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Preventing Lingering Odor Following Water Restoration

If your facility has the misfortune of requiring a water restoration, your bad luck may not stop there. One of the most common issues following a water related emergency is lingering, musty odor in or around the affected area. Many people associate smell with lack of cleanliness, and in the case of water restoration, they are usually correct.

According to Jeff Cross of Cleanfax, if there is a lingering musty or moldy odor, there is moisture left behind, indicating a water restoration job not fully completed. “If it smells wet, it is wet. It can be a challenge to find all moisture on some jobs, but that has to be accomplished.” Says Cross. He indicates that if moisture is left behind, the consequence is mold. For example, if water is extracted from a floor, but there is still moisture that has seeped behind a baseboard, the dark and damp conditions provide ideal conditions for mold to grow. These conditions are also ideal when moisture has affected places such as a crawl space or attic. The key to a successful water restoration is follow up. The technician cannot simply wipe their hands clean of a restoration after extraction has been performed. This is where the professionals at C.M. Cleaning Company have your back.Carpet cleaning services near Boston

In utilizing moisture meters, air movers, industrial grade dehumidifiers, and the most effective mold prevention chemicals, our highly trained technicians aim to reduce any chance of a lingering odor or residual mold growth. Moisture meters help to locate any moisture that has penetrated a surface, so even if you can’t see it, we can find it! When pairing good training with proper equipment and chemicals, there is no restoration job we cannot handle. With health and safety at the forefront of every workplace, you cannot trust just anyone to get the job done, and get the job done right.

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How Dirty is your Child’s School?

The spreading of illness in the workplace is a widespread concern for many companies and employees. High volume of people in a confined space can certainly increase your odds of getting sick. However, with proper cleaning methods and tactics, you can improve your odds. But what about your kids? The same principle of getting sick in an office workplace can certainly apply in your child’s school, and just like in business, school absences are costly to both your child and to the school system in which they are enrolled.How to clean a water fountain

According to ISSA.com, approximately 38 million school days are missed in the United States each year. Students are absent an average of 4.5 days per school year due to illness, and teachers an average of 5.4 days. Studies show that there is a correlation between student absences and dropout rates, with students who are absent more often having a higher chance of dropping out. For teachers and school staff, the loss is more budgetary than socially harmful. Absent teachers can pose a much higher cost to a school than a typical business. Not only is the staff member not present and able to help their students grow, but the monetary cost of hiring a substitute can be substantial.

With costs like these effecting schools yearly, a vicious cycle is formed. With higher costs, a school is forced to make budget cuts. Budgeting issues can often lead to cutbacks in the areas of facilities maintenance and cleaning. However, with cleanliness and maintenance lacking, more people, children and staff, may become sick, thus increasing costs even more. This is why it is always important to have a highly skilled and trained team such as C.M. Cleaning Company to keep your schools clean. Our hands-on approach will ensure your child and school staff’s risk of getting sick is minimized.

C.M. Cleaning utilizes the best practices to ensure cleanliness, specializing in schools. With frequent quality visits and inspections, we take pride in providing the highest quality cleaning available. We know what school “hot spots” to look out for when inspecting, for example, water fountain spigots, door handles, and detail areas most other cleaning companies overlook, can retain more bacteria than most other surfaces in a school, including toilet seats. With a wealth of knowledge to provide the best conditions possible for your school system, the C.M. Cleaning team takes pride in exceeding cleaning expectations while simultaneously improving health.

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Is your Baby Changing Station Truly Clean?

In many public restroom spaces you will find baby changing stations. Since 2016, it is now required that all publically accessible federal buildings must have baby changing stations in both women’s and men’s restrooms. When these types of mandates are put into place, typically private commercial buildings follow suit. So if your facility has or may soon have baby changing stations, then it is of vital importance that they are also cleaned properly.

It should be assumed that parents do not clean the baby changing station after each use. Although some parents may attempt to clean the changing station, it is likely with a disposable sanitary or baby wipe. While this helps over doing nothing at all, it is not the proper method for effectively cleaning and disinfecting a baby changing station. Additionally, it is also mandated that all baby changing stations must include disposable table liners. Nonetheless, the most common germs and bacteria often found on baby stations are coliforms, salmonella, and shigella, all of which arise from fecal matter.

A 2010 study conducted by the University of Colorado Hospital tested baby changing stations for both bacteria and fecal matter. The stations tested included a local mall, a library, different big-box stores, a coffee shop, an airport, a rest stop, three city-owned buildings, a fast-food restaurant, and even a hospital. Among the locations tested, the changing tables in a big-box store and a library tested positive for fecal matter, while changing tables from all of the facilities in the study tested positive for bacteria. This shows that while some facilities do take better care than others, without a proper cleaning regiment in place, your facility’s changing tables may still contain germs and bacteria.

So how exactly should a changing station be cleaned? This where professional knowledge comes into play and is crucial. A changing station should first be cleaned using a pH-neutral cleaner. This will take care of any heavy soils affecting the surface. Next, a proper disinfectant should be applied paying particular attention to dilution and dwell time, both of which are vital to the effectiveness of the chemicals to kill germs and bacteria. If the dilution is incorrect or the chemical does not dwell on the surface for the proper amount of time, it’s effectiveness could be weakened. With C.M. Cleaning Co. taking point in proper education and training, our team will ensure the necessary steps are taken to properly clean and disinfect your facility’s changing stations and help to keep your child healthy.

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Advantages To Maintaining A Clean Workplace

It’s a BIG mistake when building owners or facilities managers view commercial cleaning as only a cost. Commercial cleaning is really an investment. Maintaining a clean environment can pay for itself many times over,  often in unexpected ways!

  • A clean building creates a welcoming atmosphere, often subconsciously encouraging hard work and collective effort. 
Scientific studies have demonstrated the correlation between cleanliness and performance. Approximately 88% of workers feel they were distracted by unkempt learning environments enough that it affected their ability to learn and focus on tasks.

Safe Workplace

  • There’s a direct correlation between a clean work environment and improved employee health. In the United States workforce illness costs about $576 billion a year, when accounting for both workers’ compensation and sick days.
  • A less than spotless office becomes a distraction in that eyesores such as clutter, dust, and stains are essentially like visual noise which pulls attention away from the task at hand. unpleasant odors caused by damp and/or dirty carpeting or neglected trash receptacles would cause distraction adversely affecting both engagement and morale. uncleanliness is a major cause of workplace stress and in some cases employees take the issue into their own hands taking time and energy away from the work they were hired to do, to fix a cleaning problem.
  • A sparkling workplace can be an excellent marketing tool, especially when you’re trying to impress prospective clients.
 Keeping a clean office makes a good impression and conveys an organizational attitude of order, efficiency, attention to detail, and accountability.
  • A regular cleaning program preserves and protects building assets such as carpets, floors, tile surfaces, equipment. It prevents excessive wear and extends lifespans.
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Indoor Air Pollution

Indoor air pollutants can only be seen in severe cases, but their effects can be felt in varying degrees (depending on an individual’s sensitivity) immediately after exposure. Exposure to indoor pollutants can manifest in irritation of the eyes, skin, throat, and respiratory tract.  Headache, dizziness, and cold or flu like symptoms are also triggered by contaminants floating in the air. People’s individual reactions to indoor pollutants vary drastically and in some people with preexisting conditions such as asthma or allergies, exposure to certain particles or gases in the air can cause immediate attack.  Long-term exposure to higher than normal concentrations of indoor pollutants can lead to chronic issues and in the case of some chemicals, can cause fatal disease including cancer.

The air in your home or office can be polluted by a plethora of sources. It is important to be aware of the various types of pollutants to be able to more easily recognize/find the source of any symptoms so that they canCeiling cleaning service be properly eradicated.  Common pollutants include dust, mold, secondhand smoke, and pollens.  When it comes to the more dangerous air pollutants such as asbestos, radon, and cigarette smoke it is crucial to know how to best avoid exposure in large concentrations and/or over prolonged periods of time.

Buildings containing asbestos and those testing positive for elevated levels of radon should be handled professionally in accordance with EPA recommendations/regulations. As for allergens and asthma triggers such as dust, pollens, and mold; harmful levels of pollution can be avoided by maintaining proper ventilation and an effective cleaning regimen.  Having your facilities or home dusted, vacuumed using a clean HEPA filter, and getting specialty floor cleanings such as carpet shampooing done on a consistent basis can go a long way toward eliminating common airborne irritants.  In a commercial setting, a good indication of whether your cleaning service has a handle on indoor air pollution is to look at your ceiling and see if dust has accumulated in the corners and/or in between vents.

At C.M. Cleaning, our commitment to satisfying our clients by getting the job done right and our focus on attention to detail all but guarantee that airborne office allergens and pollutants from dust, pollens, and mold won’t require a second thought. For your greatest protection against the detrimental effects of indoor air pollution, be aware of whether your building contains asbestos and/or elevated levels of radon so that you can follow the proper procedures for dealing with these issues, and do not smoke inside.