With the countdown to Christmas well under way, it's time to pick out gifts for everyone in your life. One person that you might be struggling to find an interesting gift for is the friend or relative obsessed with cleaning. Whether they clean for you, themselves or a whole family, here are some unique cleaning gifts for the clean freak in your life.
1. Handheld vacuum cleaner
The perfect Christmas gift for clean freaks with a desk job, a handheld vacuum cleaner will help with smaller messes. Some are even designed to clean a computer keyboard and prevent crumbs from burrowing between the keys.
2. Reusable products
With the recent focus on green solutions, there are many alternatives to single-use products. From kitchen towels to rubber gloves, you can help the clean freak in your life replace their disposable products.
3. Mop slippers
While not many cleaning gift ideas are funny, mop slippers are suited to the neat freak with a sense of humour. These slippers clean the floor with every step, while keeping their feet cosy.
4. A cute sponge holder
Sponge holders help kitchen sponges air dry, reducing the risk of mould. There are all sorts of sponge holders available, to prevent them sitting filthy on the side of the sink. Whether they like animals, fruit or cartoon characters, this is a quirky gift idea for cleaning nerds.
5. Air purifier
While they're on top of keeping the house clean, they may not have thought about the air. If their reason for cleaning a lot is allergies, this will help filter dust and other allergens out of the air. Air purifiers also minimise the chemical smell after cleaning.
6. Clean/dirty dishwasher sign
These magnetic signs stick to the dishwasher door and can slide between the two states. This is great for the neat freak with a big family, who is constantly trying to stop everyone from loading dirty items into a clean dishwasher.
7. Hand lotion
If they're constantly scrubbing dirt, their hands will be paying the price. A hand lotion with their favourite scent will be sure to moisturise their hands and help them heal. Whether your budget is tight or luxury, lotion is a great gift to make a recipient feel special.
8. Phone sanitiser
Constantly in use, our phones are notorious for collecting bacteria. An electric phone sanitiser is an ideal gift for any germaphobe, to help keep their phone sparkling. Some even charge your phone, for extra efficiency.
9. Touchless soap dispenser
One of the best gifts to make cleaning easier is a touchless soap dispenser. It eliminates the transfer of germs that comes with a regular dispenser, and only requires one hand.
10. Give them the day off
One of the best cleaning gifts might actually be giving them the day off. Find someone to clean the carpets for them by searching our directory of UK carpet cleaners. The National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCCA) requires all our members to be trained and insured, taking the legwork out of finding a reliable carpet cleaner.
Search our directory of trusted carpet cleaners for the ultimate cleaning gift for clean freaks!
The impact on your carpet can make any accident more stressful. If you find that a few drops of blood have escaped onto your carpet, there are multiple ways you can clean it – as this post will explore.
Why are bloodstains so hard to clean?
When you get a cut, your blood recognises that it is exposed to air and starts to clot. While this is great inside your body, it gets more complicated when it comes into contact with other materials. It will still clot and bind to any surface it lands on, making for stubborn stains. This means that it can be difficult to get blood out of carpet.
Warmth speeds up this reaction, so it's important to use cold water when tackling bloodstains.
How can you get blood out of carpet?
Thankfully, there are ways to break up the bond formed between the blood and the carpet. Whichever method you choose to use, make sure you do a patch test first on a hidden segment of carpet. Also, remember to blot stains instead of rubbing them, to avoid driving them further into your carpet fibres.
Cold water and washing up liquid
If you manage to catch the blood stain right away, you may be able to use cold water and washing up liquid to clean it. Add a small amount of washing up liquid cold water and pour it over the stain, blotting it away with a cloth.
White vinegar and water
Mix one cup of white vinegar with two cups of water. You can either spray this onto the stain, or soak a rag in it and leave that over the stain. You can then blot the mixture away.
White vinegar and baking powder
One of the best weapons against any carpet stains, white vinegar and baking powder react together to combat spillages and remove blood from carpet.
First, apply a generous amount of white vinegar to the stain. Leave this to soak for 10-20 minutes. Then, liberally sprinkle baking powder on top and leave for a further 10-20 minutes. You should then be able to hoover up the powder.
Salt or cornflour
Add water to salt or cornflour and mix until it forms a paste. Apply this paste to your bloodstain and leave it to set for 20 minutes. Finally, blot away the mixture with cold water.
Water and ammonia
Mix one or two teaspoons of ammonia with cool water and apply it to the bloodstain. After 5-10 minutes, blot it away with a damp cloth.
Get an expert to remove blood from carpet
If you're worried about how to remove blood from carpet, calling in an expert will give you peace of mind. Use the National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCCA) directory of UK carpet cleaners to find an accredited carpet cleaner to handle your stain.
Find your local carpet cleaner in our directory or call 01562 547754 with any questions.
The National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCCA) takes a step further in raising the standard of professional recognition and development for its members training in the care of soft flooring and upholstery.
The NCCA is pleased to announce a new milestone in its aims to promote excellence in the cleaning sector as it achieves CPD (continuous professional development) status, from the CPD Certification Service.
Cleaning professionals undertaking the NCCA’s Carpet and Upholstery training course will also earn CPD points, which will help reflect their ongoing skills in training and competence in their field. In this way, customers are assured that accredited NCCA members have undergone exemplary and the most up to date training to provide the best service possible.
Furthermore, NCCA members are able to benchmark their upskilling and re-skilling with recognition of their conscious and proactive training.
Dave Wheadon, CEO of the NCCA says, “The NCCA is focused on ensuring that our members - and the wider community of cleaning professionals - are always suitably trained to the highest standards in the care of soft flooring and upholstery. Our Carpet and Upholstery training course plays a vital role in completing the membership process to the NCCA. As such, we want our prospective members to start on a point of professional excellence and carry on in the same manner. We are delighted to have CPD reinforcement while our members build their skills accordingly with us.”
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Businesses that took out government-backed Bounce Back Loans to get through Covid-19 will now have greater flexibility to repay their loans, the government announced today (8 February).
Read more: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-eases-burden-on-more-than-a-million-businesses-through-pay-as-you-grow-flexible-repayment-options?
Cover: GOV.UK
This guide was updated on 13 December 2020.
Updated self-isolation guidance for contacts of individuals who test positive for COVID-19. The self-isolation period is now 10 days instead of 14 (section 2.2).
Read more: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/homes
Source: GOV.UK
For our last #TLCofthemonth award of the year, we wanted to give special recognition to our Trusted Local Cleaners who have received above and beyond reviews, based on the challenging circumstances we’ve found ourselves in this year.
To say this year has been challenging would be an understatement. Since March 2020, our Members, along with millions of other businesses, saw a significant amount (if not all) of their work disappear overnight. Once Government guidelines deemed it safe to do so, their work could resume, and cleaning operatives played and continue to play, a key role during this pandemic.