Cleaning as a Workout – How to make the most of it!

Home cleaning is one of the most time-consuming chores that you have to take care of. It is undeniable that it requires a great deal of effort and hours just to finish the most urgent tasks. This is normal, because if you want to be effective at it, you need to devote time and effort.

Often times it feels like cleaning is a task that does not have a finish line. Once you are done with one room, you immediately have to move on to the next one. This should not be a problem if you enjoy a good exercise, and there is no reason to hate it really. It is through physical activity that you can feel less stressed and energetic. The problem is that when you are too busy cleaning your home, you won’t have as much time for a workout.

The alternative would be to transform your cleaning service in such a way that it will resemble a workout. It really is not that difficult as you may think, considering that cleaning is a physical activity which requires a lot of movement. Here is what you should consider to make the idea a reality:

  • Put on fast music in the background – music has the potential to make you feel way more energetic and alive. Consider the fact that all gyms have music in the background; this is no coincidence, because it can really help a person with their physical exercise. This is why you should definitely implement music in your household cleaning routine. You have to make sure you play not just any type of music though, but rather some dynamic tunes that will really make you want to move and clean around. You will notice that time passes faster and it is easier for you to concentrate on the task at hand. Additionally music will keep you entertained and energised throughout the work so that you feel less tired, even as you do more.
  • Pick up the pace – cleaning as a workout will obviously not be that effective if you are too calm, slow and steady about it. If you truly wish your cleaning service to matter and to burn some calories, you have to pick up your pace. Don’t just stroll around your home with a duster and a vacuum cleaner; instead move around like you are in a hurry and try to finish a task quicker than you normally would. At the same time you should try not to sacrifice the quality of the work, or else you will be stuck doing the very same home cleaning chores all over again very soon.
  • Work against a timer – set a time for your home cleaning chores and try to beat the time. Here is where you will need to challenge yourself in order to be truly effective about the work and for it to really matter. You can consider giving yourself a few minutes for window cleaning, or 10 minutes to perform proper carpet cleaning. That ought to make your home cleaning a lot more difficult but at the same more rewarding in terms of physical exercise and calories burned.
  • Include weights in your cleaning – it is true that cleaning is already a difficult task, but you can make it way more challenging by adding some wrist and ankle weights. This should be executed with caution, as it can be truly challenging. The extra weight will make movement more difficult, pretty much the same way you exercise with weights in the gym. The only difference is you will be busy with dusting and vacuum cleaning and not lifting weights alone. See to it that you are comfortable and stop for a rest if you feel too tired.
  • Take regular breaks – remember that any workout activity requires frequent breaks. When you finish a certain cleaning task, or part of it, you should take a break so that your body can rest and prepare for the next set of cleaning.

Follow these tips and you can truly transform your cleaning into a workout session. Be careful with it and you will be able to enjoy an activity that is both good for your home and for your body as well.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

Another year has passed and this is our 3rd year sending out our sometimes informative newsletter! We want to say thanks for reading and want to wish you the best for a fabulous 2016. Lots of stuff going on at Denver Concierge, including our new vehicles, roll out of health care for our employees and other changes to try and become more efficient. In short we are doing everything we can to keep our costs down without raising prices. One of our big cost issues is lockouts and access, if you want to learn more see below. We sure appreciate your business and hope that 2016 is your best year ever!

Top Secret Referral Program

January is always a good time to mention referrals. One of the things that we have learned in our 16 years in business is that we clean very differently from most companies.

We sometimes have a hard time communicating how deeply we clean (and why we cost more) to prospective clients. It usually hits them once they see our fabulous team at work in their homes, but sometimes we never get that far as it’s hard to explain what we do without seeing it first hand.

Of course we know that you realize and appreciate how we clean, and that is why your referrals are the best way for us to grow.

We have a very lucrative referral program going on right now….too good to put in the newsletter.

Please speak with Angela if you have someone that you think would appreciate what we do, and she will give you the lowdown. Thanks for all you do and for those wonderful clients many of you sent us in 2015!

Lockouts

One of our toughest dilemmas is what to do when we get locked out. Many of our competitors charge a fee for this, we do not. Not yet anyway.

Most of you offer us access to your home without restriction, and we appreciate that. We carry lots of insurance and documentation so you should always feel comfortable with us in your home, even if you can’t be there.

The worst thing is when we arrive at your home and cannot get in for some reason. We pay our teams from the moment they leave our office and it’s quite expensive to have them driving places with no home to clean.

Worse, the next client often isn’t ready for us, so it creates a bunch of problems.

We would be incredibly grateful if you would alert early us when you need to cancel your clean or if there will be some problem with access.

We understand emergencies and will always accommodate you when we can. We appreciate your help in improving our efficiency and keeping our costs down!

Snow Days

Ahh, winter…..we love you. Actually not so much. It’s great for skiing and snowboarding, but it really cramps our style (and yours) when we get a big storm.

We know how frustrating this is, as it is incredibly hard to reschedule. Think about it like an airline. We have days full of flights and when snow wipes some out, unless we have cancellations going forward there isn’t any place to put folks.

It frustrates us as much as you….so what can you do to help? Please be patient with us when it snows. If you want real time updates on whether or not we are working, you can follow us on Twitter at @bestmaidsdenver. We typically send out a tweet when we are going to be closed. We have been known to work Saturdays in special circumstances so that is sometimes a possibility as well. A good rule is that if schools are closed we are as well.

The safety of our employees is the most important thing, and even though the main streets may be plowed, side streets in Denver don’t get plowed until we get a foot of snow! Thanks, and here is to a snow free (in Denver) winter!

88 Truths about Life

Our first newsletter of 2016 wouldn’t be complete without some tidbits of self-improvement that we found interesting. The new year usually brings about reflection and planning about how we have done things, and how we might do things better. We ran across a great piece from raptitude.com on “truths” in life. We felt better after reading them and we hope you do as well!  To learn more take a look here.

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Queen Bee Corner

by Angela

For the past two weeks I’ve joined the ranks (albeit temporarily; nothing serious, pulled muscle) of those who work from home, as do many of our clients. It has certainly given me a good understanding of the pluses (no drive time) and the minuses (my dogs barking).  I didn’t have a visit from Denver Concierge, but I imagine that three ladies cleaning can be fairly disruptive.  I will remind the teams in the next employee meeting to please keep the working client in mind as you move about the house. Be very very quiet every chance you get.

So..I will be back in the office on Monday due in large part to the expert advice given me by a client.  Thank you Caylene!  It worked!

Queen Bee

The most important things to do when kitchen cleaning

The most important things to do when kitchen cleaning2The most important things to do when kitchen cleaning

Kitchen cleaning is quite an overwhelming task, especially if you do it more occasionally like once a month or even more rarely. Deep cleaning the most soiled objects and appliances is not enough, because the dirt often spreads everywhere, yet it comes to the kitchen – the most frequently used room in the house, which sees the heaviest dirt from kitchen grease and other persistent types of spots. Next is a short To-Do list or a set of tips and tricks to deep clean the most important things in the kitchen.

1) The counter top and the sink. The kitchen sink disposal should be first. Run a couple of ice cubes through the disposal to sharpen the blades, whiles if you worry about the elimination of bacteria – add the juice of one lemon to the water for the ice, and then put the mixture in the freezer to form ice cubes. The lemon juice acts as an antibacterial agent. Then, remove the objects from the counter-top and rinse thoroughly with clean hot water. Rub with a grooming brush to get rid of the dirt between the grout lines. The wooden counter-tops should be soaked a bit longer if you want to get rid of the dirt easily. Clean the sink with a commercial detergent for metal objects, while for the chrome parts is required a special detergent. It will prevent the chrome parts from scratching, while cleaning and polishing them in the meantime.

2) Defrost the fridge and the freezer, and remove all the inner compartments, shelves and doors. If you do it once a year, for example during the big spring cleaning – a great tip is to begin right from this step and to save time by doing other things while waiting for the fridge to defrost completely. Soak the detached parts in the sink and make a homemade detergent of hot water, dish detergent, baking soda and alcohol. It will sanitize and help dissolve the hardest stains from dry grease, which is a common issue on the grilled or on the glass shelves. Don’t forget to clean the cooling coils on the back of the fridge. A brush with electrostatic charged fibers is perfect to wipe off dust, spider webs and other dirt.

3) Oven cleaning is the next challenge, which should begin with the removal of the shelves and the racks. Soak them in the solution in the sink and brush to get rid of the stains. Clean the interior of the oven with towels and pay more attention to the lights and to the ventilation system. Ensure a flawless transparency of the door of the oven by rubbing with a clean soft cloth and with a solution of hot water and white vinegar. Attach the already clean and dry shelves and run the oven at its highest temperature for a while to eliminate all the unwanted odors.

4) The flooring in the kitchen are especially important, especially if your kitchen is a part of the dining room and the dining table is in a close proximity. The area around the table and around the kitchen triangle is the area, which sees the heaviest foot traffic, as well as heaviest dirt from food, such as crumbs, spills, drops, etc. The tiled or the hardwood flooring are easier for deep cleaning, but if you have textile floor coverings like carpets or rugs – a better idea is to use the professional services for carpeting. The carpeting experts have the perfect machines and detergents to sanitize and deodorize even the most soiled carpet, without the risk for damaging the fibers or causing discoloration.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays

We want to wish all of our clients, friends and partners the happiest of holiday seasons in 2015. We have had a wonderful year and want to thank all of you that helped make us successful.

We hope you have a safe, warm and connected holiday, with lots of family, friends and good cheer. We look forward to serving you again in 2016, and to another wonderful year.

Thanks again for being part of the Denver Concierge “family” and for supporting our local business.

Partners We Love

Recently we had a shower door “explode” on us. Evidently, over time tempered glass combined with pressure can come apart in a surprising fashion. Thankfully, no one was injured, but it gave us a chance to call our friends at Buonsante Glass to come out and take a look.

Not only was the shower door repaired perfectly, but they were fast, efficient and reasonably priced.

We know Andy Buonsante the owner, very well and wanted to give him a shout out in case any of you need any glass work done in your homes. You can learn more about Andy and his great locally owned business here.

You can also call Andy at 303-886-2876 or email him here. Tell him you heard about him in our newsletter and receive a special offer!

Buying more Stuff

In our over commercialized holiday season, we sometimes feel overwhelmed. Between all the ads on TV, gifts to buy, etc., we find ourselves trying to sort out what really matters.

We ran across a great piece on why we might want to buy less “stuff” and work more on creating memories that will last. We thought it made a lot of sense so we are posting it here.

It seems that the payoff for buying more stuff is pretty short, and the article helps explain why that is.

The Skinny on New Year’s Resolutions

Yes, we have fallen into the failed resolution trap well. We fully understand that gym memberships are the highest in January, as all of us want to get the new year off to a great start, and try to stick with our plans.

Making significant changes in our lives is hard, especially when it comes to breaking bad habits.

We found some great stuff on this whole idea and we thought we would share it. For a list of the most common resolutions and success rates, click here.

For the reasons behind why we usually fail at our resolutions (and some tips on how not to), check out this article.

We wish you all the best in making positive changes in 2016!

Successful Habits

Since we are kind of on the new year’s resolution and self-improvement theme, we found a couple of articles that sort of got us going.

First, what are 12 things that enormously successful people refuse to do? Well you can find out here.

We also ran across this piece on 30 challenges for 30 days. Some of these really made us stop and think. We hope it does the same for you.

The article, courtesy of Marc and Angel can be found here.

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Queen Bee Corner

by Angela

What a hectic time!  With all the schedule changes, and special holiday requests, I have spoken to more clients in the past month than I have all year.  As always it is my pleasure and though work related (but not always), it’s fun to touch base.  I have known many of you since the very beginning of the company!

I would like to wish you and yours a continuing safe and enjoyable season and a Happy and Prosperous New Year. Cheers!

Vehicle Project Complete

Hopefully you have seen our new rides out on the road and in front of your homes. Our fleet has been completely replaced (we kept a couple of our old blue vans for nostalgia’s sake) and we couldn’t be happier.

We hope you like the new look…our ladies are much safer and much happier traveling to your homes!

The key for reducing the volatile chemical compounds when cleaning

The key for reducing the volatile chemical compounds when cleaning

The key for reducing the volatile chemical compounds when cleaning
The best way to reduce the volatile chemical compounds when cleaning is to avoid cleaning with chemical compounds. This means no detergents that you can usually find in the store, nor detergents that are added to the water tank of the cleaning machine. The result may not be that satisfying as when cleaning with a powerful detergent during the big house cleaning, but let’s face it – there will be no need to leave the windows open for a long time, neither to worry about your kids or pets. Some hand-knotted carpets, rugs and other natural upholstery are also very sensitive to chemical compounds. Not to mention the effect of the chemicals onto the wooden texture of the furnishings or onto chrome parts if you pick up the wrong detergent.

The key for reducing the volatile chemical compounds is to avoid or at least to reduce the periods for deep cleaning at home, which means a more frequent cleaning so you can’t let the objects to get heavily soiled. For instance, let’s take the textile floor coverings. A great idea is to rotate rugs and carpets on a monthly basis. This yet simple trick ensures an even wear of all the areas of the carpets, which is especially important for the carpets in the living room or in the bedroom. These are the most frequently used rooms and so the foot traffic is not an exception. By rotating carpets and rugs, you expose different areas to the foot traffic and so the need for deep cleaning with professional cleaning services reduces as well. Another great idea is to flip the carpets and the rugs if they have beautiful backings. By doing so, you basically expose a whole new side of the carpet to the foot traffic and everything else like dirt, dust, indentations from heavy objects, etc. One, the textile floor coverings become longer lasting and two – you reduce the period for deep cleaning with powerful chemical compounds.

The key for reducing the volatile chemical compounds when cleaning2Another common way to avoid breathing volatile chemical compounds is to leave the doors and the windows in the house open so there is always a constant airflow. This is simple, but it is applicable only for the warm seasons. That’s why the end or the beginning of the summer are the best moments for deep cleaning at home even if you plan to call the professional cleaners who use big powerful machines with a myriad of cleaning solutions.

Use the vacuum cleaning machine everywhere! Whether it comes to just freshening the fluffiness of the carpets and the sofa or a weekly cleaning of all flooring – the vacuum cleaner is the fastest and yet easiest way for cleaning at home. It removes dust, food crumbs and other loose particles without the need for a treatment with chemical compounds.

Another common way is to beat gently the cushions and the carpets through the windows in order to get rid of the dust and the loose particles. Take a pick of a warm sunny and windy day for cleaning. The wind will help blow away the dirt and the dust, while the effect of wiping off dust should be the same even without using a vacuum cleaning machine.

Yet if you have to deep clean with some commercial detergents – make sure that they’re pet-friendly detergents. A simple hygiene spray should play a great role for cleaning spills of margarine and other common spots from kitchen grease. Always read the labels on the compounds and try to avoid the powerful detergents that are recommended for cleaning machines.

Find more helpful cleaning tips on carpet cleaning please click here.

November Newsletter

Happy Thanksgiving

What a great opportunity to express how thankful we are to have you all as clients, partners and friends. We couldn’t ask for a better group of people to associate with and we remain flattered that you allow us into your homes on a daily basis.

So let us take this opportunity to say THANK YOU for being part of the Denver Concierge family and for supporting our local business. We will continue to strive for perfection and to ensure you are thrilled with what we do.

We hope you and your family enjoy a safe and wonderful holiday. We have included some of our best tips for surviving the holidays a little further down the page. Enjoy!

Movember

Movember

What the heck is Movember? Well, just as October was breast cancer awareness month, November is one for men’s health awareness, and is also known as “no-shave November”.

We think that ladies in general seem to do a better job of focusing on health then their male counterparts. The men we know typically wait until “something breaks” before visiting a doctor, whereas our female counterparts take a more preventative approach.

Taking a page from that book, please support the men in your life by putting up with excess facial hair this month! To learn more about this movement (and why the man in your life might not be shaving), visit the Movember Foundation here.

Here’s to wellness, early detection and keeping the men in our lives healthy!

Vehicle & Company Update

Hopefully you are noticing lots of new Denver Concierge vehicles out on the road and in front of your homes. We have now nearly replaced our entire fleet and are more fuel efficient, safer and we look better running about town!

We are also making our plans for 2016 and have lots of great ideas about how to make our company better. Look for more details in upcoming newsletters.

In the meantime if you have suggestions about how we can improve in any way, please submit them here. Thanks!

Denver Concierge Fleet of cars

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Queen Bee Corner

by Angela

Orange.  It’s the color of fall and pumpkins, turning leaves…. and our Team Leaders’ uniform shirts! We chose a different color for our Team Leaders uniforms thanks to a client asking which woman was the Team Leader at her house that day.

It also helps me in the morning as I found that I can quickly find a Team Leader when I need to give out instructions during our hectic morning dispatches. I can now spot the orange among the sea of blue shirts, so keep those ideas coming!

I have also been asked if the orange is a tribute to the Broncos. I’m not sure because we left the color decision up to the Team Leaders themselves. But it could very well be as they are enthusiastic fans of our home team.  Go Broncos!

Holiday Survival Guide

It is that time again…a fall and winter with holidays. With that comes entertaining, lots of eating and drinking, and hopefully for Denver Concierge, some before and after cleaning!!

In that spirit, we wanted to provide some survival tips for the holidays. We found some pretty cool resources.

First, the folks at the Cleaning Institute have some great information on managing the holidays in a clean home. Click here for more details.

Also, we ran across some great cooking tips as well, which can be found here. Finally, to help beat holiday stress, the folks over at Sparkpeople provide some great information here.

All great stuff….Happy Holidays!

Veterans Day

Veterans Day is Wednesday, November 11, and last but certainly not least we would like to thank our veterans for their service to our great nation. The courage that it takes to be willing to sacrifice one’s life for the benefit of others, our freedom and way of life is the highest imaginable.

I am sure we all know someone who has served and many of you have personally served. From each and every one of our 70 employees, we wish to say thank you.

You have our utmost appreciation and respect.

October Newsletter

Holiday Planning & Schedule

We have the incredibly good fortune of being very busy these days. We want to make sure that all of you wonderful, loyal clients get your homes cleaned over the holidays properly. We are currently planning to be closed on Thursday November 26th and 27th for Thanksgiving and December 24th and 25th for Christmas. As you can imagine, this will make us even busier as we attempt to get folks moved around. So, if you have any special needs or requests, please get with Angela right away so we can attempt to accommodate you. If you are on the schedule for Thursdays or Fridays, this will impact you for sure. So, in the meantime, Happy Halloween and Happy Columbus Day, we hope you are getting to enjoy a Monday off!!! You can contact Angela to discuss scheduling by clicking here.

Referral Program

Every now and then we like to remind you wonderful folks about our referral program. While we do very little advertising, most of our new clients come to us by way of referral. So, THANK YOU to all of you that have referred family, friends and neighbors. We will do our best to make sure they are treated like royalty. In that light, we are offering some very nice rewards for new clients that come on board by way of referrals. We won’t spoil the details here, but if you want to learn more, give Angela a call at 303-975-2808 or email her here.

Denver Area Top Restaurants

You may be aware that we love to eat over here at Denver Concierge. We also love to fill you all in on what is happening in our fine town. The folks at 5280 Magazine recently published their annual list of Denver‘s top restaurants.  Frasca in Boulder was unseated from the top spot for the first time in a couple of years….if you want to learn more, click here. We hope to see you out there having a bite around town! By the way, we tried Blackbelly Market in Boulder and it was worth the drive!!!

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Queen Bee Corner

by Angela

October is a month of change, when foliage turns color, weather is cooler (supposedly), days are shorter – and outdoor critters start seeking indoor shelter for the winter.

Well, not in my house, guys.  A client recommended Beeline Pest Control. How could I resist with a name like Beeline?  It took very little time and my house is now pest proofed.  A great company.

Professional, local, friendly.  Like Denver Concierge!  You can find them at their website here.

Happy Autumn!

Bee

Unplugging

The changes in technology over the past 10 years have been nothing short of amazing. Nowadays we find ourselves growing anxious if we haven’t checked email, Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, our texts, etc. It’s all pretty stressful.

So we started to think about the benefits of unplugging once in a while. We know how hard it is, but we also think it might improve our life balance (and our relationships) a bit if we took a break once in a while.

The folks at attn.com tell us that the average social media user is exposed to 54,000 words a day!!! They  did a great piece on this, and you can find the link here. Good luck in your efforts!

Quick tenancy cleaning for students and roommates

Quick tenancy cleaning for students and roommates2Spread out tasks to your friends and roommates for a quicker and easier end of tenancy cleaning, which usually can last only a couple of hours if you select the tasks justly. For example, pre-vacuuming is the first quick highlight in this guide that will prepare the flooring for deep cleaning.

– Pre-vacuuming is the most effective and quickest opt to get rid of the bigger sand particles, crumbs, hair and other blemishes that are stuck onto the floor coverings. Whether it comes to only a couple of small carpets, one big rug, hardwood or tiled floorings – pre-vacuuming will help you to see the locations of the most soiled spots and so to take a the right pick of a further treatment. Moreover, a regular vacuuming is the best way to keep the clean outlook of the floorings for a longer time, so it should be one of the most important highlight in your student`s maintenance schedule.

– Treat the heavy stains onto carpets, rugs and other fabric floor coverings. In some cases, this is more than enough to achieve a quite better look of the floorings, while in the meantime saving time and efforts for hiring a professional cleaning company or using a big rental carpet cleaning machine. Spot clean via stiff brush and a homemade detergent of hot water, dishwashing detergent and shampoo, mixed in a medium sized bowl. This application is truly useful for synthetic carpets or carpets with short fibers, where the brush can easily get to the base of the fiber and therefore to wipe off the dissolved dirt.

– Furniture with leather upholsteries are another difficult part that is worth the efforts. The leathery surfaces require a little bit of a special treatment so you may want to call the professional cleaners. They use special pigmented detergents and solutions that can truly restore shine and texture of the leather surfaces, and thus making them to look like new. Such a pigmented detergent also protects the cleaned spot from future staining like coffee spills or cracks.

– Dealing with stains onto glass objects is another great highlight in the schedule. They may include windows and mirrors, as well as cups, paintings, different glass surfaces in the bathroom, etc. Just make sure to use non-abrasive applicators like a homemade detergent of just white vinegar and water. Use only soft clean cotton cloths and a squeegee, and don`t forget to clean the windows frames too.

– Dusting is one of the final steps of every tenancy schedule for cleaning. It should take place at least once a week. Organize your roommates to help with the wiping off dust via several clean towels and paper towels, as well as deodorizing spray that can enhance the atmosphere. A regular duster can do the perfect job, but a duster with a flexible electrostatic charged head is a great too that help you to get to some truly difficult to reach and hidden places, where usually the dust accumulates.

– A final polishing of metal and wooden surfaces will ensure that little final touch, which will be appreciated from your roommates and guests. Polishing and waxing wooden floors alters the true texture of the surface, as well as colors and reflections. Waxing also adds an extra layer of protection, which seals the clean effect and makes it longer lasting. The same applies to metal and tiled surfaces too, except that their shine and reflections makes them some of the most remarkable sights in the freshly cleaned room.

Read more helpful basic cleaning tips at: nottinghillcarpetcleaners.org.uk

Tools and tricks for hard floor cleaning

Tools and tricks for hard floor cleaning – tiles and laminate floors

Tools and tricks for hard floor cleaning - tiles and laminate floorings

The tiles and the laminate floors are usually the easiest places to clean and they get dirt not that easier, than the carpets for example. However, they should be frequently cleaned and sanitized as the best prevention from further staining. The tiles in the bathroom or in the kitchen floors make an exception, because they see daily foot traffic and they usually stain with dirt from food, crumbs and other blemishes. Mopping or wiping off dust then becomes not enough to restore shine and cleanliness of the tiles and laminate flooring, and you need to apply some tricks for hard cleaning. Take a look at the following ones:

  • Call a professional cleaning company and first stroll through the sites of the companies in your region and find if they have tile cleaning services. Some cleaning agencies are also specialized only in cleaning tiled floors, including stone floors, laminate floors and floors with other hard coverings. Their professional crews are well experienced and they can choose the right methods for cleaning, saving you time and money for buying numerous detergents from the market. The professional cleaners also have the needed tools and items for deep cleaning tiles like a scrubber machine. It is the most effective tool for cleaning the grout lines in the meantime too. Moreover, if you want to deodorize and sanitize the tiles – the crew can add a small amount of sanitizing or deodorizing agent in the detergent for the scrubber machine. This is very important if you have pets like dogs and cats due to animal odor from food, hair, etc.
  • Deep clean tiles and grouts at home via simple homemade detergent solution. You can take full advantage of some cleaning detergents that you already have in your home like soap and shampoo. They can act as the perfect de-greaser, while spreading fresh and pleasant aroma in the meantime. For truly heavily stained areas and grouts – apply some spot cleaning tricks like scrubbing the spot via stiff brush and a paste of baking soda, hot water and dish-washing detergent. Wipe off the dirty excess via cloth and repeat the procedure with a new detergent application to remove the deepest stains and most soiled spots. A great idea is to let the detergent to soak up and dissolve the stain for a dozen minutes or so, and then to wipe it off via another clean towel.
  • Don’t let your laminate floors and tiles to get dirty very often. Just an impromptu daily mopping is the perfect solution to wipe off dust, sand, grit, stains, hair, pollen… Especially the areas that see the heaviest foot traffic should be mopped quite regularly to prevent the thriving bacteria, pollen and allergens, which on the other hand, appear on wet areas with remnants of food crumbs, for example. Add a few drops of a sanitizing agent every few times when changing the water for the mop.
  • After finishing the hard floor cleaning of tiles and laminate, it’s recommended to polish the floors or to treat them with a protective spray. It reduces the chance for further staining or at least it makes the floors more resistant to dirt spots and stains. In addition, the polishing wax adds a tiny little film or layer of protection, which also ensures the finest glossy look of the tiles like they’re new.

More cleaning tips find at this site

 

 

April Newsletter Update

Happy Spring 2015

We are so happy that spring is finally here. Another weird winter, with record snow in Denver for the month of February. In case you didn’t know, we broke a record that stood for 100 years!!! Boy are we glad that’s over. Now, as we enter spring with birds chirping and baseball starting, our moods have certainly improved! We love spring cleaning and realize that we can’t be in your home every day, so we included a very awesome list of green cleaning tips that you can use while we are away. The article includes 10 products you can make yourself right at home (some of these we actually use in homes as well, like vinegar). To learn more, visit the folks at Green America here. Wishing you a fabulous Spring!

 Jacque Stevens

Partners We Love

We aren’t sure about you, but we get so busy taking care of business that we sometimes don’t do a great job of taking care of ourselves. One of the folks in town that can help is Jacque Stevens over at Body Renewed. Her company specializes in non-traditional fitness approaches, including new technology such as a recumbent bicycle that uses infrared light to eliminate cellulite and detox the body. Beyond the cool technology, we love that they approach fitness from a holistic standpoint and are very creative and different in their approach. In short, this is no regular gym. So if your New Year’s fitness resolution has fallen by the wayside, give Jacque a call at 720.428.2347, or check out their site here  and they can help you get back on track! Mention that you saw her in our newsletter and you will receive a special offer.

Spring Cleaning in Denver, CO

Spring Allergies

Here at Denver Concierge we take the bad with the good. As you may have heard…we love Spring! What we don’t love as much are the allergies that come with it. After all that moisture over the winter (see snow record above) we are expecting a pretty robust allergy season here in Colorado. We found some good information on surviving the allergy season on WebMD here.

Spring allergies in Denver

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Queen Bee Corner

by Angela

I can honestly say our clients are the best in the industry. I know some of this is due to the fact that we have been in business so long and have known many of you for years. Still, when I get calls about different topics or things “just because I thought you’d like to know”, that’s pretty amazing. No action necessary; just touching base. I mean, who gets calls like that from clients? And while I’m at it, thank you for the interesting articles, photos, trip descriptions, pet updates, family updates. I even received a lovely hyacinth plant to celebrate the arrival of Spring. Thank you for it all! You’re the best.

Vehicle Update

For those of you that don’t see our Facebook page or our occasional Tweet, we are proud to announce that we now have FIVE new vehicles on the road! Our fleet upgrade project is working well and our ladies are happy to be driving these shiny new vehicles around town. Our latest happy team is shown above. We hope you like these as much as we do, stay tuned for more updates!

Denver Concierge Fleet for cleaning

Denver Concierge Cleaning Fleet

Tax Season

We are guessing that this is a topic that you are as thrilled about as we are…tax season. Another unfortunate reality of life. Now that our complaining is done, we wanted to dive in and see if we can help even a little bit. We realize the deadline is right around the corner, but if you have procrastinated a little like we have been known to do, Forbes has published a comprehensive Tax guide for 2015. Obamacare requirements have kicked in, and there are other nuances going on this year that are new. Check out the nice resource here if you have questions or need information.