The government has accepted the independent Low Pay Commission’s recommendations for this year’s National Minimum Wage rates.
As from 1 October 2012, the adult rate will increase to £6.19 per hour. On the other hand the rates for 18-20 and 16-17 year olds will remain the same.
In this time of uncertainty and tough economic environment, the increase has been welcomed by Cleaning businesses.
Indoor Allergy Week runs from 14th November to 20th November. As the new research from charity Allergy UK shows, “home fever” is on the increase, with an estimate of over 12 million people in the UK allergic to their own homes.
The common symptoms of “home fever” or indoor allergy is a runny nose and sneezing, easily mistaken for a flu or cold.
As the research says dust mites, mould and pets are the major cause of allergic reactions. But over 35% of allergy sufferers react also to chemicals in cleaning products.
With these results, it is even clearer the need for a clean home. The work a professional cleaner can do at your home is invaluable and will put your mind at ease leaving your house free of any allergens, but here are some easy to follow tips to avoid any allergy reaction:
– Dust regularly with a damp cloth.
-Ventilate your home every day, at least for 10 minutes.
– Wash bed linen once a week at 60C.
– Buy new pillows every year.
– Replace your mattress every 8/10 years.
– Hoover your carpet regularly and steam clean it once or twice a year.
Are you an allergy sufferer? Check http://www.allergyuk.org/ for more advice.
Here you will find the basic cleaning products you will need to keep your kitchen up to standard.
Multipurpose cleaner
For the daily cleaning. There are eco friendly cleaners with lovely smells that you can use safely on any kitchen surface.
Vinegar
You may find this useful to get rid of the grease on cupboards, worktops, walls and any other kitchen surface. Mix one part of white vinegar with two parts of water on a spray bottle and use it regularly.
Disinfectant chemical
This is specially formulated to clean kitchen worktops after preparing raw meat or fish. It will kill most of the germs, thus avoiding the spread of illnesses.
Lime scale remover
For that hideous grime and lime on the kitchen sink. Use the vinegar solution regularly and the lime scale remover once you see the lime scale building up.
Floor cleaner
Check on the market for a specific chemical depending on which material your floor is made of; you can find cleaning products for tiles, wooden floors, laminate… This will give you a truly professional finish.
Check http://www.amycleaning.co.uk/blog on the next few weeks for more information on essential products to keep your house clean!
Another fantastic example of where the Amy Charity helped was for an elderly gentleman who lives on his own in East London. He found his every day cleaning duties extremely difficult and was falling behind with his everyday cleaning tasks. He has lived on his own for 10 years since he and his wife divorced.
In order to ascertain this client cleaning needs we completed a cleaning audit and a blitz clean with the cleaner and our house keeping supervisor as the client’s home needed a lot of work and tender loving care. This supervision enabled the cleaner to prioritize her cleaning as there was a lot of work to be done and to get the client home back to its original sparkling condition. The feedback from the client was so great that the cleaner became cleaner of the month title as she completed such a great job and the client was extremely happy with her and our services.
The cleaner then cleaned on a weekly basis for 2hrs.
Upon our initial charity visit to his home , he informed us that he needed new carpets for his hallway and laminate flooring for his toilet and he also needed a new toilet as his toilet had a leak. We directed the client to the right people he needed to speak to within his council borough with regards to his problems. We can now confirm that he now has new carpets in his hallway and stairs, new laminate flooring in his toilet and a new toilet. We not only help with cleaning/ironing needs but also gives advice and support with any other concerns, issues or problems that people may have and that we can help with.
We are very pleased to have helped this elderly gentleman and thanks to the kindness of our customers as a percentage of the agency fee they pay goes towards the Amy Charity, we are always looking for more people who we can help and fit the Amy Charity criteria.
The Amy Charity is simple, if you are or know someone with a disability, or whom is elderly and is deserving help as they have been kind to others and is struggling with their everyday cleaning/ironing needs then simply give us a call. The charity is popular and places do get filled up quickly but please do contact us as we would love to be able to help.
We will take a few details over the telephone from you, just to give us an idea of the help that is required. We will then book an appointment with you so that we can complete a home visit and if eligible we can then allocate a cleaner. So please don’t struggle in silence and give us a call on 0845 062 9999.
All of us at Amy Cleaning would like to take this opportunity to wish Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the ever growing team of our cleaners, loyal clients and readers of our blog.
We will meet again in 2011!
These days we have been flooded with news about the Home Office and employment rules regarding immigrants. It is always a tricky issue on the domestic cleaning sector and people are very concerned about their domestic cleaners and their right to work in this country.
Checking passports and documents is part of what you should do when having a domestic cleaner working for you. On the interview it is important to make the correct checks and the necessary photocopies to avoid any future problems.
This week at http://www.amycleaning.co.uk we have had calls from some clients asking about our vetting procedure. Luckily we are on the top in terms of vetting and checking documents for our domestic cleaners! Because we know the importance of vetting, we have make it our priority when interviewing applicants; and let me tell you, it works!
Would you like a quick tip? It is never too late to vet your cleaner, so do it as soon as possible. If you are not sure on how to do it, rely on the experience of a domestic cleaning agency, it will save you a lot of hassle.
This June the cleaners of the month at http://www.amycleaning.co.uk are Carolina and Connie.
Carolina has been a great cleaner from the beginning. She shows very high standards on everything she does and customers are very happy with her.
Connie started with us last year. Since then she has proved to be an extremely reliable cleaner helping us to give the best service the our customers..
In this post we will explain you how to remove different stains from your carpet, from candle wax to coffee and more.
– Alcoholic drinks: Dilute the stain with cold water. Absorb the excess liquid (remember to blot, not scrub). Mix warm water with one teaspoon of mild detergent and apply to the stain. Let it dry.
– Candle wax: Take an ice cube and press it against the stain so the wax will get harder and you will be able to remove it easily.
– Wine: If it is red wine you will need to dilute it with white wine, then blot with cold water and cover the stain with table salt. Wait about ten minutes and then you can vacuum the salt.
– Blood: Blot the stain with paper to absorb as much of the blood as possible. Mix warm water with one tablespoon of mild detergent and another of white vinegar. Apply this mix to the stain and let it dry afterwards.
– Chocolate: Rub as much of the chocolate as possible. Mix warm water with one teaspoon of mild detergent and another one of white vinegar. Apply the mix, rinse and let dry.
– Chewing gum: Take an ice cube and press it against it. The gum will then harden and you will be able to take it off easily.
– Fruit:You need to be quick with this one otherwise the stain will not desapear. Rub as much of the fruit as possible and absorb the liquid with paper. Mix warm water with one teaspoon of mild detergent and another one of white vinegar. Blot the stain with this mix and let it dry afterwards.
– Coffee: Blot the stain with paper. Mix warm water with one tablespoon of mild detergent and another one of white vinegar. Apply the mix to the stain and let it dry.
Everybody has experienced the dreadful coffee stain on the living room carpet. It always happens on the worst possible moment! No time to take care of it and worst of all: don’t know how to clean it!
At http://www.amycleaning.co.uk we always have customers asking us for help on how to remove certain stains from their carpets. So here we are with some tips to help you remove those stubborn stains!
1- Clean the stain as soon as possible. Quick action is needed to avoid extra damage to the carpet and a stain for eternity!
2- Do not scrub the stain. Unless you want to change the color of your carpet from a soft cream to a deep red, never scrub the stain, only blot it! If you scrub it you will be pushing the stain deeper into the carpet and then it will be impossible to remove it.
3- Warm water. Always thought that you needed to buy a multi-super-ultra-magic-carpet-cleaning-chemical to clean your stains? You don’t! Most stains can be cleaned with warm water.
4- Work inwards. Always clean the stain starting on the outside and working inwards not to spread it around the carpet (unless you feel inspired that day and you have decided to create a state of the art modern carpet!).
5- Mild detergent. Only if the stain is very stubborn, you may be able to use some mild detergent. So do not get crazy and do not run straight to the bottle of bleach because you will make things worst! Mild is mild, so think about washing up liquid, shampoo,…
Do you want to know what to do with your coffee stain? Your child has just left some chewing gum on your new carpet and you cannot take it off? On the next post we will be giving you some tips to clean specific stains, so do not miss it!
