and that is 4,380 gallons per year literally going down the drain! So, conserve water and do what your mom always told you to do as a child......don’t waste water and turn it off when you are brushing! Flush and Conserve Face it, we all use the bathroom and we all have to flush. Toilets can account for more than 40 percent of a household’s water usage. Reduce water usage without even buying a new toilet. Place a 1-liter plastic bottle full of water (smaller sizes can float) inside your toilet’s water tank. Every time you flush, instead of using 6 liters of water, you will use 5 liters. Plastic Bags are so old school Get reusable bags for the grocery store and the dry cleaner. More than 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away each year. A plastic bag, cap or lid takes decades to biodegrade. Get Rid of the Paper Towels Yep. Next time your kitchen counter’s wet, reach for a cloth instead of a paper towel. You’ll save a lot of paper, including the small, green kind that fits in your wallet. How much green? If you use one roll of paper towels per week, you could save $100 per year by switching to dishcloths and tea towels. And cotton tea towels are thicker and can hold more water than paper towels. Take it a step further and buy organic cotton tea towels. Or if you just can’t bear to get rid of paper towels all together, go with recycled and non-chlorine bleached paper towels from companies like Seventh Generation. Recycle that Aluminum We know you know about recycling aluminum. It’s easy to do. One more thing to add to this is crushing. Yep. Make the process more efficient and crush your cans before collection. This takes up less space in the recycle bin as well as the number of trips to take them to the recycling plant. And by the way, recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV set for three hours. Anthony Powell, a former anchor at KSN channel 3 and his wife Jennifer, have taken a new direction in

life.They are the proud new owners of The Cleaning Authority franchise in Wichita. The Cleaning Authority stands serving most of Wichita and the surrounding areas by being the leader in Green Seal authorized cleaning products, offering a flexible schedule, a patented detail rotation system, unparallel customer service and quality control. All to ensure that you are satisfied with their services and have a smile on your face when you open the door to your freshly-cleaned home! Contact Anthony Powell at The Cleaning Authority today to schedule your free consultation, 316-733-7890.

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Cleaning

Anthony Powell

2010-05-01 13:56:00

: Is it possible to kill staph, strep and other bacteria without harmful chemicals?

It’s a way to preserve the environment and ensure you are cleaning with products that are safe for you, your family, your pets and the environment. Some benefits of a well-designed green cleaning program can include improved productivity and morale of building or home occupants. Improved health of building or home occupants, which helps reduce sick days for both employees and children. Recognition in the community for reducing resource usage and pollution. Reduction of exposure to toxic chemicals, many of which are known to cause several illnesses, increased risk of cancer, and poisoning to young children. A proper green cleaning program should consist of procedures that maximize cleaning results while protecting cleaning workers and facility occupants. Proper training of cleaning staff is also critical to a successful program. Finally, products that have a more environmentally-friendly profile compared to traditional products are necessary. Green cleaning and other products that are considered ecologically-friendly are becoming increasingly available to consumers. Question: Is it possible to kill staph, strep and other bacteria without harmful chemicals? Answer: Many germs, such as staph, strep, e.coli, as well as athlete’s foot fungus, and mold and mildew, can contribute to severe or dangerous health problems. Germs can live up to 3 days on surfaces that you and your children touch. Desks, phones, and keyboards have an average of over 20,000 germs per square inch. Toilet seats average 50 germs per square inch. People don’t get sick from the cold; they get sick from bacteria, viruses, fungus, mold and mildew as well as acquiring respiratory problems from germs and hazardous chemicals. Companies that "clean green" use products that both kill off the bug threats as well as alleviate the risk for exposure and the threat of hazardous chemicals. Question: What’s the real difference in a cleaning company and a "green cleaning" company? Answer: Green cleaning companies are held to higher standards, in general, than federal or state-mandated "green" cleaning rules. The purpose of "going green" is to address human illnesses that arise from exposure as well as damage to the environment (water, soil, air, etc.) from disposal of these products. The role chemical exposure has in creating allergic sensitivities, reducing immunity, and contributing to cancer and other diseases, is a long-respected field of research in medicine. For example, research on human and animal exposure to formaldehyde, benzene and other solvents has resulted in legislation to limit exposure but has not completely banned these products.