Apartments and Houses » Cleaning

Cleaning Dryer Vents – Tips To Prevent A House Fire!

admin — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 04:35:12 +0000

Read This: Number of Bathrooms – The average number bathrooms in new houses has steadily increased over the years. The average home in the US has 2 1/2 baths and the average appears to be heading towards.

Make It A Ritual!

If part of your household maintenance plan does not include cleaning dryer vents then it should. Every year there are over 15,000 home fires caused by dryer fires with over 300 injuries and leading to 30 deaths. Not cleaning dryer vents also causes 90 million dollars in damages in the United States alone.

Based on these statistics, it is important for every homeowner to be aware of the recommendations and procedures for cleaning dryer vents that will keep them safe and comfortable in their home for years to come. Take a look at these important questions about cleaning dryer vents and facts to consider when you are deciding how to do it, when to do it, and who should do it.

What Are Clues Your Dryer Vent Needs Cleaning?

If your dryer is taking longer to dry a load than it used to, then the vents may need cleaning. As a general rule, dryer vents should be cleaned every six months. A simple reminder is to start cleaning dryer vents the same day you change your clocks for daylight savings.

What Is The Purpose Of Cleaning Dryer Vents?

As your clothes dry, they produce lint, and the lint trap doesn’t catch all of the lint that goes through your dryer. By cleaning dryer vents that are outside of the lint trap, you are removing this excess lint.

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Where Are The Dryer Vents?

When cleaning dryer vents, you need to make sure you clean the vent located at the rear of your dryer, as well as the route of the piping to the outside of your home.

Should I Clean My Vents On My Own?

You can easily hire someone, or if you are comfortable and willing to purchase the proper tools, you can easily clean the dryer vents yourself. You can find tools at hardware and home improvement stores, or online made specifically for cleaning dryer vents. When cleaning dryer vents, you will need a circular or horizontal brush that is on the end of a plastic/metal pole or durable line. Ask a professional to help you find the best tool to match your dryer’s needs and shape.

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Take this simple step towards fire prevention in your home that will go a long way toward keeping your family safe.

Margarette Tustle writes for home and family. Find more information about dryers at dryerltd.com

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Epoxy Floor Coatings Cure Moisture Problems and Odor

admin — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 12:53:55 +0000

By apartmentsforrentnews.com

Tips! Additionally, when you are visiting the house or apartment to rent, do not be afraid of scrutinizing every aspect of the apartment. Look for cracks, bugs, dirty spots, and any other flaws.

Epoxy floor coatings can be found in garages across the country. These coatings provide enduring protection to cement floors with a shiny finish that is easily recognizable. The floor paint is readily associated with garages and the occasional porch. From time to time epoxy floor coatings can be found in basements, like the basement in my home.

When my husband and I moved into our new home, we knew that we would be challenged with removing odors left behind by the previous owner’s pets. The person who sold the home to us was an avid cat lover and dog enthusiast and her home reflected that. She kept her four cats and two large dogs close to her at all times and they were equal partners in the house.

Tips! See what kind of changes you can make to your apartment or house. Some landlords allow their tenants to paint walls, or change certain appliances or carpeting.

After she moved out, there were tell-tale signs that animals took residence in the home. Once we got rid of the fur and the fleas, we were faced with removing the odor. This was no easy task. We tried a number of products that had great results upstairs, but the basement was still filled with pet odor. My husband chose to apply a couple epoxy floor coatings on the basement floor to address the problem.

The epoxy floor coatings did the trick, but at a price. The industrial-strength product is extremely strong and very effective and that is reflected in its chemical odor. The smell left behind by the animals was completely engulfed by the smell of the epoxy floor coating but the latter odor was a welcomed change.

Tips! Whether you have a good rental history. Some apartment complexes will require you have at least 12 months of rental history before they rent to you.

We had to stay in a hotel while the fumes worked their way through the home, but after a relaxing weekend away, we came back to a practically odor-free home. The epoxy floor coating also addressed some moisture problems in the basement, covering mold and mildew accumulated before the wall was repaired. This professional-grade paint took care of two significant odor problems at once.

The basement floors are now clean, shiny and odor-free. The colors of the epoxy floor coatings are limited and none would be on my top ten list of ideal floor finishes, but after all is said and done, I am very happy with the results. The floors are easy to maintain and the odd color can be covered with a nice, thick carpet.

Tips! Visit the apartment and house surrounding. Too many people sign on the dotted line without ever actually seeing the neighborhood.

We have no plans to keep any pets in the home right now, but we may in the future. Now that the place is clean and odor-free, I feel as if we have a brand new house that may need a couple pets to really make it a home.

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Good Cleaning Services without Worries

admin — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 11:05:11 +0000

By Stephanie

We have been very pleased with the cleaning services. We will be using this company again for additional projects and for our fall cleaning. Quality and professionalism are things to keep in minds when you are hiring people to come into your home to clean.

My husband and I recently finished a redecorating project in our living room. This mainly involved painting the walls, as well as changing some accessories to give the room a face lift. When we were done I noticed the woodwork looked like it needed treatment.

I was out of time and energy to tackle that project so I decided to hire the job done. I talked to my neighbor and she suggested calling some cleaning services to get a quote on getting the job done. She gave me the telephone number of two cleaning services that she had heard good things about from others.

I called the cleaning services and explained that I needed the wood work cleaned and conditioned. Each service stated that they would send out a person that lived close to me that could give me an estimate on the job. The estimate was free of charge and there was no obligation. I made appointments with both cleaning services.

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When the representative from the first company arrived she listened to what I wanted and looked at the size of the room and the amount of the wood work. She then gave me a quote for the project and the time frame of when she would be able to complete the project.

How To Build Your Free House.

She left her telephone number so that I could call her if I decided to hire her. The representative from the second of the two cleaning services came and looked at what I wanted done. She also looked at the wood mantel of the fireplace and suggested that this be done as well. She stated that for a minimal charge she would also wash the windows inside and out.

I was impressed that she took the initiative to point out additional things that needed cleaning to give the room a completed, clean look. The quote she gave me was very reasonable. She also brought along the names of three households that she had done work at so I could call for references. She said I should contact her company if I decided to use her cleaning services.

I called the numbers that she had provided for references and heard glowing reports about the quality of the services this second woman provides. Two of the households report that they have had her come back to their homes for different projects.

I called the second of the two cleaning services and hired the job done. I told them on the phone that I was impressed with how their staff had taken the initiative to point out things that needed to be done in the room as well as providing references. I then contacted the other company and let them know that I would not be using them. I suggested to them that they have their cleaners provide references when they come to bid a job.

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House Apartment Cleaning Is Not My Job!

admin — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 10:45:19 +0000

By Mike L.

How To Build Your Free House.

Apartment cleaning continues to dog me whenever the topic comes up and of late, I have taken to disappearing from the houses apartment to go and hang out with the guys just to avoid apartment cleaning. However, matters got a head the other day when the missus announced that if I did not take on an equal share of cleaning house for our apartment, she was going to take on a brand new apartment. Moreover, move in there with the kids and without me. My worst fears had begun coming true!

I had always dreaded that my inability to participate in cleaning house was one day going to wreck my marriage. Well, that one day was no longer in the distant future. It was here and now, and staring me right in the face! I had to take some decisive action, and I had to do it fast.

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Therefore, I did what every man in my position would do. I fished out the telephone directory and the yellow pages and sought out an apartment cleaning agency and those cleaning services! To my pleasant surprise, there were several apartment cleaning agencies listed. I happily got on to the phone and started calling some of them right away.

There was no way I was going to miss out a wonderful family life just because I was incapable of apartment cleaning. But after a couple of calls, my resolve began to waver. It seems like most apartment cleaning services were in business precisely because of people like me who were terrified of cleaning their own apartments.

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In addition, the apartment cleaning agencies were not going to let such a wonderful opportunity pass them by! Therefore, they had rate cards for apartment cleaning services that would warrant my taking out a second mortgage on my apartment! It was almost as bad as, if not worse than, losing my apartment to my wife and kids.

So last Sunday, I witnessed with a great deal of gloom, the braking down of the last bastion of resistance in my soul. With an exuberant wife and excited kids, I actually got down to the task of apartment cleaning!

When it comes to household chores, I am a pretty handy person around the house. I do more than my fair share of the chores. I wash the vessels on a regular basis, I cost most weekdays when the missus is tired or even just plain bored.

I take care of the needs of the kids, take the garbage out, and in general pretend to be a handy man with the tools whenever the faucet leaks or the plumbing gives up. However, if there is one thing that I abhor and just cannot get myself to do, it is apartment cleaning.

Many a battles have raged in our house over apartment cleaning. In fact, apartment cleaning, or my inability to do so, is the only thing that threatens to tear apart my otherwise happily married life. Even I do not know why I have such abhorrence towards apartment cleaning! Nevertheless, it is a truth of life with me and there seems to be nothing that I can do to resolve it. I shall consider hire apartment cleaners.

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Prepare House Cleaning Checklist for an Easier Maintenance

admin — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 10:36:43 +0000

By apartmentsforrentnews.com

Preparing a house cleaning checklist can serve several purposes. One is that you will have a reference guide as you work through your chores. Another good reason to have a house cleaning checklist is that it aids in dividing up the cleaning chores if every family member has other commitments.

How To Build Your Free House.

If you are making a house cleaning checklist for yourself, you will want to list the chores in the order in which you will complete them. You can begin the clean house list with the chore you least like. This is a good idea because once you get the least appealing clean house task out of the way the rest seem easy in comparison.

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In house cleaning areas, it is also a good idea when you are preparing your house cleaning checklist to list home dusting near the top of the list. The reason for this is because dusting sometimes creates residue on the floor. You will not want to vacuum or sweep the floor only to discover you need to redo it once you have dusted.

Your house cleaning checklist does not have to just apply to one or two days a week. Many people find it easier to keep up with their house cleaning responsibilities if they divide the chores into several days. Tackling one or two chores a day as opposed to several in one day can make the work seem less overwhelming.

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There are also chores that don’t need to be done each week that you will want to include in house cleaning checklist. Cleaning the oven, dusting behind your appliances, and washing the windows are all important tasks. These can be placed on your house cleaning checklist once a month. If you choose the same week each month, it will become part of your normal routine.

You sure can get every family member to help with the house cleaning without hiring the house cleaning services. Write up a house cleaning checklist that includes chores that each person can be responsible for. For a young child this could be picking up his or her own toys or feeding the dog. For an older child you might consider assigning nightly dish clean up or vacuuming to them on the house cleaning checklist.

When you decide to do this without house cleaning service, you can also teach your child the value of hard work by offering them a weekly allowance for completion of their chores. They will feel good knowing they are earning money as amateur house cleaners and you will be glad for the house cleaning help. I manage my family members to clean my house in such a way that everyone should be happy and responsible.

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House cleaning can be time consuming and frustrating if you approach it without a plan in the first place. If you create a house cleaning checklist and then follow it each week, you will find that being organized helps make the cleaning maintenance chores less of a burden even without maids. Hope this house cleaning tips helps.

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Clean Your House Green for your Children’s Sake

admin — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 08:57:08 +0000

Tip! Electric heaters can be the most efficient way of maintaining temperatures that are specific for the plants temperature needs. The heat given to the plants through these is controlled by a thermostat.

My thirteen-year-old daughter recently called me up to say she had cleaned the whole kitchen and bathroom herself. So many emotions ran through me at that moment. First, I was shocked by the fact that no one asked her to do so. I was also happy that she had done this but anxious at the same time because this was a Thursday afternoon and knowing that during the next 24 hours would come my payback, a ride home from a party or a couple of her friends sleeping over for the weekend.

But the one thing I was not feeling was worried that my little girl was exposed to toxic chemicals that most of us use in our homes. Two years ago we made the switch to all natural non-toxic cleaning products.

Up until a few years ago, most household and commercially purchased cleaning products were “petro-chemically” derived or “synthetic”. These types of products are literally made from crude petroleum oil. As our use of these cleaners in our homes, schools, and workplaces has grown over the last 60 years, the incidence of diseases like cancer and asthma has grown dramatically as well, and many experts see a clear connection between the two.

It’s a picture vividly painted by the numbers: From 1973 to 1998, the overall incidence of cancer increased by almost 25%. In the last 20 years, asthma rates have skyrocketed almost 50%. Americans now spend billions every year to deal with allergic diseases including a brand new one called multiple chemical sensitivity whose symptom is currently reported by 15-30% of the U.S. population.

Tip! My mother even started building a greenhouse in her backyard. Now that’s hardcore. When you start constructing your own plant home, you know then and there that you’re a plant lover. What’s your favorite plant?

Children are more vulnerable to environmentally caused diseases than adults. This is because children are of course smaller, and their systems are still developing. A child’s ability to flush out environmental toxins is not developed until they are around seven years old so they absorb and retain more toxins than adults. For example, children absorb about 50% of the lead they are exposed to, while adults absorb only 10-15%.

Here are some shocking facts compiled by the City of Boulder, Colorado:

? Indoor air is often two to five times more contaminated than outdoor air.

? Childhood asthma has nearly doubled in the last 20 years (American Lung Assoc.) and some cleaners may be triggers to asthma attacks.

? The average home contains 25 gallons of hazardous chemicals – a major portion of these can be found in household cleaning products.

Tip! The best source of artificial heat for the plants and the least harmful to people and the environment can be found through the use of greenhouse heaters that are fueled by electricity.

? In 1999, 92% of all poisonings occurred in the home.

? Cleaning products are involved in 11% of poisoning exposure in children less than 6 years of age.

? 70,000 synthetic chemicals are in production today. Many are suspected to cause cancer or other health effects, but only 600 have been adequately tested. Many people who are exposed to a variety of petrochemicals in our environment do not reach acute toxic exposure, which leads to cancer or death.

However, they may experience an array of subtle symptoms, including headaches, rashes, or breathing difficulties, which, while less dramatic, can be extremely debilitating. These effects are even more devastating in young children. Compounding this problem is the difficulty of isolating which chemicals present in homes, schools, offices or even cars is causing the problem.

Tip! In order to grow plants in a successful manner a temperature that is right for the plants must be maintained throughout the life of them.

The manufacturers of the traditional cleaning products are protected by trade secret labeling laws, which do not require them to list all ingredients. Although chemical information is required by law on products used in the workplace, this toxic information is not currently required on the products we use daily in our homes. Kathy Cooper, Sr. Environmental Law Researcher states: “Most consumers assume that if it’s on the store shelf, it has been tested and it is safe.

That is far from the truth. The Government and manufacturers are currently under no obligation to tell us about long-term toxicity of common household cleaners”. Children’s developing bodies are more vulnerable to toxins than those of adults, says Susan JunFish, who used to work for the Environmental Protection Agency. And they’re more likely to get toxins into their bodies. Their hands are on everything and then go in their mouths?an average of ten times an hour, according to one study.

These toxic cleaning products are slowly gaining attention, not only by environmentalist groups but on a City and State level as well. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the city of Seattle have taken the first step towards recognizing the importance’s of Environmentally preferable cleaning products and has awarded contracts to companies that meet certain criteria.

These products will have less of an impact on the environment than their traditional counterparts because they are generally less toxic and contain lower concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone depleting chemicals (ODCs), and carcinogens. Environmentally preferable cleaning products must also be offered in recycled-content, recyclable and/or reduced packaging.

Tip! Have you ever considered building a greenhouse? Regardless of what you may have thought, a number of individuals do this. While I will admit that it’s a project that requires a lot of work and dedication, I will also say that it’s ideal for all you plant lovers out there.

Our children are what we live for. We go to great lengths to shelter and protect them from all that is bad in the world. Why subject them to harsh toxic chemicals when there are alternatives available that are both safe and effective. By switching to all natural non toxic cleaners, you will not only be helping your children, you will be helping yourself, your pets and the precious environment we inhabit.

David Zielski started Seaside Naturals with his wife Linda. Seaside Naturals, a leading manufacturer of all natural first aid kits and natural cleaning and personal care products, provides all natural living solutions for health-conscious people. Seaside Naturals markets and distributes through natural food stores, supermarkets, on-line and in mail-order catalogs in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.seasidenaturals.com.

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