The St. Louis Cleaning Experts

Buying a new vacuum cleaner can be a bit confusing. So many models, and how do I know which one is right for me. The first thing you need to do is establish a budget of how much you’re comfortable spending. If your budget is under a $100 you will be purchasing a disposable made in China vacuum. It will last a couple of years, and then when you have a problem throw it away. There is a lot of truth in you get what you pay for, but rest easy you don’t have to spend over a $1000.00 to get a good vacuum. Next determine if you are more comfortable using an upright or a canister vacuum. They both will do the job, but canister vacuums are usually more expensive. The reason being is you’re getting a vacuum with a motor to drive your brush roll to pick up debris on carpet, and a motor in the tank to generate the suction. Most upright vacuums with rare exceptions have one motor turning the brush roll, and generating suction. From an efficiency standpoint a two motor canister vacuum is best if you have a combination of carpet, and hard surface floors. It will do a good job cleaning the carpet, and a great job on vacuuming hard floors. The majority of these vacuums have a good selection of attachments. The one you want to really look at is the attachment for cleaning hard floors. A good hard floor brush will be natural fiber not nylon. The vacuum should also have an upholstery tool, crevice tool, and a dusting brush. Make sure the motorized head at the end of the wand is easy to remove, and reattach. You’ll be taking this on, and off when you clean with your attachments. A one year warranty is the bare minimum. A two year is better, and if they offer a five year warranty on the unit, or even just the motor it’s probably a good vacuum. Ask if they repair the vacuum themselves, or do you have to take it some where else for repair. Try, and buy your vacuum from a place where you can get service after the sale.

Upright vacuums have been around for a long time, and they’re still the most popular. They also are a less expensive option. If you only have carpet to vacuum these are the least expensive vacuums. A good upright vacuum like this should cost between $200 to $400. If you have hard surface flooring, and you want to use an upright the feature you want to look for is the ability to shut your brush roll off. This will be a switch up on the handle or down on the base of the unit that turns your brush roll off. If you have very plush or Frieze carpet make sure the vacuum also has a height adjustment. Self adjusting upright vacuums won’t work on these types of carpets. Make sure the brush roll has at least two rows of brushes on it, and three is best. Also a metal brush roll allows you to replace worn brush strips where wood or composite means you must replace the whole roller. If you find an upright vacuum with two motors these are the best because they combine the suction of a canister vacuum with the ease of use of an upright. A vacuum with two motors that is made in America with a five year warranty is the Riccar Brilliance, and the Radiance which carries a six year warranty. You also will never ever replace a broken belt again. They guarantee a lifetime warranty on the belt. Lastly I know a bag less  vacuum sounds great but in reality you’ll soon learn they clog easy because of the limited filter area. Filters are more expensive than the price of bags you’ll spend in a year, and are incredibly messy to empty. If you want to learn more about different types of vacuums along with their features click here to watch a short video.

The holiday season is upon us, and it’s traditional to use the good china once a year at Christmas. This also usually means polishing the silver if you haven’t sold it already. With silver hovering around $37 an ounce it’s a thought, and just think you’d never have to polish it again. I can remember my mom spending hours polishing the silver for the big Christmas dinner. I can make it a little easier with a home made cleaning solution, and I can also recommend a fantastic commercial silver polish. The home made solution calls for lining your kitchen sink, or a glass baking dish with aluminum foil. Fill with hot steaming water, 2 tablespoons of baking soda, and 2 tablespoons of salt. Place the silver in the solution so it’s touching. You’ll see the tarnish come off. Buff with a soft dry cloth to remove any water spots. The commercial products I love the best are Porters Friend Silver Polish, and Flitz. This stuff will polish your silver so it gleams. Watch a short video of the process by clicking here. Before using the silver on the big day I’d give it a quick run through the dishwasher to remove any of the polish on the silver. If you’re storing it both these products will prolong the shine of the silver.

I know you’re probably saying there’s no way this could be true, but it probably is. The crumbs, and food residue you rinse off your dirty plates serve as a breeding ground for bacteria. If you work with poultry in the sink it could be contaminated with Salmonella. Ground meat, and you’re looking at E Coli. Garbage disposals with their moving parts get food particles stuck in them. Solve this by wiping your sink down with a foaming disinfectant cleaner. You can also mix up bleach, and water to pour down the drain. Don’t forget to pay special attention to the drain, and the drain plug. Wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling food. Proper hand washing should last 20 seconds with vigorous scrubbing of the hands.

If you think about it most people brush their teeth at least twice a day. After brushing your teeth we take the wet toothbrush that has been in your mouth, and we simply rinse it off. Do you really believe rinsing it off in running water gets rid of all the nasty germs found in your mouth off your toothbrush? Researchers say we should be replacing our toothbrushes on a frequent basis especially if we’ve been sick. It stands to reason if you’ve been ill it would be easy to reinfect yourself from the germs found on your toothbrush. They also recommend allowing your toothbrush to air dry rather than putting it into a tube or case. The reason for this is bacteria love dark ,moist, confined areas with no air movement. You can also help kill germs on it my dipping it into a mouthwash solution like Listerine. Lastly because our toothbrush is normally stored in the bathroom make sure your toilet is always flushed with the lid down. Flushing your toilet with the lid up can make the bacteria in your toilet airborne  for up to a distance of 20 feet, and it can remain in the air up to 2 hours. This would be like dipping your toothbrush in toilet water before you brush your teeth. I hope you find this information helpful.

Researchers at the University of Virginia were testing items found in the home for germs, and bacteria, You may be surprised to learn your salt, and pepper shakers may be making you sick. They went into homes where a member of the family was exhibiting signs of a cold or the symptoms of a cold. The salt, and pepper shakers were tested for cold virus. They found 100% tested positive for cold virus. The simple fix is to wipe off the salt, and pepper shakers when you wipe off the table after meals. Ideally you should wash your hands before, and after meals. Most cold, and flu virus are passed from your hand into your body by then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Your mother was right when she instructed you to wash your hands before sitting down at the table for a meal.

Halloween is almost here, and I was asked by my good friends at Fox 2 here in St. Louis to do a segment on television about removing gum, and candy from carpet. I have many friends who tell me upon discovering gum in their carpet they were forced to cut it out. I have others who tell me they tried to get it out using ice cubes. Unfortunately you can’t get the gum cold enough before the ice melts leaving a wet puddle on your carpet with gum stuck in it. If you’d like to see an easy quick demonstration on removing gum out of carpet click here. If you have children like I do it may be candy you’ve found in your carpet. I always recommend using a teaspoon to remove as much of the solid material as possible. A good all purpose carpet spotter sprayed on the spot, agitated with the back of the spoon, and blotted out with an absorbent rag will do the trick. If you’d like to see how it’s done on live television please click here. I hope I helped make carpet stain removal a little easier.

Floor pads come in all shapes, and sizes. You can get them in 6″ size up to 27″ size, and every size in between. The size of floor pads are based on the size of the buffer you use. The color of the pad you use is based on the job at hand. The rule of thumb is the darker the color of floor pad the more aggressive the pad. Black being the darkest color. It’s the pad you’d use if stripping wax off of a floor. The lightest color pad is white, and it’s equivalent in softness to a lambs wool pad. Green, and Blue are usually used for cleaning or scrubbing the top coat of wax off a floor. White, tan, light blue, natural fiber, champagne, and yellow are all polish pads. They can be used on low speed machines turning 175 RPM up to burnishers spinning 2500 RPM to achieve the wet look shine. Floor pads are used on wood, tile, stone, concrete, or any composition floor you have. Floor pads, and the machine are part of a system involving chemicals. You utilize all three to achieve the desired result.

I know many of you are saying what in the heck is he talking about. For those of you with front loading washing machines this post will make sense. I think it’s the design of the machine but over time the washing machine starts to stink. It must hold water some where that  starts to smell. We have a front loading machine, and I can attest it is a problem. You can easily fix this by adding an ounce or two of an enzyme to your laundry once a week. I spoke to an administrator of a nursing home, and they add an enzyme to every load of laundry they do. She explained because of the elderly population it really helps to keep the machines smelling fresh along with the laundry. I’ve tried this at home, and recommended it to many of our customers at our retail store. The feedback I’ve received is it solves the problem. I hope this helps those of you who have this problem.

I’m just totally frustrated with the lack of customer service in this world. Think about going to a fast food restaurants where it takes 15 minutes to get to the counter, order your food, and then they hand you a tray. I’d say 15 minutes isn’t fast, and what you’re given is not quality food. The people working at the restaurant hate their jobs, and they take it out on you the customers. How about airline travel? You get nickeled, and dimed for every little thing. Checking a bag, a pillow, window seat, food, drink, and more all have a price attached to them. You also get the privledge of someone either looking at your naked body, or getting groped as you go through security. Think about it you’re the customer, and this is how they treat you.

The reason we’re treated poorly is our own fault. We accept poor service. We’ve come to accept a box on a shelf, we read the label, select the product, go to a self checkout lane, buy the product, and hope like hell it works. We don’t even get mad when it falls apart ,or doesn’t work. Start voting with your pocketbook, and wallet. Frequent businesses that care about, and appreciate you as a customer. You have the power to fire the biggest company in the world if you stop buying their products. History is full of the names of large corporations who are out of business. They forgot who their boss was, and they thought they were smarter than their customers.

I work at a small cleaning products company in St Louis.Every employee from the owner on down knows they work for the customer.  We’re celebrating 50 years in business because we care about our customers, and strive to provide solutions to their problems. We ask questions when our customers come in so we can better understand their needs. We carry packages out for the ladies. We sell vacuums, and we assemble them at no charge. When you buy a vacuum from us we will fix it if something breaks, and we are the warranty dealer. We carry bags for vacuums we sold 50 years ago, and will always carry vacuum bags for a vacuum you purchase from us. We have a money back guarantee if a product we sell you doesn’t perform to your standards. Our employee’s actually like their jobs, and are treated like family. Stop in and visit us to see what I mean at O.K. Vacuum in St Louis. Visit our website at www.okvac.com for free cleaning information, and to learn a little more about how different we are.

Rich

Are you one of the many people buying your cleaning products at the grocery store, or the big box store? Do you proceed to aisle 27 where you have shelves of cleaning products to choose from. Are you reading the labels trying to figure out if this product will clean your new wood floor without damaging it? Have you ever tried to find a clerk at one these stores to help you. Having found one did they really know anything about cleaning supplies? Did you buy the product, and it didn’t work? When it didn’t work did it end up under your kitchen sink? If this sounds like you, welcome to the club.

I guarantee this isn’t how the professional’s buy their products. In fact the big box store you’re shopping at doesn’t use any of the products on their shelves to maintain their own stores. Cleaning is something we all do but, it’s pretty much guess work. I think this is a foolish way to maintain your biggest investment, your home. Why would you take a chance on damaging something you paid a large sum of money for. Use an acid based cleaner on a stone floor, and you’ll etch the stone. Clean your wood floor with an oil soap, and you’ll have a film on it with a vastly reduced shine. Spot a wool, or oriental carpet without checking for color fastness, and you can ruin it.

We want you to learn how the professionals clean. This will save you time, money, and you will have more time to do the things that bring you happiness. Check out www.askauntpatti.com for 33 free how to cleaning video’s. After you learn how the pro’s clean it you can go to your local janitor supply company, or order online at www.cleaningsolutionssuperstore.com. I hope this makes your life easier.