Category Archives: Blog

It’s Time to Clean Your Bathroom!

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Has the thought, “Maybe I should be wearing a bio-hazard suit,” ever occurred to you when you step into your bathroom?

If so, don’t worry. It’s nature’s way of telling you it’s time to clean up. Here are bathroom cleaning tips and the best solutions to use on fixtures, faucets and walls.

Sink & Counter Top

Do you find dried dribbles of toothpaste on your sink along with rings or over-spray from hair products? The workhorse of the bathroom, the sink,  endures a daily barrage of dirt and grime. Keep it sparkling with regular cleaning.

Start by using an all-purpose bathroom cleaner to remove light soil and film. For the more hardened or oily deposits, abrasive or soft-scrub cleaners may be used, as they will be easy to rinse from ceramic surfaces. Cleaners formulated with bleach will remove toothpaste dribbles and sanitize surfaces, too.

For green cleaning, use homemade cleaners. They’ll make your bathroom sparkle and shine without harsh chemicals — or a harsh price tag. One of my favorites to use is baking soda with a few drops of Tea Tree Oil. Just mix 2 Tablespoons of baking soda with 3 drops of Tea Tree Oil, sprinkle it on, scrub it in with a wet sponge, let sit for 5 minutes and rinse clean.

Another great solution for quick clean ups is a spray bottle mix of 1/3 rubbing alcohol, 1/3 white vinegar and 1/3 plain water. Just spritz and wipe clean. This works great for cleaning the rim, counter and fixtures. Buff fixtures shiny and dry with a fresh cleaning cloth.

Keeping disinfectant cleaning wipes for quick clean ups is always a good idea for heavy use bathrooms.

Shower and Tub

Eeeewww! Can you believe how that horrible soap scum, bath oil, hair products and body soil combine to make the shining surface of the shower and tub dull and hard to clean? It takes some elbow grease to get these clean while tub rims, fixtures and faucets provide hiding places for moisture, mold and mildew. If you procrastinate, deposits harden so mildew and mold can take up residence in dark corners. It’s a task we all dread so combine cleaning power to make short work of cleaning the shower and tub.

Spray and Stand

Before cleaning the rest of the bathroom, spray the tub area with a generous layer of all-purpose bathroom cleaner, and allow the product to stand while you clean elsewhere. The standing time helps the cleanser to dissolve oils and soap scum, so you’ll need less elbow grease to remove it.

If you have tough build-up you are going to have to get scrubbing. Use abrasive scrubbing pads to remove bathtub rings or deposits on shower floors. Sometimes you have to use a gel spray that contains bleach to get the caulking clean of mold and mildew. The baking soda and Tea Tree Oil mentioned above work really well on tough tub build up.

Tile brushes scrub tile grout and reach into cracks and corners, while the handle protects knuckles from accidental contact with the tub. Using an old toothbrush around tub fixtures is a great way to remove buildup deposits.

Rinse It Clean

Detachable shower heads allow you to rinse off the cleaner quickly and cleanly. If you don’t have one, stock your cleaning tote with a removable rubber showerhead that attaches to the bathtub tap. Commonly used for shampooing hair or bathing pets, they’re inexpensive and make it easier to rinse tub and shower walls after you clean.

Fiberglass Showers and Glass Doors

If you have hard water or sulfur in your well water you know how hard these are to clean, and it builds up fast. These surfaces need special treatment. Clean them with a nonabrasive cleaner such as an all-purpose bathroom cleaner, pine oil or the baking soda/Tea Tree Oil combo.  Avoid abrasive cleansers or scrubbing pads because they may scratch or dull the finish.

Something I find that works really well on glass doors is a used dryer sheet! I’m serious, it works and you are recycling something you would normally throw away. My favorite, the Magic eraser, cuts through pretty much anything your fiberglass shower will throw at you with ease.

The Toilet

Double eeewwww!!!! Don’t we all just love cleaning the toilet?

It isn’t most people’s idea of a good time, but where would we be without it? I’ll tell you: back in the outhouse… can you say triple eeewww!?!? Try these ideas to keep it clean and inviting:

Take your time. Place granulated or liquid toilet bowl cleaner into the bowl, and let the cleaner go to work. Standing time is necessary to dissolve deposits and kill germs, so don’t cut the time short. There are tablets you can put in your tank to keep build up at a minimum between cleans that I find work really well.

Replace your flattened or mashed, toilet bowl brushes, you need those bristles bristling to do a good job. Curved bowl brushes reach up and under the toilet rim to scour away hidden deposits.

Time to bring on the pumice stone. If the toilet develops a stubborn ring that regular cleaning won’t cure, bring on the pumice stone! This natural stone is porous and crumbles. Rub the stone directly on the ring to remove the deposit but don’t forget to put on your cleaning gloves!

Antibacterial Cleaning Products

Use a disinfecting spray cleaner or all-purpose bathroom cleaner to spray toilet rims, seat and lid, tank and bowl exterior. Be sure to check the label for the recommended standing time; antibacterial cleaning products require a certain amount of wet exposure to kill germs. Wipe clean and dry with fresh cleaning cloths.

Dreaded Drips and Dribbles

These are a predictable hazard in a home containing boys… of any age. They can cause odor problems, and urine can cause floor damage if it is allowed to stand at the base of the toilet. Use disinfecting cleaner and the cleaning toothbrush to scour out stray dribbles. You can set disinfectant wipes next to the toilet for the offenders to use, just make sure they throw them in the trash can and not the toilet, you don’t want clogged pipes!

So there you go, now get past the eeewww and get down to cleaning!

Spring Cleaning Checklist

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You Might Miss Some of the Grossest Things When Spring Cleaning

dirty-keyboardHave you ever really thought about what could be on (or in) your keyboard?

Spring cleaning usually means organizing closets, driving all those boxes labeled “donate” to your local clothing drive, washing down patio furniture, and other big, highly visible projects. So it’s easy to forget about the little things that keep cluttering our lives in our work environment. Here are some unexpected items you should organize, purge, check or spruce up this spring.

Cleaning Supplies

Before you dive into spring cleaning, focus your energy on clearing out your actual cleaning supplies. Good Housekeeping notes that household items actually have shelf lives:

  • Laundry detergent keeps for six months
  • Fabric softener keeps for one year
  • Dish soap will last up to a year and a half
  • Dishwasher detergent lasts three months
  • Disinfectant lasts two years
  • Multi-surface cleaners keep for up to two years
  • Metal polish lasts for two years, but throw it away sooner if it’s lumpy
Emergency Kit

Everyone should have an emergency kit, whether you live in a place with hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, or any possibility of an unexpected disaster (i.e., every place on earth). If you checked that off your list a few years ago, make sure your batteries still work and your food and medical supplies haven’t expired. Today many of us work from our vehicles so while you’re at it, make a similar emergency kit for your vehicle in case you ever get stuck in an emergency situation.

Your Purse/Bag/Briefcase

Purge your bag of the receipts, gum wrappers, empty mascara tubes, broken hair ties, stale protein bars, receipts, old papers & files and the entire GDP of California in pennies (your back will thank you). Then wipe out the inside & outside with a sanitizer wipe & refill with the essentials.

Car Trunk and Glove Compartment

Empty your trunk of the bag of ill-fitting clothes you meant to take to Goodwill, water bottles, shoes you forgot you owned, and clean up any spills or whatever else landed in there. While you’re at it, it’s time to face the music and pay those parking tickets you shoved into your glove compartment.

Condiments

Do your employees remember buying the mustard, catsup, mayonnaise, etc. that are sitting in your break room fridge door right now? Probably not… can you say YUCK!?

Make it a company policy that everything needs to be marked with a permanent marker the date it was placed in the refrigerator. Keep a marker on a string attached to the refrigerator for this purpose. Here’s a list of food shelf-life, that you might find handy & can laminate to post next to the marker:

  • Jams/jellies last one year
  • Mayonnaise lasts two to three months after the use by date
  • Hot sauce lasts five years
  • Pickles last one year
  • Soy sauce lasts two years
  • Mustard lasts one year
  • Ketchup lasts six months
Your Keyboard and Mouse

Not to gross you out, but your keyboard and mouse are cesspools of germs and bacteria. Give your keyboard a full clean (not just a cursory wipe-down), and place some disinfecting wipes on your desk to remind you to make this a regular habit.

Your Computer Files

Unless you’re incredibly disciplined, your computer could probably use some organization. Clean up your desktop, but then go deeper: Put completed projects onto external hard drives or the cloud, go through the hundreds of screenshots you can’t remember why you saved, and clean up whatever app you use to keep random notes.

Reducing Water Consumption

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5 Steps for Reducing Water Consumption by 25% in Commercial Facilities

Almost 40% of the US will be experiencing some kind of drought this year.

While water conditions and restriction in California are making headline news, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, as of the end of March 2015, 36.8 percent of the contiguous United States are experiencing moderate to severe drought conditions.

More drought stricken states will be following California’s lead in mandating a 25% reduction in water consumption by both residents and businesses.

So how do commercial facilities – light industrial manufacturing, office buildings, schools, medical, etc. – reduce water consumption by one-fourth?

While it may take a little time, ingenuity, and some cost, according to the Pacific Institute, which conducts research on environment and sustainability issues, it can be done… and potentially easier than expected.

The Institute recommends the following five steps that can help reduce water consumption by about 25 percent, if not more:

  1. Fix Leaks: Repairing leaking fixtures and pipes can save five to as much as ten percent of the water consumed in a commercial facility.
  2. Retrofit: Old or inefficient restroom fixtures should be retrofitted to reduce water consumption. According to the Institute, the average toilet uses 2.8 gallons of water per flush (GPF). This is more than double the 1.28 GPF of a high-efficient toilet. Older toilets use 3-6 gallons! The average worker uses the toilet 3-6 times per day.
  3. Replace: With some restroom fixtures such as urinals, it may be more water and cost efficient to replace the unit rather than retrofit. Of the 12 million urinals installed in the U.S., 65% use more than 1.0 to as much as 3 GPF. Replacing these with water-efficient urinals can save facilities about 4,000 GPF per urinal annually. Replacing these with waterless urinals can save 35,000 gallons per urinal annually.
  4. Recycling: Many industrial users now use potable (drinkable) water in manufacturing. Using recycled and retreated water can scale back water use considerably with little impact on operations.
  5. Cooling: Related to this, cooling systems can be adjusted to recycle more water, again reducing consumption substantially.

Most importantly, “…about half the water consumed in most commercial facilities is used in restrooms,” says Klaus Reichardt, founder and CEO of Waterless Company. “Because of this, the first place to look when reducing water consumption should be in the restroom.”

What’s the Difference Between a Janitor & Cleaning Services?

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We all understand why you need keep your business clean. But what are the differences between janitor and cleaning services?

To create a wonderful impression on clients, visitors and staff, a company should always maintain spotless office spaces. Commercial areas, back offices, kitchens and restrooms should look their best.

This will often require a dedicated person or company to do specialized tasks, and these tasks can require knowledge and experience so they achieve the result intended. Cleaning may not seem that complicated, but when your office space must not only be clean but also have everything in good repair, it does mean that you need someone who knows what they are doing.

Making a Decision on How to Get Your Spaces Clean

There are two solutions. You can hire a janitor service or put an employee on these tasks as a double duty. You could also hire a cleaning service to take care of your company’s cleaning needs. There are differences between the two, and knowing what these differences are will help you make a decision on what you should do – hire a janitor or custodian, or get the benefits of a professional cleaning done by a cleaning service. Getting more effective and safe cleaning done for your dollar is what it is really all about. You want to pair with a company that values clean!

A Janitor Versus a Cleaning Service

Janitors are generally part of the staff of a company, and therefore would be subject to everything a normal employee would require. This includes:

  • Payroll
  • Social Security
  • Medicare
  • Unemployment
  • Worker compensation insurance
  • Paid holidays, vacations and sick days

On the other hand, a cleaning service hired to clean your office spaces is not on the payroll and none of the personnel come under these requirements. You pay the agency a flat fee on a contract basis and they come in (usually on off hours) to clean the office spaces or retail areas. You can determine how often they come in to do the cleaning. The fee is set according to the need. You aren’t paying by the hour for an employee to clean, along with all that entails in business taxes.

Types of Work They Perform

The jobs performed may differ between a janitorial service and a cleaning agency. Janitors or custodians often only do the major tasks such as emptying trash, washing windows and mopping floors. A cleaning service will take on all cleaning needs, from sanitizing bathrooms, resurfacing your flooring, cleaning or repairing tile floors to marble restoration carpet cleaning and sanitation, indoor and outdoor window cleaning, pressure waxing,  emergency services at any time needed.

It makes sense to hire a cleaning company. One that does multi-state background checks, one that can handle expert cleaning services that cover everything needed to have your office or retail spaces look their very best and create the best impression possible. You will have happier and healthier employees whose working environment is a place they can get down to the business of their jobs, not worrying about germs or pollen circulating in the office.

You save money. It’s a win-win all around. Please give AQC COMMERCIAL CLEANING a call at 503-516-2477 and we can help you with any of your business cleaning needs.

Benefits of Entrance Mats

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We all know floor mats can minimize slip hazards but they also help to keep your place of business clean. Having entrance mats at every entrance, and making sure you keep it clean will go a long way toward that goal. Mats are available in many different shapes and sizes to choose from so you can customize them for your space, and you can have one custom-made with your logo on it.

Here are several advantages of using a door/entrance mat…

1)   You can’t ask people to take off their shoes.

According to studies by ISSA (the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association), about 80% of all the contaminants affecting any facility come from the shoes of people in the building. Now you can’t exactly ask your visitors to take off their shoes before they go in any room of the building. By having entrance mats at every door, you ensure that they at least have a way to wipe their shoes before entering and/or walk off some of the debris.

2)   Entrance mats guard your establishment from added dust and mud.

You may not be able to control what kind of dust and mud goes in but having an entrance mat by the door is a way to guard it from the unnecessary. Say for instance the person came from outside where it’s extra dusty. Having an entrance mat allows that person to remove some of that excess dust so that it won’t go inside your building.

3)   You don’t have to worry about rain.

Rain is a nightmare for those trying to keep a certain area clean, because with rain comes wet shoes and muddy floors. If you have an entrance mat welcoming each guest at every doorway, you don’t have to worry about rain and getting your floors all muddy. They can simply wipe their shoes clean and dry before entering.

4)   It can be useful and decorative at the same time.

What some people forget is that doormats don’t have to be plain and ugly. You can be as decorative as you want to be, matching the entrance mat with the decor of your establishment or office. You can even use it as a branding tool by having your logo or company name imprinted on the mat.

5)   It’s a way to minimize slip hazards.

According to the National Floor Safety Institute, “more than 3 million food service employees and over 1 million guests are injured annually as a result of restaurant slips and falls.” Clearly, slipping is a danger that’s quite common. With an entrance mat at every doorstep however, you can easily minimize the risk of people slipping as they navigate their way into your building.

6)   You can prevent floor damage.

With well-placed entrance mats, you can also prevent interior floor damage by protecting your floor surfaces. It’s not just the people that you protect from accidents, you protect your facility as well.

7)   It can help you with bacteria regulation.

Some doormats can actually be infused with microbe-killing powers that can help you with bacteria regulation. So not only do you keep your rooms clean as far as your eyes can see, you also keep them clean even on a microorganism level.

Save Lives: Clean Your Hands

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has been actively promoting their Clean Care Is Safer Care program for 10 years. On May 5, WHO is asking for support of their Save Lives: Clean Your Hands program. Benefits of doing so include:

  1. Hand hygiene at the right times saves lives.
  2. Hand hygiene in healthcare has saved millions of lives in the last years.
  3. Hand hygiene is a quality indicator of safe healthcare systems.
  4. Healthcare problems, like HAIs which are often invisible but nevertheless still occur, are political and social challenges that we must address now.
  5. Infections can be stopped through good hand hygiene, and patient and health worker harm prevented for less than $10.
  6. Affordable life-saving technology is available. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can prevent HAI and millions of deaths every year.
  7. #handhygiene exists in the media, which means it exists as an important topic, whether due to HAI or outbreaks of deadly diseases like Ebola.
  8. Embedding specific moments for hand hygiene action into health worker workflow makes it easier to do the right thing every minute, every hour, every day.
  9. Infection prevention is at the heart of strengthening healthcare systems. Hand hygiene is core to all interventions, whether inserting an invasive device, managing a surgical wound, or giving an injection.
  10. The social epidemic has already begun to spread with SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands, a successful global campaign promoting hand hygiene action at the point of patient care.

Pollen Is In the Air… Keep It Out of the Office!

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A Pollen & Dust Free Office is a Healthy Office

Allergy season has arrived! You see it on your car, floating in the air, and it will find its way into your office. When it does it can not only leave a nasty coating on everything, but it can clog the filtration system creating havoc with your employees’ health.

Throughout the Spring and Summer pollen is at its worst. You need to have a handle on it or it could cost you money in the way of employee down time! AQC can help you with this by performing regularly scheduled detailed office cleanings and the benefits are endless.

Regular cleaning of surfaces and vent grates can serve to minimize the impact that seasonal and dust allergies have on your team by reducing the amount of irritants that are in the air or on surfaces. An unclean work environment can do way more damage than just costing the company lost work hours due to illness. Long-term issues can present themselves resulting in disability claims, lawsuits and increases in insurance premiums. In fact there have been several documented cases that prove regular detailed cleaning of a workplace can significantly reduce “sick time” employees take by 46%!

Commercial cleaning companies like AQC are an important part of a partnership to create a healthy work environment. We love to partner with companies that “value clean!”

Remember “a clean office is a healthy office!”

Getting started is simple, just visit our Web site at www.AQCLLC.com , email us at [email protected] or call us at 503-516-2477 and we can help you with all your cleaning needs.

Office Cleaning Services Increase Operational Efficiency

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Office Cleaning Services Can Positively Impact Your Bottom Line

If your office is cluttered and dirty, what kind of impression are you making on your clients? How does that make employees feel when they walk through your doors? That “unkept” look will have an impact on your business’ operational efficiency and that’s as important to your clients and employees as it is to your bottom line. It’s an important aspect of any business’s office.

Think about how clutter, dust and buildup in an office can affect the motivation of clients and employees. If that’s what they see when they walk through your doors, that first impression can impact how new clients feel about your business… odds are they’re not going to be very motivated to do business with you or recommend your services. When employees come into a dirty space, they’re motivation is also sapped, so their productivity declines.

The bottom line is that a clean workplace is more inviting to new clients and a more desirable place to work at than a dirty one, and well, that impacts your bottom line.

When you hire a professional commercial cleaning company like AQC to perform a daily or weekly detailed office cleaning you prevent buildup, clutter and dust from accumulating. It will increase your overall efficiency,  client relationships and employee motivation which in turn will help you increase your profits.

AQC would love to help make your workplace more efficient because a clean office is a happy office!

Fall cleaning tips for businesses in the Portland area.

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Fall is a beautiful time of year as the vibrant colors of Spring and Summer begin to fade into the brilliant shades of leafy sunset shades. It is also when loose leaves begin to fall and litter the lawns and walkways of homes and businesses. Aside from being a time to focus on keeping outer areas swept clean, it is also a time of year that is good for keeping up with organization and starting new projects.

Turn the infamous “Spring Cleaning” into a biannual event.

Who says that cleaning out the old and getting to that list of projects for around the office is just a once a year event? Taking time in the fall season to clear out excess around the office is a great way to keep things from cluttering store rooms and file cabinets. A good time to tackle it is from mid to late fall. While the leaves are being kept cleared off the walks and ledges outside, the same sort of fastidious cleaning can be done indoors.

Take time to have the out of sight areas tended to.

One important task to get to during the fall season is cleaning out air ducts and getting to the out of way areas for top to bottom dusting. Hiring a commercial cleaning company can help get your business in good shape for the winter months and beyond. Dust, dirt, and other undesirable particulates, sometimes including mold, can accumulate in air ducts. When colder weather begins to set in and heaters are turned on, the warm air can really rile up and distribute these settled health hazards. Itchy, watery eyes, sneezing and many other sinus issues can be created or made worse by working in a building with an unclean air duct system. This is especially true for the colder months when less fresh air is taken in and people tend to remain in doors more. Having a good in depth dusting from top to bottom and the ducts cleaned can dramatically improve the air quality inside buildings and reduce the number of sick days throughout the year.

Use a commercial cleaning company to help.

If your business does not already use one, hiring a commercial cleaning company, for at least an assessment, can help you find potential trouble areas. Trained janitorial professionals can spot areas that may be neglected or overlooked by your current cleaning staff, or can tend to jobs that are out of your company’s liability comfort zone. Dusting and touching up areas over head height that require a ladder, outside surfaces, and other such areas that are either hard to access or pose potential hazards to less accustomed workers can often be handled with great ease by the staff of a reputable commercial cleaning company. There are several in the Portland, Oregon area that offer free evaluations and most will give you a comprehensive assessment of what it would take to reach your janitorial goals. For all the benefits, which include more efficient work flow and less sick leave, there is no reason to not have good “Fall Cleaning.”

Why is pays to invest in a professional janitorial service

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There may be a lot of options when it comes to finding a commercial cleaning company in the Portland, Oregon area, so much so that it may be asked if using a janitorial service even worth the hassle of finding a good one. For business of all sizes and industry, using a reliable janitorial service can not only be beneficial to your budget, it can mean the difference between repeat business and not. When your store or office is disorganized or messy, it tends to generate negative feedback from customers and can tarnish a business’s reputation.

The difference between using a commercial cleaning company and on staff workers.

When you employ a janitorial staff, like other members of the crew, there is an issue of training, insurance, and benefits that can make the cost to maintain an in house department much more costly than hiring a service. With the abundance of available choices, finding a reliable commercial cleaning company in the Portland area is easy and affordable. You can find a single company to handle all of your cleaning needs. From windows to basements, commercial cleaning companies can offer you the services you need, and within a set budget that works for you. Additionally, hiring an outside company means you are getting people with proper training from a company the specializes in janitorial needs. This also means that not only will the job be done well, it will be done to the best standards and with the best techniques your company may not be aware of. Letting someone else worry about proper cleaning allows your business to focus on what really matters, your business.

Accountability and insurance.

 One of biggest benefits to hiring a commercial cleaning service, aside from getting an important job done well, is their accountability practices. While reputation makes or breaks a business, for cleaning companies, it is particularly important for them to maintain a good reputation. They have to not only prove they are capable cleaners, they have to prove they can be trusted. A lot of businesses look to hire cleaning to be done after hours so it will not interrupt daily affairs. Trying to mop, vacuum and other types of cleaning, such as dusting, can get in the way of workers or customers ,and end up making a bad impression. Unless you normally have an after hours crew, hiring a company means you are allowing people into your establishment with only their own supervision and any surveillance system that you use.

Any commercial cleaning company worth their salt will not only prove that they are trustworthy, but they will also have impeccable accountability for their work. They will also carry insurance to ensure that if anything goes wrong that it will be covered.  Aside from being insured and trustworthy, a good commercial cleaning company will also be able to provide previous and current customer recommendations for future clients. Their reputation will precede them, and it will be well earned for how well they perform and reliable they are.