Category: Cleaning Tip

Cleaning becomes a lot more important when the cold weather introduces some not-so-great challenges. From cold and flu season to tracking wet messes on your boots, this blog will share winter cleaning tips from the house cleaning services Toronto relies on for super-clean homes.

Take a Proactive Approach

Nothing contributes to dirty homes more than wet winter boots and shoes. However, you can overcome these slushy, salty messes by proactively controlling what you track in from the winter streets.

Little steps like removing your best area rug from the entryway, adding a boot tray to collect melting snow and dirt from crusty salt boot bottoms, and having a more functional welcome mat to remove dirt and wetness from shoes all contribute to a cleaner home in the cold months.

Get Organized

Cute hats and fashionable scarves aside, all the outerwear you and your family pile on to keep warm is a pain when it comes to keeping things tidy. Getting your foyer/entrance more organized helps reduce all the extra clutter that can make your home feel messy.

Things like hooks on the wall, boot trays, baskets for mitts and scarves, and more space in your hall closet will help organize your home and make it more presentable.

Having a hook for each member of the household makes it easier for everyone to help keep things tidy. If space is really limited and baskets are out of the question, you can hang a mesh bag on each hook to store winter accessories.

Keep on Top of Wet, Stinky Socks, Hats, and Mitts

Be sure to check your kids’ baskets/mesh bags and hooks for wet hats and mitts, which can get stinky if not allowed to dry properly. If you’re home when they come in from school or playing, ask them for their wet things and toss them in the dryer or hang them somewhere they’ll dry quickly.

If you follow our basket or mesh bag advice above, be sure to give them the sniff test regularly. You can also spray them with something like Febreze to reduce odours that tend to hang around your entry from musty, wet stuff like socks and mitts. That odour can transfer onto clean clothes stored in the basket, so be sure it stays fresh!

Clean Boot Trays and Mats

Give the boot tray a quick vacuum every week to remove any of the salt and sand left behind from your boots. You should also vacuum or shake out the welcome mat to keep it as clean as possible. Otherwise, people will track in debris clinging to the mat.

Keep Fido Dry

If you have a dog, they can create a real mess in the winter with wet fur and paws. Have a mini cleaning station where you have pet-safe wipes to clean their paws, and a towel to help dry off the dampness on their fur.

Cleaning up after your pet by following this step can prevent dirty paw marks on floors, while also making sure a little doggy shake won’t release too much wet dog smell into your home. You might consider buying your furry chum some dog booties to make it easy to reduce the mess, while also protecting their little paws from the cold and wetness.

Up Your Wipe Game

During cold and flu season, it makes sense to up your wipe game and switch to antibacterial wipes to reduce the spread of germs. Clean frequently touched surfaces such as light switches, door knobs, the fridge handle, electronics like TV changers and gaming devices, faucets, etc. daily to help keep germs to a minimum.

Having wipes handy in the kitchen, bathroom, and living room will make life easier and also act as a reminder to use them more often. 

Vacuum More Often

Salt and sand tracked in from outside are good examples of the special challenges presented in the winter. If they get trapped in your carpet, they make it feel uncomfortable underfoot, but can also carry contaminants that can make you sick.

Winterit’s a good idea to vacuum also tends to be dry skin season, which means everyone sheds more dead skin cells. If you have carpeting, then it’s a good idea to vacuum more often in the cold months to keep your floors clean. 

Be Careful When Using a Wet Mop

If you use a wet mop on your floors, be extra careful to vacuum or sweep the floors first. That sand and salt residue can wreak havoc on floor finishes, creating tiny scratches that eventually dull the floor. Running a wet mop over the floor without sweeping first means you’re dragging that debris all around. 

Wash the Sheets More Often

Between the dead skin cells mentioned above and increased germs from cold and flu, washing your sheets more frequently in the winter is a must. You should also toss machine-washable things like your cushions, pillows, and comforters, and throw blankets in the wash more often to reduce the spread of germs and the ick factor of dry skin flakes everywhere.

Clean the Toilet Brush

Most people don’t clean their toilet brush. However, with cold and flu season comes some unpleasant tummy bugs and symptoms like diarrhea that can cling to the toilet brush, increasing germs in the bathroom.

So, how does one clean a toilet brush? Well, the easiest way is to first remove anything clinging to it by swishing it in unsoiled toilet water (be sure to flush the toilet after you do this). Then, hold the brush over the toilet and spritz it with an antibacterial cleaning product.

You should also put on gloves and clean the holder with an antibacterial cleaner using disposable cloths like paper towels before you put the brush away. If someone has been ill, wear a mask and gloves and soak both the brush and holder in water with a bit of bleach to kill the germs.

Book Subscription House Cleaning Services in Toronto

Calling in house cleaning services in Toronto on repeat is the easiest way to keep your home clean in the cold months. Whether it’s weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, they’ll arrive based on a recurring cleaning schedule to make life easier.

Following these house cleaning services that Toronto pros recommend will keep your home cleaner and healthier this winter. 

For more information about Maid4Condos’ house cleaning services in Toronto, click here. You can also call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

If your career keeps you crazy busy, there’s a good chance you can fall behind on your condo cleaning. This can add to your stress, thus making it difficult to relax at home.

Whether you work from home or head to the office every day, here we share 10 tips from our Toronto condo cleaning pros to help you achieve a clean and organized condo even with a hectic work schedule. 

1. Clean as you go

This is always our number one condo cleaning in Toronto tip. It’s not only the logical approach, but also the simplest one. Although it can be hard to avoid the temptation to skip washing your daily dishes or simply dropping your clothes on the floor because you just want to crawl into bed, cleaning as you go keeps a semblance of order that decreases stress and greatly reduces cleaning time. 

2. Clean in spurts

When you clean as you go, it’s a lot easier to find time to clean in spurts. For example, if you don’t have dirty clothes all over the floor, you can literally vacuum in minutes.

If your dishes are clean, you can wipe down your counters because they’re free of dirty dish clutter. If you tidy up after yourself, most of your surfaces will be clutter-free, so you can spend a few minutes dusting. So much easier, right?

3. Clean while you do other stuff

While you can’t always multitask to help keep up with cleaning, there are a few things you can do, like:

• Dusting and tidying the living room while you binge-watch your favourite TV shows.
• Vacuuming your condo while listening to a podcast.
• Folding laundry while listening to music or watching your shows. 

4. Use wipes

As your Toronto condo cleaning experts, when it comes to keeping your home clean and organized, we can’t sing the praises for wipes enough! Putting a container of multi-purpose wipes in all your bathrooms, as well as by your kitchen sink, makes it easy to wipe up messes the moment they occur.

You can also keep on top of your bathroom-cleaning tasks by wiping your counters, sinks, and faucets after getting ready for work and bed. You’ll avoid things like makeup spill stains, blobs of hardened toothpaste, and general splatter so everything shines.

5. Declutter and organize everything

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, even in the cleaning world. Setting aside some time to declutter and organize your condo will free up storage space so you can keep things neat.

First, get rid of anything you no longer use or wear. Next, invest in organizational space-savers like shoe trees, shelves, hooks, and baskets. Last, assign a storage place for the stuff you use daily. Then, when you use something, be sure to put it back. You’ll be amazed how much cleaner your condo feels when everything is in the right place!

6. Create a weekly cleaning schedule

Assigning a different cleaning duty to a special day of the week allows you to tackle cleaning chores in smaller bites. You might have a laundry day, a vacuuming day, a dusting day, or do it by room, with a kitchen day, bathroom day, etc. By taking care of those duties or areas at the same time each week, you keep on top of the mess. 

7. Enlist help

If you don’t live alone, enlist help from your partner, roommate, or kids. There’s no reason one person should carry the load of cleaning, especially when that person is someone as busy as you.

You all contribute to the mess, so you should all be part of the solution to keep your home clean. Set up some basic rules about cleaning and hold each other accountable for sticking to them. 

For kids, be sure to only assign age-appropriate tasks, even if that just means putting away their toys until they’re old enough to do more. Teaching kids the importance of cleaning together as a family and pitching in is an important lesson that creates a sense of responsibility and community. Even the adults could take a lesson or two in community cleaning every now and then!

8. Use the right cleaning products and tools

This is a big one when it comes to how professional condo cleaning services in Toronto work. We use the right cleaning products and tools to make quick work of the tasks at hand, including:

• A multi-surface cleaner
• Sponges
• Microfibre cloths
• A vacuum cleaner (with proper attachments)
• Mop or (preferably) a wet mop such as Swiffer
• Material-appropriate cleaners for things like hardwood floors or stone countertops
• Glass cleaner 
• Microfibre duster

9. Work from the top down

A common rookie mistake is cleaning in the wrong order. Yes, there’s actually a special order to clean to make things easier. Working from the top down ensures you’re constantly cleaning anything that falls from above.

For example, if you vacuum the floors first and then either dust or wipe crumbs from the counters, you’re going to re-dirty the floors. If you dust the ceiling fans and walls first, anything that falls on the furniture below is then wiped, and anything that lands on the floor is then cleaned as the final steps.

10. Choose professional condo cleaning services in Toronto

We know, this sounds expensive! However, professional cleaning services don’t have to be expensive. Working with condo cleaning services in Toronto like Maid4Condos provides choices suited to your lifestyle and budget.

Whether you hire us on autopilot to arrive weekly, biweekly, or monthly, or give us a call when things are getting out of hand, having someone else deal with all or some of the cleaning provides relief from an already hectic schedule. You’ll be far happier spending your time doing more important things or simply resting after a long day or week at work.

For more information about our Toronto condo cleaning services, reach out to Maid4Condos here. You can also call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

Managing a major portfolio of properties can be difficult to balance for even the most seasoned property manager. In this blog, we will share proven strategies to maintain a clean property portfolio from our team of Etobicoke cleaning services pros.

Keep on Top of Turnover Cleanings

Your reputation relies on satisfied tenants. The best way to set each new lease off on the right foot is to keep on top of turnover cleanings, so the apartment shows beautifully when the new tenant arrives.

Not only do you create happier tenants for better ratings, but you also reduce the number of complaints you receive. This helps you maintain a more manageable workload.

Partner With a Trusted Cleaning Company

It’s all well and good to schedule regular turnover cleanings. However, if the cleaning company isn’t thorough, you could be left in an emergency where you need to finish the job to prepare for the next tenant in time. 

Be sure to partner with cleaning services in Etobicoke and the GTA that specialize in specific apartment unit turnover cleanings to ensure they meet your expectations and those of your tenants.

Streamline the Unit-Cleaning Process

Leveraging technology to streamline the cleaning process helps you save time. For example, Maid4Condos allows you to schedule your move-in/move-out cleanings online with an effective standard package.

There’s no need to try and track down a customer service representative. You can have your cleanings booked without any fuss, or choose to speak to a team member when customized cleaning services in Etobicoke or the GTA are required.

Create a Move-Out Cleaning Checklist

A move-out cleaning checklist ensures that every unit you manage meets the same high standards. A thorough move-out cleaning includes the following:

Bathrooms

• Bathtub and shower enclosure
• Inside, out, and behind the toilet
• Lights, mirrors, sinks, countertops
• Vacuum ceiling fan cover
• Light switches and door knobs
• Empty garbage bins
• Vacuum and mop floors
• Wipe baseboards and vanity inside and out

Bedrooms

• Dust counters, table tops, picture frames
• Clean mirrors and polish ornaments
• Wipe switches and door knobs
• Vacuum and mop floors
• Wipe baseboards and window ledges

Kitchen

• Inside the fridge and oven
• Stovetop
• Polish the fridge front
• Inside the microwave
• Backsplash, countertops, cupboard fronts
• Sinks
• Wipe light switches and door knobs
• Vacuum and mop floors
• Wipe baseboards, window ledges, inside cabinets and drawers

Living and Dining Rooms

• Clean mirrors and polish ornaments
• Wipe switches and door knobs
• Vacuum and mop floors
• Wipe baseboards and window ledges

Laundry Room

• Clear air vent
• Clear lint trap
• Wipe washer and dryer
• Clean floors

Create and Adhere to a Unit-Cleaning Budget

The desire to maintain your reputation for clean properties can make it tempting to invest in overly expensive cleaning services. However, it’s best to seek cleaning services in Etobicoke and the GTA that offer competitive prices and bring more value to your property with thorough, dependable cleaning that meets your expectations.

At Maid4Condos, our move-in/move-out cleaning service, for example, includes all of the above cleaning tasks for a low package cost of just $219 per unit. You can also request specialty cleaning packages for units that require less work, or where damage such as stains need more time and attention. 

Educate Your Tenants

How tenants live in your units has a major impact on your ability to maintain clean properties. It’s imperative to educate your tenants the day they move in, providing tips on how to keep their units up to the standards expected in order to avoid losing their deposits or being charged additional cleaning fees.

Using your checklist is a great place to start, as they can arrange for move-out cleaning services to ensure they meet their lease obligations. You can also recommend your cleaning service so they’ll have a trusted provider to complete the job and feel confident they can move knowing their unit is in good hands. 

Be Clear on the Lease

A transparent lease that explains the obligations your tenants have to leave the unit in reasonable condition when they leave also helps you maintain a clean property portfolio. Tenants appreciate clarity and will be more likely to contribute to cleanliness if they find the unit in pristine condition when they move in!

It’s also worth taking time to walk them through the apartment and create a list of any issues, such as stains. Doing so ensures you both have the same record of the unit’s condition on the moving day. 

Be Responsive to Tenant Requests

Satisfied tenants are far more likely to go out of their way to leave the unit in good condition if they have a positive experience with building management.

Living in a rental home where the landlord and management do not respond to repair requests promptly sets a bad example to tenants, increasing the risk of them not maintaining their rental to the best of their ability. A quick response equals happy tenants and cleaner units.

Leverage Loyalty Programs

As mentioned, partnering with trusted cleaning services in Etobicoke and the GTA is the best way to have a reliable team that helps you save money. At Maid4Condos, we deeply value our property manager partnerships with professionals like you. Your commitment and trust in us do not go unnoticed, and we are thrilled to present you with an exclusive offer as a token of our appreciation.

Commit to using our services and we will provide a customized VIP checkout coupon code, granting you 10% off all future bookings with Maid4Condos made via our website! You can redeem your VIP discount by following these easy steps: 

1. Visit www.Maid4Condos.com.
2. Build the cleaning package needed.
3. Enter the exclusive VIP coupon code at checkout.
4. Enjoy a 10% discount on all your bookings.

This special offer is our way of saying thank you for your continued loyalty and support, and you’ll soon find how these savings really add up across all your properties.

Contact the Cleaning Professionals

It takes hard work and commitment to achieve and maintain a clean property portfolio. Your commitment will pay off if you use the above strategies and take the time to find a cleaning partner that shares your dedication to quality. 

Click here to complete your cleaning package request and get started with the team at Maid4Condos. You can also call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

If you’re living the dream with a full life or are simply always strapped for time, it can be a challenge to keep your home clean and organized. In this blog, our Toronto house cleaning service experts will share pro tips to help you gain more control.

Take Time to Declutter

It’s totally worthwhile to set aside time to start decluttering your home. An hour per room will often be enough to get through all the unwanted stuff. Decluttering will create more room in your closets and drawers to tuck things away, so you can keep your home neater and more organized. 

Decluttering techniques really aren’t that complicated, since every influential organizer has shared their own way of doing it. Basically, it’s all about keeping the things you use frequently, and getting rid of anything that hasn’t been used in about a year.

You may also have special occasions or less frequently used items you can save. However, these items are the things you keep in the harder-to-reach spots in your home, like top shelves or under the bed! Everything else is out the door, whether in the trash, sold, or given away.

By decluttering on your own or with help from our house cleaning services in Toronto, you free up as much space as possible, so everything has a place to keep things out of sight for peace of mind. 

Don’t Let the Dishes Sit

There’s no getting around doing the dishes. Letting them sit is not only gross, but also increases the risk of pests. So, if you have a dishwasher, rinse and load any dishes after use so you can run a load every night.

If you don’t have a dishwasher, try your best to clean dishes as you use them, including food prep items and things used for cooking, or call our deep cleaning services in Toronto. Your mind will thank you, as you won’t have dirty dishes staring at you as a reminder there’s one more thing you don’t have time to deal with!

Choose Something to Clean Everyday

When you clean one thing each day, cleaning becomes more manageable, and your home will look fresh and organized. For example, you might have vacuuming Mondays, laundry Sundays, and dusting Saturdays. Whatever works, doing one major chore a day ensures no one thing builds up enough to create an unmanageable mess.

Clean as You Go

Change your habits to help keep your home cleaner by cleaning as you go. Here are some examples:

• Don’t drop clothes on the floor. Instead, put dirty clothes in the laundry hamper and hang up anything you can rewear.
• If you use something, put it away.
• If you make a mess in the bathroom, wipe it up or give that toilet bowl a swish with the toilet brush.
• Keep wipes handy on kitchen and bathroom counters for quick wipe-ups.
• Sweep after you make a meal to remove crumbs and debris.
• Fold and put your laundry away once it’s finished drying.

Avoid Piles

Piles like clothes, dirty towels, old flyers/newspapers, etc., can only occur if you keep adding to them! They also make your home look messy and disorganized.

By sticking to our clean-as-you-go plan, you can avoid piles by tossing out something you don’t need (like junk mail) right away, and putting items like dirty towels and clothes in your laundry hamper.

Another thing you can do is to return items like wine and beer bottles whenever you make a trip to the liquor store so you don’t take up space and create more clutter. Common areas where piles tend to build include:

• Coffee, kitchen, and dining tables
• Desks
• Bathroom and bedroom floors
• Bedroom chairs
• Kitchen counters
• Utility rooms

Focus on Yucky Dirt

If you really are crazy busy, make sure you’re focusing on the kinds of yucky dirt that will add an ick factor to your home, including:

• Toilets
• Tub and shower stalls
• Bathroom sinks and counters
• Kitchen sinks and counters
• Microwave
• Kitchen floors

You really don’t want to let these areas get too dirty, as they tend to make you sick both physically and mentally just by looking at them!

Use the Right Tools and Cleaners

It makes a big difference having the right tools and house cleaning services in Toronto to tackle house cleaning. With the right cleaners, you scrub less and can reduce the time it takes to get through each job. Some time-saving cleaning tools and cleaners include:

• All-purpose cleaners you can use on any surface
• Microfibre cloths that are reusable and super-handy for all cleaning tasks
• A spray mop you can whip out and use to clean floors in minutes
• A vacuum cleaner you can use on any floor type
• Retractable duster to reach high dust and cobwebs
• Wipes to clean surfaces quickly

Consider Power Cleaning Once a Week

We understand that the last thing you want to contend with when you get a moment’s peace is cleaning. However, in those rare moments when you have a bit of energy and time, doing a power cleaning can get you through the majority of the mess in record time.

Using cleaning spurts to tackle jobs like vacuuming, dusting, tidying, cleaning the bathroom, etc. will not only make it easier to keep things clean and organized, but also reduce stress by living in a clean, tidy home. 

Hire House Cleaning Services in Toronto

Not to toot our own horn, but if you seriously don’t have time to clean or just downright hate cleaning, you should consider hiring regular housing cleaning services in Toronto. 

At Maid4Condos, our maid service in Toronto can keep your home organized, clean, and tidy so you can spend all your time focused on quality tasks such as career building, keeping fit, time with the kids, studying, or simply relaxing on the couch binge-watching your favourite show—no judgment here!

It’s all about improving your quality of life and getting the most out of your private space in calm, livable surroundings. Although a hectic life can make it feel impossible to keep your home clean and organized, these tips can help make cleaning a little more doable. 

If you’re just too busy to clean your own home, Maid4Condos’ Toronto maid service team is ready to help. Click here for more information on our residential cleaning services. You can also call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

Once the school year is back in swing, you know you’ll find much of your spare time taken up in helping the kids with school work. That makes keeping your home clean and organized a challenge. But fear not, weary parents!

In this article, we will share expert cleaning tips for busy families straight from the professionals at our house cleaning services in North York.

Prepare for the School Year by Decluttering

The end of the summer is a great time to declutter to free up space in closets, toy boxes, front halls, etc. Since kids grow quickly, you’ll need to make way for this year’s new clothes by getting rid of the clothes they’ve outgrown over the summer. 

You can also clear out old, damaged toys they no longer use. Anything in good condition can be handed down to friends and family or given away to charity. Also, don’t forget last year’s school supplies! Go through their pencil cases and toss out all those pencil stubs, broken crayons, and dried-out markers to make room for their new supplies. 

Keep a Family Calendar

Whether it’s something managed through an app or a good old-fashioned calendar hanging in the kitchen, a family calendar is a great time-management tool.

Having everyone’s schedule in one place makes it easier to slot in cleaning time, breaking down tasks into manageable bites. Everyone in the household should pitch in with age-appropriate chores that help keep your home tidy and clean. 

Have a Daily Cleaning Routine

A daily cleaning routine ensures all the tasks that can contribute to a major mess at the end of the week are taken care of in a timely manner. This would include each family member pitching in with the following chores:

• Making beds
• Putting dirty clothes in the laundry hamper
• Cleaning up dishes
• Cleaning up after meal prep
• Sweeping the kitchen floor
• Wiping kitchen counters and stovetops
• Putting away toys and school supplies
• Wiping up messes in the bathroom (like toothpaste blobs)
• Wiping down shower walls with a squeegee after showers
• Rinsing out the bathtub 

Making sure everyone is doing their part also teaches kids important lifelong cleaning and organizational skills.

Create a Weekly Cleaning Routine

Kids are creatures of habit, which means introducing a cleaning routine will become an expected part of their week. Setting specific days of the week to tackle certain cleaning tasks will help create an ongoing team effort to keep the home clean. 

For example, you can have a laundry day where kids know they have to pitch in with sorting, folding, and putting their clothes away. Another day might be for dusting and vacuuming, and another for cleaning the bathroom. Remember, by keeping on top of your daily cleaning tasks, the weekly jobs will be much easier!

Have a Before-Bedtime Tidying Game

Having a tidying game before shower, bath, or bedtime will keep your home neat and organized. Everyone can pitch in to make sure all the toys are picked up, homework is put away in knapsacks for the next morning, dirty clothes are tossed in the hamper, snack plates and wrappers are put away, etc.

Parents, you’re part of the game, too, so set a good example by taking care of your own messes. This also makes mornings less hectic with homework and agendas ready to go.

Pay Attention to Messes and Spills

When we’re busy, we often overlook things like all those little spills, drips, and messes we create in the kitchen and bathroom. Paying attention to these types of messes and taking care of them right away goes a long way in keeping your home clean.

When spills and drips go unnoticed, they make cleaning time that much harder, with more effort required to remove them once they get caked on or stains set in. So, watching what you and your kids are doing (especially the little ones who can’t clean up after themselves) and taking care of all those oopsies is a great way to keep on top of the dirt.

Create an Organized Homework Station

Having a dedicated area for the kids to do their homework improves focus while also helping keep your home clean. Even if your kitchen or dining room table is providing double duty, the key is to keep everything they need for school work organized. 

Head out to the dollar store and purchase a storage box or caddy for each child, and stock it with new school supplies such as assorted pens, pencils, markers, crayons, rulers, glue, scissors, etc.

Make a day of it, so the kids can pick out their own storage containers, and then have them help set everything up when you get home. Not only will their school supplies be organized, but it will also help create some excitement about going back to school.

They’ll have a dedicated place to work that’s free of distraction, with everything they need in their caddy. Once their homework is done, they can put everything away, ready for the next day. This saves a lot of tidying time while also ensuring the kids have what they need to do their homework frustration-free.  

Have a Lunchbox Routine

Teach the kids to place their lunchboxes, water bottles, etc. in a designated spot in the kitchen after school so you can easily toss them in with the day’s dirty dishes. This helps streamline both the evening cleaning process and getting ready for the next day’s lunch/snack preparation in the morning, so you won’t feel rushed. 

Wipe Down Frequently Touched Surfaces

Unfortunately, the return to school is also the return to germ city! Getting back into the habit of wiping down frequently touched surfaces will help reduce the spread of germs that the kids might bring home from school.

Keeping antibacterial cleaning wipes handy is the best way to stay on top of this task, which should include at least wiping down the fridge handle, common light switches, and bathroom doors, faucets, and toilet handles. 

Hire Biweekly House Cleaning Services in North York

All of these tips can help keep your home tidy and reduce stress. However, if you find it impossible to keep on top of the cleaning, then hiring biweekly house cleaning services in North York can help. When your cleaning is taken care of, you can focus on the kids and still find some much-needed downtime for yourself.

For more information about Maid4Condos’ house cleaning services in North York, click here. You can also call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

Pet hair is the bane of any pet lover’s existence. It covers every surface, contributes to pet odours, and makes it impossible to leave the home without everyone knowing you have a dog or cat. 

In this blog, we will share our Scarborough cleaning service’s top pet hair removal tips to keep your home fur-free.

Stick to a Regular Cleaning Schedule

This is often easier said than done for busy households with too much on the go. However, setting a regular cleaning day allows you to keep pet hair to a minimum, making it easier to control.

When it comes to pets, regular actually means daily if at all possible. Your vacuum is your cleaning BFF, providing a quick way to reduce hair in your home.

Keep Up With Brushing

By introducing brushing to your pet from day one, you can teach them to appreciate it, and view it as an opportunity for quality time together. Regular grooming is your best preventative step to keep pet hair where it belongs, on your pet, or at least contained on their brush. 

Speak to your vet about the best tools for your pet’s breed. You might have to try a few brushes to find one that works well and causes less fuss. Some pets actually prefer to be stroked with a mitt-style grooming tool, made of a rubbery material that not only grooms, but can also be run across upholstery to remove pet hair quickly.

Invest in a Rubber Broom

A rubber broom works much like a grooming mitt when it comes to managing pet hair. It has flexible strands of rubber that pet hair grips to, making short work of the surfaces of your home, including carpets.

It’s not designed to remove debris and hair deep in the rug, so you’ll still need to vacuum. However, it is an efficient way to quickly and efficiently cover most floor types. You can then just rinse the hair off after use.

Try an Air Purifier

Although you might think air purifiers are designed to reduce pet odours, which they can, they have a far more important role. They help remove tiny particles of debris from your home to greatly improve air quality. 

A HEPA filter air purifier does an excellent job of keeping pet smells to a minimum and reducing the amount of hair kicked up in the air. This is especially important for allergy sufferers who love their pets, but can’t bear their fur, and more importantly, the dander that tends to irritate allergy symptoms!

Use Slipcovers

Unless you are one of those people who needs a home aesthetic right out of a magazine, throwing blankets or slipcovers over furniture is a godsend for pet owners. Simply cover up your furniture when guests aren’t around, and then toss the covers into the laundry every week.

Even if you’re all about the Architectural Digest home look, you can find stylish slip covers that give your home an instant makeover. They have a snug fit that doesn’t give your secret away.

Put Your Lint Roller to Good Use

Lint rollers are your secret weapon to fast daily pet hair removal from clothes and soft furnishings. It just takes a few minutes to give everything a quick swipe to remove all the tell-tale signs of fur from your furniture. Get the biggest one so you can do the job quickly, or make your own using a paint roller and packing tape!

Ask Your Vet

Shedding is natural, so we’re not saying your pet is sick if their hair is everywhere. However, there are skin conditions and nutritional deficiencies that might cause excessive shedding, so speaking to your vet as a precaution doesn’t hurt. 

Feed Your Pets a Healthy Diet

With out-of-control grocery costs these days, it can be hard to feed your pets a healthy diet. This can contribute to shedding, especially if they have nutritional deficiencies.

A diet high in protein, vitamins, and fatty acids will help keep skin and coats healthy, so your pet sheds at a manageable pace. It will also ensure your fur baby is around for many years to come. Your vet can suggest the perfect diet for your pet to help them remain healthy.

Vacuum Your Pet

Many vacuums come with pet-grooming attachments that elevate grooming by removing pet hair using suction as you brush. Although not ideal for all pets (we’re looking at you, nervous Nelly, who runs every time she hears the vacuum turn on), if your pet isn’t overly sensitive to the sounds of the vacuum, this could be a quick and easy way to minimize pet hair in your home.

Blow It Away

Taking the opposite approach to the hack above, using your hair dryer on the cool setting to blow pet hair away works well. Some pets love this treatment, and you can then vacuum up the hair once you’re done. 

Add Some Dampness Into the Mix

We tend to go for dry solutions to tackle pet hair. However, you’d be surprised how well a damp sponge works. One of the main challenges of pet hair is the natural static in our homes that causes it to cling to things like carpets, drapes, and furniture.

However, with a damp (not wet) sponge, it helps get rid of the static so you can wipe the hair away. For tight spots, like between sofa cushions, wet your hand and drag it along the space to grab the remaining strands that escaped the sponge! 

Get Serious With GermBlasters

At Maid4Condos, we offer a disinfecting service ideal for pet homes. It is designed to reduce allergens, including dust mites and pet dander, and is safe for use on pet bedding, sleeping areas, and kennels.

It also eliminates pet odours as a bonus. It is NSF-certified, meaning no rinsing is required, thus making it safe for use on surfaces that come into contact with pet food.

Contact the Cleaning Professionals

We’re happy to share our Scarborough cleaning service’s pet hair hacks to help you keep your home clean.

However, if you don’t have time to keep up, Maid4Condos offers the perfect solution with cost-effective house-cleaning services. Call us at 647-822-0601 for a free online quote or contact us here. 

We all love our pets, but can likely do without the odours that come with them. In this article, we will share a comprehensive guide to dealing with pet odours straight from the expert provider of cleaning services in Toronto: Maid4Condos.

Put Your Vacuum on Overtime

You likely only pull out your vacuum once a week (hopefully, at least once a week!) to manage your weekly cleaning chores. However, when you have pets, you need to put your vacuum on overtime, using it every day or two to contend with pet hair and dander.

Believe it or not, fur, dander, and hair all hold onto odours that stay in your home. Using a vacuum with a hand-held option is a great solution, as you can tackle hair on all surfaces, not just the floors.

Include Your Pet’s Items in Laundry Duties

From soft toys to their sheets and blankets and pet beds to anything they use that is laundry-safe, tossing your pet’s items into the laundry will do a world of good.

Their belongings are likely covered in everything from pet slobber (we’re looking at you, Mr. Bulldog) to little traces of poop and pee and the aforementioned stinky hair and dander. 

Weekly laundry is the best way to keep their favourite security blankets, toys, and more smelling fresh. Don’t forget things like fabric-based leashes and collars, as these can also carry bacteria that can make your pet sick.

Use the Dishwasher for Appropriate Items

Things like rubbery toys, water and food bowls, and rubber mats that wash off paws after walks are often dishwasher-safe. Tossing them in the dishwasher for a weekly clean cycle is a quick and easy way to remove odours and eliminate germs.

Bathe Fido Based on Your Vet’s Recommendations

This is obvious, but because it tends to be a huge hassle for a lot of doggies, you might avoid baths at all costs. However, the pet stink is coming directly from your dog and really needs to be addressed physically.

Speak to your vet to confirm how often you can bathe your furry friend without causing irritation, and then follow their advice to a tee. Thankfully, kitties can take care of their own baths!

Sprinkle Some Baking Soda Around

Baking soda is a pet-friendly odour-killer. It can be sprinkled onto dry surfaces, from furniture to carpeting and pet beds to blankets, to absorb odours quickly. Just let it sit for about 20 minutes, and then vacuum it up.

Dispose of the powder by emptying the canister or bag so the odours don’t hang around or get redistributed the next time you use the vacuum.

Use Vinegar for Oopsies

If your nose is telling you there was a pet oopsy involving pee or poo that you missed while you were out, find the source quickly so you can eliminate the smell. Vinegar can work well in these situations, diluted with some water in a spray bottle. 

First, remove any “remnants,” avoiding rubbing, and then spritz the area with the vinegar mixture. Let it sit a while, and then use a clean, absorbent towel or cloth to remove the excess. 

You might have to do it a few times to get rid of the smell. If it hasn’t worked as well as you’d hoped, add some baking soda, let it sit to help absorb the stink, and then vacuum it up.

Tackle the Tough Jobs With an Enzymatic Neutralizer

This sounds like a mouthful, but it works. These solutions are available in most places you find household cleaners. They’re specifically designed to tackle pet odours, including that aromatic cat pee.

Keeping a bottle handy will provide a secret weapon that uses enzymes to break down the soiled area, addressing the specific elements that cause the smell.

Also, citrus is a natural enzyme that can do the same kind of work with a pleasant natural smell. The only thing is you have to make sure it doesn’t stain, so it’s best to mix it with some hydrogen peroxide to do the trick. Spot test first!

Invest in a HEPA Air Purifier

An air purifier can help control pet odours using a fine mesh to trap pet hair and dander. However, it captures other tiny debris, such as dust, which also tends to hold onto odours that can contribute to the smell. Using a vacuum with HEPA filters helps, too.

Steam Your Carpets

If you have carpeting, steaming it twice a year can reduce odours. You can do it yourself with a rental or a purchased steam cleaner, or call in the pros to do it for you.

Professional cleaners have access to superior equipment with better-extracting power to suck up all the liquid, so nothing is left behind.

Act Fast

As soon as you notice a soiled surface, you should jump into action to clean up the mess. The longer you wait, the more time the odours have to settle in. Some quick steps to follow include the following:

• Carpets: Remove solids by scooping whenever possible. Rubbing just works the solids into the surface. For pee, use paper towels to absorb as much as possible. Apply an enzymatic cleaner according to the instructions.
• Area rugs: You can follow the above instructions with one exception. Before you begin, lift the area rug and place a thick stack of newspapers, a towel, or paper towels underneath the stain. Otherwise, as you press to absorb the pee, it will push through to the floor below.
• Soft furnishings: Use the same steps as mentioned for carpets.
• Hard surfaces: For hard floors like wood and unsealed tiles/grout, these surfaces are porous and can absorb urine quickly. Use a grout cleaner for tile surfaces, and keep a hardwood floor cleaner handy to gently remove messes without damage to the surface. You might think you can ignore these stains, but it will absorb right down to the floorboards if you don’t act fast.
  
  For sealed tiles and grout, either dish soap and water or half water, half vinegar can be used. If the pee has been there for a while, allow the cleanser to sit for about 15 minutes before scrubbing and rinsing the mess. 

Disinfect

Disinfecting services like GermBlasters provide effective disinfection for your home, using a highly powerful, yet safe solution. This allows you to target germs as well as harmful substances such as pet soiling and odours.

Contact the Cleaning Experts

These pet odour-removing tips from our cleaning services in Toronto will help keep your home smelling a lot fresher. 

When all else fails, Maid4Condos offers GermBlasters disinfecting and deodorizing treatment, which you can add to a Deep Cleaning Package for a full and thorough cleaning to keep your home fresh. 

Call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us here for a free online quote.

Deep cleaning is the ultimate house cleaning, providing a fresh start whether you’re moving into a new Toronto home, or want to reset your current home’s level of cleanliness. 

In this article, we will share our checklist for deep cleaning services in Toronto to make sure you tackle every surface in the home!

What is deep cleaning?

Deep cleaning services in Toronto provide a more detailed level of clean, such as your annual spring cleaning, New Year’s cleaning, or “my mother-in-law is coming to visit” cleaning.

This level of cleaning helps you enjoy your home free of germs, bacteria, lingering odours, mould, and allergens that accumulate over time. Unless you are obsessed with cleaning, chances are your average weekly (or monthly) cleaning doesn’t remove common culprits that can increase your risk of illness. 

When you deep clean, you remove all the risky residue from your home’s surfaces, making it easier to maintain a sense of freshness and cleanliness for improved health. Of course, you can also conduct your own version of deep cleaning to remove all the unappealing factors you encounter in an unclean home.

What rooms does deep cleaning tackle?

The answer is easy: any rooms that you like. Although cleaning your entire home is best, you can focus on key rooms that you use most often and the areas most likely to collect germs and bacteria, namely, the bathroom and kitchen. 

What are the tasks of deep cleaning?

This is where our Toronto deep cleaning services checklist comes in. If you want a fresh start in your home, use this room-by-room breakdown to achieve your goals:

Bathrooms

• Bathtub and shower enclosure
• Inside, out, and behind the toilet
• Lights, mirrors, sinks, countertops
• Vacuum ceiling fan cover
• Light switches and door knobs
• Empty garbage bins
• Vacuum/mop floors
• Wipe baseboards

Bedrooms

• Make the beds
• Tidy any clothing
• Dust counters, table tops, and picture frames
• Clean mirrors and polish ornaments
• Wipe switches and door knobs
• Vacuum/mop floors
• Wipe baseboards
• Wipe window ledges

Kitchen

• If the dishwasher is empty, start a new load
• If the dishwasher is full, put away clean dishes
• Clean inside the microwave
• Wipe the stovetop
• Polish the fridge front
• Wipe the backsplash, countertops, and cupboard fronts
• Clean the sink
• Wipe light switches and door knobs
• Replace garbage and recycling liners
• Vacuum/mop floors
• Wipe baseboards
• Wipe window ledges

Living and Dining Rooms

• General tidying
• Tidy and vacuum sofa seating
• Wipe table tops, picture frames, and window ledges
• Clean mirrors and dust ornaments
• Wipe telephones, switches, and door knobs
• Vacuum/mop floors
• Wipe baseboards
• Clean under and behind furniture

Laundry Room

• Clear air vent
• Clear lint trap
• Wipe washer and dryer
• Clean floors

What are the benefits of deep cleaning?

There are many benefits to deep cleaning, including the following:

Killing Viruses and Bacteria

You probably don’t realize that every dust particle in your home is a magnet for germs and bacteria. As a result, when you don’t clean properly, all those dust particles trap unhealthy viruses and bacteria. 

This increases your risk of illness. With an annual, semi-annual, or even seasonal deep cleaning, you’ll help reduce harmful germs and bacteria so you can enjoy improved health.

Reduce Risk of Pests

Pests are attracted to the tiniest crumbs, which puts your home at risk for infestations. 

When living in a multi-unit residence such as a condo, apartment building, or row houses in Toronto, you are at higher risk of pests spreading into your home. The less food available, the less temptation there is, and the less risk there is for bugs and rodents.

Breathe Easier

As already mentioned, dust accumulation in your home harbours germs and bacteria. Those same particles remain in the air and on surfaces, which can contribute to poor indoor air quality.

If you suffer from symptoms such as, itchy watery eyes, chronic cough, or a runny nose, these could be caused by allergens in your carpets, on furniture, in your curtains, and floating in the air. Deep cleaning removes hidden dust and allergens, helping you breathe easier.

Improved Mood

A clean home reduces stress and enhances mood. Living in a clean environment helps keep your mind calm and your body healthy for an improved quality of life.

Save Time and Money

When you create a clean slate with deep cleaning services in Toronto, you make it easier to maintain an acceptable level of cleanliness. Therefore, tasks like dusting and cleaning bathroom surfaces become easier.

You’ll find that you can focus more on wiping away dirt, as opposed to scrubbing. Thus, you will save time and money, as you’ll need fewer cleaning products. The result is more time and money spent enjoying the things you love!

Decrease Foodborne Illnesses

Your kitchen is a haven for germs and bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses like E. coli and salmonella. A deep cleaning helps remove germs and bacteria from kitchen surfaces and appliances, so you can avoid unnecessary illness. 

You also remove the “ick” factor from things like caked-on grease and unknown food stains that make it hard not to cringe every time you fix yourself a snack.

Welcoming Guests

If you like to entertain or are a regular Jerry Seinfeld with people popping in unexpectedly, a deep clean is key to keeping your home presentable to welcome guests.

A Better Work Space

If you work from home, all the above benefits also apply to your work environment!

Tips to Get Your Deep Cleaning Started

If our checklist feels a little intense, we get it. This is not your run-of-the-mill cleaning checklist that you can tackle every weekend. However, you can use these tips to make the job easier:

• Work by room: If it sounds like too much work at once, you can tackle a different room every weekend until you finish the entire home.
• Invest in the right tools: Using the right tools can make it easier to achieve your deep cleaning goals. For example, you might invest in a duster that can reach the ceiling, or purchase a vacuum with a wider variety of attachments. 
• Enlist help: If you don’t live alone, enlist the help of family members, your partner, or roommates to help get through the checklist faster. 

Hire Deep Cleaning Services in Toronto

An even better idea is to hire a deep cleaning service in Toronto to manage the job for you. At Maid4Condos, we have the proper cleaning tools, equipment, products, and expertise to complete the job efficiently and achieve the highest possible level of cleanliness.

If you want a fresh start in your home, click here to learn more about our deep cleaning services that Toronto loves. You can call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.

If you love pets as much as we do, you probably wish there was an easier way to overlook common pet-related messes. In this article, we offer a guide for cleaning pet messes in Toronto quickly and effectively so you can focus more on the love and less on the mess and odours!

Cleaning Pet Hair

Pet hair is more of an annoyance than anything, as it luckily doesn’t contribute to pet odours in the home. Some tips to help you tackle pet hair include the following:

Vacuum With a Pet Hair Attachment

If your vacuum has a pet hair attachment, take advantage of it and vacuum up pet hair at least once a week. You can also use a hand-held vacuum or remove the attachment from your canister vacuum and apply the hose directly to surfaces to help remove hair and dander.

Use a Squeegee

Squeegees are window cleaners with rubber strips that remove water for streak-free windows. However, that rubber strip is also a very effective hair remover when cleaning Toronto homes. 

Dragging a squeegee over soft surfaces like couches, upholstered chairs, and carpets can help collect hair missed while vacuuming, and create manageable clumps that you can then pick up with your hand.

Try a Lint Remover (or Paint Roller)

Lint removers also work well to capture hair left behind after vacuuming. If you don’t have a lint roller, or you need to tackle a larger area, covering a paint roller with tape, tacky side out, makes short work of larger surfaces like couches and carpets. You can then just remove the tape and toss it in the garbage. 

Attract Hair With Rubber Gloves

Rubber gloves have a magnetic effect on pet hair, allowing you to brush your hand over upholstered surfaces and collect hair. It works on your clothes, too.

Cleaning Pet Stains and Odours

Removing pet stains becomes much harder if you’re not quick to clean up the mess. When it occurs in your absence, your job gets even trickier. Here are some pet stain and odour removal tips to help protect your furniture and keep your home looking and smelling its best:

Act Fast

This is the most important step in fighting pet stains and odours. The longer the stain remains on the surface, the more time it has to set in, and the more likely it will leave lingering odours behind.

Keep the Right Tools Handy

Keeping a pet stain caddy in your home allows you to grab what you need quickly. Your caddy should include:

• Rubber gloves 
• Paper towels or microfiber cloths
• Clean rags 
• Small trash bags
• Soft-bristled brush
• Pet-safe cleaners designed for stains and odours
• Baking soda to lift stains and remove odours
• Baby wipes
• Bottled water

Create Your Own Cleaner

An effective, pet-friendly cleaner consisting of one tablespoon of dish soap, one tablespoon of vinegar, and two cups of warm water can clean up most surfaces without causing damage. Use your DIY cleaner in a spray bottle for easy application to stains. 

Follow the Right Steps for Poop Removal

The following steps provide an effective method to remove fresh poop:

• Use your rubber gloves to pick up solids using a paper towel.
• Place the solids in your trash bag.
• Use a baby wipe to remove any remaining smaller pieces, but don’t wipe the carpet yet!
• Use a new baby wipe to address any “smearing”.
• Apply your homemade or store-bought pet stain product.
• Use your soft-bristled brush to work the cleaner into the fibres and remove the stain.
• Apply clean cold water to remove soapy residue.
• Dab at the carpet to remove excess water using clean paper towels.
• Apply baking soda to the area and let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
• Vacuum up the powder and repeat the baking soda step until you remove most of the odours.

Follow Different Steps for Urine

Fresh pet urine requires a different approach. Follow these steps:

• Quickly apply a pile of paper towels to the urine and top off with a pile of newspapers.
• If the stain is on an area rug, lift the rug and lay down paper towels and newspaper on the floor to capture anything that seeps through.
• Turn back the rug, and then stand on the pile of paper and stamp your feet to help absorb the urine.
• If you have a dog, you can place the soaked papers in their designated bathroom area to help associate the smells with that spot.
• Blot-dry any remaining dampness.
• Apply cold water to the area and continue to blot-dry until the urine is removed.
• Apply an odour-removing pet cleaner to the area, following the instructions on the bottle.

Dried Pet Stain Removal

When dealing with an older or dried pet stain, the process requires a different approach. First, although it’s tempting to use a steam cleaner, the heat will permanently set the stain and odours because the steam will bond the proteins to the fibres. 

You should also not use strong chemical cleaners like ammonia or vinegar, as they accentuate the odours. Instead, follow these steps:

• Put on your rubber gloves and pick up any solids and place them in a small trash bag.
• If the mess is pronounced, consider renting a carpet cleaner (not a steamer) to help get deep into the carpet to remove the stains.
• Use an odour-fighting pet cleaner and apply it to the stain.
• You might have to clean a few times to get the stain out.
• Allow the carpet to dry before applying a pet stain odour neutralizer.

Wood Floor Pet Stains

For wood floors, follow these steps:

• Dab up wet messes with a rag or paper towels and remove any solids.
• Use your DIY cleaner to wipe up any remaining messes.
• Wipe the floor clean.
• Apply a generous amount of baking soda to the surface and let it sit for an hour.
• Vacuum or sweep up the baking soda. 
• If the area still smells or feels damp, repeat the baking soda step.

More Household Pet Cleaning Tips

Use the following tips to make life with pets easier:

• Limit access to certain rooms in the house to reduce the chance of stains, hair, and odours in every room.
• Bathe dogs regularly to help reduce pet odours they’ll leave behind on soft furnishings.
• Groom your pets often to reduce shedding.
• Choose hard floors over carpets, and avoid area rugs if possible.
• Treat soft furnishings with stain guard products or use washable covers for everyday furniture use.
• Use a pet toy bin, basket, or box to make it easier to keep things tidy.
• Keep paw wipes at the front door to clean paws before your dog enters your home.

Contact the Cleaning Experts in Toronto

There’s not much to be done about the urine, poop, and occasional vomit that your pet might produce. Knowing how to deal with pet messes makes it easier to take the good with the bad, and avoid having a stinky home covered in pet fluff.

If you want to help control pet odours, hair, and messes, reach out to Maid4Condos to learn more about our professional cleaning that Toronto loves. You can call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.