Let's be Green when Cleaning

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing. - Phyllis Diller

Cleaning anything involves making something else dirty, but anything can get dirty without something else getting clean. - Laurence J. Peter

Keep Your Cleaning Eco Friendly

Here are just a few tips to consider when cleaning using natural products that won't harm the environment.  Water is probably the most eco friendly but  a little lemon juice or vinegar adds a cutting edge.

Copper or Brass

Do you have tarnished copper or brass antiques? Give them loads of shine without doing any damage by bringing in salt and vinegar and adding one more ingredient from your kitchen cupboard: flour. Make a paste using equal parts of the three ingredients; rub the paste onto the brass or copper item with a soft cloth. Cover the entire surface and let the whole thing dry out (this will take about an hour). Wipe off the dried paste with a clean, soft cloth.

Lemon can also be used for lightly tarnished brass or copper pieces. Slice one lemon and dip it in salt, then rub the item with the salted lemon. Afterward, rinse and dry thoroughly.

Furniture Polish

One very effective wood polish sounds like it would be a good salad dressing as well: Just mix 2 parts olive oil with 1 part lemon juice and apply it to your furniture using a soft cloth. The combination gives your wood furniture a nice smell and a sparkling shine.

When a hot serving dish or glass of water has marred the surface of a wood table, you can quickly get rid of the mark by making a thin paste of salad oil or lemon oil and salt. Wipe the paste on, then lightly buff the area as you wipe it off with a soft cloth.

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Windows- Especially Outside Windows

Todays water fed pole system with soft filament brushes had become the norm for todays window cleaner. Water is delivered through a tube running up the centre of the pole and connected to the brush head. The other end of the tube is connected to a water tank via an electric pump. Water is delivered at very high pressures to ensure good flow and the ability to reach the maximum pole heights.  

Ordinary tap water is full of dissolved chemicals and minerals, and bottled water (or "mineral" water) often has even more. Rather than being bad for us the minerals in water are essential for our health, but they're not very good for windows because when the water dries they end up leaving streaks and white deposits behind. The water used in water-fed poles is passed through a de-ionisation process. This can involve several stages of filtration depending upon the water source, with the resulting liquid being de-ionised water. Not a particularly healthy drink because it contains no minerals but very very good for cleaning windows.  

De-ionised water is brilliant at cleaning windows, but you don't need to take our word for it. You might remember your chemistry teacher calling water the "universal solvent". It's called that because water can dissolve just about any substance, and pure water (i.e. de-ionised water) is a very reactive substance. That doesn't mean it is dangerous to touch, but de-ionised water will dissolve small particles, chemicals, and minerals very quickly and easily and hold them in suspension. Since that's what the dirt on windows is made of, de-ionised water is just about the best thing we could use, and it results in very clean windows.  

What makes the water-fed pole system so revolutionary is not any single element but the way it has all been put together into a single system.

Floors

Your basic vinegar and water solution is really the perfect choice for cleaning most types of bare floors in your home. Mix up 1 cup vinegar with 1 gallon warm water (be sure it's warm!) and mop it onto a ceramic tile, linoleum, vinyl, or wood floor. There is no need to rinse afterward -- saving both time and water. If your vinyl or linoleum floor looks a little dull after cleaning, you can give it a shine by mopping it over again with straight club soda. Try not to saturate wood floors with the vinegar and water solution. Use a light touch; the mixture will make your floor shiny and remove any greasy buildup.

Pristine Home would love to help you with all or any of your home cleaning needs, outside or inside your home, and this will ensure that not only is your home kept neat and tidy on a regular basis but will leave you time to enjoy your home and garden, especially across the summer. Please call  1890252309 or info@pristine.ie  or visit our web site and avail of our many cleaning services. Let us do the tedious jobs and leave you the time for yourself.

Looking forward to hearing from you       Diana