Experts have collaborated to answer our question: What are the best Cleaning Tools and Equipment at home?

You may have tried a lot of materials available at the store or online, different methods and different techniques in cleaning your place. On some occasions it seems that some work and some don’t. Below are the cleaning materials that are a must-have on every home.

5 Best and Must-Have Cleaning Tools and Equipment at Home 

1. Vacuum
2. Spray bottle
3. Wash Cloth (Basahan)
4. Mop (rotary or scrubber)
5. Dishwashing Liquid

VACUUM CLEANER

You would always want dust and dirt to be collected on one area, or in a bag, so that they do not fly off to other spaces in your home. A vacuum cleaner not only does this, but also makes cleaning easier and faster. Experts recommend those with a blower function so you could use it as a dryer as well.

There are even specialized vacuum cleaners that help clean the air while cleaning your floor. Hydrovacuum cleaners have been in the market for some time already and they do provide more features than the regular ones. What experts love most about hydrovacs is adding oil essences in the water basin to provide fragrant clean air around the area.

Where to buy: Department store, Mall Hardware store

ROTARY/SCRUBBER MOP

One of the greatest innovations in housekeeping is the mop. You can find different mops with different mop heads and handles, but experts recommend rotary or scrubber mops. They are self drying and self cleaning, which makes mopping easier and faster. You should have any one of this mop types to help you clean up spills and wash floors.

Where to buy: Department Store, Mall hardware, Lazada

MICROFIBER WASH CLOTHES

Though any washcloth can do, it is better to get the best “Basahan” out there. If you can find the ones that they use for car wash that can absorb more water, the better. One of the basics, and probably the majority of tasks, in a house cleaning is wiping down surfaces, so having different wash clothes for each area of the house is ideal.

Washclothes come in different colors. This can help you identifying which part of the house you use it by designating a color. For example, you can use yellow on kitchen surfaces, green on table tops, blue on bathroom walls, and so on.

Where to buy: Grocery/supermarket, Automotive shops, Lazada

SPRAY BOTTLES

One of the great trends and concepts in the 21st century is minimalism, and that includes housekeeping. Say goodbye to large pails and buckets and use pre mixed cleaning liquids stored in spray bottles instead. Pre mix your dishwashing liquid, toilet bowl cleaners, all purpose cleaners, disinfectant, and bleach into spray bottles and they are now ready to use 24/7. 

One of the benefits of using a spray bottle instead of dippers is the ease of dispersing water and cleaners with just a twist of the adjustment nozzle. It also lets you control your liquid cleaning products’ consumption by pre mixing the right amount with water in a bottle.

Where to buy: Grocery/supermarket, Lazada

DISHWASHING LIQUID

What do All purpose cleaners, car wash shampoo, and dishwashing liquid have in common? Surfactant. All of them have surfactants, only in different concentration. You can have all the benefits by just buying dishwashing liquid because you can use it from cleaning the dishes up to cleaning your toilet.

The secret to using surfactants like dishwashing liquid is soaking the surface with a mixture of surfactant and water. Soaking helps the surfactant loosen up more dirt and oil, making cleaning easier. Longer soaking time means you will be scrubbing less.

Where to buy: Grocery/supermarket

This pandemic has boosted the housekeeping and cleaning industry, with cleaning and disinfection service providers sprouting one after another. While it has given a healthy competition in this industry, and more options for consumers, there is a hidden danger in the emergence of cheap disinfection services. One that not all customers know about, or probably refuse to accept because of the cost, only to compromise the health and safety of their family, colleagues and employees.

5 Dangers of getting the wrong / low cost disinfection service

CHEMICALS USED ARE NOT BACKED BY SCIENCE AND EXPERIENCE

Common chemical disinfectant resources found in social media and the internet are “minimum” standard for disinfection, such as bleach and chlorine, however, this is not the best available disinfectant available in the market. There are other disinfectants that have been proven to kill the coronavirus on surfaces even way back on the first SARS outbreak back in 2002 like Quaternary Ammonium Chloride chemicals. They are backed by years of studies and have demonstrated better efficiency compared to other compounds, and on the plus side, more friendly to those with respiratory problems.

CMDA Cleaning Services uses Lauryl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride for disinfection. A quaternary ammonium chloride compound that is FDA and US CDC approved, used by Hong Kong and China to fight both SARS-1 and SARS-2 (NCOV) and have successfully won.

METHOD AND EQUIPMENT USED ARE NOT EFFECTIVE

Not all disinfection methods are effective in killing the coronavirus, and not all disinfection method can protect you against future possible surface contamination. Most common methods are wiping down surfaces, spray, ultra low volume spray, and fumigation. The drawback against these methods are mainly because they work against physics (gravity and surface tension) and biology. These methods do not cover all surfaces that can be a potential point of contamination or worse, breeding ground of other organisms. 

Though we also offer these methods, we highly recommend Electrostatic disinfection which is highly effective in covering a wider area. This type of disinfection electrically charge the disinfectant, turning it into a magnet and attaching immediately to surfaces, including viruses. It also keeps the surface moist to ensure that the chemical disinfectant attaches and interacts with the virus (which loves moisture).

CHEAP SERVICE MEANS CHEAP LABOR

It seems that history repeats itself, that everytime the world enters into a great depression, lay-offs and unemployment rise. With no jobs available, laid off workers will look for other jobs even if the salary is not enough, and in our current situation, this is no exception. Since the rise of disinfection service companies, competition is stiff, and the lowest bidder (rates) would almost always win. You may have disinfected your place but you might want to consider the lives of the people behind the service. Support good business practices and just labor. 

Here at CMDA, part of our COVID-19 response include keeping our employees’ wages as it is, provide them with a clean and humane place to live in, and to provide them with safe means of transportation to our clients and back to the office and staff house. Our success is partly due to them, and so we ensure that they are well commensurated beyond what the labor code provide.

DISINFECTION SERVICE NOT BACKED BY EXPERIENCE

Most cheap disinfection service providers have just opened shop this year, with zero experience and training. As the saying goes “you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”. 

CMDA Cleaning Services has been providing quality service for over 8 years and professionalism is one of our core values including continuous learning and training to ensure that the service we provide are up to date with the latest world class standards.

Complement your home cleaning with these easy to follow bed mattress cleaning steps. Getting you mattress cleaned and smelling fresh again is quite challenging, especially if you don’t know the steps to do it and you don’t have the equipment to clean it. These steps can be easily followed and can be done right on top of your bed frame. Bed mattresses have been with us for 77,000 years already, and cleaning them has been a challenge since then.

What you need for your Bed Mattress Cleaning

• Vacuum (with dryer)
• Sponge (Scotchbrite)
• Liquid detergent
• Bleach / Color safe bleach

Step 1: Remove Cover and dust

Remove your bed mattress’ cover, and anything that wraps around it until you are just left with the foam or the case. At this point, put your bed on its side and pat it to physically remove loose dirt and dust. This would also make the cleaning process a bit easier.

Step 2: Vacuum

Vacuum your bed to get the dirt stuck in the middle of the foam or spring. Some stains can already be removed from here already. Vacuum both sides and the lateral sides of your bed.

Step 3: Soaping/Shampooing

Mix 5 mL of liquid detergent in 5 liter water. Mix it thoroughly until a lot of suds are produced. Using your sponge, use this mix to scrub your bed mattress. Make sure to scrub your whole bed.

Step 4: Stain removing

Mix a few drops of bleach in your liquid detergent mix and use it to scrub off stains that were not removed from the initial mix. Repeat this step if necessary.

Step 5: Drying

Once you are satisfied with the scrubbing, vacuum your bed to get the suds and water that seeped through the mattress. Once your bed feels like it is already drip dried, use your vacuum’s blower function and dry your mattress further.