Sandy Sez

Hi, my name is Sandy Robinson. As my Grandmother used to say, I'm the chief cook and bottle washer. Actually I'm the head of the quality assurance and field management department. I have been with Elaine and John since 1996 and I have experienced and seen just about everything this business can throw at me. Knock on wood! I understand that every home is as unique as a fingerprint, although cleaning a home sometimes sounds easy. Key in meeting your cleaning expectations are your desires and concerns.

I have written some articles in the past years for our quarterly newsletter, At Home. We have written about some of the below subjects that might interest you. However, if you ever have a question at any time, please drop me an email qa at themaidsservingaustin dot com or give me a call at 419-0021. I will either answer your question for you, or find someone who can.

Thanks ands take care

Questions

Q: What's the best way to remove mold and mildew from my shower?
Q: What's the best way to clean the water spots from my shower door?
Q: Can the countertops in my kitchen be cleaned with a disinfectant?
Q: What's the best way to clean my self cleaning oven thoroughly?
Q: What's the best way to live with allergies and cats? 
Q: What's your policy on holiday tipping?
Q: What's the best way to provide my gift of appreciation to my regular cleaning team?
Q: What's your damage policy?
Q: What's the best way to clean my wooden floors?
Q: Should I provide notes with special instructions to my cleaning team?
Q: Why can't the trash compactor be emptied?
Q: Are there benefits of your Healthy Touch Deep Cleaning system?
Q: What are some tips for better air quality indoors?
Q: Whats the best way to reduce soap scum?
Q: What are you wearing over your shoes?
Q: Won't you mark up my floors with your black shoe covers?
Q: Does your Healthy Touch Deep Cleaning System help my children?
Q: Will your Healthy Touch Deep Cleaning System protect us from the flu and viruses?

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers

Q: What's the best way to remove mold and mildew from my shower?
A: If mold and mildew has grown into your grout or caulk, we can't prevent it from returning between cleanings as much as we wish we could. Although we can remove the surface mold and mildew, it will grow back rather quickly. The only real solution may be to remove and replace the grout or caulk. However, there are some things that you can do that will prevent mold mildew. Opening your shower door after your shower and allowing it to air out is the easiest thing you can do. Removing the excess water from your floors and walls with a squeegee is one of the best things you can do. This is very effective and only takes a minute. Misting down your shower with a neutral disinfectant is another step that you can take. We will provide you with a free bottle if you give us a call. 

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Q: What's the best way to remove mold and mildew from my shower door?
A: To prevent spotting you can regularly use a small amount of lemon oil to wipe down your shower doors. However, your shower doors will require an acid based cleaner to remove water spots when they have formed after being left for a long period of time. We don't use these cleaners since we find they can cause damage that is expensive to repair and are unsafe to use.

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Q: Can the countertops in my kitchen be cleaned with a disinfectant?
A: You shouldn't use disinfectants on a countertop that is to be used for the preparation of food. Residue can be ingested after leeching into food.

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Q: What's the best way to clean my self cleaning oven thoroughly?
A: For cleaning the chamber in the oven, self cleaning ovens are very efficient. Spills can be wiped away using a soft cloth after turning into a powdery substance. However, they won't clean the door gasket or the sides of the oven door. For the door, you should use a very mild abrasive cleaner. Rather than scrubbing the door gasket you should clean the gasket by using a somewhat soapy, wet sponge.

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Q: What's the best way to live with allergies and cats?
A: If you have cats and are allergic to them you should minimize the cat dander, which are the microscopic flakes of dried saliva on skin of your cat that causes allergic reactions. You should convince a friend or housemate who isn't allergic to cats to bathe your cat every week and brush your cat everyday. You can also minimize the cat's dander by obtaining a spray from your veterinarian. You can also use tile or hardwood floors to replace rugs and carpets and solid blinds to replace drapes and curtains. Use a vacuum cleaner that is equipped with a HEPA filter and vacuum regularly. You might also want to consider investing in an appliance that will purify the air. You should wipe down all flat surfaces and walls regularly. Keep your cats out of your bedroom. Using a sample of your cat's hair, ask your allergist to make you a serum for your allergies to your cat. You should consider a shorthaired cat rather than a longhaired cat if you don't have a cat yet. They will usually have less dander.

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Q:  What's your policy on holiday tipping?
A: Tipping is never solicited, encouraged, or expected. Our teams of cleaning members are trained and completely understand our policy. Please simply let your heart be your guide if you want show your cleaning team members your appreciation. Some customers will leave money, personal gifts, or home baked goods. If you want, we can charge monetary gifts to your credit card by calling our office. However, responding to our customer survey all year round is the best way that you can show your appreciation.

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Q: What's the best way to provide my gift of appreciation to my regular cleaning team?
A: Another cleaning team may clean your home during the holidays. You can rest assured that your regularly cleaning team will receive your gift if you identify your gift by calling our office. 

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Q: What is your damage policy?
A: We will always be responsible for our actions. The tie will go to the customer if there is any doubt. We train our cleaning team members from the first day of training how important your possessions and your home are to you.  We also train them on how to clean safely and efficiently. Damage is covered in detail during our weekly team leader meetings. However, sometimes accidents will still happen. For every cleaning our cleaning team members perform more than 1000 cleaning actions. We know that although our goal is 0% we have some kind of damage on as few as 1% of our home cleanings and are improving every year because we track and record each incident. When damage does occur we have many local craftsman and artisans who do outstanding repair work. Although we aren't happy when damage occurs, we do carry comprehensive insurance and with your cooperation we will do our very best resolve the problem to your satisfaction. 

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Q: What's the best way to clean my wooden floors?
A: Our standard procedures with regard to kitchen floors is that they will always cleaned on hands and knees as well as wood flooring that you are paying to have cleaned by another method other than vacuuming.  We use Murphy's Oil Soap on floors that are unfinished and don't leave any excess water on the floor. A finished floor should have a polyurethane finish. We use ammonia free Bona-X by damping a Shmop and spraying some Bona-X onto the Shmop after wringing out the excess water. However, we will be happy to use any product that you prefer we use.

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Q: Should I provide notes with special instructions to my cleaning team?
A: Although the majority of our team leaders speak English fluently, they may not necessarily read very well and may not understand some English idioms.  You should call our office with any special requirements that you may need to communicate and we will happily translate those special requirements for you. In addition, when they are in your home, you can use their phone to talk to the office in real time and we can translate your special requirements directly to the team.

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Q: Why can't the trash compactor be emptied?
A: We have learned over time that not all trash compactors are the same and some of our teams may not know how to safely unload your trash compactor. When a trash compactor is more used and older it is very easy to damage. We have learned this the hard way and it has been a rather expensive experience. However, if you will remove the bag from your trash compactor, we will be happy to remove the bag from your house. You should try to keep the bag light or put the trash in two bags because ladies might not be strong enough to lift a heavy bag. 

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Q: Are there benefits of your Healthy Touch Deep Cleaning system?
A: One of the greatest benefits of our Healthy Touch Deep Cleaning system is that it was designed to provide you with a healthier home. It has been demonstrated by studies that the quality of the air we breathe is continually deteriorating. These days, homes are built nearly airtight and any bad or good air that gets in has a hard time getting out. This makes it all the more important to use the best cleaning practices. The main cause of indoor asthmatic and allergic reactions is dander from animals and it isn't limited to animal fur. It is essential for pet owners that deep cleaning is performed to make sure that all of the allergens that are related to pets are effectively removed from their homes. In association with the American Lung Association, vacuum manufacturer ProTeam designed The Maids vacuum backpack to help the owners of pets to breathe easier. This vacuum has powerful extraction action due to a rubber upholstery attachment that will remove particles as small as 1/210th the diameter of a human hair. We will keep your home safe and healthy for everybody in your home, including your pets.                                         

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Q: What are some tips for better air quality indoors?
A: There are some tips that are easier to implement than others. Keep your porches and walkways clean. Use entry mats outside as well as inside your door because about 87% enters your home through your door. Inside your home you should wear socks or slippers rather than wearing your outdoor shoes. You should use a high quality vacuum that can trap particles down to between 1 and 2 microns. The regular vacuum bags that are made of paper are only good to 7 microns. Either pay us to clean your home more often or you should vacuum more often.

In your cooling and heating system you should use high efficiency filters. Clean your carpets twice a year. The best thing to use is steam extraction which is what we use.

In order to kill dust mites you should wash your bed linens every week in hot water that is 130 degree. We can also vacuum your mattresses if requested.

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Q: What's the best way to reduce soap scum?
You won't have any soap scum if you use liquid soap. Simply place some liquid soap on a pouf, which is a nylon wash cloth, or a wash cloth and clean. This is the reason that there are fewer groceries stores shelves stocked with bars of soap. 

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Q: What are you wearing over your shoes?
A: They are wearing shoe covers in your home to help prevent tracking in pollutants, dust, and dirt into your home from the outside. Originally, we wore the disposable type such as are worn in hospitals. This simply didn't work for us. Our worker's compensation claims for falls and slips increased drastically and one of our team members had to miss work for more than a year to have knee surgery. We tried many different types of shoe covers to remedy this situation. It seemed that we couldn't find any shoe covers that ensured the safety of our team members. Then we located Shoes for Crews shoe covers. These shoe covers were backed up with a $5000 guarantee to pay for a slip and fall accident if while wearing their shoe covers. In order to maintain our Health Touch system, we chose their slip on style of shoe covers. We disinfect these shoe covers regularly and only wear them in your home. 

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Q: Won't you mark up my floors with your black shoe covers?
A: Absolutely not, and they won't harm your home in any way but will keep our team members safer. We appreciate your understanding.

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Q: Does your Healthy Touch Deep Cleaning System help my children?
A: Children love to get into every niche, nook and cranny of your home. However, that is also where allergens, dirt, and dust collect. The Maids uses the healthiest and most thorough vacuum cleaner in the business.

Our patented Vacuum Back Pack extends to clean deep under furniture such as beds.  This vacuum will lift the dirt and dust up out of your carpets, out of your vents and registers, and dirt off your baseboards. The fact is that our vacuums can actually capture as much as 99% of all pollutants such as pollen, pet dander, bacteria, allergens, and dust.

We clean the floors in your bathrooms and kitchen on hands and knees because children spend a considerable amount of time on their hands and knees in these rooms. This is absolutely the best way to do a thorough cleaning job. In your bathrooms, we will use brushes to help remove stubborn soap residue, mildew, and mold. In order to keep mildew and mold away, we use disinfectants. We disinfect and remove fingerprints from your telephone receivers, doorknobs, and light switch plates. 

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Q: Will your Healthy Touch Deep Cleaning System protect us from the flu and viruses?
A: You will have a defense against the most common ailments in the wintertime if you have The Maids regularly clean your home. The Maids Home Services 22-Step Healthy Touch® Deep Cleaning System is guaranteed to make every room in your home healthier and cleaner. It is how we clean that provides your home with the most thorough and healthiest cleaning. We do a much better job on bacteria, germs, and grease by cleaning the floors in your bathroom and kitchen on our hands and knees. We also use special brushes to clean out all of the little crevices where bacteria and germs gather in addition to cleaning all of your counter surfaces, appliances, and kitchen cabinets. We use a small grout brush to eliminate stubborn soap residue, mildew, and mold so that all unhealthy spores will be removed in your bathroom. We disinfect all of the surfaces in your bathroom. To make sure that all of the hidden germs and bacteria are eliminated, we even brush clean the hinges on the toilet seat every time we clean your home. We clean and disinfect door knobs, light plate switches, and telephone receivers which is the best way to reduce the spread of germs. Obviously, all of our team members are completely trained to make sure that you only receive the highest possible quality cleaning.

We know that "Nobody Outcleans The Maids. ®" Thank you for allowing me to serve you---Sandy