On hands and knees scrubbing. . .

Normally you would want to talk about what your business does, Not what it doesn't do but this can be important for potential clients information. So at Hubbard's Maid Service, no, we do not get down on our hands and knees and scrub floors. For some that is an expectation but as a house cleaning business with employees that is a liability issue. We do require knees to the ground when cleaning baseboards and in standard size bathrooms its simply a matter of efficiency for one to get down near the floor and hand wipe it clean but other than that our cleaners don't normally get down on their hands and knees.
Our methods for cleaning homes & offices is that which maximizes efficiency and keeps costs down but sometimes one needs more, the need is for each and every grout line in a tile floor to be scrubbed. On a regular work day this is not something that our cleaners address but with special requests and added time to the cost agreed upon upfront we do have technicians who are skilled and willing to do this special type of cleaning on occasion. I would have really loved to have one of them scrub my grout on the day that I needed it but usually the owner of the company is last in line to be serviced so I was on my own. That being said I was impressed with the grout & tile cleaner by TileLab that I picked up at Home Depot. The results were impressive after a light scrubbing with a brush designed specially for grout. I took my time and sprayed the tile down and then proceeded scrubbing, about 20 seconds per grout line. I would then wipe off the cleaner after 20-30 minutes with a towel and it would already be lightened and several hours later it was lighter still. I found the results to last 6 months in high traffic areas like the kitchen.
Our company mops floors but sometimes you need a method that "restores" a tile floor. My suggestion then is to call a carpet cleaning company or a tile & grout cleaning company that can actually penetrate the tile & grout with sanitizing steam and then have it resealed. I've spoke with professionals who state you should have your grout resealed once a year. This is a great alternative for someone who feels their tile floors are looking dated or tired. You may not need to replace them, you just may need to have them steam cleaned. I've seen some tile floors restored by a carpet cleaning company and they looked brand new after the job was done which was much more affordable than having the whole floor replaced.
But if you want to do-it-yourself hands and knees, I suggest the grout and tile cleaner from Home Depot OR you can call our office and see if we have a cleaning technician available who is willing to do it for an additional cost.

How to Fold a Fitted Sheet in 30 Seconds

Unseen cleaner cast members at Disney World

We went to Disney World over the holidays. We were nervous as we had read online that this can be the most crowded time of the year. It was indeed crowded but doable. We went to Epcot on Christmas Day which I think is the best park to go to on Christmas as Epcot can handle the bigger crowds. I never felt overwhelmed there except around 7:30 p.m. that evening when a traffic jam of people on a narrower walkway near the Middle East land occurred. It also got a little too congested in Norway which also has narrower walkways.
Disney is always a class act and what was very impressive was how clean it was at the busiest time of the year. When we were at Epcot I was able to speak with one of the janitors and she said that they had at least 250 to 300 cleaners working in EACH section of Epcot that day. They did a great job on Christmas and helped provide wonderful memories for our family.

Cleaning For A Reason

Hubbard's Maid Service technician with Cancer Survivor

 

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month so on this day I want to talk about a charity that is near and dear. Our company is part of Cleaning For A Reason. It is the foundation that facilitates female cancer patients with maid service companies to provide free home cleanings. We are honored to be a part of it and we can always take on more patients. As per Cleaning For A Reasons guidelines; we clean the cancer patients homes once a month for 4 consecutive months while they are undergoing chemotherapy.
Hubbard's Maid Service Company pays for the cancer patients cleanings and our employees do get paid to do the work but if we would ever let them, they would do it for free in a heart beat. I hear that from our employees all the time. "I'll clean her home for free, I don't care. Just let me do it."
Their hearts are so big but they are employees and need to be compensated so our company pays for the cleanings. Everyone wants to go to work and know that their job means something. The impact that our cleaners have on these women who are fighting cancer is so incredible!  If you work as a cleaning technician for Hubbard's Maid Service you are not only solving people's problems (a dirty house), you are giving hope to people who need it most!

Have a loved one who is fighting cancer? She can go to this link here to apply for free cleanings.

Cleaning Out The Closet

I didn't take a "BEFORE" picture like I should have of my closet. It was not consciously intentional but subconsciously it probably was. I own a maid service & if anyone saw that master disaster my reputation might be at stake. It is a standard walk in closet and like a lot of people's closets it was a mess! Besides the bad lighting, inadequate iron shelving, and 8 year old ivory carpet that had turned, well brown, it was also being used as a catch all storage unit for stuff that I didn't know what to do with. I was depressed and my husband was even more depressed about our closet than I was. It did seem a bit extravagant to upgrade - I mean after all it's just a closet. Don't we need to spend money somewhere else like on a water heater, something practical???

Tell you what, it was worth every penny because it forced us to get rid of "stuff." My husband built shoe shelving that holds a certain amount of shoes and that's it. I had to choose what shoes I would keep and what shoes I would not keep and if I couldn't fit them on that shelf, I AIN'T BUYING anymore shoes or I would have to give away another pair and make way for the new. The closet has made us more organized which has reduced a great amount of stress & enhanced time management. Also, it is just beautiful to behold which I am beginning to realize that beauty is as necessary a commodity as say, a water heater.

Don't have a good "before" pic but you can see the yucky 8 year old carpet.

 

 

The closet kind of looked like this but unfortunately, not as nice, and you really had to see my junk to get the dramatic effect.


AND NOW COME THE AFTER PICTURES. . .

 

Husband's side, he installed LED lighting so you can actually SEE in there!

 

                                                Side of the closet - half is mine, half is his

 

                                            Shoe rack for me & drawers for storage for him
Notice the all wood hangers. Bought them at Walmart, I think they add a nice cohesive look to my wardrobe.

 

 

Cleaning Garbage Disposals - Necessary Evil!

Our poor blog! It's been too long!
This idea has been taken from our Hubbard's Maid Service Newsletter and as is probably relevant to practically everyone who has a garbage disposal in their sink!

Cleaning a dirty garbage disposal is not fun!

Ashley Hubbard, from Hubbard's Handyman & a plumber by trade suggests letting the disposal run longer than necessary just make sure the water is still running down the drain, that will help keep debris from clinging to the blades and sides of the disposal. To clean it you can take a long toothbrush with steel wool bristles and scrub all the crevices. Let the rubber stopper soak in a bowl of bleach and it will be brand new by the next day. You can also stick a citrus fruit down in there or vinegar ice cubes to freshen the disposal. But the best tip is prevention because cleaning that on a Friday afternoon, not fun. Also, in addition below, this garbage disposal cleaner has been found to be quite helpful as a source to keep the disposal fresh and clean.

These little pellets will help keep the garbage disposal residue from accumulating.

Southernmama's Giveaway Contest



Our contest winner, Amy Estes, kicking her feet up after we cleaned her home



The Year of a Maid, A Meal, And a Merlot has come to an end with the lucky Amy Estes as our winner! Over the months there were many wonderful entries from Southernmama's readers and they were all touching. These ladies lives are filled with taking care of family and community. I was really impressed. I have a 10 month old and how Amy does it with an older 5 year old and brand new twins, I have no idea. God doesn't give us more than we can bear but He must think Amy is one tough lady!  We are so happy to give Amy a once a month year of maid service, a bottle of merlot, and a meal out. I hope she and her husband will be able to steal some quiet time for each other and go to the North Beach Grill on Tybee Island which was the first meal we are providing for her. She missed out on the holidays last year but hopefully she will have a wonderful holiday season this year! As far as constantly having to breast feed, I can relate. It was so daunting with my baby who for 3 straight months nursed constantly, I cannot even imagine having to breastfeed two! Mine is 10 months and still breastfeeding but it's only in the morning and at night but I remember those first couple of months and I was really worried as to what I had gotten myself into.
The contest came to an end  just in time as Amy was glad to have the maid service for a party she had coming up, a party to celebrate her 5 year old turning 6! She was able to enjoy friends and family in her home without being frazzled. As Amy put it, "I felt like I had won the lottery." Hubbard's Maid Service looks forward to servicing Amy through out the upcoming year and providing her with great meals from local restaurants around town AND at the end of the day, she can unscrew that bottle and savor a nice glass of merlot after the kids are put to bed.  We want to thank Amy and all the Southernmama's for being such great moms and we want to thank Southernmama's for partnering with us to put together this great giveaway. We love Southernmama's and all it's readers, you are terrific!