The HoneyDo Blog

Understanding there are mental and physical benefits in having a clean and organized home is nothing new. During the pandemic of 2020, that point has been reinforced as we learn about the ways viruses spread and have spent more time in our homes than ever. Now may be a good time to focus on creating a healthy home environment to prepare for the next round of Covid-19 and possible quarantine. You can get a jump on establishing health-focused protocols and create a more positive, healing atmosphere by using some of these simple strategies. HoneyDo Cleaning wants to see you healthy and happy, so read on! De-cluttering Your Home First, declutter. Many experts, such as Marie Kondo suggest adopting a system prior to getting started. Establishing a mindset helps you set an intention, which will keep you focused on the end goal of having a more organized, useful space. The KonMari method suggests organizing by category rather than location, and asking yourself a simple question about each item you pick up, “Does this spark joy?” Kondo suggests that de-cluttering will seem less daunting if it is a part of a regular cleaning routine. Staying ahead of it through the use of a routine system of managing your home may help reduce stress. One option is a five-bin strategy for organizing each area of your home. As you sort items, place them into one of five bins labelled: put away, recycle, fix/mend, trash, donate. This simple strategy will enable you to make quick decisions about items and stay on track with cleaning and de-cluttering. As you think about strategies for staying organized, it may be helpful to ask yourself where an item “lives” within your home. Having a designated place for your belongings may prevent the accumulation of clutter. Deep Cleaning and Disinfecting After your area is de-cluttered, focus on deep cleaning. The experts at HoneyDo Cleaning suggest gathering your supplies prior to starting. Items such as gloves, multi-purpose cleaner and sponges, along with vinegar, mineral oil and microfiber dusting cloths are recommended. Then aim for a deep cleaning so that you can just do routine touch ups. While washing and vacuuming surfaces to remove day to day grime is the first task of cleaning, it is important to recognize that disinfecting germs and viruses takes additional care. Covid cleaning requires a focus on disinfecting, as the virus can live on surfaces for 28 days in many circumstances. It’s important to use chlorine bleach and disinfectant cleaners that remove debris as well as killing germs. Sanitizers and household wipes that contain more than 70% alcohol are effective against Covid-19. The Center for Disease Control recommends using disinfectant products on frequently touched areas of your home such as door knobs, tables, countertops and light switches. Many households are juggling remote work, homeschooling and other burdensome lifestyle shifts these days. If it’s all too much on top of your other obligations, remember you can always connect with a trustworthy and professional cleaning service for everything from deep cleaning to routine care. Refresh and Revive Your Space Cleaning and disinfecting your home will offer you peace of mind that your space is safe and organized, but there is something to be said for a refreshed and revitalized home, especially during trying times such as a pandemic. A fresh coat of paint can offer new life to a tired space. Whether you choose to brighten the room with a lighter color or select a warm shade to create a cozy atmosphere, a coat of paint can change the way a room feels. New window treatments and lighting fixtures can offer a different perspective on a room, as well as the use of sofa covers to freshen up the appearance of furniture. Budget friendly options for refreshing your space may include adding some plants and rearranging the layout of the room. Our brains crave organization and cleanliness on a subconscious level. When our environment reflects our needs, our physical and emotional health improves. We can restore, refresh and revive our homes and feel better in the process. For more information on how your home can be a more refreshing and healthy space, connect with HoneyDo Cleaning.

Clean your indoor air the natural way. You don't have to use the store-bought air fresheners. Try boiling cinnamon, cloves, or any other herb your heart desires. Fresh oven baked cookies and freshly baked cakes have also been known to create a very pleasant smell. Consider the magic of citrus. For many people citrus is a favorite and people have done many things with citrus over the years. One of the many things that citrus fruits have been used for is air freshener. One idea is to take an already squeezed orange peel and press fresh cloves into it. It creates a very pleasant smell and lasts about 15 to 30 days. Although plants, "by large", will not change the smell in your home, they are however a great way to filter the air. The bigger and greener the leaves are on your house plants, the better the air is filtered. Peace Lilies are a favorite to some folks and are also used in order to create a wonderful smell. Sometimes being creative inspires us and sometimes being creative saves us money. Either way creativity is great! No matter what your reason is, one thing is for sure, everyone wants their living area to smell good. The air fresheners you find at the store do not normally last very long and can get expensive. Most air fresheners are derived from some sort of plant or flower in the first place. If store-bought air fresheners are your matter of preference that is OK. A lot of your commonly known air fresheners are making aerosol cans that are non-harmful to the environment and most of which smell really good. Cloves, and other herbs are just another option. Also remember to change out that old air filter found in or around your air handler, usually found near the return air grille in your home. This will also help to eliminate them unruly odors we all so much despise. Check to be sure there are no unwanted pests or gremlins hiding in the attic or behind the walls of your home. Don't forget about them carpets where bad odors always have a way of trapping themselves. Carpet is notorious for holding back bad odors. The vacuum cleaner must not go unnoticed as it can be a major contribution to any bad odors that may be present. Naturally, check to be sure the trash is removed from the home in a timely manner and that the trash can is clean as well. All of these suggestions are great ways for clearing the air and used in conjunction with a good old-fashioned house cleaning on a regular basis you can rest assure that you are doing your very best to prevent any bad odors from occurring or reoccurring.

I really hate to burst the bubble here but using germicidal ultraviolet disinfecting lamps will not get your home/office clean. Although the lamps do appear to kill germs when used correctly the lamps do not in any way clean your home/office. The best way to get rid of germs and bacteria is to thoroughly clean your home using, hands on, cloths with antibacterial properties designed to kill germs and wipe away bacteria. Using only ultraviolet disinfecting lamps is like spraying perfume over cow dung. The smell may go away but the dung is still there.

A messy house or office can very well be a sign of depression or some other type of health problem unbeknown or known to that individual. Depressed people often feel tired and not willing to keep up with routine cleaning. Other health problems render some folks unable to clean period, However, A study by the University of Minnesota suggests, that the messy desk of a genius is actually linked to their intelligence. If you don't spend much time cleaning your home/office, more than likely, your mind is occupied with a lot more important stuff. In either case, whether you are depressed or just down right genius minded, you may be stressed out from not having a clean environment to relax in. Having a cleaner home or office can help us reduce anxiety and other mental health issues such as relieving stress. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America, (ADAA), says that a cleaner home/office does in fact help to relieve stress. Having a clean and refreshed living space or office area will create a calm mind in a peaceful environment. Leading psychological researchers have correlated a messy environment with stress and discovered that housekeeping or office cleaning has a positive benefit on your mental health. If you need to de-stress and you realize that your home/office is a mess, pick up the phone and call a professional cleaning service. Calling a professional cleaning service will cost you a lot less than hiring a personal doctor for stress relief or hiring a personal doctor because of infection due to contracting a virus. The University of California recruited sixty people for research and study on stress hormones. Those who described their home or office as being in a mess, showed an adequate increase in cortisol, (a steroid hormone produced in response to stress), a hormone that is produced by the adrenal glands which sit on top of each kidney. Research also found that women were more adversely affected than men. To conclude, all the evidence brought forth shows us that having a clean home/office does indeed help reduce cortisol levels and that the benefits of having your home cleaned on a regular basis extend to your physical well-being. Basking in the ambiance of a clean and refreshed living space is one of the greatest stress relievers in the world.

A Pumice Stone is a light weight but abrasive stone usually used to remove dry skin. A pumice stone can also grind away calluses and corns to reduce pain in the feet. In this blog we will explain how to use the pumice stone to remove hard water spots and calcium build up from inside of your toilet. That's right, a secret that most cleaning companies don't want you to know is that you can actually effectively use a pumice stone to remove this junk inside of your toilets. The best part of all is that it takes very little effort on your part to use the stone and remove the hard water deposits or calcium build up. All you need is a Pumice Stone and a little elbow grease. Rub the abrasive side of the pumice stone over the deposits found inside of your toilet in a circular motion with light pressure for two or three minutes and flush. That's it, nothing more to do! In some cases you may need to follow this same step in order to remove all of the junk inside of your toilets, it just depends on how much build up has occurred over time. Your toilets will be good as new I promise! Please note, if you have colored porcelain DO NOT use this method as the Pumice Stone will rub away the dye that is present in the porcelain. Only use on your standard white porcelain and nothing else. I cannot tell you how many customers over the years could not believe how clean their toilets were after cleaning them with a Pumice Stone, some have even broke down in tears saying they have tried for years to remove the hard water spots formed in their toilets and in just minutes HoneyDo Cleaning was able to remove them making their toilets like new again. You can purchase a Pumice Stone at your local Wal-Mart or beauty supply store. Hope this DIY, cleaning with a Pumice Stone, helps you too!

Contrary to what most people believe, there is no better job to have right now, during the Covid-19 Pandemic, than to be cleaning houses. Maids were once a part of an elaborate hierarchy in great houses, where the retinue, (a group of advisers, assistants, or others accompanying an important person), of servants stretched up to the housekeeper and butler, responsible for female and male employees respectively. The word "maid" itself is short for "maiden", meaning a girl or unmarried young woman or virgin. To be a maid or house cleaner is not derogatory, truth is, 'maid' is a word that describes what someone does. Think about it, If you are a maid or house cleaner you hold a prestigious title and chances are you are never around large groups of people and usually working alone. Your hands are always clean and disinfected because that is your main tool for cleaning. Most importantly, the joy you feel while creating an environment where folks can bask in the ambiance of a clean and refreshed living space!

The HoneyDo list is a collection of tasks or jobs one has been requested to perform or undertake, usually household duties such as cleaning , given to a person by their spouse or romantic partner. This catchphrase is a bit nostalgic and most people today have never heard the term used in a sentence. So I'll give you a cute little example of this catchphrase being used in a sentence, "All I want to do on the weekends is relax but my husband always has some honeydo list for me". A bit old school I will admit but catchy no doubt. Honey do this and Honey do that, talk about being bombarded all the time with this honeydo stuff, whoowhee. Then it hit me like a box of rocks, HoneyDo Cleaning, this would be the name of my company and I will create a honeydo list for all who need my services. In 2004 it was made official, HoneyDo Cleaning, signed and sealed by the secretary of state! Ever since then, I have been customizing honeydo lists for the great people of the wonderful community of Mesquite TX and surrounding areas.

I began my cleaning business back in 2004. Over the last 16 years I have, like every one else, had a lot of ups and downs. One would not have to look to far back to remember the 2008 recession which was only 4 years after being signed and sealed by the secretary of state then officially opening the doors to my cleaning business. Fast forward 12 years to 2020 and here comes Covid-19. I never give up, I just keep on going. I never stop, I'm literately like the energizer bunny that keeps going and going and going.... There is a lesson here to be learned and I am learning all the time that if you never give up and you keep to the beating path, offering only the best of yourself in all situations, you will achieve your goals. I am proud of my accomplishments and the awards my company has earned over the years! We achieved the coveted Angie's List Super Service Award, several community awards by the Dallas Awards Program and just recently received the Neighbor Favorite Award. The following message is to HoneyDo Cleaning from Nextdoor; "We know this has been a challenging time for local businesses, and while a lot may have changed for yours, one thing is clear: neighbors are grateful for you." "How do we know? They told us. The votes are in: neighbors voted you a 2020 Neighborhood Favorite in the only local business awards voted on by neighbors who know." HoneyDo Cleaning is a Neighborhood Favorite! We received this message from Nextdoor.com and we are extremely grateful for our neighborhoods for all the local love. We appreciate you all to the moon and back!