CLEANING EQUIPMENT ARTICLES

Nifty Tips for Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner

You will find that owning a wet/dry vacuum cleaner can be very convenient for everyday cleaning. Wet/dry vacuum cleaners free you from needing the traditional mop & bucket especially in a time crunch such as tidying up for last minute guests. Since they can vacuum liquid spills as well as solids (dirt, grime, and other debris), they can even be indispensible.

However, they aren’t just for the fixing little messes. Wet/Dry vacuums have so many other uses in your household chores you may not have even thought of.

Tip #1: When cleaning your fireplace, using a broom and dustpan would be just time consuming. It can also create more of a mess with ashes and dust scattered in the air. Once the ashes have cooled, use your wet/dry vacuum to easily remove them.

Tip #2: You can use your wet/dry vacuum whenever you have a liquid spill. You no longer have to reach for a paper towel, sponge, or clothe to soak up a wet mess. Everything from juice, eggs, and ice cream can be cleaned off right away. Just wipe it off with a damp cloth and dry to ensure no residue (especially sticky ones) are left.

Tip #3: If you dropped your wedding ring or any small object down the kitchen or bathroom sink, you can easily use your wet/dry vacuum to easily get it back if it hasn’t gone too far down the drain. Since your vacuum can hold liquids, there’s no fear in using it to recovering your lost item. Just check the holding tank for any retrieved contents.

Tip #4: You can also save from not having to hire a plumber to clear a drain. You can use your wet/dry vacuum to unclog hair from your drains, for sample. Use the port that blows air to break up the clog. Your wet/dry vacuum is probably more efficient than a plunger. This is only recommended for bathroom and kitchen sinks, of course.

Tip #5: For hardwood floors, a wet/dry vacuum is a time saver. Usually, you will need to sweep dirt and other debris from the surface before mopping it then drying it. With a wet/dry vacuum, you don’t need a separate broom/dustpan and mop. You can use the wet/dry vacuum to quickly vacuum and wash the floors.

Most wet/dry vacuums will let you switch from dry vacuuming to wet with just one switch. You will also notice that floors will dry faster than using a mop. Therefore, you can get your floors clean and dry in no time!

Choosing the Right Cleaning Equipment for Different Surfaces

For most people, cleaning is a part of their daily routine. It is done on a regular basis to promote not only a healthy environment and a well-kept home but is also good for the morale. Knowing what the right equipment is to best clean different surfaces can cut down the time you spend on cleaning. It might even prevent you from making an even bigger mess.

The first step in choosing the right cleaning equipment is to identify the different surfaces in your house and even your office that will usually need to be cleaned. Surfaces include hardwood floors, carpeted areas, bathroom tiles, windows, and concrete.

Hardwood floors are usually cleaned by floor upright-brooms made of corn fibers or plastic to remove dust, cobwebs, pet hair and the like. You can also use floor polishers to strip the floor of dirt & grime. This will leave your hardwood floors clean and shiny. You can also use a vacuum to remove dirt and grime and mops for damp cleaning to remove dust and dirt.

Carpeted areas are cleaned by vacuums for regular cleaning such as removing dirt, pet hair and stains. You can also rent steam cleaners for deep cleaning. Steam cleaners are especially useful for stains or dirt that has already set-in your carpet. You can also use brushes for small areas that need to be cleaned of stains or spots.

Bathroom tiles are cleaned with mops, plastic brooms, and push brooms.

Windows can be cleaned using pressure washing equipment such as a hose. You can also use squeegees and rubber brushes. Scrapers and blades are especially useful for removing dried bird droppings, which is a common problem. For higher windows, a T-Bar with an extension pole can be used to reach and clean out-of-the-reach areas.

Concrete can be cleaned by push brooms (for hallways or big areas), heavy duty brooms (for streets, garage, etc) and a floor burnisher.

Choosing the right cleaning equipment for different surfaces is not difficult. You can even experiment on using the different materials on other surfaces as long as you are sure that it will not make any scratches or cause more damage.

How to Find the Right Broom for Your Floors

Most people think that brooms are a thing of the past since most households use vacuum cleaners to eliminate dirt around the house. Kids think that brooms are what witches and warlocks use as transportation as popularized by Harry Potter and other similar stories. However, brooms are still handy to use especially when cleaning floors and when there is no electricity to power up your vacuum.

How can you find the right broom for your floors? Brooms come in several sizes and materials. There are three common sweep brooms, and they are the corn and up-right broom, the floor brush, and the street broom or heavy duty broom. Brush up on your broom knowledge by taking notes on what their uses and differences are.

• The corn and up-right broom is the most common type of floor broom used in cleaning surfaces inside the house. It is made of different materials so each kind is specifically fashioned for particular surfaces or floors. The corn bristle fiber broom with hair-like follicles is used to remove dust on the floor while the corn bristle fiber broom made with yucca fiber is designed to sweep concrete floors. Then there are up-right brooms made of plastic. These include angled brooms (with short and long fibers that form an angle), janitor broom, lobby broom, and maid broom, among others.

• The floor brush or push brooms are primarily used in sweeping hallways, cleaning spills and scrubbing floors. These are usually used with cleaning detergents. They are usually made of black tampico or polypropylene.

• The street broom or heavy duty broom, as the name implies is used to sweep streets or surfaces outside the house. These include the porch, garage or patio.

Other broom varieties that are popular nowadays are the rubber brooms and the magic/micro fiber brooms. The rubber broom comes with a squeegee that eliminates dirt, spills and pet hair on wooden or tiled floors in one sweep. While the magic/micro fiber brooms are used on any surface even on ceilings, glass and walls to remove dirt, stains and cobwebs.

Using brooms can be considered old fashioned but keeping one handy at home is one wise move. It keeps floors clean without getting tangled with wires or cables and doesn’t come with an expensive electric bill.