​Where you work can be one of the germiest places you visit. Everyone knows your phone, keyboard and mouse harbor bacteria, but many forget to wipe down their doorknobs and light switches. The break room is another area that most do not think about being a bacterial breeding ground, but it is exactly that.  The buttons on the water cooler can host bacteria that can cause illness. The plastic lids that you put on disposable coffee cups more than likely have been handled many times in an attempt to separate them from a stack. The individual-cup coffee machine gets nearly as many touches as the water fountain. Bacteria can grow by as much as 31% daily and disinfecting heavily-touched items and frequent hand washing can reduce the bacteria and lower your risk of illness. 

​Oil and grease stains on your carpet or upholstery can be safely removed using baking soda or corn starch. Either ingredient will soak up the oil as they are safe-to-use absorbents. Both are inexpensive, non-toxic, and will not harm the surface that you are cleaning. Gently blot the stain, from the outside to the center, with a cloth or paper towel, taking care not to push it deeper into the surface.  Next, liberally sprinkle on your baking soda or corn starch ensuring you have penetrated the fibers with the grease. A light brushing with a toothbrush or a soft utility brush for larger areas, will remove the stain.  Let the powder remain for a minimum of 30 minutes, taking care to thoroughly vacuum up all the powder.

​Always clean top to bottom, left to right. Because dirt falls from top to bottom, always begin cleaning with the microfiber cloth at the top, working your way left to right as you travel down.  You will never miss a spot and you will push everything down to the floor to rinse, sweep, or mop away. 

​You can easily minimize trash can odors by placing a few scented dryer sheets at the bottom of your garbage can before you line it with a garbage bag. They’re great at absorbing excess moisture and keeping scents to a minimum.  Every time you take the garbage out, remove the old dryer sheets and add new ones. You can even recycle your used dryer sheets, as they still have some “juice” left in them, just add a few more  to help maintain the scent.  

The key to effective removal is to remove it within 24-48 hours.  Different surfaces require different methods:
From Metal- Wipe with acetone, lacquer thinner or mineral spirits. If unsuccessful try small circular motions using steel wool or light sandpaper. If neither work you can use a pressure washer at 3000 psi. If all else fails, paint over the graffiti.
From Wood- If the wood is not weathered and is sealed with paint, stain or sealer you can wipe it down using mineral spirits. Using this on weathered wood will only move the paint further inside the wood. Try a gentle pressure wash, taking care not to push paint into the wood.  If neither work, paint over.
From Plastic- Wipe with a light penetrating oil only. Don't use paint thinners, they cause cloudiness, softening and tackiness.  Light pressure with ultra-fine steel wool can be used.  You may have to simply paint over if neither of these methods work.
From Masonry- Start off with a 3000 psi pressure wash, making sure you do not use a narrow tip that can etch the surface leaving outlines of the graffiti. You can also try sandblasting, taking care to maintain constant movement to keep from marking the area.  If neither work, cover the graffiti with paint. 

Here are 3 Easy ways to remove scuff and heel marks:

1. Rub a pencil eraser over the marks makes them easy to remove.
2. Magic Eraser-type blocks work well for cleaning up scuff and heel marks. Simply wet them, wring them out, and gently apply pressure over the top of the marks. Rinse the area and dry with a clean cloth.
3. Apply WD 40 to the marked area and gently rub with paper towel. Once clean use a soapy cloth to remove any remaining WD 40.

​Clean with soapy water and rinse an empty sink. Sprinkle the entire area with baking soda.  Take a soft clean sponge and scrub the entire area making small circular motions. Rinse well.  Your sink will be sparking clean and scratch-free. 

Pour rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle. With a soft microfiber cloth gently wipe down the surface. The haze will disappear, and you will have a sparkling clean mirror. 

Have you noticed how your monitors, laptop screens, and television screens attract dust? Because they are electrically charged, dusting them is a constant chore. You can change that by dusting them with a used dryer softener sheet. Softener sheets are designed to reduce static cling, which removes dust and can help keep it from resettling for several days or more. The added bonus- they also remove fingerprints and smudges from glass surfaces!

Keep them dry by using a damp cloth to blot up spills as soon as they happen. For tough spots, such as oil, paint, markers, lipstick, ink or tar, use acetone/nail polish remover on a clean white cloth. Do not use steam cleaners or wet mops, they can cause irreparable damage. The best method is to first use a microfiber mop to dry mop dust, dirt, and pet hair.  Rinse the mop head in the sink and then damp mop the areas you just cleaned. Microfiber mops are light weight and swivel to easily get under chairs and tables. 

​Start by squeezing or pouring drain cleaner (I prefer gel) onto the stain to cover it completely, letting it sit for a few minutes to help it sink it.  Wearing gloves, scrub the stained area with a stiff nylon brush until lifted. Do not use a metal brush as it can damage your concrete.   Using paper towels, mop up the cleaner so that there is little to none remaining, and properly dispose of the toweling.  Carefully hose down the area thoroughly with plenty of water, ensuring you dilute any remaining cleaner as much as possible so it doesn’t harm your pets or the environment.

​You will need hydrogen peroxide (3% solution), distilled white vinegar (5% acetic acid), two spray nozzles – one for the vinegar and one for the hydrogen peroxide, and one spray bottle – for the vinegar. You might want to consider wearing a mask if you are sensitive to mold.

Begin cleaning the surface of large debris by washing it down with soap and water. Dry with a clean cloth. Fill the empty spray bottle with undiluted distilled white vinegar and screw a spray nozzle onto the brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide, keeping it in its original bottle and to protect it from light.

IMPORTANT: Do not mix the two liquids in one bottle or on the surface – they form peracetic acid which is unstable when in this form!
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Start with either the vinegar or the hydrogen peroxide; the order doesn’t matter. After cleaning the surface, mist the surface with the contents of one bottle, let it sit for at least 5 minutes, wipe with a clean cloth, then repeat with the second bottle.

There are many uses for these handy sponges. My favorites are: cleaning white boards, erasing the marks on the side of your tennis shoe soles, cleaning mirrors and windows, making the inside of your microwave shine, removing scum from your shower and tub, removing marker and crayon from your walls and furniture, removing rust spots, cleaning the stove and hood, and removing stubborn coffee stains from your coffee cups. You can purchase sponges on line in bulk, made by many different manufacturers, by searching for magic sponge erasers. 

You will need  a vacuum with a crevice tool, 1 cup of distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle, baking soda, an old toothbrush, and paper toweling.

​Pour one cup of vinegar into a spray bottle, setting the nozzle to mist. Vacuum the track to remove as much loose debris as possible.  Lightly sprinkle the baking soda along your window tracks.  Mist the baking soda with vinegar to dampen the track. It should start to fizz.  Let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Take the toothbrush to loosen dirt in the tracks, moving it to the center. Use paper towel to pick up the gunk and wipe the track clean. Repeat these steps if necessary, until the track is clean.

Take control of your health in the workplace by using hand sanitizer or washing your hands after contacting the top 6 breeding grounds for germs, virus, flu and bacteria.  It is also a good idea to occasionally use sanitizer wipes to clean these items. 
1. The Desk
2. The Fridge
3. The Keyboard and Mouse
4. The Phone
5. Door Handles
6. The Copier

To keep the toilet tank and bowl clean and rust free, pour 1 cup of vinegar into the tank. Let sit for 15 minutes and flush, allowing the vinegar-infused water to also sit for 15 minutes in the bowl.  Flush once more for a cleaner tank.

​ By using an ordinary coffee filter, you can make your windows, wine glasses, mirrors, or any other glass surfaces sparkle better than you can when using a cloth or paper towel. Cloth and paper towels leave lint streaks on the glass. Coffee filters will absorb leftover moisture. This means that nothing will be left over except the beautiful shine that you always wanted. Cheers!

Facts about the flu. The flu virus can survive up to 72 hours on surfaces like doorknobs and desks. I use bleach products because they kill 99.9% of the flu viruses. Bleach mixtures an wipes are both convenient forms to sanitize with.  Adults can spread the flu up to a day before developing symptoms and 3 to 7 days after symptoms start. Children can pass the virus even longer.

It may be time to clean your ice maker if your ice is cloudy, clumps, or smells and tastes funny.  Remove the ice bin and dump the ice out. Prior to sanitizing the maker and the bin, you need to clean them first.  Most units have a movable bar that can be raised that will stop ice from being made, if your maker does not have this just unplug the fridge for the short time it takes to clean it.  Make a soapy water mixture in the sink to wash the ice bin and to wipe down the exterior of the ice maker inside the freezer. If there is heavy grime or scaly deposits inside the ice mold, make a mixture of vinegar, (half vinegar, half water) to wipe down the ice bucket and the ice maker. You may need to use a toothbrush to reach inside the ice mold to remove the scaly water deposits. If you haven't cleaned the ice maker in a while (or ever), you may want to disinfect it with some diluted bleach; 1 tablespoon bleach to one gallon of water. It’s important to re-wipe the bleached areas with a wet cloth so that your fresh ice does not smell and taste of bleach. Make sure everything inside of the freezer that you washed, and the bucket, are completely dry. Moisture could freeze and crack the bin or moving parts. Plug your fridge back in and enjoy the fresh tasting, clear ice that it will now make. 

​Ceiling fans build up dust over time, which causes a mess in your home and office.  First, turn off your fan and slide a clean pillowcase over one entire fan blade (from the tip to the inside of the blade.) As you pull the pillowcase off the blade, the inside of the pillow case will catch any debris as it falls. Do this for each blade.  Next I wipe each blade using a dryer sheet to help keep dust from settling back on the blades so fast.

Start with an empty dishwasher. Place a dishwasher-safe container full of white vinegar on the top rack. Run a cycle with hot water through the machine. This will eliminate odors and clean your machine.