Home Remedies For Cleaning Tile And Grout

Putting tile in your bathroom can significantly increase the value of your home. It looks beautiful and is highly functional in moisture producing environments.

On the flip side, it can be difficult to keep clean especially as most commercial tile cleaners do not clean grout.

Purchasing a product for the purpose of cleaning the grout can leave a film on your shiny tile.

Plus, you probably already have some of the best items in your home for cleaning tile and grout.

So Many Options

An online search for home remedy cleaning products will net many results. Some suggest using vinegar mixed with water, some lemon juice, others swear by toothpaste. These are all effective cleaning methods; however, they often require many steps and a lot of scrubbing.

Personally, I do not enjoy spending hours cleaning. I prefer methods that require minimal time and effort. Of course, it also has to be easy to make; I am not a chemist.

Three Little Ingredients

It may surprise you to learn that baking soda, vinegar, and water can be used either alone, or mixed, to clean many types of surfaces in your home. Tile and grout is no exception: it is effective and relatively simple to make:

1. Place some vinegar in a spray bottle.
2. Make a paste using baking soda and water.
3. Spray your floor with the vinegar.
4. Using a toothbrush, rub the baking soda mixture into the grout lines. This will produce some bubbling foam; do not be alarmed. It is the reaction of the vinegar and baking soda. Think of it as “scrubbing bubbles”.
5. Let the mixture work in for about 15 minutes.
6. Spray again with vinegar.
7. Rinse well using warm water.
8. Use a soft cloth or squeegee to dry.

Your tile should be shiny, and your grout should be clean and free of mold. If for some reason this method didn’t do the trick for you, repeat the process, but this time allow the mixture to set longer. You can generally allow up to 8 hours without causing harm to tile and grout.

Things to Remember

It is always wise to test any product on your tile prior to use. While this remedy works well, the vinegar has a mild acidic content.

If your tile has an adverse reaction to acids, do not try this method. Instead, use water in your spray bottle. You will have to scrub more, but it’s much better than ruining your tile. You can also try other methods that don’t require harmful chemicals.

Many experts recommend sealing your grout after each cleaning. Grout is made with sand and therefore very porous. Sealing the grout keeps moisture and mold from soaking into the surface. It is a laborious and time consuming process, so I wouldn’t recommend resealing after each cleaning session. Personally, I reseal about once a year applying several coats.

Using the method described above prior to resealing removes all the dirt, mold, and debris leaving a clean surface for sealer application.

Please call 316.413.5750 to set up your Tile & Grout cleaning, refinishing and burnishing appointment.

Hoarding Clean Up Service

Hoarding Cleanup Services, when completed properly, help the individual dealing with the hoarding disorder get their life back. If you need hoarding help, know a hoarder that is ready for a fresh start or have recently become responsible for a property that has a hoarding collection ServiceMaster by Best can help.

Our specialized hoarding cleanup team is made up of passionate and understanding professionals that recognizes this process takes time. We want to help everyone that lives or frequents an environment that has seen excessive hoarding by supporting them in deciding how they want to take control. If you are in, or near Wichita, Kansas, Derby, El Dorado, contact us for our courteous hoarding professionals to assist you.

Specialized Hoarder Cleaning Services

Hoarding cleanup is a service that helps you sort through all of your items. Hoarders seem to seek out help when their condition makes it hard to live, have people over and discourages them from enjoying the things they use to. A hoarding disorder can take over someone’s life…but with the proper help, restoration is possible. We will not only clean, sort and organize the collections but we can also give you tools and contacts to help you maintain the environment.

Hoarding Cleanup Process

Anxiety, embarrassment, loss of control, overwhelmed…these are all common and frequent feelings someone with a hoarding disorder experienced. Whether it be hourly, weekly, monthly or yearly, our team thinks any amount of time feeling like this is too much. The truth of the matter is not every item a hoarder saves will be useful in the future.

And our team can help with the process of determining if the item will cause more harm than good when left in your home. It is understandable to be sentimental about items, but not every item is worthy of a place in your home and too many items risk the health and life of everyone in the environment – family, friends, pets, even your safety. ServiceMaster by Best will help you find a balance and keep it.

Certified Hoarding Help

Bring your home back to a clean, orderly, healthy and organized state with the help of ServiceMaster by Best. We won’t pile bags at the end of your street, or trash everything. We have a method that will help you detach from the items that are no longer needed in your home. Doing so will allow the important items to have a place in your home that are easily accessible and proudly displayed.

Contact ServiceMaster by Best if you need hoarding cleanup services in Wichita, Kansas, Derby and El Doraro and surrounding areas at (316) 413-5750.

The Structural Drying Process Explained

When considering your partnership with a restoration vendor for your business, call Service Master by Best in Wichita 24 hours a day. The quicker you call us, the faster we respond. (316) 413-5738.

If you’re looking for a good recipe for disaster, take a beautiful home or building and just add water. Easy breezy. Indeed, huge amounts of water and moisture left behind after a water disaster event is bad news for properties.

Water can seep into walls, floors, basements, and even ceilings, promoting the disintegration of architectural components. Furthermore, the presence of water and moisture can also encourage the growth of molds and bacteria, putting the health of your loved ones at risk.

After a water disaster, humidity levels indoors tend to rise, creating a distinct foul and musty odor that is very hard to remove. Sometimes, however, water damage is not very apparent, leading property owners to believe that remediation procedures are no longer necessary. Nonetheless, if you don’t have the expertise nor the tools necessary to evaluate the extent of water damage in your property, it is best to get the advice of a professional restoration company.

Ideally, comprehensive structural drying should be performed in the property within 24 hours. The steps include procedures to remove the floodwater, evaporate the remaining moisture, dehumidify the air, and track moisture levels to ensure that the drying process is thorough.

• Water Extraction – This involves extracting most of the floodwater out of the property using special water pumps.
• Evaporation – Increasing the rate of evaporation is done with the help of air moving machines or air flow equipment.
• Dehumidification – Dehumidifying machines will also used in order to counterbalance the humidity being introduced by the evaporation procedure.
• Moisture Mapping – Moisture mapping will be conducted using moisture meters, thermal imaging devices, and other technologies in order to accurately determine the moisture levels around the property.

Depending on the severity of the water damage in your property, additional procedures may be required. These include deodorization and disinfection if your property was affected by black water flooding, as well as reconstruction if the water damage is so serious that certain parts of your home or building needs repair or complete replacement.

If you want to know more about structural drying service and water damage restoration, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with ServiceMaster Clean in Wichita by calling 316-413-5738.

Include Air Duct Cleaning in Building's Maintenance

With the fall maintenance season approaching, it’s time to consider what’s necessary to get your heating system ready for winter. When you call for preventive maintenance on the heating equipment itself, it would also be wise to schedule a commercial air duct cleaning. The air ducts in your commercial space have no doubt been directing cool air into your facility all summer long. Before winter gets here, have the ducts checked and cleaned by a professional duct cleaning service. You’ll see significant benefits in heating system efficiency and performance, consistency of heating, and indoor air quality.

The Need for Commercial Air Duct Cleaning

If the air ducts are not maintained and kept clean, you can experience problems such as:

• Dramatically reduced indoor air quality: Poor IAQ results when airborne particulates enter the ducts through gaps between sections and are then distributed along with conditioned air. Accumulations of dirt or other deposits inside the ducts can also be loosened over time and blown out into your facility.
• Problems with employee and customer health: Reduced indoor air quality can cause health problems related to airborne particulates or disease that can be more easily transmitted through faulty ducts. Material such as mold, animal or insect nests, dirt, and rodent droppings in the duct work can have significant effects on respiratory health.
• Wasted energy and money: Clogged, loosened, or damaged duct work can let conditioned air escape unused as the air travels along the duct network. This wastes energy and money, both because you’ve lost air that’s already been heated or cooled, and because more air must be conditioned to sustain indoor temperatures.

Benefits of Commercial Air Duct Cleaning

Commercial air duct cleaning offers substantial benefits for businesses, manufacturing facilities, offices, retail stores, and other commercial buildings.

• Improved indoor air quality: Clean ducts will not contain any materials that can be sent into your indoor spaces along with conditioned air. After a duct cleaning and inspection, loose sections will be reseated, connections will be sealed, and the chance of particulate infiltration will be reduced. Your indoor spaces will smell fresher and cleaner, which will make them more appealing to employees and customers.
• Improved facility safety: Any potentially hazardous or flammable material will be removed during a duct cleaning. Accumulations of dust, oil, or other material that could cause a fire will be scrubbed away.
• Less waste of energy and money: Clean ducts will provide a clear and open pathway for conditioned air to travel into your indoor areas. There will be no blockages that can interfere with airflow. Air leaks will be sealed and conditioned air will not be able to escape from the seams and connections in the duct network.

What to Look For in a Commercial Air Duct Cleaning Company

Ask your HVAC professional if his company also does duct cleaning. If so, have your duct work evaluated. If not, ask for a referral to a reliable source for a commercial air duct cleaning.

• Check references and reputation of any company you’re considering hiring for duct cleaning services.
• Ask if the cleaning company belongs to any professional industry organizations, such as the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA). Membership in such groups indicates a company that is likely concerned with upholding ethical standards and industry’s best practices.
• Make sure the duct work is inspected thoroughly and that you are given a report on the condition of the ducts before cleaning begins.
• Ask questions about the process until you understand what will be done and what the results will be.
• Get a written contract, signed by you and the contractor, that specifies exactly what will be done during the duct cleaning process.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about Plumbing, HVACR, Fire Protection, and Alarm Systems in Mechanical, Commercial, and Residential settings.

For more information on commercial air duct cleaning and its many benefits, or to view projects we’ve worked on, visit our website!

3 Non-Toxic Ways to Clean Mold

Mold—that icky, fuzzy stuff that likes to lurk in high corners just a few feet beyond your reach. And the worst part about mold? Sometimes you don’t even see it immediately, as mold may be growing in your home and you don’t even know it. That’s because the fuzzy stuff loves dark, warm, humid places to live. Your basement, kitchen and bathroom are at the most risk for mold and bacteria growth because they are in constant contact with moisture.

When the conditions are right, mold can grow within 24-48 hours. Leaving mold untreated can cause respiratory illnesses as well as be a major factor for year-round allergies. It’s also unseemly and can give guests in your home the wrong impression of your hygienic habits. For all these reasons, it’s so important to kill mold at first sight.

Before you grab a damp towel and think that’s all you’ll need to kill it, consider these three household solutions for truly eliminating mold from your abode.

1. Hydrogen Peroxide

When you want to know how to get rid of mold, know that hydrogen peroxide is your new best friend. Hydrogen peroxide is an anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-bacterial solution that kills mold effectively on a variety of materials such as kitchen appliances, bathroom fixtures, floors and walls.

To kill mold: Pour 3% concentration hydrogen peroxide into a spray bottle. Saturate the moldy surface completely and leave it to sit for ten minutes. Next, scrub the area to remove all of the mold and mold stains. And finally, wipe the surface down to remove residual mold and spores. You’ll want to take extra care if the mold is growing on delicate surfaces, as hydrogen peroxide can act as a bleach.

2. Vinegar

Chances are, you probably already have vinegar in your home. This magic elixir makes meals taste wonderful and stains disappear with equal potency. Vinegar is a mild acid which can kill 82% of mold species. (Baking soda is often used along with vinegar for killing different species of mold.)

To kill mold: Use white distilled vinegar and pour it into a spray bottle without watering it down. Spray the vinegar onto the moldy surface and leave it to sit for an hour. Finally, wipe the area clean with water and allow the surface to dry. Any smell from the vinegar should clear within a few hours, but if it lingers, you can freshen up the space with bowls of lemon water around the area.

3. Baking Soda

Baking soda is a mild, white mineral powder, that can be used to kill mold in your home, plus it is safe for your family and pets. In addition to killing mold, it will absorb moisture to help keep mold away.

To kill mold: Add one quarter of a tablespoon of baking soda to a spray bottle of water and shake until it has dissolved. Spray the moldy area with the baking soda and water solution, then use a sponge or scrub brush to remove all the mold from the surface. Next, rinse the surface with water to remove any residual mold on the surface. Finally, spray the area again and let the surface dry. (This will kill any left-over mold and prevent the mold from returning).

All of these solutions are great non-toxic alternatives to chemical-based cleaners. Not only are they safe to use and safe for the environment, all of these products are inexpensive and easy to find in your local store.

Mold is something you don’t want to ignore. The respiratory problems, allergic reactions and unseemly sights all add up to reasons to really get that stuff out of your home. Luckily, when it comes to products that kill mold, you probably have most of the ingredients in your house. And if you need help with a good deep cleaning of your home, just give The Maids a call at 1-800-The-MAIDS. We’re always ready to lend a helping hand!

Contact ServiceMaster Restore on 316-540-5317 or Visit us at smbybest.com and let us get to work making things right again.

11 Questions You Should Ask When Hiring a Cleaning Service

When hiring a cleaning service, you want to select the best match for your family. Here are some questions to ask that help you get the perfect choice.

1. Are you licensed bonded and insured, and do you perform background checks, reference checks and drug screening? Who is in your home is generally the most important question that consumers have. Official checks and verification are how professional companies can ensure you have trustworthy people in your home. 
2. Do you hire employees or subcontractors? This question is about who is in control of your job. If a company hires employees they are legally allowed to train, insure, pay payroll taxes and provide care and control over the job. If they hire sub-contractors, it is the sub-contractor themselves who must provide the insurance, they should not receive training from the company, and they are really independent business owners. If a company hires sub-contractors then you should ask a lot more questions about liability, insurance, qualifications and payroll taxes.
3. What are your most common complaints and how do you solve them? Customer satisfaction with a cleaning service is about understanding and meeting customer expectations, communication, and a complete understanding of the customer’s needs. Learning ahead of time where things could go array can help avoid misunderstandings in your home service.
4. Can you work within my budget? Everyone loves having their house cleaned from corner to corner, but that may not always be in your budget. Find out what the cleaning company can do with your budget.
5. How reliable is your company? You are busy, and you don’t have time to wait around for umpteen changes in time from your cleaning company. Ask your cleaning company how they measure their reliability, and do they have a good track record.
6. Do you have expertise in cleaning stains and unusual cleaning problems? It does not take much expertise to run a broom across the floor, but to maintain a home in tip top shape you are going to need occasionally to handle the odd stain on your carpet, in your grout or on your granite, etc. 
7. Do you belong to a trade association or have you received any specialized training? True experts spend time and resources staying up on the most effective procedures, standards and technology for an efficient cleaning.
8. What kinds of tools and supplies do you use? Green cleaning, microfiber, traditional products, commercial grade… learn what your company plans to use.
9. How do you guarantee your work? Not only ask the company if they guarantee their work, but how they do it. Is there a lot of red tape? Do people need to redeem the guarantee often?
10. Do you offer special projects if I need it? Is the company available to do a detail of the interior and exterior surfaces of the kitchen? How about hands and knees polishing of your dining room and dining room furniture? How about giving a good clean to your RV or boat? It is important to know that your cleaning company is available for all of your needs.
11. Can you come out to give me a free in-home estimate? I know you are busy and may be considering skipping this step, but an in-home estimate is your opportunity to really see who will project managing your service. See whether they seem experienced, flexible, good communication, a good leader and someone you can work with for a long term relationship. No matter how frequently you are using a cleaning service, the process of finding and vetting a good service takes time, and you would rather only do it once.

After Fire Damage Homeowners Need Odor Removal

After Fire Damage Homeowners Need Odor Removal.

Contact ServiceMaster Restore on 316-413-5750 or Visit us at smbybest.com and let us get to work making things right again.

Where there’s fire, there’s smoke. Any homeowner who has experienced a fire knows the truth of that old statement. Smoke inhalation kills most victims of house fires. Even if the occupants escape, the lingering odor of smoke can traumatize even the most stout-hearted homeowner.

One reason that odors linger long after the fire is extinguished is that smoke is comprised of particles. Those particles land on every surface, and in every crevice in the home. They are very fine and difficult to detect, and even more difficult to remove. In most cases, you need expert help with special neutralizers and methods of odor removal to eliminate the long-term effects of a fire.

Odor Removal Doesn’t Happen By Itself

Many people try at first to eliminate odors and finally realize that the job can be accomplished more quickly and thoroughly by a trained professional. At United Water Restoration, our technicians use special neutralizing products, hot thermal fog, unsmoke, ozone and odor counteractants.

These methods and tools are not widely available to the general public - and moreover, the longer the time that passes before the odor is attacked, the more damage can occur.

There are some things the homeowner can do: Thoroughly wash floors, kitchen cupboards and floors that aren’t carpeted. Vacuum carpets, using a machine with a HEPA high-efficiency filter to trap smoke particles inside the vacuum. Remove and wash light fixtures. Remove all curtains, draperies and window shades for cleaning or dry-cleaning. Turn a large fan to blow fresh air into the home, working your way through the house, room by room.

If all this seems like too much for a busy homeowner to handle, call ServiceMaster Restore. We do all this and more to help restore your home to its original condition.

Smoke discolors surfaces such as plastic, fiberglass, and eventually, metal. Wood and vinyl will also need to be replaced.

Ash and soot are easily distributed and are a major cause of odor. Allowing this residue to remain for days permits it to creep into impenetrable places such as between floor boards and behind drywall.

So a difficult job becomes more difficult. The disaster restoration and odor removal will go much more quickly and be less expensive if it is tackled immediately.

After the clean-up process is underway, the homeowner will notice an immediate reduction in odor. For months later, pulling a piece of clothing out of winter storage, for instance, can release traumatic memories triggered by the smell of smoke. There is no better way to restore a homeowner’s peace of mind than to tackle odors at their source, as soon as possible after the fire.

Cleaning up after a fire is a job left to those who specialize in this type of work. General cleaning is not enough— indeed, it may make the situation worse. A homeowner has gone through enough turmoil with a fire in the house.  

Call 316-413-5750 or Visit us at smbybest.com and let us get to work making things right again.