Cleaning Guidelines from Your Favourite House Cleaning Service in New Zealand

Regular home cleaning services with affordable rates are available in New Zealand for people who need help maintaining their clean home on a weekly basis. Select Cleaning is one such quality service, which provides regular inside cleaning of homes- all bathrooms and toilets, all kitchen surfaces, all floors vacuumed & mopped and all dusting.

Watch a Speed Cleaning Training video from SelectCleaning to learn the basics of speed cleaning and how to effectively dust and spot clean a room. It shows a lounge but applies to every room in a house except the kitchen and bathrooms, which are described in separate videos: Kitchen Cleaning & Bathroom & Toilet cleaning.

General home cleaning & maintenance tips

Let’s discuss some Do’s and Don’ts pertaining to cleaning up mercury spills in your house. Mercury is a dangerous toxic substance. Mercury spill can occur through thermometers, fluorescent light bulbs, or mercury-containing thermostats.

If the mercury spill is around a quarter teaspoon or less, you can manage it by yourself. However, if the spill is more, inform professional hazardous waste disposal companies to clean it up. The mercury spill is harmful because it easily evaporates at room temperature and cause health issues if the vapour is inhaled.

Don’ts with mercury spill

• A vacuum cleaner or common broom if used to clean the mercury spill can cause it to break into smaller drops. This will further aggravate the problem as mercury droplets will evaporate faster and quickly spread in the room, increasing the chance of more people inhaling it. 
• Avoid using household cleaning products to remove the mercury spill. The chlorine or ammonia present in the cleaners will chemically react with mercury and produce toxic gases.
• Don’t pour mercury down a drain. It can get lodged in the ‘p’ traps and evaporate in the room or clog your plumbing and pollute the septic system or wastewater treatment plants.
• Never wash mercury-contaminated clothing or sponges; instead put them in a plastic bag and seal for disposal.

Do’s for cleaning up mercury

If a fluorescent bulb is broken, do the following:

• Clear the room of people, especially children, and pets. Now ventilate the area at once. Respiratory protection may not be necessary as the bulbs contain only small amounts of mercury.
• Shut off the heater or air conditioning system to avoid the mercury-contaminated air moving to other areas.
• Do not touch the mercury droplets with your hand, use rubber gloves. Take out glass and metal pieces with the help of a cardboard piece. The mercury should not be allowed to evaporate, so put the breakage into a glass jar with a lid or a sealable plastic bag. Smaller pieces of debris with mercury beads can be scooped up using a sticky tape. Put everything in the glass jar or bag for disposing off.
• Any leftover mercury droplets or glass dust can be spotted using a flashlight as they reflect light. Search the entire room for traces of mercury, which can move far on hard flat surfaces. 

Removing mould and mildew in the shower

Worried about the gross gunk that builds up in your shower?

Add one cup of hot water into a mixture of one cup each of baking soda and borax. When it becomes a runny paste, scrub and rinse to get rid of mildew and mould build up in your bathroom. Gunk in front of sinks & stove can also be effectively cleaned using this baking soda-borax paste.

It is certain that Select Home cleaners do a pretty good job, and you can confirm it by going through the testimonials from their clients. 

Select Cleaning are confident of their service, which is why they’re proud to offer cent percent guarantee. In case you have any concerns about the quality of the cleaning, please contact your cleaner immediately. They guarantee to fix any problems on the next visit or you will get the next clean for free. Call them now on 0800 000 907 for your free quote.

Home Cleaning Tips, Tricks and Hacks for Parents of Toddlers and Small Children

Every father and mother with small kids will always be interested and eager to know more tips and tricks in home cleaning and organising that will help make their life better!

An untidy and messy house is the least thing anyone wants to occupy. However, with children at home it’s indeed a difficult task to keep your house tidy all the time.  

Find some tips, tricks and hacks for you with young children at home:

1. Clean up after playtime and do a deep scrub of everything once the kids have gone to bed. This quick sweeping will ensure that your house will be neat and clean every day before bedtime. Before sweeping, you can collect the toys and other children’s items and put them back in their original place.  
2. Teach your children clean up after themselves with you. This will inculcate a good habit in young children and at the same time come as a helping hand for you. Put some music on as it makes cleaning a little less boring, and also the children will appreciate it.
3. Keep a donation bin for items you no longer require.  This will certainly reduce the clutter, and is more applicable with children who have a strong affinity for clothing and toys even though they’re damaged.
4. Put the newspapers and magazines in the recycling bin once you finished reading. Never keep them piling up, thinking that you may need them later.
5. Another clever way to find time tidying up is to utilise those free short minutes you get here and there. For example, make use of a TV commercial break, or the waiting time for a device to get heated up like the microwave, coffee maker or a hair-styling device. You can do some short bursts of cleaning work such as a quick tidy, wipe-down, or load some plates into the dishwasher etc. during these small snippets of time.

More handy tips for Moms

• Baby food jars can be used to store spices. Label each container and display them in your kitchen shelves. 
• You can make a door stopper by reusing a pool noodle.
• Stick a medicine dropper through a cut pacifier and you can use it for easily giving medicine to your toddler.
• Shopping made easy without the kids. Draw out your child’s feet onto a plain paper and then you need not to take the child to the shoe shop. Just show the paper (with the tiny feet traced on to it) to the shopkeeper and they can give you the exact size shoes for the kid.   
• Some parents also use identification bracelets when they go shopping with small children. This will be of great help to get notified if your child gets stranded.
• How to avoid your toddler slide around with the toys when you give her/him a bath? Put a laundry basket in the bathtub and let your kid sit inside it so that the toys won’t flow away. It’ll then be easy bathing your baby as it plays with the toys. 
• An intelligent way to indulge your children in the home cleaning chores is to give them the internet password only after they finish the given cleaning tasks! This will also save your teenagers from internet addiction!

Need some professional help with your home cleaning chores? Call the most reliable Select Cleaning service on 0800 000 907 for your free quote now. Their home cleaning is of the best quality, and the pricing is very competitive too - Now available in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Tauranga and Hamilton.

Nine Important Cleaning Mistakes to Avoid

Majority of New Zealanders now resort to hire quality home cleaners on a regular basis even though they sometimes try do-it-yourself cleaning practice. Narrated below are some common cleaning mistakes people tend to do due to negligence or ignorance. After explaining the mistakes, SelectCleaning experts have given the correct cleaning procedures too.

1. Mixing cleaning products can be dangerous. For example, if you mix two cleaners which have ammonia and bleach as ingredients, a poisonous gas will be formed – and it’s life threatening if you happen to inhale it.  
2. Never clean your non-stick pan in the dishwasher. If you do so, it’ll affect the pan’s seasoning, thereby disabling the non-sticking quality.  
3. Using abrasive cleaners to remove tough stains on porcelain tile and bath tubs will dull their smooth finish.
4. Some of us don’t know that coffee grinders and BBQ grill also need regular cleaning. All traces of crusty bean debris can be completely removed by whizzing uncooked rice or stale bread in the coffee maker, and thereafter washing with water. Vinegar can be used to remove bad odour. Scrub each grill grate with crinkled aluminium foil while it's still warm to remove those charred black bits. This is necessary to kill bacteria growth also.
5. Some are ignorant that fridge and freezer need spot cleaning on a weekly basis and thorough cleaning once every quarter at least. 
6. A few people mistakenly use window cleaners on television and computer LCD screens, which can harm the electronic surfaces. Same way, cleaning with paper towels or tissues can also damage the TV or computer screens because of the presence of wood fibres. Instead, use a microfiber cloth along with approved LCD or IED screen cleaners.
7. Cleaning the windows when the sun is hot? Another mistake! And the result: your glass cleaner will evaporate faster due to the sun’s heat, which may cause spot marks. Good to do the window cleaning when there is no hot sun shining at the windows; that is, choose a cloudy day.
8. Oven cleaning mistakes: Some times we neglect to clean the oven. Sticky and greasy food particles, chunks, and spills may have been left behind in the oven from previous cooking. They get even more baked-on when you cook the next time. This can affect the smell and taste of the newly baked food. Apply the baking soda and vinegar cleaning method to make your oven clean and sparkling.  Add some water to a cup of baking soda to form a thin paste. Apply this paste thinly to the walls of the oven after removing the racks. Ensure that you do this when the oven is still warm.Take some vinegar in a spray bottle and spray it over the baking soda paste on the oven walls. The bicarbonate of soda and vinegar will react, thereby cleaning the oven walls. Let the paste stay there for some time and remove it using a damp rag.  The chemistry here is that the mixture of baking soda and vinegar helps to break down the sticky grease and grime in the oven, which can then be easily removed with a rag.  
9. Ignoring the common touch points in the house: Some common items such as the remotes, computer keyboards are handled by everybody in your home contain more harmful bacteria and dirt than you thought. They need a disinfectant wipe at least every week.Similarly, door knobs, hair combs, water taps, handles of appliances and such things which can be described as the most-touched areas in your home are severely affected by the germs. Failing to understand this and not giving them frequent disinfectant wipe is another cleaning mistake we tend to commit.

For a free cleaning quote, you can now call the Select Cleaning home cleaners on 0800 000 907. They service Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch.

Brilliant Cleaning and Maintenance Tips for Every Homeowner

Clogged and smelly kitchen sinks?

Sprinkle a cup of baking soda down the sink plug hole at night.  In the morning, heat a cup of white vinegar in the microwave and pour it down on top of the baking soda. The chemical reaction will loosen up any grimy sludge settled at the bottom of the drain and jolt it all loose. Finally, flush the drain with boiling water which will ensure unclogging perfectly.

The added advantage here is that the hot vinegar will deodorise the microwave also in addition to your sink.

Check your dishwasher, isn't it dirty?

Add one-quarter cup white vinegar into the bottom of the dishwasher and run a full wash cycle. Now you’ll see that all stains and dirt have gone. 

Did you know that dishwashers can also be used to clean stove vents, plastic cutting boards etc.? Place these special items carefully in the dishwasher and run a full cycle along with other dishes to get amazing result. It will remove stubborn stains and scum from the cutting board to make it as good as new.

Blocked shower heads?

This method allows you to clean the shower head without removing it from the pipe attachment. Pour a mixture of 1/3 cup baking soda and one-cup white vinegar in a plastic bag big enough to cover the shower head. Now tie the bag to the shower pipe with a tape, rubber band, or plastic thread etc. Ensure that the shower head is fully dipped in vinegar and no liquid is leaking. Let it remain like that overnight. Next day, remove the plastic bag carefully without spilling the liquid. You’ll be happy to see that all blocked holes are clear now.

Tired of trying to clean lime scale off the toilet bowl?

We know that one of the most dreaded household tasks is cleaning the toilet. But wait! Try using coke. 

Pour a cup or two of coke into the toilet bowl, and also around the rim of the bowl. Leave it to soak overnight and the acids will slowly loosen the built-up stains. In the morning, flush and lightly brush and see the difference. The dreaded job has turned out to be a simple one.

You may also use a pumice stone to clean and remove toilet bowl rings. It’s easy to use and won’t make any scratches provided the stone and the bowl are wet.  It works perfectly and gives good result.

Dirty Pans and pots

No more worries about burnt pans. Pour half a cup of vinegar to your pan and boil it to loosen the sticky burnt stuff. Now it’ll be easy to remove the stains completely by rubbing with baking soda with the help of a sponge. After removing all residues, just scour the pan normally.

Cut a piece of raw potato. Take some salt powder and sprinkle it in the pan/pot. Now take the potato piece and strongly rub the pot with salt. Then wash away the salt powder and dirt, and dry it with paper towels. Add some oil at the bottom of the pan and spread it to make a thin film of oil in the pot. Heat the pot in low temperature for half an hour to let the oil soak into the pan.

Stained Coffee mugs and discoloured old dishes

Immaterial of how thoroughly you clean, there will always be some traces of coffee and tea stains in your mugs. Remove those stubborn stains by scrubbing them with a lemon peel dipped in salt.

Clean those discoloured old dishes you kept aside in your kitchen cupboards, using a mixture of baking soda and water. You’ll be stunned to see the dishes sparkling again.  

Avail professional help from Select Cleaning

These handy home cleaning and maintenance tips are published for the benefit of our esteemed customers. Learn these simple tips to make your house cleaning easier and efficient. Call Select Clean whenever you feel the need for professional home cleaning.

Expert Tips and Tricks for Maintaining Your Home in a Spick and Span Condition

With an aging society, and majority of younger generations unwilling to do DIY jobs, we have more consumers calling the professionals to do home cleaning and maintenance jobs for them.

This trend, known as Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) as against DIY, is now gaining momentum in the modern day society.

While you’re going to enjoy the autumn season, here are some tips to remember before winter sets in after three months:

Gutter cleaning:

Leaves and dirt might have got stuck in your gutters during the summer season. This will cause the blocked water to back up against the house, inflicting damage to the roof and weather protection materials. Gutters and drains, if not allowing the water to flow smoothly, can affect the functioning of the drainage system, which will lead to leaks in your home.

Avoid air leakage through windows & doors:

During winter period, it’s good to keep the entire volume of inside warm air in the house. Inspect the windows and doors to ensure that they don't have any cracks. In case of air leaks, take help from professional service providers who’ll use caulk to seal any cracks between each door frame and weather-stripping to efficiently seal the air leakage.  

Reverse the rotation of your ceiling fan:

During the winter period, you could increase the performance efficiency of the ceiling fans and save on energy bills by reversing the direction of rotation. When the fan’s rotation is reversed, it will send all the warm air near the ceiling to your living space as the warmer air naturally stays near the ceiling. This will help to ease reliance on running other home heating appliances (you can turn the thermostat down a couple degrees!).

Simple points to keep in mind while dusting, and vacuuming:

When you dust your home, it’s good to start the task from one corner of the room, working top-to-bottom and back-to-front. This is to allow the dust to fall onto the floor. Similarly, while vacuuming, you can begin the task from a back corner and continue vacuuming your way out the door, using long firm strokes. And when you vacuum the carpet, remember to run the machine over each strip of the carpet only once and not twice, to save time.

Before you hire a home cleaner in New Zealand, have a thorough internet search: 

• Check their credentials (work ethics, reliability and quality of work) by contacting their references, if possible. If you couldn’t get in touch with references, gather information by checking customer reviews about the company in Google or other independent social media sites other than their own website. 
• Ask if the home cleaning company has experience in doing the particular cleaning task you require; if your work is being subcontracted, know in advance who can be contacted in case of any difficulties. 
• You also need to look at the price the home cleaning companies are asking for. Never go for cheap contractors who may compromise the quality of work. 
• Check if the house cleaners are insured, and police verified. Also peruse their guarantee terms and conditions.

If you’re going to call Select Clean home cleaners who service Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Tauranga and Christchurch in New Zealand, you are at zero risk regarding security, reliability, dedication and quality of work. Check it out on their Website or get your free quote now by calling them on 0800 000 907.

Use Natural Cleaning Products When You Do DIY Home Cleaning

Important Household Items You Should Not Clean with Vinegar

When it comes to home cleaning our precious goods and belongings, we do not like harsh chemical cleaning products. They do more harm than good. Opting for natural ingredients are not only a smart choice but economical as well. 

When it comes to home cleaning, we have vinegar stored in our kitty. It is cheap and good at cleaning stubborn stains. However, most of us are not aware of the fact that vinegar is intensely acidic in nature. Using it at home everywhere is not a wise idea. 

Given below are some of the places where you should NOT use vinegar for your home cleaning needs:

• Marble and Granite Tops- The acid in vinegar etches natural stone. If you need to get rid of a stain or mark, use a gentle liquid dish detergent with lukewarm water.
• Floor tiles made of stone- Like marble and granite countertops, using vinegar on stone tiles is not a good idea. Its acidic content will mar the appearance of your stone tiles. When you are looking for home cleaners for floors made of stone tiles, avoid vinegar, lemon and ammonia at all costs. Check the cleaning agents you buy and ensure you invest in special soaps or dish detergents formulated for cleaning stone tiles on the floor all the time.
• Egg stains or spills- When you drop or spill egg on the floor, never clean the area with vinegar. The acidic content in vinegar will coagulate the egg making it hard to remove.
• Irons- Never use vinegar to clean your iron. It will damage its internal parts. Do not pour vinegar to clean or make your iron fresh. In order to keep your irons from clogging, you should completely empty them and follow all the cleaning instructions specified by its manufacturer.
• Floors made of hardwood- There is a huge debate on whether to use vinegar on hardwood floors or not. Some users claim that it works wonders on removing stains while some say it damages the finish. We advise you to only opt for hardwood floor cleaners available in the market. They are safe. If you still wish to take a risk with vinegar, try diluting it with water and test a spot before covering the whole room.
• Stubborn marks and stains- There are some stubborn marks and stains caused by ice-cream, grass, blood etc that never can be removed with vinegar. They do not respond well to the acid in the liquid. It is prudent for you to opt for special stain or mark removers intended for ice-cream, blood, grass etc when you need to tackle with them.

Some Other Handy Cleaning Tips

Red wine stains: Wonder how to remove red wine stains on your costly carpets? You can use salt effectively to clean all traces of red wine from the carpet. Sprinkle some salt over the wine spill and wait for a few minutes. The salt will absorb the wine easily; then dust off the salt with a brush or cotton cloth.

Pet hair: While you can't prevent the hair from sticking to surfaces, you can minimise the amount. Brush your pets regularly with a good grooming tool and catch shedding hair. You can also use rubber gloves to remove pet hair. Wear wet gloves and run your hands over the surface of the furniture and also on the floors to easily pick up the fallen pet hairs.

Call Professional Home Cleaners for Better Result

For very stubborn marks, stains and dirt, we are here to help you get great results. We are a professional cleaning company having services at Hamilton, Wellington Tauranga, Auckland and Christchurch. 

Bank on us for getting a clean and fresh home at affordable rates. Our cleaners are trained experts and have the experience to tackle any small or big home cleaning task with dedication. So, if you are looking for daily, weekly or monthly home cleaners, feel free to email us or call us now on 0800 000 907.

Home Cleaning: Tips, Precautions and Facts

After calling a home cleaning service in New Zealand, there are some necessary things you should do to make things favourable for you. On the day when the home cleaner is scheduled to come, clear away all clutter in your home, so that the cleaner will concentrate more on the actual cleaning job. It’s also good to give clear instructions to the cleaner if you want particular attention to be given to special areas of your choice.

Make some internet searching before hiring a home cleaning service to know if they are licensed and insured and whether there are any adverse online reviews about their house cleaning practice. If they have given contact references, you may also call them practically to know the authenticity of a cleaning service. Also ask them if their cleaning personnel are subjected to background checks and police verification.

Get Motivated to Clean Regularly with These Home Cleaning Tips

Declutter

First of all decluttering! Take three laundry baskets and walk across the master bedroom putting foreign objects (which don’t belong in the bedroom) into one of the baskets, donation items in the second basket and all garbage in the third.  All dirty laundry should go to the washing machine straightway. 

Now you’re ready for actual cleaning!

Dusting Made Simple

Easy and fast way to dusting is making sure that you start the task from the top to bottom and work your way from one side of the room to the other – never make the mistake of doing it haphazardly that’ll cause the dust falling on areas that you have already cleaned, and thus prolonging your cleaning time. 

Use a damp microfiber cloth for dusting the furniture, lamps, vents, above the door frames, light plates, etc. so that the dust won’t spread in the air. This is also applicable whenever you are cleaning a particularly dusty area- it’s recommended to mist the area with water before you start dusting out.

Master Bedroom Cleaning Checklist

Master bedroom often gets neglected as we tend to concentrate more on places more likely to be seen by a guest! What everybody actually needs is reality-based home cleaning and organizing methods to follow so that you can always maintain a certain degree of hygienic standards in your home.

Find below a few cleaning checklist for your master bedroom:

• Wipe down walls and ceilings and vacuum up any cobwebs. Wipe down the light fixtures, switch plates and ceiling fan.
• Clean the windows, window sills and window tracks – Spray a little bit of tea-tree oil on to the window sill area and let it sit for a few minutes before wiping down.
• Dust and clean all furniture (tops, sides and bottom), picture frames, lamps and knick knacks. Keep baseboards cleaner with the help of a fabric softener sheet.
• Wipe down the window blinds – clean your blinds thoroughly on both sides using a microfiber cloth and a mixture of one part vinegar and one part water.
• Once you finished dusting all the surfaces, including furniture, decorations, fixtures, etc., that dust will naturally settle down on the floors. Now clean that dust from the floors too. While vacuuming the floor, reach under beds, couches, dressers and into the corners as far as you can.
• Clean all bed linens, pillows & pillowcases, and comforter regularly. Fluff pillows daily to remove dust and dead skin cells. Also, ensure to air out the pillows often to freshen them up.
• Clean and rotate the mattress – for mattress rotation guidelines, read our previous blog posts.
• Declutter and organise your master closet – learn the art of getting rid of unwanted clothes and other stuff in your closet - try purging, sorting, donating, etc. so that your closet will look much organised. 

Know Your Home Cleaning Service

With Select Cleaning franchisees taking care of your home cleaning, we guarantee you complete peace of mind. Check out our website for the thanking messages from satisfied customers– you can see that our customers think we are the most affordable, quality home cleaning service in New Zealand.

So, whether you need a regular clean, a spring clean or specialised cleaning, get your free quote now by calling us on 1800 153 483. Or simply submit the form on our Website to receive a no-obligation free quote.

Cleaning and Organising Your Home with a Professional Touch

It’s a fact that the demand for domestic cleaning services is increasing every year as people look to outsource their home cleaning. Long working hours affect a significant number of New Zealand families, and one thing working parents find it extremely difficult is to manage their home cleaning task. The home cleaning companies in New Zealand nowadays possess costly modern equipment and their cleaning technicians have necessary skills and qualifications. So, getting a reliable, professional home cleaner is quite easy now.

Seven Cleaning Tips to Make You Smarter

1. Worried about mould problems? Clove oil destroys persistent mould spores. Add four drops of clove oil into one litre of water and rinse well. Use this solution to clean the affected areas and you’ll see that moulds won’t reappear.

2. Homemade cleaner for your glass windows: Take one litre of warm water in a bucket or a glass jar, and mix it with a tablespoon of cornstarch. Your glass cleaner is ready. Use it to clean the window with the help of a squeegee or rag. After the clean, dry the window glass with a soft cloth to see it sparkling.

3. How to keep ice and frost away from your car windows during winter? Believe us, many people don’t know this; perhaps you’re the first one in your locale!  Fill a spray bottle with vinegar (3 parts) and water (one part) and spray on to the car window when you need to park it outside overnight. 

4. Did you know that the water you remove from an aquarium while cleaning, can be used for watering the plants? It has nutrients to fertilise your vegetable garden. 

5. Body or hair oil stains on collars and cuffs of coloured shirts and blouses can be easily removed by rubbing hair shampoo on the stained spot. As the stain loosens, rinse it with water and then wash the clothes to see that the sticking disclouration has gone.

6. Many people get stung by spiders, and even snake bites occur from the shoes kept outside. Keep these creatures out from your gardening shoes or work boots by placing old stockings that closely fit over the top of them.

7. Everybody use candles at home. If it’s a costly one, you can prolong its life by placing it in the freezer for a day and night before lighting. Use a plastic bag to cover the candles before placing them in the freezer.  

How to Get Affordable, Quality Home Cleaning

Are you searching for an affordable and expert home cleaner? SelectCleaning now takes bookings for house cleaning in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Tauranga and Hamilton. You pay for your cleaning service only after the job has been completed to your full satisfaction. We can assure you that there are absolutely no hidden charges as you might have faced with other home cleaners in your locality! Simply tell us where and when you need the service, and we’ll send a home cleaner right over. Get absolutely spotless clean!

We do full home cleaning services - regular cleaning of your home, including bathrooms, kitchens, vacuuming & dusting. The kitchen and bathroom, two areas that need more attention, will be cleaned thoroughly beyond your expectations. Your house will have a fresh look and wonderful smell. We also do spring cleans, move in/out cleans, and special occasion cleans. For other cleaning services such as window cleaning, ceiling cleaning, exterior house washing, water blasting driveways & paths, we can arrange to have them done for you with known and trusted home cleaners.

Booking a home clean has never been easier- just dial 0800 000 907 or email us your cleaning requirement using the form given on the Select Home Cleaning website.

Quick Home Cleaning Checklist and DIY Cleaning Tips

While cleaning our homes, we have a tendency to leave those hard-to-reach areas, thinking we’ll look at it later. But the problem is that we normally fail to come back to clean those dusty spots! Professional home cleaners have appropriate tools and equipment for cleaning inaccessible places such as ceiling fans, walls and ceiling, place under the bed, and so on. 

Making a cleaning schedule for your home is a great idea. Manage the cleaning works efficiently one day at a time with some useful daily and weekly tips we will give you in this article. Once these tasks are executed in a timely manner, you can freely enjoy the weekends with your beloved family. 

Daily Cleaning Chores:

• Do dishes
• Collect all trash
• Wipe down all hard surfaces like wood or natural stone
• Do a quick pick up

Weekly Cleaning Tasks:

• Sweep, mop and dust
• Do laundry
• Clean stoves and microwave
• Scrub shower and tubs

If you do all those cleaning chores not in an orderly manner, it’ll consume more time and energy. Cleaning as per the given schedule is so much easier and don’t need more than half an hour daily to finish the cleaning task- the main advantage here is that the weekends are free for relaxing and family get together! 

However, setting the house cleaning schedule is entirely up to you as per your special needs. In addition to the daily and weekly schedule mentioned, there are spacialised cleaning (like oven cleaning, fridge cleaning, BBQ cleaning etc.) and seasonal cleaning to keep your home spick-and-span.   Keeping your refrigerator, dishwasher and oven pristine, hygienic and sweet smelling is the foremost thing in kitchen cleaning. 

DIY Home Cleaning & Maintenance Tips

Rather than purchasing costly bathroom cleaners, think about natural home products. Warm a cup of vinegar and mix it with a cup of dish soap. Pour the solution into a spray bottle and you can use this excellent cleaner on tiles and shower doors. Better result can be achieved if you can allow the solution to sit on the tiles overnight, and then clean the next day morning. 

Remove pet hair out of the carpets with a rubber squeegee. It’s more effective and an energy saver method as you need not to run the vacuum cleaner.  

How many times we lost our temper untangling mixed cords and cables! Just cut the coil cords and cables into shorter lengths, and place those into rolls (to keep them separated) made out of finished paper towel, aluminium foil and plastic wrap rolls.  

You can make enough magazine-holder style containers from empty cereal boxes. Use those handy containers now on the study desk of your children, or as your bill holders! 

How to save the cleaning time for your microwave? Heat a small bowl of vinegar in your microwave oven for 5 minutes. Now switch off the microwave and clean it efficiently. The steam of vinegar loosens grime and dry food particles for easy clean up. 

Here’s an easy way to remove static cling from newly washed clothes. Use a couple of dryer balls of aluminium foil to prevent static in laundry. Comparatively they’re much cheaper than dryer sheets.

Use an old toothbrush to brush out dirty spots around spa bath button displays, taps or hinges on toilets etc. 

Professional Home Cleaning

For professional cleaning, you need to choose a standard cleaning package that best suits your requirements. For this, consult with the best home cleaners in New Zealand. 

Common laundry detergents contain fillers that are left behind on your clothes. You may be facing problems with hard water causing lime and calcium deposits on kitchen and bathroom sinks and fixtures. Rust is another issue- it’ll create stains on taps, drains and tiles. To prevent these issues, always use quality cleaning products made with natural ingredients and recommended by professional home cleaning specialists. 

Regarding environment protection, Select Home Cleaning Company doesn’t pretend to be perfect, but they do their best by reviewing procedures and choosing the most appropriate products. Once you ordered a home cleaning task, they’ll come up on time with all the tools, equipment and quality cleaning products – so, it’s no botheration for you and you may even go for shopping or picnic while these security-checked professionals clean your home exceeding your expectations.

Importance of Seasonal Home Cleaning and Maintenance

With the arrival of chilly weather, there sure will be the spread of winter germs in your home. So, what should you do to escape from this menace?!

Prevention is better than cure! In addition to regular cleaning, proper home maintenance should also be ensured on a seasonal basis. You may be finding it difficult to combine household chores and home maintenance works.   

Get your home in great shape with professional home maintenance practice. This includes taking the services of experts such as home cleaners, plumbers etc.  occasionally so as to avoid something major goes wrong in your home.

Did you know that there are less chances of catching colds and flu if your home is well cleaned and kept hygienic during the winter?! 

Tips for Keeping Your Home Germs Free

Your dishwasher can be a source of fungi and black yeast. So don’t believe the myth that dishwasher need not to be cleaned because it’s a Washer!  Thoroughly clean the inside of a dishwasher by running it empty with a cup of vinegar on the top rack -  Clean it like this at least once in a month to decrease the presence of germs.  

If you use gloves for cleaning, remember that they can be very unhygienic if proper care is not given. Change the gloves frequently and ensure that they are kept clean and dry when not in use. Cleaning can be done by putting the gloves in a basin with vinegar and detergent.  This is to make sure that bacteria growth in the gloves is well under control.

If you have gas heating, and not yet serviced the gas hot water and gas heater during autumn, do it now on an urgent basis. This is to prevent gas leakages in the heater, and ensure its smooth functioning throughout the winter when you need it the most.  Take the services of a licensed plumber during summer for maintenance checks so that there will be fewer issues in winter. Release the hot water system valves to reduce pressure and inspect the sacrificial anode rod and replace it if required during summer checks. If you had done these summer checks and servicing on your hot water supply, then there won’t be any further problems in winter.

It doesn’t matter whether you use a wooden or a plastic cutting board- provided it’s cleaned regularly. Plastic boards can be washed in a dishwasher set to approx. 60°C. Bacteria growth in wooden boards is very less, so normal cleaning will suffice.

The most used and frequently touched  items in the house such as door knobs,  light switches, and electronic items like computer keyboards, mouse and TV remote, etc. are to be wiped clean twice or thrice in a month.  Some studies have proved that these items contain more harmful micro organisms than the toilet seat.

Also, don’t use the same bath towel repeatedly without properly cleaning it. Germs easily grow and multiply in a damp towel. Frequent cleaning, and drying after every use, can keep the towels dry and free from harmful bacteria. 

Go for Affordable and Quality Home Cleaners 

Select Home Cleaning Service delivers affordable, first class home cleaning in New Zealand and Australia. After our foolproof cleaning, you’ll feel great to come back from office to a perfectly clean home that smells great. Available now in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Tauranga and Hamilton in New Zealand, and many other regions in Australia. Call us now on 0800 000 907 to get your free quote! 

Regular professional home cleaning  in each season means you are always on track of home maintenance cycle and thus you minimise the risk of illness ad other related issues in your family. 

Do you want the freedom and profitability possible through owning your own home cleaning business?! Join SelectFrachise, part of NZ's multi-award winning Home Services System, which has around 200 Franchisees in its fold.

Home Cleaning and Maintenance Diary for Every Household- Tips, FAQs and More!

Keeping your house well maintained can be related to the servicing of your car- if not done at regular intervals, you’ll have to face costly repairs in both cases!

If possible, keep a house maintenance calendar at home where you can write down easy maintenance works for scheduled tasks such as weekly, monthly, and quarterly cleaning. Another option is to call a house cleaning service provider for professionally doing such scheduled tasks.

Three Things to Remember for Proper Home Maintenance:

• Test the functioning of your water heater’s temperature and pressure relief valve once in a while. This can minimise the chance of a leak caused by mineral and corrosion build up in the water heater.  This way the water heater will run more efficiently, decreasing your energy bills.
• One point people often forget is about changing the batteries in smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. This can cost you dearly in case of an accident. So replace the batteries every six months and make a note of it in your home maintenance diary.
• Another important point to remember is to vacuum your refrigerator coils if you’re using the older versions. Only a good refrigerator mechanic will tell you this because many are unaware of the fact that dusty coils will not radiate heat easily and thus the machine will use more electricity to cool your stuff.

FAQs on Home Cleaning, and Replies by Select Cleaning Professionals

Here are a few frequently asked questions by clients and our answers... If some of your questions haven't been covered here, send us an email, or call us to get your doubts cleared. 

How can I get a quote or book for a home cleaning service?

You can get your free quote by calling us on 0800 000 907 or by simply submitting a form on our website with relevant details for a no-obligation free quote. We’ll revert back the same day. We guarantee a spick-and-span kitchen, living room or bath area after our professional house cleaning service.

Do you clean in my area?

We provide house cleaning services in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington & Christchurch, New Zealand.

If you live outside of the above places and still would like to get Select Cleaning standards, we may still be able to help you directly or can get the work done by some reputable house cleaning services in your local area.

Should I provide cleaning equipments and products to my cleaner?

You need not to- we are a well established home cleaning company in New Zealand and have all the state-of-the-art cleaning equipment and quality products.

What services do you offer and what not?

At Select Cleaning, we do normal regular inside cleaning of homes.  We also do spring cleaning and moving cleans but do not do steam cleaning, carpet cleaning, ceiling cleaning, and window cleaning.  Those cleaning works they don’t do, they can arrange to have them done for you.

Are your home cleaners pet-friendly?

Yes of course. Our cleaning professionals are pet friendly as they have been given adequate training on how to treat dogs, cats and other pets in your home. We give the care, love and respect your pets need. However, if any of your pet is aggressive and may obstruct the cleaner’s work, please inform us in advance and ensure that the pet is well secured and kept away from the cleaning area.

Suppose if there is additional job other than specified, would you do it?

Sure, we can help. Please inform us the requirement and we’ll give you an extra quote for it and the cleaner will do the needful.

Do I need to be at home while you clean? Can I trust the cleaner you send?

You need not to be available in the cleaning location. You may go out for a walk or go for a weekend picnic while our responsible cleaners manage the house cleaning task. It's thus your choice to stay around or not.  From our side we can give guarantee that our expert home cleaners are security checked and police verified and so there won’t be any security or safety issues.

Do you have any guarantee for the home cleaning task? What happens if we’re not happy with the home cleaning you provided?

Please contact your cleaner immediately if you have any concerns about the quality of the cleaning. They’ll guarantee to fix any problems on the next visit or you will get the next clean for free.

Visit Select Home Cleaning website or talk to their office executives or cleaning professionals on 0800 000 907 for clearing any queries or for obtaining an obligation free home cleaning quotation.