Indoor Dust | 8 Ways to Reduce Dust inside your Office or Home

Dust in a home or an office is impossible to eliminate. Dust comes from so many area’s that it is virtually impossible to eliminate regardless of how often you clean and what cleaning products you use. Over 80% of dust comes from our own skin and fabrics throughout your home or building. Your clothing, shoes, bedding, chairs, curtains and so many other daily items are capturing and releasing in the air fibers of dust.

Household dust travels from outside to inside your home or office easily and no cleaning supplies can stop it completely. Dust enters your home from open doors, windows, shoes and many other ways. Dust can contain tiny amounts of human skin, plant pollens, animal hairs and many other elements. Dust is so lite that it can settle on any surface and move back into the air very easily. Dust is extremely unhealthy for people with respiratory problems, small children and the elderly. With all of this said, dust can at least be controlled and limited by the following 8 steps:

1) Vacuum Cleaners | Regular office or household vacuuming is crucial to controlling indoor dust. Use a good lightweight vacuum cleaner that has a good filtration system. A commercial vacuum cleaner can have more power to vacuum deep in the fibers of a carpet. Vacuuming should be done often and definitely near doorways daily.

2) Carpet Cleaning extractor | Carpets capture a ton of indoor dust and need to be cleaned often. A commercial carpet extractor or good residential carpet cleaner should be used at least twice a year on all carpets. Vacuuming is great for carpets, though nothing removes more dust that is trapped in the carpet fibers than a good carpet extractor.

3) Dusting | Dusting your house or office should be done weekly. Use a good microfiber cleaning cloth or cleaning rags and wipe each surface with a cleaning chemical of choice. Microfiber towels capture more dust than does a regular terry cloth towel. Microfiber rags also limit the amount of cleaning chemicals that are needed when cleaning.

4) Cleaning Blinds & Curtains monthly | Blinds and curtains by windows capture a lot of dust. Use a canister vacuum cleaner to vacuum your curtains often. Most vacuum cleaners have a vacuum accessory tool for dusting, like a dusting brush. For blinds use a good feather duster that captures the dust verse moving it back into the air. Ostrich feather dusters are the best for this.

5) Bedding | Your bedding should be washed weekly as your bed captures more dust than anything in your home due to your skin cells. Vacuum your mattress monthly with a good canister vacuum that preferably has a vacuum bag option. Use the vacuum cleaners upholstery tool for this and make sure to vacuum top, sides and the bottom.

6) Filters | Change your furnace filters often, at least quarterly. The number one cause by far of furnace problems is dust. Changing the filter is better for your furnace and health. Also remember to change your vacuum filter often.

7) Furniture Care | Cushions on chairs should be vacuumed and cleaned often. Dust is attracted to your furniture and use a good canister vacuum cleaner to vacuum your cushions often. Leather furniture should be wiped with a leather cleanermonthly.

8) Air Purifier | Consider purchasing a good air purifier. An air purifier can greatly reduce the amount of dust indoors and also cleans the air you breathe. Austin Air Purifiers and Blue Air are some of the best purifiers available. There are several other manufactures, though do your research before making a purchase.

Improving Indoor Air Quality with Good Floor Care

The air inside homes, schools, offices and other buildings can be much more polluted than the air outside. The pollutants are brought in by poor door mats, our shoes, even new items you purchase and eliminating it is impossible.

There are many steps you can take to reduce the indoor pollution and one of the most important is your floor care. Using good
vacuum cleaners,
carpet extractors,
floor machines,
and regular mopping can be one of the best steps you can take.

All entrances of a home or building should have both good outdoor and indoor runner mats. Good entrance mats can have the greatest impact on reducing the entrance of pollutants. Homes and buildings should have a regular maintenance cycle to capture the pollutants on the floor that the mats don’t capture. Depending on the amount of traffic the building receives, vacuum cleaners should be used almost daily to capture the soils that sit on top of the carpets. Hard floor surfaces should also be cleaned daily. Backpack vacuum cleaners can be used to pick up loose soils and dust. Hard floor services should also be mopped regularly to pick up soils not picked up by the vacuum cleaner. Microfiber mops are the best to use as they attract the dirt verse stirring it up back into the buildings air.

Carpet extractors should be used often for good carpet care. A carpet extractor will not only help preserve a carpets life, but will also help with the indoor air. Carpets hold many pollutants that vacuum cleaners are unable to remove. Heated carpet extractors will remove the built in soils and doing this regularly will greatly improve the indoor air quality. Hard surface floor machines should also be used particularly in the corners that tend to accumulate the largest amount of dust and soils. Make sure to have good vacuum accessories like crevice tools, dust brushes, floor brushes and most importantly make sure your vacuum hoses are air tight with no holes.

Regular floor care inside a home or building will greatly improve the quality of the indoor air. Vacuum cleaners should have HEPA filtration for the best performance. Professional commercial carpet extractors will clean much better than a residential carpet extractor and should at-least be done annually. In summary good floor care can greatly help your indoor air quality and having good floor machines like vacuum cleaners, carpet extractors and good floor mops will help keep your buildings air cleaner.

Vacuum Cleaners | Top 4 Factors to consider when Purchasing A Vacuum

Choosing the best vacuum cleaner for your business is crucial

Relatively speaking the purchase of a vacuum doesn’t have to be a large investment, though choosing the wrong vacuum for your facility can cause future expenses that will be much more. Vacuum cleaners are critical in keeping a building clean and they are frequently used. These are 4 factors to consider when choosing a vacuum cleaner for your building!

Vacuum’s Durability:

The durability of vacuum cleaners that are used in a commercial capacity is highly important. Homeowners who personally use their own vacuum cleaner tend to treat it with much more care and thus durability isn’t as important. In facilities that have multiple individuals using the vacuum, having a unit that can handle rougher use is highly important. Look for vacuums that don’t have cheap plastic parts that will snap easily. A Sanitaire Commercial Vacuum cleaner is known for their durability and can handle rougher use.

Vacuum Power:

Choosing a vacuum that has great suction power to maximize the vacuuming effort is highly important. Some ways to check a vacuums suction power is by checking the amp rating on the vacuum. Though not a 100% accurate way to gauge a vacuums potential, higher amps do at times lead to better performance. There are also vacuums with dual motor systems like the ProteamProcare 15xp. This vacuum has a dual motor construction to allow one motor to power the brush roll, while the other vacuum motor powers the vacuum increasing its performance.

Vacuum Accessories:

When choosing a commercial vacuum cleaner you should consider the vacuum accessory cost. Reality is that vacuums will need to be kept up and this can add to the actual cost of the vacuum. Hoover Commercial Vacuums

have many replacement parts that are made by other companies that aren’t very expensive and help keep the vacuum cost down. A vacuums brush roll should be replaced often, though some are expensive and thus aren’t changed. Vacuum hoses are also a common part to eventually break or get holes that will decrease the suction power of the vacuum. You’ll also want to check for availability of the vacuum parts. Koblenz Commercial Vacuums are dependable, though finding parts can be difficult. Quickly review all the major vacuum accessories cost and availability before making a decision on what vacuum you’ll purchase.

Vacuum Ease of Repair:

Just as important as finding the vacuum parts, is being able to easily perform some basic maintenance yourself on the vacuum.

A nice feature on many commercial vacuums today is a quick cord replacement option. These vacuum cords are easy to replace as they are similar to an extension cord and require no tools. Vacuum motors are easy to change on some commercial vacuums and can be a low cost investment for taking an older commercial vacuum and making it brand new. Check with the company your purchasing the vacuum from and find out the ease of repair and also the closest warranty center to make sure you don’t need to ship your vacuum out for repair.

Vacuum Bags are the Number 1 Cause of Vacuum Damage!

Vacuuming your facility with a well performing vacuum is an important routine for daily maintenance upkeep of your building. A vacuum cleaners efficiency can be greatly decreased when the vacuum bag is to full. Vacuum cleaners can be a big investment for any facility and by taking just a two safety steps you can really prolong the life of your vacuum.

The number one reason vacuums break is the failure of emptying the vacuum bag. Vacuum bags that are to full greatly reduce the vacuums air flow. Poor vacuum air flow can cause a vacuums motor to overheat and will greatly reduce the ability of the vacuum to pick up debris. A vacuum cleaners bag is suggested to be replaced when the vacuum bag is no more than ¾ full. Vacuums that are vacuuming up saw dust might require more frequent changing of the bag.

The outer vacuum bag should also be cleaned regularly. A vacuums cloth outer vacuum bag that holds the disposable vacuum bag begins to reduce the vacuums air flow after the cloth becomes clogged with dirt. Most outer vacuum bags can be washed with a scrub brush or shake it out vigorously. Do not dry the vacuum bag in a drier, hang it to dry.

Vacuums with vacuum bags tend to be much healthier for the indoor air we breathe. By following the two steps of changing the vacuum bag and cleaning the outer vacuum bag periodically you can greatly increase the life of your vacuum. Healthy vacuums lead to cleaner floors and cleaner air that we breathe.

Vacuum Cleaners | Filtration is important when choosing a Vacuum Cleaner

Picking the right vacuum cleaner for your facility or business is an important decision. Many businesses or facilities spend a lot of time deciding on the best green chemicals to use for maintaining the business, though less time on the vacuum that they’ll use. Choosing the wrong vacuum cleaner for your facility can actually cause more indoor pollution when vacuuming. Daily vacuuming is great for any facility and having the right vacuum makes it that much better.

A business should look at a vacuums level of filtration when picking the best commercial vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaners that don’t have a good filtration system will typically cause the debris to mix into the air. Dust particles that are invisible to the eye can stir in the air for several hours. Facilities and particularly schools that perform middle of the night cleaning can cause the air that our children breathe during school to be polluted. Choosing a commercial vacuum cleaner look for the CRI Seal as this institution has rigorously tested all vacuum cleaners with their seal to approve them as great vacuums for indoor air quality. This is the seal to look for:

In conclusion vacuuming makes a facility much cleaner when performed daily. A vacuum cleaner with a great filtration system will not only help the carpets ascetics but also keep the air the occupants breathe that much cleaner. Choosing a vacuum cleaner that is economical, easy to repair and built well are always amongimportant decisions for any business or facility. Businesses and Janitorial companies should also add choosing a well filtrated vacuum cleaner to the decision process for the buildings occupant’s safety.