A big challenge is convincing people to forgo the fragrance of traditional cleaners. For many, a scent of pine, lemon or tropical breeze is a lasting payoff for their efforts and a bragging card to others that a room has been recently cleaned.

The target audience for the new products is people concerned that chemical cleaners could pose harm to their families, pets and the finishes of wood floors, countertops and appliances. Increased scrutiny of household products' ingredients, including the Food and Drug Administration's current safety review of triclosan, which is found in antibacterial soaps, has prompted consumers to rethink how they clean their homes.

More at WSJ

Find a green cleaning service. 

Atlanta firm buys Toledo janitorial, safety goods supplier... A Toledo company that supplies janitorial and safety goods has been sold.

Genuine Parts Co. of Atlanta has agreed to buy Impact Products LLC. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Impact Products was founded in 1963 by the late Jim Findlay. It has distribution centers in Toledo and Walnut, Calif.

It will become part of S.P. Richards Co., which is Genuine Parts’ office products group. The deal is expected to close in early July.

Impact Products has 130 employees in the Toledo area, said company President and CEO Terry Neal. He said that number is not expected to change, and the firm will keep operating as Impact Products.

Genuine Parts said it expects the acquired business to generate about $85 million in annual revenues.

Find a cleaning service here. 

Read more at source:  Toledo Blade

Spills. Speaking of pets, it’s important to clean any pet accidents off your wood floors ASAP, as well as all other spills. Let alone, these can ruin the finish and perhaps leave a lasting stain. Blot liquids up with a microfiber cloth or cleaning rag.

Water. Wood’s natural absorbency means it expands when wet, which may result in warping and splitting. Even plain water has tremendous potential for damage. Minimize floor washing and choose your method and tools carefully. Never EVER just slosh a bucketful of water all over your floor. Avoid sponge mops and other types that cannot be thoroughly squeezed out.

How to wash. Damp mop with a minimum of liquid. Or wash your floor the old-fashioned way, on hands and knees. This permits you the most control over the amount of water you’re putting out there. Never leave puddles. Instead, buff the floor with a dry cloth immediately after washing.

More at source: Care 2

Find a wood floor cleaning service here. 

On average, about 40 million people in the United States each year move into a new home.  Whether you plan to move across the country or across town, formulating a moving plan in advanced to the move will help you prepare to keep things organized.  Many people who plan to move usually throw things into boxes and end up frustrated about something along the way.  Planning and avoiding any headaches throughout the moving process will only make the experience much easier.

3-4 Months before moving:

When planning on moving in about 3 or 4 months, it is a good idea to figure out how you will go about moving all of your stuff after you have a moving date.  One of the more common moving methods is to use a rental truck.  It is important to secure a rental for whenever you plan on moving everything, and just know that June, July, and August are the busiest months.  Waiting until the last minute to find a moving truck might leave you with no way to transport your things.  Another preparation method is to figure out an estimated moving budget.  The biggest expense is going to be a moving truck if you go that route, but other things such as gas, moving supplies, and maybe gifts for friends who helped should also be factored in.

2-3 Months before moving:

At this time you will have a good idea of what you will be bringing with you and what you will not.  It is a wise decision to make an inventory of your things.  You might be surprised at how much stuff you actually own, and a good amount of it you plan ... 

More at source: Total Mortgage

Find a moving cleaning service here. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reassigned the director of the bioterror lab that experienced a potential anthrax exposure.

Dozens of CDC scientists and other workers are now taking antibiotics and anxiously watching for any signs of disease, even though the agency issued a statement saying the risk of infection is "very low."

A team of investigators from the Federal Select Agent Program, which polices labs working with potential bioterror germs, was expected to arrive at the CDC's Atlanta headquarters today or tomorrow, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said Monday. Their investigation and an internal CDC inquiry seek to find out how one of the world's premier public health laboratories mistakenly sent live samples of the particularly deadly Ames strain of anthrax to other agency labs, where workers believed the bacteria had been deactivated.

The CDC said Thursday that it may take disciplinary action against any employee whose failure to follow biosafety protocols led to the potential exposure of more than 80 employees to the deadly microbe.

Skinner said the head of the CDC's Bioterror Rapid Response and Advanced Technology Laboratory had been "detailed to another job" pending completion of the agency's review, but he said he could not confirm the employee's name. Reuters, citing two CDC scientists who are not authorized to speak to the press, identified the employee is Michael Farrell.

Even with antibiotic treatment, anthrax has a fatality rate of 28% to 45%, depending on the type of exposure, according to information on the CDC's website. It can take weeks or even months for symptoms to develop.

"There are a lot of people going through a lot of unnecessary anxious moments," Skinner said. "Things like this shouldn't happen. These are 'never' events. They should never happen. Period."

Most of the staffers who are counted among possible exposures are scientists, lab technicians, administrative and maintenance staff who may have passed through areas where the live anthrax samples were handled without proper protective equipment and barriers, Skinner said.

More at source: USA Today

Find a cleaning service near you.

GBM, the business support services group, has bought Eclipse Contract Cleaning to further strengthen its business in Scotland: as a result of the acquisition, GBM Scotland’s annual revenue will be around £10m. 

As an established contract cleaning company, Eclipse provides a wide range of contract cleaning services to clients across Scotland. As such, there is considerable synergy with GBM, as both companies provide comprehensive cleaning services (including waste management) to large and small organisations in many sectors. They have also worked together to provide an integrated service for joint clients: GBM’s security services working alongside Eclipse’s contract cleaning operations.

As a result of the acquisition, GBM will gain additional clients and have greater access to the property management market, where Eclipse has a particular expertise. GBM will also inherit a highly skilled and experienced workforce, many of whom have been with Eclipse since its earliest days.

Eclipse was founded in 1990 by Brian and Linda Murphy to provide an outstanding cleaning service to businesses in the Glasgow area. Over the years, the business added new, complementary services and now employs over 400 people in Scotland and its clients include blue-chip retailers, several shopping centres and many professional services organisations.

More at source: Sourceview

Find a cleaning service near you. 

Union-affiliated janitors who work at Beaverton City Hall object to a city plan to hire a non-union business to staff custodians in the new City Hall at The Round at Beaverton Central, but city officials maintain the move will save taxpayer money and potentially increase union employment opportunities when the older building is expanded.

About 40 janitors employed by the Portland Habilitation Center and affiliated with Service Employees International Union Local 49 chapter, marched and chanted in front of City Hall on Griffith Drive at lunchtime on Friday to protest a city plan to hire the non-union Tualatin Valley Workshop to clean City Hall when it moves to the South Office Building undefined newly named the Beaverton Building undefined at 12527 S.W. Millikan Way.

The city is preparing to sign a one-year, $194,000 contract with the workshop for services in 108,000 square feet on floors one, four and five of the new building.

The city’s $348,948 contract with PHC, which covers 182,000 square feet in seven city buildings including Griffith Drive, will remain in place.

The non-union Tualatin Valley Workshop pays $10-$12 per hour for regular worker wages as opposed to the PHC’s $13.15 hourly wage. Workshop supervisors are paid $15 an hour, with those at PHC earning an hourly wage of $16.15.

Minimum wage in Oregon is $9.10 per hour.

Union leaders and PHC janitors say it’s unfair and inconsistent for the city to hire a non-union company that pays lower wages to clean its new administrative headquarters.

Pros and cons

Nicole Knudsen, strategic researcher for the SEIU Local 49, marched at the Friday rally and addressed the City Council on Tuesday evening.

“The city’s recent decision to award a no-bid contract to a non-union contractor now raises some serious concerns regarding the city’s ongoing commitment to investing in good jobs,” she said. “There are significant and troubling differences between PHC and TVW regarding wages and benefits. Janitors with TVW earn at least $2 an hour less than janitors with PHC, a huge difference in a low-wage industry.”

A PHC janitor working in City Hall ear ... 

More at source: Portland Tribune

Find a janitorial service here. 

DES MOINES, Iowa undefined The Des Moines Fire Department responded to a large fire Wednesday morning that heavily damaged a family-owned business.

The fire broke out around 3:00 a.m. at 1244 2nd Avenue in a textile warehouse, just a few blocks north of Mercy Medical Center.

The building is owned by a janitorial products business, Commercial Bag and Supply Co.,. Officials say the building where the fire first started is likely a total loss. An attached building to the north suffered smoke and water damage, and another attached building to the south was not damaged.

It took firefighters more than an hour to put out the blaze. The warehouse was filled with burlap and plastic materials which are highly flammable. The dense smoke and flames created a challenge for firefighters. They say they could only put out the fire while on top of the roof because of the limited access by the other buildings into the warehouse.

Investigators are still on the scene trying to determine what caused the fire. They say no one had been in the building since around 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Damage to the buildings is estimated at $400,000.

Commercial Bag and Supply Co. was founded in 1948 and employes 10 people.

More at source: WHOTV

“I was so grateful that they were here. That they finally came and started the cleanup,” Joyce Zoller told CBS 2′s Hazel Sanchez.

Zoller was thrilled to see a dumpster outside of her home in Neponsit, on the Rockaway Peninsula. Crews were finally on hand to clean out her neighbor’s house 19 months after it was flooded by Superstorm Sandy.

Zoller said that her cries for help were fruitless until now.

“I just pushed every button that I could push, and I’m just grateful Hazel, for all that you’ve done to help,” she said.

Last week, CBS 2 showed viewers disturbing pictures of moldy garbage piled up inside of the house that had been abandoned by its owner after the storm.

City records said that HSBC bank took ownership when the home went into foreclosure. The bank was issued multiple violations for allegedly leaving the home to rot.

More at source: CBS

Find a mold clean up crew here. 

Lawmakers and union officials on Thursday voiced concerns about the MBTA’s plans to cut nearly 30 percent of its janitorial workforce.

Contracts awarded by the MBTA Board to SJ Services and American Building Maintenance call for a cut of 29 percent, or 90 workers, of the cleaning staff starting on Sept. 1, 2014, according to SEIU 32BJ, a union backing the workers.

Members of the remaining workforce, which currently numbers 300, could also have their hours cut.

“I want to say shame on [the state Department of Transportation] and shame on the administration that would balance the budget on the backs” of the lowest paid workers in the state, said Sen. Ken Donnelly (D-Arlington).

Transportation Secretary Rich Davey told the News Service in April that the contracts have performance-based standards, instead of staffing-based standards, for cleanliness, and he expected the companies to use more advanced cleaning techniques to meet the standards. Staff reductions are allowed in the contracts.

The MBTA’s board, struggling with a massive debt load and an aging infrastructure, voted in May to hike fares by an average of 5 percent.

More at source: Dorchester Reporter

Find a cleaning service near you.