4 Ingenious Baking Soda Hacks

If you’re looking for some homemade cleaning solutions that can take on grease, grime, and odors just as well as harsh, chemical cleaners, baking soda will be your ingredient of choice. The best part is that you’ll probably have it and any other components that you’ll need in your house already. Check out these brilliant baking soda hacks to help tidy up your humble abode.

Dirty Grout

If dirty grout is taking your tile down a notch, try cleaning it with a mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.

What To Do:

• Combine baking soda with hydrogen peroxide to make a paste.
• Using a toothbrush, scrub the grout with the paste.
• Wipe the remaining paste away with white vinegar on a rag or paper towel.

Grimy Ovens

Few people look forward to cleaning their oven, and the less often you clean it, the more you probably dread it. Don’t worry--a baking soda mixture can soften the food and grime that has burned onto your oven’s interior, making the gunk easier to scrub away afterward.

What To Do

1. Combine baking soda, salt, and white vinegar until it creates a paste.
2. Wearing rubber gloves, coat the walls, floor, and door of the oven with the paste using a brush.
3. Here’s the tricky part: you’ll need to keep this coating moist for about 24 hours. You can do this by spraying it with more vinegar every so often.
4. Wipe off the paste as best you can.
5. Turn on your oven to 100 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour, then turn it back off and let it cool.
6. Here’s the fun part: once the oven is cool enough for you to comfortably touch it, spray it with more white vinegar, wipe away the last of the residue, and enjoy your spotless oven.

Slow, Smelly Drains

If you notice that your sink seems to be draining more slowly than it used to, you can try a solution of baking soda and vinegar to freshen it up and help it flow freely. (Note: this tip is only for slow drains, not clogged drains.)

What To Do

1. Pour 1 cup of baking soda into the slow drain.
2. Pour hot vinegar over the baking soda. Wait 10 minutes before the next step.
3. Pour boiling water over the baking soda and vinegar to flush everything down the drain.

Odors in the Air

If your kitchen garbage or cat litter box is starting to accumulate odors, baking soda can help freshen the air. Sprinkle baking soda periodically into your kitchen garbage can as you add more waste. For litter boxes, sprinkle and mix baking soda directly into the litter.

Where to Look for Mold In Your House

Mold can have a mild to a tremendously negative effect on your quality of life, so it’s important to look for it on a regular basis. The problem is that mold can grow in unexpected places and, therefore, can go undetected and grow undeterred for long periods of time. If you’ve ever wondered where mold might be growing in your home, the possibilities may surprise you.

Mold Comes from the Air

What most people don’t know about mold is that even though we can see it growing on surfaces, mold technically begins from tiny, floating spores in the air. When those spores start to collect on a surface, they begin reproducing, resulting in the musty-smelling fungus that we can actually see.

Mold and Indoor Air Quality

Mold and mold spores alike can have noticeably negative effects on your home’s air quality. The people most susceptible to mold’s associated health risks are children, the elderly, individuals with asthma or other respiratory conditions, and the allergy-prone. Even mold spores can trigger allergic reactions or asthma attacks if inhaled.

Where to Look for Mold

Where should one look for mold? Unfortunately, the answer is “Every room in the house.” This is because each room potentially has the right conditions to support mold growth. In order for mold spores to grow into mold, they require heat, oxygen, a surface to which they can attach, and some absence of sunlight. Excess water from high humidity or leaks in these conditions can pretty much guarantee that a mold problem will occur.

Here are some guidelines on where you can look for mold in your home.

The Kitchen

Mold can spread from old food in the refrigerator and pantry, along with food spills or splatters on the stove or in the microwave. Mold can also grow in your refrigerator’s water dispenser or drip tray. Even a Keurig or other coffee makers can foster mold growth in its water tank or the place where you put the pods or coffee grounds.

Checking the sink is especially vital. Mold and bacteria can get a jumping-off point from wet sponges, dirty dishes, and food remnants. Leaks underneath the sink can result in mold growth down there as well.

The Bathroom

Many people know to check their bathroom walls, floors, shower tiles, and bathtub for mold since those surfaces experience an abundance of heat and moisture. However, there are other important places to check as well, particularly if your bathroom lacks a window or fan to help with ventilation.

As in the kitchen, you’ll want to check in and under the sink. It’s also critical to check your toilet, including its tank and where you keep its cleaning supplies. Towels and bathroom rugs can also be “mold culprits” if not regularly washed. Even your toothbrush caddy can start to accumulate mold over time!

The Living Room

You’ll want to inspect anything upholstered or made of fabric, particularly your curtains, couch, and armchairs. Mold spores attach easily to fabric, and if something causes the fabric to then become moist, some nasty growth may occur. Also, remember to check your houseplants (especially if you are prone to overwatering them) and your chimney and fireplace (particularly if they’re made with brick).

The Bedrooms

It’s not at all comforting to think about, but mold spores find their way into bedrooms too. Check your HVAC vents (this goes for any room), the edges of your windows, your curtains, and your mattress. If you cannot see mold on your mattress, its smell might be an indicator that some growth has occurred.

Don’t Forget the Attic, Garage, and Basement!

Mold can grow in these spaces from leaks as well as excess humidity that results in condensation. This can be especially problematic when these spaces house components of your home’s heating and air conditioning system. Once mold spores enter your HVAC system, they’ll be spread throughout the entire house, which can lead to larger mold problems in even more places. Check for mold growth near vents, pipes, windows, and by the foundation.

To help prevent the growth of mold in your home, it’s important to 1) have a clean attic, crawlspace, and air ducts, and 2) clean up any water damage immediately. For those places you can’t get to, contact GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration for professional, bio-friendly attic, crawlspace, and air duct cleaning services.

Is Your Home Prepared for the Rainy Season?

Alright, weekend warrior. It’s time to prepare your house for rainy weather--and lots of it. You can begin from the top down, starting with the roof, one of your home’s most important safeguards against the elements.

The Roof

First, inspect your roof from the ground (using a pair of binoculars if necessary) to look for warping or shrinking shingles, as well as shingles that appear to be loose or slipping. If you can see it from the ground, also check your flashing for oxidizing or any other deterioration. Flashing is frequently made of galvanized steel or aluminum that’s installed in your roof’s joints to prevent water damage. (Hint: look for flashing around the chimney or skylights, as well as in your roof’s valleys. 

If you can safely access your roof by ladder, it can help you get a better look at your roof’s condition. Just make sure that your ladder is properly secured. If you have a steep roof or a fear of heights, there’s no shame in calling a professional at this point if you suspect there might be damage.

The Gutters and Downspouts

Your gutters prevent water damage to your house by redirecting rain and hail away from the house’s sides and foundation. It’s vital for your gutters and downspouts to remain clear of leaves and other debris that could clog them and keep them from functioning properly. Keep in mind, inspecting the gutters will be a little trickier if you aren’t able to use a ladder, so if this step is a no-can-do for you, just call a professional.

The Siding

If your house has siding, take a moment to see how worn out it has gotten from fending off previous rains. When winds are especially strong and create that bothersome horizontal rain, sometimes water actually ends up underneath your siding, damaging it over time.

The Backyard/Patio

A flood or pool of rainwater in your backyard or patio has the potential to drown your grass and other plants or--worse--give your house water damage. Check the drains to make sure nothing is clogging them. You can also buy sandbags if you suspect there might be flooding because they can be used to redirect water. Just be careful about where the water gets redirected!

Many times, despite our best efforts, our homes can still end up with water damage after heavy rains. If you suspect you have water damage in your home or building, GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration can help, starting with a non-destructive visual survey to check the fungal ecology or problems in a specific area as directed.

Dangers of Water Damage

The effects of water damage can jeopardize your health as well as your home’s health, and the longer water damage goes untreated, the worse its results are likely to be. This article will touch on some of the common types of water damage and what can happen as a result of untreated water damage.

Water Damage from Flooding

Damage from floods can be considered the most drastic and hazardous to health. Floodwater can carry any number of contaminants into your home, including infectious microbes, chemical waste, and sewage.

Neglected water damage from a flood can lead to various forms of mold, which can aggravate asthma, allergies and other respiratory conditions and cause throat, nose, and eye irritation. Some mold spore varieties can also result in fungal infections that cause spores to multiply inside a person’s body. The worst type of mold to avoid is toxic mold (also called black mold), which at its worst can even cause death.

In order to thoroughly extract the dampness and disinfect the area, professionals with the proper equipment and protective gear are going to be the best solution. You’ll want to call them as soon as possible to avoid any of the dangerous aforementioned problems with mold spores.

Water Damage from Plumbing Problems

Your home can experience plumbing-related water damage from things like overflowing toilets, burst pipes, or malfunctioning sump pumps. Unfortunately, this water can be quite dirty and terrible-smelling.

When cleaning up water from a plumbing problem, it’s important to protect yourself by wearing goggles, a respirator mask, gloves, and other clothing that will keep your skin from coming in direct contact with the dirty water. It’s also vitally important to disinfect the area once it’s dry in order to get rid of any contaminants the water left behind.

Water Damage from Appliance Leaks

This type of water damage comes from appliances like your washing machine, refrigerator, dishwasher, water heater, etc., so the damage can typically be found in places like the bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room. The good news is that this water is “clean”, as opposed to dirty water that comes from a plumbing leak. The important thing is to act quickly because mold will start growing within one to two days:

1. Shut off the source of the water.
2. Wash the soaked area.
3. Dry the soaked area to the best of your ability to keep mold from growing.

In some cases, an extractor may need to be used to get the water completely out of the carpet so that the carpet pad won’t need to be replaced.

Water Damage from Humidity

Some water damage doesn’t even come from a leak--it can result from high indoor humidity levels, often found in areas like crawlspaces, basements, and bathrooms. The problems arise when that humid air condenses, especially where you can’t see it, such as above the ceiling or behind walls. This can result in structural damage to your home, as well as mold growth.

Your first clue that this kind of water damage is taking place might be a foul, musty odor, or you might literally see mold growth or water stains on walls, tile, underneath your sink, or on the back of your toilet. An appropriately sized dehumidifier can help prevent and combat problems with high humidity, but if you're already seeing or smelling the signs of water damage, it’s best to call a professional to keep the problem from persisting or worsening.

If you know or even suspect that you have water damage in your home or building, it’s a good idea to call a professional to make sure that no damage or health hazards are accumulating. Contact GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration for a non-destructive visual survey and indoor evaluation.

How Your Crawl Space Affects Your Home’s Air Quality

The old adage, “Out of sight, out of mind”, could apply quite well to many people’s crawl spaces. What they don’t imagine or realize is just how much of an impact a crawl space has on the air in their main living space.

What’s Happening Inside Too Many Crawl Spaces

What happens inside a crawl space is directly affected by the weather and temperatures outside of it. The most ventilation your crawl space receives probably comes from a conveniently-directed gust of wind or pressure changes. Even so, nearly all crawl spaces are not well-ventilated, and this causes stagnant air to gather inside.

Moisture is also drawn into the crawl space due to a few different factors:

• The dryness of the dirt inside it compared to the dirt around the foundation
• Your house drawing moisture up from the ground
• Warm, humid air on hot days entering the cooler environment of the crawl space through foundation vents, thereby increasing the humidity

When that moisture evaporates, the water vapor will rise and settle in various areas, such as the floor insulation or ductwork. In the warmer months, the increased humidity caused by warm air entering the crawl space results in condensation that can also settle on the ductwork and floor insulation, as well as the subfloor and floor joists.

What You Didn’t Want to Know About Your Crawl Space

If you have a crawl space, it’s probably not well-ventilated because most crawl spaces aren’t. This lack of ventilation results in stagnant air.

Now, remember that moisture and condensation we were just mentioning? Here’s the bad news: not only does the condensation lead to mold or even radon growth--the damp, musty environment being created down below along with all of that stagnant air becomes a habitat for unwanted pests, namely rodents and termites. In other words, your crawl space becomes an ideal environment for things far less than ideal.

How Crawl Space Air Gets into Your Home

You’ve probably experienced how upstairs rooms during summertime are a lot hotter than the rooms downstairs. This is because cooler air is drawn up from below as the warm air in your house rises. This is how that cooler air from your crawl space enters your house, which can be quite problematic if that air is smelly or of poor quality.

Using the exhaust fans in your bathroom or kitchen might worsen the problem. Running those fans creates negative pressure in your house, which will then pull in air from the outdoors and from your crawl space. If your HVAC system is located in the crawl space, even more of that dirty air might be finding its way into your house. Dank air can creep into leaks in your ductwork or air filter and then be circulated by your HVAC throughout the entire house.

In Need of a Clean Crawl Space?

If you’re noticing poor air quality, moisture issues, or bad odors in your home, a dirty crawl space might be the culprit. GreenPro offers professional, bio-friendly cleaning services, including an EPA-registered, non-toxic, chemical-free, botanical fungistat/disinfectant that kills 99.99% of harmful odor-causing bacteria.

Schedule your free inspection today!

You Might Need an Air Duct Cleaning If…

If you own a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, at some point it’s going to need a thorough cleaning. It’s important to know what factors might be increasing your need for a professional cleaning sooner rather than later, and the information below can help!

You might need an air duct cleaning if...

…You Have Pets

If you have pets, they are most likely spending a lot of time indoors, especially during the colder months of the year. What you might not know is that your pet is continuously dropping off pet dander that can travel all over your house, wherever your pet goes, wherever you go, and wherever there’s an air vent--basically everywhere.

Dander itself is skin flakes that all animals produce, and dander--not hair--is what causes people with animal-related allergies to have an allergic reaction. Over time, your pet’s dander will find its way into your air ducts, where it will collect and be released by your HVAC throughout each room of your house. As a result, your home air quality will start to diminish.

...You Have Allergies or Even Asthma

Literally millions of Americans suffer from allergies and asthma. On an annual basis, 50 million Americans are suffering from allergies, and 24 million are affected by asthma. So what does this have to do with air ducts?

As you can probably guess, components of your HVAC system can become coated with dust, allergens, spores, and other irritants that then get pushed out into your home, affecting its air quality. If you suffer from allergies and asthma, having clean air ducts may help lessen the volume of air particles triggering your symptoms.

...Children or Elderly Individuals Live in Your House

Children and the elderly can be especially susceptible to the harmful effects of poor air quality. While many people may know this, research from the American Lung Association has revealed that 87% of Americans don’t know that the indoor air in most American homes is actually more polluted than the air outdoors. Keeping this in mind, it’s also important to remember that children and the elderly--especially those with respiratory or cardiovascular diseases--are probably spending more time indoors than anyone else.

Before welcoming a newborn baby or an elderly parent into your home, you may want to inspect the cleanliness of your HVAC system to help ensure a cleaner living space and prevent allergic reactions and illness.

...Someone in Your Household Smokes Indoors

While smoking can be detrimental to your health, it can also increase your need for an air duct cleaning. Unfortunately, when someone smokes indoors, the smoke doesn’t have many places to go. It’s almost a certainty that it will be pulled through your air ducts and that the smell will start to saturate your home. Even if you are not particularly bothered by the smell, the smoke particles are also going to be forced back into the home by the HVAC system, which could cause guests to become ill or suffer an allergic reaction or asthma attack.

It’s perfectly normal for your air ducts to need a professional cleaning from time to time. At GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration, we provide comprehensive air duct cleaning services, including inspections, cleaning of entire HVAC systems and their components, and anti-microbial treatments registered with EPA. If you have any of the four factors listed above, contact us to schedule an inspection.

Winter Cleaning Tips

 

Winter is approaching and it's important for homeowners to ensure they're taking the necessary steps to ensure they have everything clean and ready to endure the harsh weather on the way. 

There are a number of different things that you can do to keep your home ready for winter and cleaning is probably one of the most important steps. Here are some of the things that you can do while it still falls so you can have a worry-free winter. 

Check and Replace Your Air Filters 
The air filters in your home are often very important; however, they are not looked at as often as they should be and it can be problematic. Air filters are responsible for keeping certain allergens and particles out of your indoor air. If they become too full, your heater may not work as it should. 

Ensuring You Have a Clean Furnace 
Your furnace is going to be the hero of your winter because once the weather gets colder, you need to stay as comfortable as possible and your furnace goes a long way to helping that. If your furnace is dirty, it not only works inefficiently, but it can also be a fire hazard. 

Clean Behind Your Refrigerator and the Coils 
Your refrigerator coils and the area behind the refrigerator should be cleared of any potential debris using a vacuum and then wiping away the rest of the unwanted dirt. Make sure you first unplug the fridge and use any attachments that can help you scrub them away. 

Dryer Vent Cleaning 
In the dry winter months, the dryer vent can become a big problem as lint begins to build up in the lint trap and the vent. If the lint is not removed, the heated pipe can become too hot and the excess lint can catch fire. Be sure to use a dryer vent snake to remove the excess lint and debris. 

Get In the Deep Spots 
During the winter, you may want to get down to the nitty-gritty and perform a deep clean throughout your home. Start with your kitchen. Take everything out of your cabinets and drawers to clean inside, remove any unwanted items, and replace liners in the drawers. This may also be a good time for you to check so you can get the cleanest possible kitchen. 

As a homeowner in Suffolk County or Nassau County, you need to have professionals who can come out and help you get the job done right. Ensuring you have a clean home for the winter should be a top priority for you and it's important you know exactly what to do. 

If you're unsure of all the things you need to do, know that our cleaning experts at GreenPro are here for you. Trust that we'll come out, provide you with an accurate estimate and help you get the deep cleaning you need. We're the professionals you want and need to get the job done right the first time.