There’s nothing quite like the luxurious feel of clean carpet beneath your feet. However, if not done properly, carpet cleaning can become an assault both on the enviroment and on the health of everyone in your home. It doesn’t have to be this way, though! Listed below are five key ways to make cleaning your house’s carpets a much more eco-friendly affair. Read on:

Vacuum

Carpeting is an attractive environment for health hazards such as dust, mold, pet dander and other allergens. Not only that, some carpets made with synthetic weaves give...

More at source: GreenerIdeal

It takes a lot of repair work to keep government operational. Considering the buildings, roads, bridges and public lands the state owns, it is not surprising that the demand for repair work is strong and continual.

There are thousands of contracting opportunities each week for firms offering repair services. Outside contractors are routinely hired for specialized expertise such as elevator repair, security alarm maintenance and window washing for high-rise office buildings.

More at source: Bizjournals

Echoing the story of David vs. Goliath, janitors in Houston are on strike and taking on such corporate giants as JPMorganChase and Exxon Mobile in an effort to pressure the janitorial companies they employ to agree to the workers' modest demands. It is these big business behemoths that are the real powers behind cleaning contractors such as ABM, GCA, ISS etc. By striking against these contractors, and publicly targeting these contractors' employers, the janitors are using their collective power in a showdown that has great significance for not only the Labor Movement but all workers.

The janitors are members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1, which has a membership of 3,200 in Houston. Currently, these workers' wages top out at $8.35 per hour. On average, they make under $9,000 a year. The government defines the poverty line as an income of $22,314 for a family of four and $11,139 for an individual.

More at source: IndyBay

Commercial Janitorial, a full service cleaning company, announced today a major expansion into the nation’s number one commercial cleaning market in New York City. Company officials revealed that the expansion will include a new Manhattan sales office which will provide service all 5 boroughs throughout NYC.
The move is expected to be part of the company’s continued expansion into the East Coast cleaning markets including...

More at source: Eyogoslavia

Vacuum Cleaner Advisor has just released its annual list of the best stick vacuums. This year's list features models from Miele, Hoover, Bissell, Euro-Pro, Electrolux and Eureka.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the union, which represents 3,200 janitors in Houston, recently staged a sit-down in the middle of a downtown Houston intersection. Police arrested the 15 protesters who participated in the sit-down.

More at source: Bizjournal

As it tries to ramp up public pressure against cleaning companies, the union seeking a new contract for 3,200 Houston janitors is meeting impediments it didn't face six years ago when it won its first contract.

The Service Employees International Union has expanded impromptu strikes at the large office buildings its janitors clean. It also has disrupted meetings and has conducted traffic-blocking demonstrations that have led to 18 arrests as it seeks to increase what it calls "street heat" against business owners and cleaning contractors.

More at source: Chron.com

Maria claims she was promised $3,000 a month. Salazar went to the company to ask why wearing a Fact Finder’s hidden camera. A regional manager for the Omaha Stratus Franchise said, “We were directed by Maria not to call unless you have one account that does $3,000 a month period.”

Read more and watch video at source: WOWT

Back in the day, cleaning products used to sell on the strength of their chemical smells, but consumers are now demanding something closer to perfume in their toilet bowl cleaners and laundry detergents. Michael Papas, an executive perfumer at Givaudan SA, a company that creates scents for products, told the WSJ about the expectation for today’s cleaners: “At one time everyone wanted these clean, traditional scents, but now consumers want a whole experience when they're doing their laundry or washing their floors.” Yes, why endure the drudgery of scrubbing the splattered tomato sauce off the wall when you can instead pretend you are frolicking in the lemon groves of Amalfi?

Read more at the source: Slate

In a bust that gives new meaning to the term “white-collar crime,” authorities in suburban Washington, D.C., broke up a ring of thieves who bought stolen Tide laundry detergent and exported it for resale in Vietnam.

More at source: MSN