Spring Cleaning is Good for the Soul

 There is magic in cleaning and cleaning out.  Maybe you have read the best selling book "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up".  But have you experienced the refreshed-rebooted-clean slate-new beginning feeling of a cleaned out space?

You can't read about this experience, you must live it. We think we are present - awake and yet we are creatures of habit.  My shoes go here.  This lamp sits against the west wall.  I drop my right shoulder when I type.   Tuesdays we have chicken for dinner. I have a cup of hot water in the morning. Afternoons is when I walk my dog.

We are wired to create natural habits.  But these habits or our daily norms also become our blinders.  When you have a old pile of books or a procrastinated project, the longer it sits the more embedded in your norm it becomes.  We stop seeing what we see everyday.  Life gets stagnate.  Life gets stuck.  We get stuck.  Dust bunnies rule.

Spring cleaning shifts this stuck rut.  When you clean your home.  You refresh your space.  You shift and move what has been stagnate for a year.  When life moves, life looks different.  

When I work with a client to clear their clutter, there is a palatable shift when old stagnate heavy habits and things move out and away.  The room feels lighter, the color's are brighter, life seems easier not so heavy.  Breathing expands.  Fresh energy fills the space.

Lately it seems, I am constantly having conversations with others in transition or wanting to be in transition.  There is a desire to live our life's purpose.  A stuck life feels bad. It depletes and diminishes.

That's the bad news... The good news is this:
       The simple act of cleaning our your clutter- your over stuffed, your unloved, unused, unfinished and untouched... gives your spirit, your soul a little breathing space.
        When you deep clean a space- take everything out and wash, rinse and dry every little corner -you bring fresh energy into your life.

Call it a metaphor, magic or a miracle but cleaning and cleaning out are powerful partners to finding your way in this life.  Maybe this shift will lead to a new path or maybe it will give you a new way of walking on your current path.

Once one part of your life starts moving and flowing there seems to be a lovely side benefit of flow and movement in other parts of your life.  

Clutter clearing simplifies our life.  It give us clarity.  It give us a re-boot.  By clearing our clutter we create flow in our homes.  Flow is movement.  

Clean out your garage or desk.  Or clean out your your inbox, calendar or your to-do list.  Sometimes we just need to stand back, lighten up our normal and then look at our lives from another perspective.

As always I wish you a happy and healthy life.
           Denise

The life of a cleaner

Cleaning is being transformed in my world.  As a professional cleaner for the past 25 years I now find myself no longer a cleaner.  This is an odd feeling and freeing feeling.

Growing up, I hated to clean!  Hated it.  I lived on a farm, cleaning meant I was not outside but inside doing the menial work of housekeeping.  Life is really very funny.  After college I took the next logical step, I became a professional cleaner. Seriously, who makes this stuff up???  Thankfully, I found I loved running a business, helping others and when you clean for someone else, cleaning brings great satisfaction.

Over the years of cleaning, I have cleaned everything from mastic off terrazzo floors, carpet for exhausted moms, filthy daycare chairs to award winning stone bathrooms.  I have cleaned for the ultra rich to the very poor.  I have cleaned for families moving in and families moving out.  I have cleaned for kind people, inspiring people, stressed people, families welcoming in a new baby, families hosting weddings and families after a loss.  During this time, I have also cleaned my own home.  I have cleaned, pondered cleaning, researched cleaning and taught cleaning.

As it turns out, cleaning was good for me.  It became my teacher as well as my vocation.  I learned from cleaning. I discovered residue and then taught residue free cleaning.  The value of cleaning and its history became visible. I found myself, in the process of being a cleaner.  Wax on ...Wax off.  There is wisdom in cleaning.  And there is a gift in learning to love your work whatever it may be.

As I write to you I'm in the process of becoming a certified transformational life coach.  As I help families clear out their clutter and live residue free lives my daily work is now my passion.

You see, as I cleaned, I learned that cleaning is also a tool for removing the residues of life.  The residues on our countertops and the residues in our soul.  Cleaning is a beautiful form of daily meditation.  Good cleaning creates a healthy home. Cleaning helps keep your home flowing with fresh energy.  Cleaning creates clarity and cleaning helps keep clutter and stagnation at bay. Cleaning gives you something productive to do when life throws you a curve ball.

I thought about closing out this blog and starting fresh in another blog.  But if I had done so we would not get to continue our chats.  If you call today wanting your travertine floors cleaned, I can no longer help you. I can refer you but I won't be your cleaner.  I can however help you enjoy your life,  I can help you clean out your clutter and life's residues. I can help you find clarity and joy in your daily work. I can help you discover what you love.

I thank all to whom I have had the pleasure to meet and work with over the years.  My husband Dallas and I have been blessed beyond measure.  We thank you.

As always, I wish you great joy in your home and in your life,
           Denise

7 Essentials of a Healthy Home: Resources

Thank you for everyone who joined me the other night for my 7 Essentials of a Healthy Home workshop.   What a great class!  I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and I hope you all did as well.

In our conversions I mentioned a couple resources.  Below are the links to those resources as well as a reminder of the 7 essentials.  If you would like help or would like to schedule a consult for creating a healthy and happy home.  Please call anytime.  Thanks again!

   

Entrance Mats:  The entrance mats I have purchased and sold over the years come from American Floor Mats.  Click here to go directly to their web site  

    I like this site/company for a couple of reasons.  First you can get high quality commercial entrance rugs at a very good value.  If you would to actually see the mats before you buy, no problem just call and have them send you samples of the ones you are most interested in.   On this site you have a huge section of types, colors, sizes and qualities.

    Check on any specials and for purchase minimums.  Around holidays they will often give a 10% discount and if you order a certain amount will give you free shipping.

     I have quite a selection of samples and have ordered from here many times.   If you would like help in your order, let me know and for a small fee I can help you get exactly what you are wanting.

    

Commercial Microfibers:  With microfibers you very often get what you pay for.  Buying cleaning supplies from our local retailers may not be as cost and quality effective as is buying from the suppliers who supply us cleaners.  Over the years I have got a lot of my cleaning supplies from Coastwide Laboratory in Tacoma and Seattle.   For Microfibers they stock the Rubber Made commercial line and I think a couple types of microfibers.  Buy quality over quantity!  To connect directly to Coastwide click here.  If you are not a professional cleaner, don't worry Coastwide is open to the public

Absorbing Towels:  This last tip comes after class.  As we were all chatting a gentleman mentioned he was having trouble getting the residue off his countertops.  A common reason for this is either applying too much cleaner or not effectively rinsing and drying the surface to remove the cleaner.  I had forgotten to mention the importance of using absorbent towels.  Please do not clean your towels with any sort of fabric softener or use dryer sheets in the dryer.  Both of these products tend to diminish the absorbency of your towels.   Also, do not clean your towels with bleach.  Bleach tends to be damaging to the fibers.

 We used to get our while cotton towels from Costco.  We used the white cotton hand towels and white cotton shop towels.  

  In class I showed a demonstration of cleaning with the microfiber and then rinsing with a cotton towel.  This is a very productive combination.  Here you get the benefits of microfiber technology along with the absorbing power of cotton. 

    

As a reminder of our class- here again is the list of the

7 Essentials of a healthy home.

1.  Keep it well ventilated

2  Keep it dry

3.  Keep it clean- the residue free style!

4  Keep it free of contaminates

5.  Keep it safe

6.  Keep it pest free

7   Keep it well maintained

These 7 essentials come from The National Environmental Health Association and The National Center for Healthy Housing.  These are the organizations I received my healthy home certification from.

Thanks again,

    Wishing you all a big splash of curiosity and abundance of fresh air,

                Denise

5 gems of wisdom from an 80 year old company

On Dec 29^th, I took a whole day from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm and visited with the staff of     D. A. Burns.   Why would I do such a thing?  Don't I have better things to do with my time than go hang out at another company? We'll, yes of course, my inbox and list of to-dos were high and deep but this day was worth every minute.

You see this past year we started working with DA Burns helping further train their staff in the wonders and wisdom of natural stone and tile cleaning.  In Jan of this year, we partnered with DA Burns to take over the stone and tile cleaning part of our business.  While working together, we got to discover a very special company.  A type of company you may think was only done in our grandparent’s era.  Well apparently there is still a company where the bottom line is not the top priority but doing the right thing is.  As we continued to working together, I became more and more intrigued and impressed.   And so I went on an exploration day.

I treated the day as if I were a “reporter”, trying to see why and how an 80 yr old company thrives.  How has this company stayed a front runner in the cleaning business for 80 years? Why do their clients have such a high level of customer loyalty?  Why does their staff average about 14 years? Why would any employee be willing to commute up to 3 hours per day for 29 and 38 years?  Hmmm, there is something special here and I was going to find out what.

As the owner of a 25 year old cleaning company, I know a wee bit about cleaning and running a cleaning company.  After this day of inside “reporting”,  three months of working side by side D. A. Burns plus knowing them from our industry during my entire cleaning career… I think I have uncovered some of the secret that have led to this company's success.

Below are 5 of the hidden gems I discovered.  I could go on but this already long blog would reach epic levels… So without further ado…

Gem # 1:  The Spirit of Mr. Dave Burns Jr. lives on

Sadly Mr. Dave Burns Jr. passed 10 years ago, at age 91, and yet his life continues in this company.  As I interview the staff, Mr. Burns was mentioned over and over, not like a past owner but like a beloved friend, grandpa, dad and mentor.  Curtis the facilities manager- who I think can fix anything, told me about a cleaning process Mr. Burns thought of for removing carpet odors that they still use today with extraordinary results.  Janet in front office and Mike the GM both talked about how after Mr. Burns had retired he would still come into the plant, with his yellow lab Beau.  He brought a spark of fun to the day but kept a watchful eye; making sure things were still being run well.  Richard Dix, owner of 40 years, spoke of him more than a business partner but like a dear friend, mentor and family member.  It was quite clear Mr. Burns was a man that was loved by this company and they still hold space for him.

Gem # 2:  There is an Art of Elevating People

How can you explain a company where the average employee has been there 14 years?  This is a cleaning service company.  I know from experience, cleaning is hard work and not always thought of with the value it deserves.  It can be tough to find good employees and yet this company is loaded with an amazing staff.  Bryan, the operations manager, who believes in small but consistent and continual improvements 38 years; Mike the general manager, who I met in 2010 when I popped one day and he kindly gave me a tour- 32 years; Jerry a craftsman who does the custom rug binding 27 years; Katherine who loves the entire process of cleaning 30 years; Jericho- front desk whose motto is "I please the people" 9 years; Julie area rug repair artist 17 years etc.....   Kelsey, one of the technicians Dallas and I worked with said he had been with D. A. Burns for 7 years and he was still considered a newbie! 

How is this possible?  As I interviewed and asked questions, this is what I heard from the staff:   they feel safe to own their work; to be creative in problem solving; to learn new trades when they wanted; to even make mistakes when a plan didn’t work out.  They felt protected and supported by the owner, Richard.  Mike, the GM believes Richard takes care of his staff and they take care of the customers and the business thrives.  It is like a circle.

Gem # 3:   A Family of Co-Workers Work Here

While in my ”reporting”  mode I asked the question:  “Why do you like working here?”  Over and over I heard “I love my co-workers”.  This staff is more than co-workers; they are friends, family and supporters of each other.  Janet and Toni who have worked together for over 15 years said they can finish each other's sentences.  I met with some of the new guys: Julian, Craig and Nic.  Even though they are fairly new to D. A. Burns, they love the feeling of no hierarchy.  And said they felt like what they thought was valuable and heard!  Dan, Don and Jericho seem like friends that would hang out together and genuinely like each other.

  

Everyone mentioned over and over again how much they love and appreciate Richard.  I'm guessing that's how everyone felt about Mr. Burns too.  Loving the owners seems to be a theme at D. A. Burns.  

Gem # 4:  Craftsmanship is alive and well

Then there are indeed hidden gems working away at D. A. Burns.  Julie and Em are master craftswomen in repairing rugs.  Julie said she can tell the age, origin; weave, if it was a prayer rug and much more.  A 17 year veteran at D. A. Burns and a master Oriental rug medic, she and Em of 10 years work together and do extraordinary work.

Jerry of 27 years is a carpet binding and fabrication wizard.  When I was there he was cutting and binding a rug to go into a yacht.  I was mesmerized watching him hand sew the binding on the corners.  He told me there is a machine that does this sort of corner binding but he wouldn't want to use it because it does sub-par work and uses cheaper materials.

Gem # 5:  You don't have to own the company to have pride and ownership of your work.

While working with D. A. Burns, we discovered you don't have to own the company to own your work.  D. A. Burns lets their staff own their own work.  You can see the pride they have in working for a company that is so highly valued.  They are proud of their individual work but maybe more so they are proud of their team work.  Coming together they are able to create something more impressive than anyone could do on their own.

On Jan 5^th Dallas and I sold the Stone and Tile cleaning portion of Blue Sky Services to the D. A. Burns team.  After all the months of training and figuring out the how, when and where’s we came out of this process more impressed with this company than we went in.   During these past months we were treated kindly, with a generosity of spirit, with respect and with enthusiasm.  In our country larger businesses are often thought of as greedy and impersonal.  It was refreshing to know there is a company thriving right here in Seattle that changes the rules and runs their business with heart.

If you would like to meet this company, feel free to call or pop in like I did back in 2010.  I have no doubt they will greet you warmly and take great care of you.  Below is the link go see for yourself.

Go to DA Burns

Finishing Touches

    As I type, we are deep into the final touches of this year.  Doesn't that sound good "the finishing touches"?   It sounds as if we were all artists just putting the last few brush strokes onto our masterpiece.  Is that how the end of the year feels to you?  I can't say that is how I'm feeling but isn't that an inspired thought?  To finish the year as if we created art.  Instead of lost in our holiday to do list or feeling any regrets of this year, all we have yet to do is to simply and with great finesse, touch up the finale!

If I were to think like a creative artist, what would my final touches of this year be?  When I started writing a few minutes ago I really had no idea where this was going... until now.  As I type, I know exactly what my finishes touches are...

To say thank you.  There is a feeling a deep gratitude filling my soul and this is what I wish to add to the art I have created this year. Thank you!!

As always I wish you all happy and healthy homes.  And may I add - amazing final touches to your year's masterpiece!!

With Deep Gratitude and wishes of Happy Holidays,
       Denise

 

Thank you Puget Sound Energy!

    We hope this blog finds all our NW neighbors and friends safe and dry.  What a storm we have been having!  Our own electricity was out for 24 hours.

     Last night, as we were getting ready for bed our home was still dark.  Outside we heard a PSE truck and I thought, what a night to be climbing up electrical poles, in the howling wind, pitch dark and pouring rain!

   In the discomfort of no power, it is easy to press our electrical companies to get us back on line.  But what a task they have!  The weather is usually tough, the hours long and I'm sure they are pressed to their max to get us all back on.

   So thank you to the men and women at PSE for all your overtime and harsh working conditions!!
 It is a privilege to live in a place where having electricity, indoor plumbing and where hot running water is the norm.  Being periodically reminded of this gift is not necessarily a bad thing.

    Wishing you all happy holidays, safe and warm homes,
                   Denise
 

Clarity comes from a clean slate

" Clarity comes from a clean slate"  No truer words can be spoken.  Today, we cleaned the slate floors in our own personal home.  I have written about this many times and yet each time we clean those floors I am in awe of the clarity that comes from clean!

   As we move through life it seems we are awake and fully present... until you clean off all the residue that has accumulated. And then Wow!

   When we clean our slate floors, which by the way looked fine this morning, vibrancy happens.  What seemed OK turns in to spectacular.  The colors become radiant.  The lines clear.  There is a clarity to this slate that is truly amazing.  Beyond the color there is also a rich texture.  The texture shows the essence of the stone.  Our slate has no enriching sealers or coating applied.  What you see is 100% slate.  Beautiful!

   I wonder does anyone else see what we see when we clean?

   When we clean out what muddles our lives, we get to see life from a whole new perspective.  We get to start with a clean slate again! This clarity comes with a childlike wonder and who couldn't use a bit more wonder in our lives??

   The next time you feel muddled in your life or on your floors- clean!   Cleaning is an old and simple practice of finding clarity, giving yourself a clean slate and a fresh perspective!   Enjoy!

   As always, wishing you a happy and healthy home
         Denise

Autumn and TLC are the perfect team

Change is in the air.  Autumn does that to us.  The season of Autumn is all about change.  It comes swiftly and brilliantly.  Colors ablaze, crackling leaves scatter down the streets and our gardens beg to be put to bed.

It takes a lot of energy to change your life and yet our lives are meant to change.  It is the nature of being alive.  All this shifting and movement can be exhilarating and but also tiring.

Tonight, while I'm super excited about the changes in our lives I also am feeling the need to add a bit more TLC into my life to keep me strong, balanced and healthy.

When I need TLC this is where I go first:

I minimize stimulants:  Sugar, caffeine and even most natural sugars

I go back to simple, whole, real foods.  I can't put my finger on it but when I eat food that has many ingredients or food that no longer resembles food or food that comes in a can, a box or bag...I start loosing my natural vibrancy.  I find stress having a bigger impact on my well being.

I start going back to bed earlier:  I try to think life my grandparents - they were all dairy farmers:  Go to bed early and get up early to milk the cows.

Stress comes with life, change comes with life but there is much we can do to bring ourselves back to balance.  Simplify your life, your diet, your activities and then breathe!

Autumn is my favorite time of the year!  Most of my big life changes have come in the Autumn. It is the nature of the season to change but in the process of change add in a bit of TLC.

As always, wishing you all a happy and healthy home,
      Denise

True Clean

What is clean? We all know what clean is!  Maybe and maybe not as much as you think.  When I think of clean, I think of free- free from soil, cleaners and moisture.  Free from anything that isn't part of the surface.  My kitchen countertops should be just that my kitchen countertops.  Granite should be granite, marble should only be marble, quartz should only be quartz.  There is a clarity that comes from truly clean or a residue free surface.

There are steps to cleaning.  First comes the breaking surface tension part.  In your dishwasher you call this the wash cycle.  In this step, there will be agitation, maybe heat, a little cleaner.  The "washing step" usually take a little time.  Next comes the rinsing step. This where not only the soil is removed but also the cleaners.  Finally comes the drying step. In this step, moisture is removed along with little residues of cleaner and soil.  In the end of this three step process you have it- nothing left behind but your surface.

When clean is really clean, there is a clarity that comes from true clean.  The colors are brighter, the lines cleaner, there will be a depth to your surface and a freshness to the room.

When I start cleaning a surface I may think this isn't too bad.  But as I go through the steps the soil and built up residues start to release, I start to really see the soil.  As I continue to go through the steps an amazing transition happens.  True clean

True clean isn't a false shine from a coating applied,  True clean isn't greasy, doesn't have a wax or polish. True clean doesn't smell like cucumbers, roses, pine, or bleach.  True clean is simple, clear and free from everything but it's true essence.

Life should be so simple.

Wishing you healthy, happy homes and prosperous lives,
      Denise

Disinfecting wipes are the fast food in cleaning

    Disinfecting wipes:  uuugh...heavy sigh....deep breath....   Disinfecting wipes are like fast food:  easy, available and effortless.  But instead of high fructose corn syrup these wipes use pesticides.  Yup, our daily disinfecting wipes are monitored by the EPA and classified as a pesticide.  Crazy right???

    Today, I got an email update from the Women's Voices website on the concerns of disinfecting wipes.  I'm sharing it with you because it is indeed a message that should be heard!  Women's voices is a fantastic website full of solid research and helpful wisdom.
                                  click here to connect to Women's voices site and the article

  As it turns out the lesson I learned 25 years ago still holds true.  Be very careful and aware when using products that kill something- aka germ killers, mold killers, pesticides etc.  Because... and this is a huge point ... they kill or damage living organisms.  And we are in fact a living organism!
                                             
 Before you panic about germs and how to avoid keep this in mind:
     In most situations removal of germs/soil is a much healthier way of creating a safe environment than the killing germs.

Here is a wonderfully simple alternative for you:  Use Residue Free cleaning 
   1. Thoroughly wipe surface down with a damp towel and a little mild cleaner or a damp microfiber-            Rub back and forth
                Mild cleaners: dish washing liquid, liquid castle soap, baby wipes
  2.   Rinse with a moist/wet, clean towel, microfiber or even paper towel - Rub back and forth
  3.   Dry surface again rub back and forth

In this three step process you are loosening the soil/germs and breaking surface tension.  Then rinsing and removing the cleaner and germs/soil.   Finally with drying, you further remove the cleaner, soil/germs and moisture.  Leaving your surface clean and free of residue

After all, cleaning is the removal of germs, soil, etc not the addition of chemicals.

   By the way, I am not against disinfectants.  In some situations they can be life saving.  What I am against is using disinfectants daily, without reading, following the label and most importantly out of habit or fear.  This is unnecessary and total overkill.

  Cleaning is a science and an art.  Learn how to clean for the health of home and family.  We teach residue free cleaning which focuses on the science and actual system of cleaning.  Call if you would like to schedule a presentation or consult.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and simply clean home,
            Denise