Showing posts with label Cleaning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cleaning. Show all posts

Friday, August 13, 2010

Do You Need House Cleaning Tips?

We will start with why house cleaning is important. Have you ever been in a house that smelled or had bugs crawling everywhere? Or maybe you are currently battling this problem. Keeping your home clean is the first step in getting rid of the bugs and smell. If you are not willing to do a little house cleaning it will always be a battle trying to keep the bugs and smell under control. The best approach I have found to get rid of bugs is to use bug bombs followed by an intense cleaning of the entire house and then use a spray around walls inside and out and other areas that were infested. Of course if you prefer you can call an exterminator to do this for you but you can usually get better results doing it yourself with items purchased at your local hardware store or Wal-Mart. The important thing is to get it done! Not just halfway, but commit several days to totally destroying the habitat for bugs. Once you have wiped them out spray your home a couple times a year to keep them out.

Now lets' start cleaning; Get a plan a goal of what you want to accomplish, If it is a large task like the whole house is trashed, break it down into rooms or even half a room and start there. Make yourself stay focused in this area until it is completed, then move to the next part. Start with the removing the big stuff and work down the small cleanup. Like a room has clothes scattered everywhere start with hanging, folding, and putting the dirty clothes in the laundry room or wherever you keep dirty clothes (not thrown on the floor)! Pick up all the trash and get it out of the room, now you can see the floor hopefully, now you can pick up and put away anything else that does not belong on the floor (no the bologna sandwich does not belong on the floor)! Once everything is out of the floor you can vacuum or sweep whichever is required for your floors. If it is something other than carpet once it has been swept use a mop with a disinfectant like pine sol. If you have carpet try a powder cleaner or get a steam cleaner you need to make sure this is cleaned well, carpet makes a great hiding place for bugs and allergens. Myself I like pine sol or Mr. clean they both do a good job and leave the place clean. If it is an area bleach want harm use it. Bleach will kill just about any germ in your home.

House cleaning is a daily job. If you will spend a few minutes each day cleaning up after yourself and a few hours each month doing an in depth cleaning it should not get so overwhelming. The big thing is take a minute to put things where it belongs, like that bologna sandwich you did not finish, put it in the trash, give it to the dog, or at least throw it outside and some critter will eat it, but do not put it on the floor. Food on the floor, counters, tables, etc. is asking for the bugs to move into your home; especially sweet stuff like sugar, which will draw ants from your neighbors' house! I do not know how they find this stuff, but they do! The best way to stop them is to; clean up after yourself!

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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Cleaning Sugar Glider Cages

If you think it's disgusting smelling, your sugar gliders probably think it's disgusting living in it. The cage will need to be completely cleaned out at least a once a week, maybe more if you have more than 2 sugar gliders. You will probably have to do a quick spot cleaning at least twice a week. A clean environment will keep them healthy.

If left in the cage for a long period, urine will begin to turn into ammonia, which is incredibly harmful to a sugar gliders respiratory system. Fecal matter, especially if it is an area where it is getting wet, can give rise to harmful bacteria that can be ingested or even inhaled making your sugar glider sick. Moist bedding or litter can cause fungus growth. A litter box or drop pan will help with feces. A clean cage will also help to make your home environment healthier and odor free. Remember that if you can smell dirty cages it is much more extreme and stressful to the animals living in them.

Step 1. Cleaning (removing visible dirt and debris) First, spray the cage with water to soften the residue. Then clean the cage by using an ordinary household soap such as dish washing liquid. A scrub brush and pressure nozzle for your hose will help you to dislodge stubborn debris from the cage and accessories. Small accessories can be soaked in a sink full of hot soapy water and scrubbed before disinfecting. This is only the first step in full cage cleaning.

Step 2. Disinfecting (destroying microorganisms or pathogens) Spray the cage and the accessories with your chosen disinfectant. Let the solution remain on the articles long enough to disinfect them (reading the directions will give the time it takes each particular product to do its job). These solutions can also be used on floors and walls around the cage as long as you rinse them well. After viral outbreaks use a cleaning agent that is specifically a virucide. Cleaning & Disinfecting Solutions (always rinse well)


Dish washing soap - cleaner only
Nolvasan (contains: chlorhexidine diacetate)-Bactericidal and virucidal
Vinegar (contains: 5 % acetic acid) mildly bactericidal
Hydrogen peroxide 3% (medical grade) - mildly bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal
Hydrogen peroxide 35% (technical grade) - bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal)
Citricidal (contains:grape seed extract) mildly bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal
Household bleach (contains:5.25% sodium hypochlorite ) - bactericidal and virucidal
Parvosol (contains: quaternary ammonium chloride) - bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal
Antibacterial liquid soap- bactericidal
Spectrosol (contains: quaternary ammonium chloride) - bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal
Oxyfresh (contains: stabilized chlorine dioxide) - bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal

Note: Lysol contains phenols and is not recommended for cleaning cages or accessories.

Step 3. Rinsing Rinse the cage and all accessories thoroughly. Make sure that you can not feel or smell any residual cleaning solution. This is a very important step. Some of the cleaners can be harmful to your small pets.

Step 4. Drying You can either air dry the cage and accessories or wipe them down with a clean towel. Air drying in the sun is particularly good if you want to make sure all organisms are killed.

The Hospital Cage Extra attention must be given when cleaning the cage of a sick pet, especially if it is going to be used later to house healthy pets. Meticulous care also needs to be taken if parasitic infestation is involved. In these scenarios, use strong solutions that kill bacteria, fungus, and viruses. After sterilization rinse thoroughly, and sun dry. After an infectious illness any accessories made from wood, wicker, or grass should be discarded. After a parasite outbreak these porous items need to be thoroughly cleaned, sanitized, and not used for any other animals for a minimum of two weeks. Food dishes should be cleaned, disinfected and then run through the dishwasher. Water bottles need to be completely taken apart (be sure to remove the washer) and all parts cleaned and sterilized.

Fabric Accessories You will want to thoroughly clean all cloth items used for your pet on a regular basis. Change the pouches, cage sets, tray liners and other fabric items as they get soiled (in-between cage cleanings). Wash with hypo-allergenic soap in warm or hot water in your washing machine. To clean fabric accessories that are particularly soiled, used in a sick cage, or contaminated with parasites, add a small amount of bleach or Oxyclean and use hot water. When using bleach or another disinfectant rinse twice to be sure that all chemicals are removed. Drying these items in the dryer at a high temperature for a minimum of 20 minutes will aid in combating microorganisms and parasitic infestations. Cleaning Tips


Avoid perfumed household cleaners
Spot clean in-between cage cleanings
Keep a smaller cage for your pets to go in during cleaning
Always clean in a well-ventilated area away from your pets
Remove all accessories and clean well
Spray the cage with water to soften the debris before cleaning
Be sure all debris is removed before disinfecting
Leave disinfectant on for a minimum of 10 minutes
Take extra care with disinfecting hospital cages
Rinse carefully to remove all cleaning agents
Dry cage before putting your pets back in
Use direct sunlight to dry and sanitize whenever possible
Always sanitize and refill water bottles and food dishes
Clean nursery cages more often

The whole process could take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour each week, but remember it needs to be done. Just like you clean your shower and toilet, or wash the kitchen counters after cooking, sugar gliders need their cages as clean as possible because they can be messy and if that continues to build up, not only could it endanger them, over time it could possibly endanger your health as well.

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Sunday, August 1, 2010

Cleaning Concrete the Green Way

Although many people are aware of the health risks toxic cleaning chemicals pose, they are still used for a number of cleaning jobs to keep businesses clean and deodorized. Aside from harming humans, these cleaners also negatively impact the environment, including plants and animals. This is why a number of people are now turning to new green cleaning techniques.

The term "green cleaning products" refers to a wide range of organic cleaners sourced from nature and free of toxic components commonly found in commercial cleaners. In addition to offering excellent cleaning results, using these non-toxic cleaners also guarantees that harmful residues are left on surfaces or released into the environment. Most importantly, these cleaners are safe for use around people, as well as plant and animal life.

To understand the cleaning power of these natural cleaners, let us consider a specific application, cleaning concrete surfaces. Removing a stain from a concrete surface can be very difficult and time consuming. Even cleaning professionals will agree that it is almost impossible to restore a concrete surface to its original state if it has been stained. This is exactly why you must use advanced green cleaning chemicals enhanced with rust and stain removers.

Natural cleaners such as green carpet cleaners and concrete cleaners are concentrated, plant-based solutions that provide superior cleaning power to effectively remove grease, rust, dirt, stains, or mildew from concrete surfaces. Moreover, these cleaning solutions also aggressively fight hydrocarbon deposits like oil, fats, sugar, proteins, and grease. Green cleaners formulated for cleaning concrete are ideal for cleaning a wide range of surfaces like garage floors, parking areas, basements, sidewalks, driveways, brick, and pavers. Since these formulas are eco-friendly and biodegradable, they can also be used to clean indoor concrete surfaces.

The best formulas available are concentrated, providing optimum value for consumers. For light-duty cleaning applications, you can use these green chemicals in the diluted form. For extremely challenging cleaning jobs, it is highly recommended that you use the cleaner in the concentrated form. For instance, instead of using harsh chemicals to eliminate rust stains from your sidewalks, quickly remove stubborn rust and other stains with concentrated green cleaning products.

One erroneous criticism plagues green chemicals, that they are not as powerful as toxic commercial chemicals. This is one reason why many commercial and industrial users still opt for harmful solutions to this day. However, this simply isn't true. Organic cleaners utilize specialized nano-sized molecules to penetrate and breakdown the molecules of dirt, grease, rust, and other residues. By effectively emulsifying dirt, grease, and rust in water, green cleaners ensure the complete and permanent removal of virtually all residues.

Learn more about the wide variety of green solutions available for virtually all applications by contacting a trusted green cleaning chemical supplier.

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