The Dark Side of Halloween – Toronto Cleaning Service
Even though October 31st is filled with scary monsters and nice sprites, the dark side of Halloween clean-up has nothing to do with ghosts, and everything to do with pranks involving eggs, toilet paper and candy. Not only can ‘the dark side’ ruin your paint job and your lawn, it can pose a health risk to your family. So, whether you own a freestanding home or live in an apartment, it’s good to know how to clean up after being pranked by teenagers.

With that said, cleaning up said pranks can feel overwhelming if you don’t know exactly what to do. Furthermore, waiting too long to clean or using the wrong cleaners can leave you with a mess even harder to clean than the original! For instance, when Justin Bieber egged his neighbor’s home, he had to pay $80,000 in damages. But don’t worry, we’re going to explain everything you need to know to make your Halloween clean-up easier and much less expensive!
So, You Got Egged
An age-old tradition of teenage pranksters, egging can be brutal for the unsuspecting recipient. Even if you live in a condo or apartment, you might have a friend or relative who just got egged. Unfortunately, the longer you dwell on the morality of being egged- the harder it’s going to be to clean. It’s not to say that the clean-up is necessarily hard. However, you need to know what to do. First, make sure you have a strong alkaline cleaner, warm water, and garden hose and an extended pole with a brush on the end. You’re going to need these to clean-up the mess.

Straightaway, suppress your initial urge to scrub the egg mess. Instead of scrubbing you’ll spray away the egg with a garden house. However, be careful not to let the water hit the yolk at full force, as this will just splatter the yoke and make the mess bigger. Instead, wet the siding above and below the egging. Eventually, you’ll notice the water will start to fall in sheets, washing the egg-mess away. At the same time, make sure you never use hot water at any point throughout this process, as it will cause the proteins in the egg to stick to the siding. Ultimately making cleaning much harder than it has to be.
If this doesn’t leave you satisfied, mix warm water with the alkaline cleaner (like dish soap) and use your pole-mounted brush to wipe away the mess. Repeat until you’re happy. In addition, check out this article for tips on how to clean egg off your car.
So, You Got Toilet Papered
The other tradition teenage pranksters indulge in is toilet papering. Alternatively, (and affectionately) known as “TPing”. In other words, you may wake up the day after Halloween to find your front yard draped in white, fluffy toilet paper. Luckily, TP can be much easier to clean than egg yolk- if it doesn’t rain. And please, whatever you do don’t try to clean up the toilet paper with fire.

With that said, trying to clean up wet toilet paper can prove to be just as frustrating as an egging! In fact, if it has rained, you’re best off waiting for the sun to dry it out. However, if you know rain is coming, start the Halloween clean-up it up right away! First, find a long tool (like a rake or pool pole) to get the toilet paper down from tree branches. Alternatively, you could use a leaf blower. Next, start removing the toilet paper from the top and work your way down the tree. Ultimately, patience and a long pole will be your biggest assets during this mission.
Needle in a Haystack…
In any event, egg and TP pranks aren’t the darkest side to Halloween… More and more, hazardous candy has been showing up in kids’ trick or treating bags. So, to make sure your children aren’t ingesting any hazardous materials, make it a point to inspect all the candy they bring home and make yourself aware of the 7 common hazards that might show up. But first, how does one go about inspecting a bag full of candy?

First, inspect each piece of candy under a bright light, looking for any holes, tarnished packaging, and lumps. Next, remove candy that has already been unwrapped, opened, stained or did not come in it’s original packaging. Unfortunately, these are all tell-tale signs that candy has been tampered with. Consequently, this goes for homemade treats as well. So, unless you trust the baker with your child’s life- it’s better to be safe than sorry. While you’re thinking about Halloween clean-up, check out this article to learn the 5 tricks to avoid pumpkin catastrophe to save yourself some cleaning.
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