Small businesses typically have a lot to take care of at the end of a fiscal year, especially when it coincides with the calendar year. The fourth quarter, therefore, is a great time to begin preparing for the new year by getting things cleaned and organized, whether or not the snow has started flying.

Evaluate

What do you have? What do you need? What can be tossed? What needs to be stored and kept? What needs to be replaced?

Sorting through piles, clutter and files will help determine what supplies need to be reordered and what is ready to go into the deep archive or the trash. Cleaning and organizing tasks are likely handled on some sort of schedule throughout the year, but this is a good time to check the condition and usefulness of items and deep clean.

Is now the time for grout cleaning on tile floors or deep cleaning soft surfaces such as furniture and window treatments? Maybe it’s time to deep clean bathrooms, storage rooms, warehouses, or garages. Utilize a professional commercial cleaning company to do some annual cleaning projects that are due or even overdue.

Organize

Are things in an order that makes sense? Are the most used items easy to access? Are items that are hard to access clearly labeled and able to be reached? Are things cluttered, or does everything have a place? Is it easy for people to put things back where they belong?

It is easiest to stay organized when a system is in place, which makes it hard to fail. It may make sense to one person for things to be organized one way, but another person may not understand. Make it easier by labeling where things belong, including using signage and even plan-o-grams.

Keeping things organized creates a cleaner space as many janitorial companies won’t straighten papers or move items to dust. When things are in their place, a cleaning service is able to do their job efficiently.

Prioritize

What needs to be taken care of first? What has been taking up too much attention and requires more hands to help? What has been neglected and needs someone to take ownership?

As time passes, priorities can get lost in the business of life. Now is the time to set fresh goals for the new year and get clear about what is really important to focus on. It’s also a great time to consider what tasks can be handled by more effective processes and people.

Prioritizing important relationships is the goal of every business owner – whether those relationships are with employees to build morale, clients to make revenue, or family members to build memories. Be sure time is well spent with the right people doing the right things.

If you’ve decided you need help with ongoing cleaning this year, let our professional team help! Put your trust in A Cleaning Service, an award-winning cleaning company serving the Greater Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland areas. We provide both residential cleaning and commercial cleaning services to meet your needs. Contact us today for a quote or more information about how it looks to work with a cleaning service.

School children are back in class, pumpkin spice has made its way back onto retail shelves, and soon the leaves will be on the ground. Fall is a beautiful season, and before we rush into the winter holidays, we can take a moment to relish what it has to offer. Here are some fall-themed tips to get your home clean.

The Witches Broom

Get rid of dust and sweep outdoor spaces such as garages, patios, and porches. Dust high and low before it’s time to seal up windows and doors from the winter’s chill. Consider having upholstery and carpets cleaned, including any window treatments.

Cobwebs are always creepy, so make sure they are only the fake kind. Clean window sills and air vents with a solution of ¼ c. vinegar to 2 ½ c. water. While fall cleaning, take note of any issues with mold or pests to be proactive and avoid toil and trouble later. 

Treat yourself to open windows and take advantage of the naturally cooler weather while you get the dust out.

• Sweep
• Dust
• Clean soft surfaces
• Clean windows
• Dust vents

Candy Apple Sweet and Pumpkin Spice

Bring in the good smells of the season with candles and other aromatic decor like cinnamon pinecones or cedarwood and bergamot-scented essential oils. Bring out additional linens and wash the lighter ones that are now ready for storage.

Fall is an excellent time to purge before hunkering down in the winter. Go through your cupboards and discard or donate foods that have expired or won’t be eaten by your family. Deep clean the fridge and freezer, and make a list of the staples to have on hand for those stormy days you don’t want to head out.

• Bring in fragrance
• Transition linens
• Purge
• Deep clean cupboards
• Deep clean fridge and freezer

Giving Thanks

With a fall harvest also comes gratitude for the gifts we’ve received through the year – growth, in its many forms, and transitions that are part of life. Is there clothing that has been grown out of that can be donated? Are there household items that are no longer being used that could be given a new home? What about the abundance of stuff that can become someone else’s treasure?

We show gratitude for things that once served us and can now transition. And, often, with this letting go, we create space for something new. Maybe it’s time to buy that turkey-shaped platter you’ve had your eye on, for example. Take time to organize items for a smoother transition into schedule and temperature changes.

• Reflect
• Donate
• Organize

Treat Yourself

Warm, welcoming scents are nice for guests but also encourage you to relax and rest rather than rush. Enjoy your home and decide if cleaning tasks are better on someone else’s plate. A Cleaning Service may be exactly what you need to treat yourself this year and gift yourself more time with those you love.

Put your trust in A Cleaning Service, an award-winning cleaning company serving the Greater Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland areas. Contact us today for a quote or more information about how it looks to work with a cleaning service.

Are you a list person? If not, these cleaning checklists may convert you. We love lists because they simplify life by organizing our thoughts, creating structure, and, most importantly, helping us get things done.

How to Use the Cleaning Checklists

Lists can help you prioritize and delegate tasks, and we’ve done the foundational work for your cleaning lists for you! Print this article and use it just as it is, add your own tasks, or remove those that aren’t relevant. Decide who can tackle which items and give them specific priorities to accomplish.

If desired, attach strategies for each, such as blocking the time, making it a contest or game, playing music, or paying out (with money, screen time, or other motivating rewards).

And, if you need help crossing some of these items off your list, contact us. A Cleaning Service is an award-winning residential and commercial cleaning company serving the Greater DC, Maryland, and Virginia area for over 20 years. 

We want everyone to be able to spend their time on the tasks and relationships that are the most important to them and leave the rest to us.

Weekly Cleaning Checklist

The easiest strategies are to go room by room, or from highest priority to lowest, or both (highest priority per room). We chose to lay this out room by room, but feel free to recreate it with your preferences in mind.

Bathrooms

• Take out trash
• Clean toilet
• Clean bath and shower
• Clean sinks
• Wipe and disinfect counters
• Wipe baseboards and base of toilet and sink, etc.
• Clean floor
• Wash bathroom laundry (hand towels, etc.)
• Clean mirrors

Kitchen

• Wash and put away any dishes
• Clean the sink
• Wipe the counters
• Take out trash
• Sweep and mop
• Clean the stove
• Wipe the handles on any appliances such as fridge and microwave
• Clean the inside of the microwave

Living Room

• Throw away trash
• Sort and throw away clutter such as magazines, mail, or food wrappers
• Fold blankets and arrange pillows
• Dust electronics and shelving
• Wipe controllers and TV screen 
• Vacuum or mop

Bedrooms

• Throw away trash
• Pick up clothes and do laundry, including sheets
• Fold and put away laundry
• Sort and organize any clutter
• Make the bed
• Dust electronics and shelves
• Vacuum or mop

Laundry Room

• Sweep, mop, and vacuum
• Wipe the tops of the washer and dryer
• Clean lint filter if needed
• Tidy supplies

Office

• File papers
• Dust desk and shelves
• Wipe keyboard, phone, and any other high-touch areas
• Vacuum and mop
• Take out the trash
• Tidy supplies
• Wipe handles of chair and dust chair

Seasonal Cleaning Checklist

Seasonal cleaning tends to address tasks that fall on the deep cleaning checklist in a cyclical way. Look it over and determine what items can happen as part of a season change to help chunk up the tasks over the year.

Spring

Spring is a great time to work on deep cleaning tasks that allow for opening windows and outdoor tasks. Clean chimneys and stoves; deep clean carpets and furniture; wash bedding, especially heavier blankets that can now be stored.

Outdoors, focus on cleaning off patios, garages, and other outdoor spaces, including grills, patio furniture, and the like. Service your air-conditioning unit before the summer comes.

Summer

Summer heat can make outdoor tasks difficult, so if you do them, plan them early in the morning before the sun’s heat makes it uncomfortable or unsafe. If you have others to recruit to help you, consider taking on a bigger deep cleaning project and reward everyone with root beer floats or another fun experience.

Fall

Fall is a great time to sort and organize. Determine what will be needed for winter and the new year, and let the rest go. Donate or throw away items that are broken or haven’t been used. 

Take advantage of the cooler weather and clean the attic or crawlspace, prepare the yard for the dormant winter, service your furnace and change the filter, and clean your air ducts to ready your home for sealed windows.

Winter

Winter cleaning will likely involve extra attention to entryways where dirt and snow are tracked in. It’s also a good time for detail cleaning like working on grout and baseboards, cupboards, or sorting of indoor spaces.

Deep Cleaning Checklist

When deep cleaning, the first step is determining the frequency you desire for each task. For example, there may be items in the weekly cleaning that don’t need attention that often. For example, the main bathroom may need weekly cleaning, but the guest bath only needs cleaning as required, or only once a month.

Consider what and how often you want to perform specific cleaning responsibilities and go from there. Set an appointment in your calendar to help you stay on top of the tasks so they take less time and don’t build into massive projects.

General Cleaning

• Dust and wipe down vents
• Dust and wipe window sills
• Dust, wipe, and wash window coverings such as blinds and curtains
• Wipe door frames and handles and doorknobs
• Clean mirrors and wipe glass on tables, windows, etc.
• Stay on top of sorting and organizing 
• Get rid of unwanted or unnecessary items

Bathrooms

• Wash bathroom laundry (bathmats, shower curtain, etc.)
• Wipe baseboards
• Clean grout
• Descale the shower head
• Wipe cabinets
• Clean bathtub or shower stall, glass, and tiles
• Dust, vacuum, wipe vents and shelves

Kitchen

• Wipe cupboards (inside and out)
• Throw away expired food from the fridge, freezer, and pantry
• Clean baseboards
• Dust and wipe shelving and top of the fridge
• Clean the oven
• Detail clean appliances such as blender, toaster, etc.

Living Room

• Dust for cobwebs
• Clean area rugs
• Deep clean the furniture 
• Clean the fireplace

Bedrooms

• Wash pillows and blankets
• Sort clothing for donation or storage at season change
• Dust and wipe vents, fans, heating units, etc.

Laundry Room

• Clean dryer vent to outdoors
• Clean behind and under your washer and dryer
• Discard empty bottles and other trash

Other Areas

• Sweep, vacuum, and mop floors
• Dust corners and get all cobwebs
• Remove trash
• Wipe high-touch surfaces
• Wipe flat surfaces, including cabinet doors
• Move items to clean under and behind them
• Inspect areas for evidence of pests, weather, or wear-and-tear damage

Have suggestions for improvement? Leave us a comment – we’d love to hear from you! 

And thank you from A Cleaning Service 

Summer cleaning can be fun with the windows open, beautiful weather, and longer days to tackle bigger projects. But, summer cleaning can also be overwhelming – too hot to be comfortable outdoors, great summer shows to binge, and very full days with energetic kiddos. And we know good days and frustrating days can ebb and flow with the excitement and chaos of a carnival ride.

With that in mind, we want to offer some tips for summer cleaning in both the high times and low. Feeling energized and ready to tackle the big stuff? Our Team Energy Tips are here to guide you. Struggling to get through the week with sanity intact? The Team Easy Tips are for you. Not sure? Read through them all and pick what feels the best for you at the moment.

Team Energy Tips

The days are bright and so is your mood. Here’s how to capitalize on that:

Decide.  Pick which big cleaning project you want to tackle. Is it cleaning out the garage? Sorting the attic? Organizing the closet? Deep cleaning the kitchen?

Sort. Once you know what you want to tackle, chunk up the steps into more bite size parts. Determine what supplies you need, such as trash bags, boxes, cleaners, and rags. Start by sorting the area, choosing what is trash, what can be donated (to someone else or to an organization), and what needs to be cleaned or organized. 

Consider taking a before picture so you can later marvel at your accomplishment!

Rest. Set some parameters around what needs to be done, such as how often you will take breaks, who will or won’t help, and how loud you will play your music – it has to be fun when you do a deep cleaning – it’s a marathon, not a sprint!

Team Easy Tips

The days are tiring and your energy is lacking. Leaving things in disarray will only add to the overwhelm, so take a stab at cleaning with the kids with these easy tricks:

Time. Set a timer and require all available to help. This could be a 3-minute song, super-duper speedy fast tidy. You, and the kids, can do anything for three minutes! You got this. Crank up the music and see how quick each person can do one area or start a task. It’s okay if you don’t finish – do as much as you can. Later, finish the job or start another 3-minute burst.

Hire. If you truly have no time to clean, have no shame either – hire help. A professional cleaning company is happy to support your efforts and give you a break when it comes to the housekeeping. Let them tackle trash, floor care, and bathrooms. That’s a bit off your plate to focus on other matters.

Ditch the kids. Whether fur kids, or human children, sometimes a break away will do wonders for catching up on rest. Get a sitter and give yourself some peace to refresh and get a leg up on the chaos. 

After a time of adulting with chores, give yourself adult time with friends, a nice bath, or time relaxing however you choose, take care of you! Remember, you have to put your oxygen mask on yourself before you can help others.

Looking for help with ongoing cleaning needs to help lighten your load? Want help with a deep cleaning project or with freeing up your time so you can focus on the bigger stuff? Let us help! 

Whether you are wanting more time for yourself, for your important relationships, or for the things you love, A Cleaning Service has your back! With over 30 years in the cleaning business, our customers have come to rely on our skill and expertise to make their life easier. If you need help cleaning your home or cleaning your office in the Greater Washington DC, Virginia. or Maryland areas, our award-winning cleaning company seeks to earn your trust with our professional and knowledgeable cleaning services. 

Contact us today for a quote or more information.

It’s summertime which means kids are off school and home. Schedules change, longer days allow for hours of play, and chores can easily get neglected. It’s not just kids’ chores that can fall by the wayside. Vacations and family fun time could leave you zooming out the door or resting in the sun rather than prioritizing vacuuming and dusting. 

What can you do to stay on top of cleaning this summer? Here are a few tips sure to balance fun and responsibility.

Take it Easy

We aren’t necessarily telling you to lower your standards in the summer, but we are suggesting that you give some realism to the idea that the house will stay in tip-top shape. Know what the deal-breakers are and what can slide when it comes to keeping a clean home when schedules are off, and kids are home for the summer.

For example, maybe a rule that shoes come off at the door is a 100% requirement. Or all trash must be thrown in the garbage can before dinner is another. But laundry may take a back seat and become a Sunday and Wednesday-only chore.

Make Routine Based Rules

While schedules have changed, routines can be used to create a rule, such as: when you get home from swimming, clothes go right in the washer. No exceptions.

Using the word “when” creates a trigger for a specific action. It is very clear. On the contrary, saying, “Clothes need to go in the basket,” isn’t specific enough for all kids to get. You already know this, as evidenced by clothes all over the floor in your child’s bedroom!

Instead, say WHEN, then the condition, followed by the action – it is specific and measurable, which means it can be tested, is easy to understand, and everyone can be held accountable.

Make this fun and get your kids to buy in by creating a “Summer Rules” list, just like they would get at camp. Keep it short, focused on your deal-breakers, and posted where it can be easily seen.

Offer Fun Awards

Kids love games and prizes. Ask them what they’d like to win by performing specific tasks that are needed to keep the house clean. You can set it up a few different ways, such as allowing a certain amount of time playing video games followed by a chore break or by having them complete a task in order to earn gaming time or spending amounts.

With younger kids, using a 3–4-minute song and having them pick up as much as possible before the song ends is a quick way to get them to tidy without it becoming tedious. Use a high-energy song, and once it’s over, they can go on to do the things they love.

Another version of this is to use competition to see who can tidy up the fastest. This could be sibling against sibling, kid against friend, kid versus parent, or even kid versus their own best time. Make it fun, and you will see the rewards.

Find Balance

When it comes to balancing life when kids are off school, a few changes are often all it takes to pivot to more fun and ease. Of course, if nothing about cleaning feels fun or easy, getting help from a professional cleaning company is a great option. While kids can feel like a handful, they will only be kids for so long. Enjoy the time with them and let your hair down to have fun with them during the lazier days of summer.

Focus on the relationships that matter and let A Cleaning Service help with the weekly chores that can get lost in the busyness of life. With over 30 years in the cleaning business, our customers have come to rely on our skill and expertise to make their life easier. 

If you have a home or business in the Greater Washington DC, Virginia, or Maryland areas, our award-winning cleaning company seeks to earn your trust and confidence. Call us today for a quote or more information on how our cleaning service can help you.

As the weather warms across the country, you may be asking yourself whether it’s cleaner to use air conditioning or leave your windows open. The better option depends on a few conditions you may be looking to avoid. Let’s look at some of the factors to determine the answer that is best for you.

Air-Conditioning Vs Windows: Which Is Healthier and Cleaner?

This may be more a matter of opinion or comfort than fact. For someone with significant allergies to grasses or pollen, an open window could result in an asthma attack or severe allergic reaction like watering eyes, sneezing, or trouble breathing. An air conditioner keeps the outdoors out and uses filters to keep spores to a minimum.

If indoor pollution is a bigger problem, such as sensitives to paint, fragrance, and cleaning products, increased oxygen and airflow from outdoors could be a relief.

However, another consideration is noise pollution. If you are in a loud area, having windows open could not only be disruptive, but dirty as well. Open windows can lead to more dust, pollen, pests, odors, and debris (like leaves) entering your house. It could also lead to an increase in humidity that can produce mold spores. 

Therefore, if keeping your home clean and keeping the outdoors from coming inside is your goal, an air conditioner is the way to go. But, it is also important to clean your air conditioning unit to keep it working in top condition.

How to Clean Your Air Conditioner

Clean your air conditioner at least once a year for optimal performance. Filters, coils, and fins should be checked monthly during the months of operation. If you have an outdoor unit, ask the best way to maintain it, such as whether or not it should be covered in the winter.

Filters: If you have pets, live in a dusty area, or are more prone to air-borne allergies, you may want to check and replace your filters more frequently.

Coils: Outdoor units can become clogged with leaves, lint, and even trash. Check for items that are lodged around the condenser and remove them.

Fins: Fins can bend or get covered or clogged. Gently brush away debris. Wipe any exterior vents free of dust or cobwebs.

An HVAC professional should inspect the unit annually to check for leaks, worn parts, and efficiency. This will help keep your home clean and comfortable through the summer months.

Looking for more tips for keeping your home clean and comfortable? For over 30 years, A Cleaning Service has provided the Greater Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland residents with award-winning service in residential and commercial cleaning. Our articles help support clients and non-clients alike with professional cleaning advice and tips. This is just one way we earn trust and make your life easier with our knowledge and experience. If we can be of further service, contact us today!