There are many household items that we should replace often but tend to neglect unless company is coming to stay over and we want to pull out the best sheets and towels.  However take a moment and be selfish and think about replacing items you yourself use often.  This one item may be hiding more secrets than your best friend and it’s time to replace it. I read an advertisement recently that said “We spend more time with our pillows than we do our best friends” At first I thought that was a very random silly statement but the more I thought about it…. They are right!

Our pillows are there through sickness and in health and sometimes till death do we part. That’s where the mental alarm should go off! Think about it… When you had the flu it was there, a common cold, a pet may have taken it over at night, and the list could go on forever explaining the history between you and your pillow.

Let’s face some pillow facts.  Our pillows are holding on to many secrets that could pop up again all because we decided to hold on to the relationship.

Acne Let’s all admit it that every now and then you may not wash the makeup off of your face or perform that routine shower at night.  Some days are so long that if you get your boots off before you hit the pillow you are lucky.  Well what’s on your face has been embedded into your pillow. You may wash your face the next night and fall asleep on yesterdays germs on your pillowcase.

Solution

So if you are prone to getting acne breakouts start by washing and replacing your pillow case weekly. Wash and dry it in a hot water setting.

Allergies Do your allergies tend to flare up at night? I came across an article on dust mite allergens, which said that dust mite allergens impact more than half of everyone who suffers from allergies. And where is one of the places that dust mites happily live? In pillows!

Solution

Shop around online or at your local Bed Bath & Beyond and check out their variety of a pillow protectors that are designed specifically to guard against pollen, mold, pet dander , and the dreaded dust mites. They even sell pillows specifically for allergy sufferers!

Neck and back pain While visiting our family Chiropractor Dr. Kristy Clinton of Backbone Health Restoration Center I noticed she had a pillow in her office.  I know she is a busy professional so maybe she was taking naps in the office on occasion however I doubted that statement before I asked.  I did however ask the front receptionist on why there was a pillow in the office and she gave me a very informative pamphlet on pillows and their effects on our necks and backs.  Makes sense yet again!

Solution

A pillow that keeps your neck in the most neutral position when sleeping is best. If you are a back sleeper a smaller pillow is best.  A side sleeper needs a bigger pillow. With all that being said and all the different ways we all fall asleep I would go to the store that sells pillows and just try them out before you buy them!

History I have come across many clients that refuse to rid their beds of their pillows.  No matter how many yellow stains are adding up (Most likely midnight drool stains) or how all of the inside cotton of the pillow is on one side now rather than filling up the entire pillow.  I know, I know you’ve had that pillow since childhood.  Well it’s time to think about replacing the pillow and making a new friend.  Pillows come and go but germs can stay for a very long time.

Does your cleaning company speak English? If you have hired an individual are they bringing other people in to help them? Are they insured if they break something? Do they know how to properly care for the surfaces in your home such as granite, stainless steel, corian, marble? When hiring someone or a company to clean your home most people go for cheapest price, a referral, or a coupon offer advertised.  Do your research before deciding on handing over your keys.  How does cheap compare to mid price services on paper? Does the referral come from someone that has used them for quite some time? How long have they been in business or are you writing a check to an individual?

Cost Running a cleaning service isn’t cheap so why should the price be. Well we all know that cheap isn’t always the best especially when it comes to reliability.  I’ve bought some cheap shoes before for the 4th of July just because they were oh so cute and I was only planning on wearing them for that day. I couldn’t even last 2 hours in them.  Cheap isn’t always best!   You want to make sure that the service pays their employees taxes so that you don’t have to in the long run.  You also want to make sure that the company pays their employees well. Most people that are paid less than they work give work less than they should.

Specialization Did your cleaning company do a walk through of your home prior to cleaning so they would know what type of supplies to bring in your home. Every home is different and without seeing the job in person how would they know exactly what to bring to take care of your home.  Anyone can spray a disinfectant, scrub, polish and clean but it takes a professional to know PH Balances and how they can ruin your marble. Or that wood floors need less polish and more cleaner to bring out the natural luster.  All it takes is one scratch from the wrong sponge, or one scrape from a putty knife to ruin thousands of dollars that you invested in your home.

Reliability/Consistency Does your cleaning company make their employees use their own cars or do they use company vehicles? This is a big factor in reliability because we all know tires get flat and things happen.  However when dealing with a company they always have a professional back up plan to make sure your home is cared for on time or communication is made to make other fast arrangements!  Make sure to ask about company policies on rescheduling and communication in doing so.

Some cleaning services just hand their employees a list of homes to do and send them out for the day.  Imagine going into homes all day that you had never seen before and being given a certain amount of time to clean.  You would most likely rush the job!  It’s always great to know that the owner or manager communicates with you often to make sure your team is caring for your home in a consistent way and if something is not to your liking they fix it!  Before hiring a cleaning team check to see how the owner or manager keeps up with the consistency of work even if they are not on the job site every time

Hiring a cleaning company or team is supposed to take some stress away from you and your family but if you don’t do the proper research before handing over your keys you could end up in more dirt than you had to start with.

Spring is always a sign of new beginnings not only for our earths environment but our homes environment.


We can help get your home ready for Spring.

Fresh green leaves are blooming  on the trees, new weeds are showing their heads in the grass, Spring flowers are blooming that we thought would never bloom again, and with all of that brings spring allergies. Did I forget to mention that we have to spring up an hour earlier every morning!  It can all get a little overwhelming with all the adjustments but let’s break some things down to help us all Spring into Spring!

Let’s Spring into spring one section at a time in our homes.  We will cover 5 tips to Spring into Spring and rid our homes of Winter blues without overwhelming our weekends!

STOP SPRING ALLERGIES FROM HOVERING AROUND YOUR HOME

• Change your air filter as close to the beginning of the month as possible.  Before you place the new air filter in write the date in permanent marker on the air filter itself so that the next month you change it you can see the consistency in monthly change dates. Sometimes you can buy the air filters that only need to be changed every three months.  Use your Smart Phone calendar and put a reminder in for 3 months to change your homes air filter.
• Change your homes vacuum filters.  If you have pets this is a major thing to do! They hang outside quite often and come inside and shake off Spring in the house where ever they step.  Your vacuum should have a Hepa Air Filter which traps most of the allergens however if you don’t change it often e it won’t work efficiently and will become clogged making your vacuum cleaner work harder and not efficiently.
• Clean your dryer hose out! Not just the lint filter but the hose. Now is a great time to pull your dryer away from the wall and remove the hose attached to the back. Inside you will find a lot of dust and debris that has gotten clogged and can’t get out just by changing your lint trap.  You may also find a lot of dust bunnies behind and on the sides of the dryer.

• Your garage has also gathered some Fall leaves and winter bugs that have most likely found a hiding place. Take your blower and blow Fall out of your garage.  If not a lot of the debris will eventually make it’s way into our homes one door opening at a time.

• Hire a window cleaning service.  Make sure you hire a service that actually cleans the tracks on your windows as well.  Not only will this help your windows shine but if you choose to begin to let some Spring time air into your home you don’t have to worry about also letting the spring air blow in the leftover debris stuck in the crevices of your windows.

Without overwhelming yourself I think you are now on a good path to springing into spring.  Most of us work 40 hours or more at a regular job and come come to children and pets that need a lot of our attention as well. Caring for our homes is usually a weekend task and we all know that we barely have time for ourselves so taking care of the 5 things we mentioned usually gets shoved under our own mental rugs.  So I hope our steps broke down some important areas to help your home clear the air and make it shine a little bit more for the Spring Season!  Now that takes care of some major steps in ridding your home of Fall and Winter and we should be on our way to Spring into Spring!

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