Cleaning Services Archives - Page 7 of 7 - Illinois Valley House Cleaning Services

Schools Out For Summer: Keeping The House Clean When Kids Are Home

May 30, 2018 by Illinois Valley Clean Team

Cleaning the house with kids home for the summer Every day for most of the year, the children came running through the door in the afternoon. You’ve got all day to do any cleaning without worrying about pattering feet, arguments and the inevitable “I need…” Suddenly, that’s all gone. They’re home to eat, drink and be demanding. How can you manage to keep the house clean when they’re determined to tear it up and keep you busy?

Keep Them Busy

Society knows the difficulty summer can be for stay-at-home parents and devised numerous ways to keep them busy throughout the day. Many towns have public pools and parks that they can go to for hours and have fun. Several groups host camps and libraries often have reading activities. There’s so much to do and all designed to keep them busy and give you time to get things done. Many of these require you to register ahead of time, so try to get it done as soon as possible. Remember, you’re not trying to get rid of them, you’re giving them the opportunity to have new experiences.

Get Them Involved

I remember one day, I had the children working on the living room. They had this amazing ability to use every dish available and leave them throughout the living room, so they had to clean it. When it was all done, the living room was cleaned and the dishes were done and put away. They were sweaty. If anyone tried to put a dish in the living room, they jumped on them like a puma on a wounded elk, telling them to get that dish back the sink…better yet…clean it. It lasted about three days, but then they had to clean it again. They weren’t happy, but it sure made the job easier.

Make is a mix of Work and Play

I joke about the kids being a pain over the summer, but it’s a great time to spend time with them and enjoy them while they’re still kids. It won’t be too long before their lives are just like yours, so let them learn responsibility, but also have fun. Have them work on something in the house and then everyone goes out for ice cream or play ball in the backyard. They’re not the only ones that deserves a little playtime.

Better yet, leave it all to us so you can enjoy the summer just as much as the kids. Contact us for a free estimate today.

Decluttering: 5 Things You Can Throw Away, But Don’t

February 22, 2018 by Illinois Valley Clean Team

decluttering your home When you clean your house, you throw away many things. They’re mostly trash that falls behind or under couches, but there are many other items you keep even though you shouldn’t. They’re taking up space in your house, but you keep making excuses why you’ll eventually need them. Grab these five items and give them old heave ho.

Cords and Chargers

Sure, you don’t even know where that old Razor phone is at, but you’ll find a use for that old or broken charger. Short of a MacGyver moment where you need to fashion a medieval trebuchet to fend off a horde of zombie hedgehogs, those old chargers and electronics cords are just taking up space. Get rid of them…unless you’re in immediate undead hedgehog danger.

Magazines and Newspapers

Maybe you really liked that article about homemade potpourri from the December 2014 edition of “Good Housekeeping” or have a stack of magazines that you swear you’re going to get around to reading. Either way, they are just gathering dust. It’s time for them to head to the recycle bin and make room for other magazines you’re probably not going to read.

Old Makeup

All types of makeup from nail polish to concealer have an expiration date. If you open it up and either moths fly out or it looks like a science experiment gone wrong, throw it away. We can guarantee you putting it on your face or body would be a bad idea.

Children’s Toys and Clothes

You always meant to have a garage sale and get rid of all the children’s clothes they outgrew and toys they don’t play with. It’s time to admit that it’s not going to happen. Instead, wash and box everything up and give it to Goodwill or Salvation Army. The new owners will be very appreciative. If toys are broken or clothes are stained, then throw them away.

Your Holey Underwear and Other Clothes

We all have those clothes that are at the perfect comfort level. We’ve had them for years and they’ve magically conformed to our bodies in such a way that it defies the laws of physics. Keep those. The holey underwear that loss it’s elasticity around the Reagan era and that “I’m with Stupid” T-Shirt you got over spring break in 2012 and haven’t worn since, could probably go to the dumpster.

If you look through your junk drawer and those plastic clothes bins you haven’t opened since you moved from your college dorm room, you’ll find even more items you could toss out. Life isn’t about accumulating things, it’s about making memories. Contact us today for a free quote for home cleaning.

What Is A Cleaning Routine And How Do I Keep It?

September 20, 2017 by Illinois Valley Clean Team

Creating A Daily Chore Routine There is a reason why many consider cleaning the house part of the daily chores. Chores are not things people often look forward to and many consider it with dread and apprehension. One way to battle these fears is through creating a cleaning routine. It helps to organize your cleaning and keeps you from getting overwhelmed.

What is a Cleaning Routine?

At its most simple, a cleaning routine is just a series of tasks that you choose to do during a particular time of day. You can have daily routines, weekly routines and others set up however you want. The key is to make sure and stick with it. If you don’t, then it doesn’t really make it much of a routine. Routines are good because if you do them long enough they just become part of your day. You end up cleaning and don’t even realize you’re doing it. It’s just part of life like waking up and eating breakfast.

Daily and Weekly Routines

One of the key aspects of a cleaning routine is setting things up in required intervals. Daily routines are those small things that you can almost do without thinking such as doing the nightly dishes or tidying up around the living room. They’re small tasks that need to be done every day. Weekly routines are those more difficult tasks that need to be done, but not necessarily every day. Vacuuming or dusting might be considered weekly tasks. Also, all weekly tasks don’t have to be done on the same day. You don’t need to call Saturday your weekly task day. Space the out throughout the week and add them to the tasks lists for that day.

Give Incentives To Stay On Track

Since cleaning routines aren’t fun and exciting, you may find is difficult to keep and maintain it. It’s like starting that exercise routine or diet. You may be all gung ho, but after a few weeks of kale and asparagus burgers, it’s not so easy to keep going. Your cleaning routine is important, so try and stay focused by giving yourself rewards or other incentives to keep you on track.

If your weekly or monthly cleaning tasks are just too much to handle, why not call us. IV Clean Team Inc. can check those tasks off for you. We’ll be happy to ease your burden and you can even get a free quote.

Cleaning Your House With Pets

August 29, 2017 by Illinois Valley Clean Team

Cleaning With Pets We love our pets and love them as if they were members of our family. Who am I kidding, they are family. When it comes to cleaning your home, pets can be a distraction and add unique problems that non-pet owners don’t have to deal with. We’ll delve into pet issues and how to best take care of them when you clean your house.

Clean Your Filters Again and Again

One the biggest problems with pets is they shed…everywhere. If you have multiple pets then you likely own nothing without hair on it. Anyone that has tried to do laundry while owning multiple cats sees cat hair every time the clean the lint traps. It’s going to be the same for every filter you have in the home. Your furnace and AC filters should be cleaned more frequently than suggested. Your vacuums HEPA filter needs to be cleaned and expect more than the occasional hair clog in the vacuum cleaner. It’s a good idea to make cleaning home filters a task for every time you clean.

Scratched and Chewed Up Furniture

Cats love to claw things. When there is nothing else, they’ll claw your furniture, doorways and anything else they can. Dogs, especially puppies, love chewing on chair legs and arms. They can shred fabric, take paint off and leave wood shavings all over the floor. There’s no way to stop them from doing this because it’s something they need to do, and is ingrained into their natural behavior. What you can do is deflect their needs to proper areas. Cat trees are a place where they can rest and sharpen their clothes on fabric designed to not shred. Dogs need chew toys that keep them busy instead of eating chair legs.

Then There are the Messes

When people think about animal messes, they think about the accidents that happen on the floors. We’ve talked about that before in other articles, I mean the actual messes our beloved pets make. They knock things over running around the house and sometimes you swear your cat does it just to be a jerk. Owning a pet is a lot like taking care of a small child, you have to “baby proof” your house.

Anything that you want to keep safe needs to be up where the animals can’t get them (in the case of cats, that’s nowhere) or placed on the ground, preferably in a carpeted area, so if it does fall off there is a low likelihood of breaking. Also, don’t keep dishes out very long or else you risk them being knocked to the floor. The last thing you want is grape juice on the carpet or spaghetti in the floor because your pet decided it was hungry or thirsty.

If you’re tired of cleaning with your pets, then contact IV Clean Team today and get a free quote.