Illinois Valley House Cleaning Services | IV Clean Team, Inc.
Home cleaning, window cleaning, gutter cleaning, pressure washing service in Peru, LaSalle, Oglesby, Ottawa, Spring Valley, Utica, Mendota, Illinois
Kitchen sponges are the popular choice for most homeowners. However, if the sponge is dirty, it is a germ spreader rather than a cleaning tool! Use these 6 tips to keep your kitchen sponge clean and germ-free!
Keeping your kitchen sponge clean and germ-free is crucial, but bacteria can be in other areas of your home. However, you don’t need to worry about germs; Illinois Valley Clean Team can disinfect your entire home! Learn about our disinfecting services!
The essential cleaning supply is water! However, should you use tap water without any treatment? Usually, tap water is clean enough to use in your housework. However, in some areas of Illinois State, the hardness of water can reach an extremely high level!
Does it mean that you can’t use tap water for cleaning? Not exactly! But using distilled water has many benefits over mineral-filled tap water. Learn here how using distilled water in your chores could benefit you!
All tap and bottled water are treated (or purified) to remove contaminants. Tap water is usually safe to use, but it doesn’t mean it’s pure—as it always contains minerals dissolved. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing.
On the other hand:
Distilled water is also purified, but with a different method. The process is similar to the water cycle. The water first boils into steam. Then, it condensates into liquid again, but with the contaminants left behind.
In other words, distilled water is “purer” than tap water. And this difference increases depending on how “hard” the water is.
Let’s speak more about the hardness of water.
Water can be “harder” or “softer,” depending on the number of minerals dissolved in it. As mentioned above, the hardness of water can reach high levels in Illinois. On the other hand, distilled water removes all those minerals found in tap water during the distillation process.
Hard water is not necessarily worse. The main minerals found in hard water (calcium and magnesium) are essential nutrients!
However:
Natural minerals found in hard water might be a drawback for cleaning. Here is how tap water can affect your chores!
When it comes to cleaning, mineral deposits in tap water can have subtle reactions. Of course, using distilled water for cleaning is not mandatory, but it can benefit you in some specific chores!
Here are some benefits that you can get with distilled water!
Mineral deposits in tap water might end up as streaks! If you are using a commercial window cleaner, make sure to rinse the glass with distilled water. Otherwise, you are just replacing the chemical residue of the cleaner with mineral residue in the water!
In the same way, if you are rinsing a glass or a stainless steel surface, use distilled water to avoid streaks! Also, remember to use distilled water in any DIY glass cleaner you make. It will reduce the probability of window streaks!
Usually, soap builds less lather in mineral-filled tap water. Soap depends on complex chemical reactions between the soap and the dirt molecules. However, when minerals like calcium are present in the water, they react with soap and reduce its cleaning power!
Do you like to do your own cleaning products? Then, you might be familiar with all the uses vinegar has for cleaning! Many of the DIY recipes out there involve white vinegar and water. However, hard water is usually alkaline and might not mix well with vinegar.
What does this mean? In a broad sense, you are balancing vinegar’s acidity by mixing it with alkaline water. Vinegar is great for some cleaning chores because it’s acidic, and distilled water can maintain it that way!
Illinois Valley Clean Team is an experienced residential cleaning company in the Illinois Valley area. You can find helpful tips and advice on our blog page. Let us share what we’ve learned with you!
Or do you need a hand with your cleaning chores? Let Illinois Valley Clean Team clean your home for you! Request an estimate right now!
There’s a beautiful view outside, but you need to wash the windows first!
When was the last time you cleaned your windows? Many internet sites claim that you should wash your windows twice or thrice a year (like this article here.) Maybe now is the time!
Learn here how to clean windows with zero streaks!
Cleaning windows is a bigger challenge than it looks for one reason: window streaks. Why are your windows streaky after cleaning them? Sometimes, it’s dry dirt, but more than often, it’s just cleaning product residue! Keep it in mind while choosing the cleaner!
When it comes to cleaning glass or streaky surfaces, natural is best. DIY cleaners with vinegar and alcohol work because both products evaporate after some minutes—leaving no residue behind.
On the other hand:
Commercial cleaning products may have excessive soap, ammonia, and other chemicals! Of course, warm soapy water and commercial window cleaners are efficient for washing dirty windows, but the chances of leaving streaks are higher!
Usually, vinegar and water are enough to clean windows. You could add rubbing alcohol to the solution, but it’s better if you use it to spot clean tough stains.
To make your zero-streak homemade window cleaner, follow these two simple steps:
Now is the time to clean your windows. The first thing to do is choose a cleaning product—either your trusted commercial cleaner or the homemade cleaner mentioned above.
Also, you’ll need at least two microfiber cloths and maybe your vacuum cleaner or duster.
Ready to begin? Here is how to clean a window!
If you spray the solution in a dusty window, you’ll end up with a mess. First, dry-clean all the dust and dirt. Use the vacuum crevice attachment to dust every corner in the window frame. Then, dust or vacuum the window sill and glass.
At this point, the window should appear almost clean! However, you need to remove the stains and build-up film in the glass. Spray the cleaner you chose previously, but be careful not to wet the frame. If you are cleaning multiple windows, work with just one at a time.
Wiping a window with a lint-free microfiber cloth is ideal. It will absorb the dirt and excess cleaner. For especially tough stains, dip a cotton pad in rubbing alcohol and dab the spot for a few seconds. Never use a razor or scrubbing pad—or you might scratch the glass!
Continue wiping the glass with the microfiber cloth until it appears completely clean. If you use soapy water, give a final rinse with only plain water.
Just after wiping your window, dry it with a clean and dry cloth. Avoid paper towels that might leave a residue!
Window cleaning is more about patience than technique.
After cleaning a window, you need to wait some minutes to see if streaks appear. This part is inevitable! Even the most experienced window cleaners struggle with streaks.
Remember that Illinois’ hardness of water is high. It means that running water has a high amount of minerals—and the very water could be leaving streaks! To remove the streaks, rinse the glass with a microfiber cloth and distilled water.
Do you have enough time to clean your windows? Let the best cleaning company in Illinois Valley clean them for you! Illinois Valley Clean Team offers every service your home needs, including regular cleaning, pressure washing, and window cleaning!
Get your free quote by clicking here!
Do you know where the dirtiest places inside your home are? You’ll be surprised to learn that some germ-filled objects and places don’t even look dirty!
“Social distancing is deliberately increasing the physical space between people to avoid spreading illness. Staying at least six feet away from other people lessens your chances of catching COVID-19,” says Lisa Lockerd Maragakis, M.D. Social distancing has been recommended by the CDC as the best way to slow the spread of the coronavirus. It’s important to adapt to the conditions of our current situation and to not shut down. With the coming of warmer weather, let Illinois Valley Clean Team show you spring clean-up tips while practicing safe, social distancing.
Seed bare patches of lawn but avoid weed treatment until summer.
After the winter thaw and the lawn dries, mow and edge your lawn for a professional look.
For a healthy and even-looking lawn, fertilize your lawn in the spring after the first thaw.
To prepare your lawn for summer, rake any leftover leaves from fall and remove all other debris to have wandered into your yard.
Remove broken branches and prune summer-blooming trees to ready yourself for spring.
After removing winter mulch and pruning perennials down to ground level, plant summer-blooming flowers.
By cutting back wood perennials, you make room for new branches to grow.
For a uniformed and clean look, trim ornamental grasses to within a few inches of the ground.
Start weeding in early spring when the ground is soft. This is also a great time to start a compost pile for yard and scrap clippings if you haven’t already.
“If you have rich, healthy soil, all you should need to do in the spring is a bit of top dressing with compost, manure or a complete slow-release organic fertilizer.” says the writers of Gardenoholic.com.
Wait for the soil to warm before working in your flower beds. After they dry out a bit, treat your flower beds accordingly than when ready lay fresh mulch and provide a crisp edge for a finished and professional look.
DECK/PATIO
While it may be too early to lounge in the sun, spring is the time to set up, clean, hose-down, and freshen-up your outdoor furniture.
Bar-b-ques are a staple of American summers. To get ready for that grilled, delicious food, make sure to check the fuel tank and replace it (as needed, using social distancing), clean the grate, and wash the grill, inside and out.
Whether you have a leaf blower or a hose, remove the dirt and debris, which may have accumulated from winter, to reveal a beautiful porch/deck to enjoy all summer long.
Springtime is a great way to get the kids some fresh air and exercise! Just hand them a soapy sponge and have them play/clean the outdoor toys (but only with monitored social distancing).
While it may be disheartening to have restrictions and so many shops, businesses, restaurants, and entertainment venues closed, it’s for the safety of all, but it doesn’t mean you have to stop living a functional life. When practicing social-distancing, savor the therapeutic experience you get from springtime yard clean-up. Listen to the birds sing songs of hope. Watch the flowers bloom despite the swirl of chaos. Feel your fingers nourish the soil as you make way for new life. Moreover, remember “Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.” Steve Maraboli, writer of Life, the Truth, and Being Free.
