Cleaning Products - Callver Blog

CLEANING PRODUCTS!

Save Money, Time, Space & Help Save the Environment

We’ve all seen the HUGE number of cleaning products on the market, in advertising, shop shelves, colouring, branding; each with a unique selling point, and each claiming to clean something others can’t, or cleaning better than others claim. Can you trust them…? Do they work…? Do you need them…?

Having many different cleaning products may seem normal these days, with the latest influx of cleaning ‘influencers’, TIK TOK videos showing us the latest hacks for cleaning…Mix this cleaning product with that etc… A ‘specialist’ cleaner for ‘something’, something with a ‘BANG’, something with a ‘WOW’… What do you actually need…? How many cleaning products do you need…?

Our answer is 4. Just FOUR. This is what you need. And 5. Just FIVE whilst dealing with the effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The trick with conducting any cleaning is let the product WORK FOR YOU. And understanding what other areas one cleaning product can be used for. Cleaning chemicals are designed to work, in essence, for a particular purpose on a particular surface for a particular reason. But ‘most’ products can be used for far more than you think. You must allow time for the cleaning chemical within the product to do its job. This will save you TIME in the long run with unnecessary scrubbing, SPACE with storage of inadequate or unnecessary cleaning products, and WILL help reduce environmental impact by reducing the amount you use by simply letting the products work for you.

Our recommended list for your home/office is…

• A good quality citrus based cleaner.
• A quality glass cleaner
• Quality washing up liquid
• A high-end descaler/limescale & washroom cleaner
• And for Coronavirus Control, and GOOD anti-viral cleaner (NOT Anti-Bacterial as this serves no purpose for Virus control)
• WATER

In addition, and for cleaning (non-chemical related) you should have…

• Quality Microfibre cloths
• A good bucket
• Clean mops & a good mop stick
• A HEPA filtered vacuum cleaner
• Centrefeed paper for polishing and virucidal control (so it can easily be disposed)
• A good ‘duster’ and an extension for the same
• A brush/broom
• A good quality dustpan and brush  
• A squeegee

This is all you need. Cleaning Companies do carry FAR more essential products, materials, and equipment, but that is what you should expect of them/us. Further products are used for specialist of DEEP clean tasks, and are used following careful training and under guidance from COSHH and specific Risk Assessments. These products are NOT needed for day-to-day cleaning activity.

Most importantly, and at the heart of the list is WATER. Water can clean more things than ANY other product COMBINED! If in doubt whether a product is suitable, always use water. A clean wet cloth, followed by a clean dry cloth will clean MOST things in your home, office or commercial premises

NEVER leave a surface wet. A bacterial HAZARD. ALWAYS dry with a clean cloth after cleaning, whichever product you have used. 

A good quality CITRUS CLEANER can clean, floors, kitchen surfaces, cupboard fronts, gas hobs, halogen hobs, induction hobs, ovens, skirting, door frames, window frames, sills, wall mould, laminate, veneer, hard plastic, steel. Citrus based cleaners are excellent for removing glue residue, grease and stickers.

(Trick – if you have something sticky to remove, cut an orange in half and rub over the area. Leave for a few minutes and wipe off )

A quality WASHING UP LIQUID can clean kitchen surfaces, cupboard fronts, skirting, door frames, floors, window frames, sills, wall mould, laminate, veneer, hard plastic, steel, cups plates, crockery, cutlery.

A quality GLASS CLEANER can clean glass, partition glazing, and will polish halogen hobs, induction hobs, oven fronts, door glass, shower screens, mirrors, computer monitors, TV screens, stainless steel.

A high-end DESCALER/LIMESCALE cleaner can clean toilets, hand basins, showers, baths, shower screens, drains, taps, traps, grout, tiling, mastic.

A quality ANTI-VIRAL Cleaner can clean and sanitise ALL areas it adequately touches. Keeping you safe, and ensuring areas are virus free.

WATER can clean (if applied with a damp cloth/mop then dry cloth/mop) hard floors, granite, limestone, kitchen surfaces, cupboard fronts, skirting, door frames, window frames, sills, bare wood, desks, keyboards, laminate, engineered wood, walls,

The ‘trick’ is to allow ALL products to work for you. LET IT DO ITS JOB! It’s what you paid for after all.

Remove and soak shower heads, pre-spray shower screens, spray hobs after cooking, apply toilet cleaner before flushing, Always WAIT and let it work. Do you need to apply a chemical to your toilet after every use? No, you don’t. Do you need to use a hazardous product in your bathroom every day? No, you don’t. Do you need 5 different products to clean one bathroom? No, you absolutely do not.

Smell. Many people buy particular products because of their smell, regardless of what the product is designed to clean. You may like the smell of lemon, or orange, a floral scent, an aqua breeze. This is understandable, but the smell can easily be added with a fragrance powder or a tiny quantity of liquid added to water. You don’t need to buy extra products to provide a variety of smells.

So next time you want to undertake cleaning tasks, take a few moments to look at the number of cleaning products you are using and how you are using them. Why are you using what you’re using? What are you trying achieve? Think of your own cleaning cupboard and the space you’re using, carefully consider the environment, and look at your spending. You may be very surprised.

Always read labels, always test spot chemicals. And always remember, WATER.