What's your time worth?

I'd like to talk about an economics term- 'Opportunity Costs'.
What this term relates to is the cost/loss are you suffering from choosing to do one thing over another with your time.

Let's relate this to cleaning...

For instance:
If I choose to clean my own home versus hiring a professional cleaning service to do it, what costs/losses are associated with the time I spend doing this?
I don't mean the cost of the cleaning supplies and equipment but rather, what am I not doing, that I could be doing, if I wasn't cleaning my home?

Now I know hiring a service to clean your home costs money but it costs you more than just dollars, it costs you time. So let's take a look at what we could be doing instead of cleaning and the potential costs/losses associated with it.

1. I could be cleaning someone else's home, which actually makes me money! So if I clean my own home instead of working, I am losing those dollars. Example: Let's say it costs $90 to have my house cleaned and, while having my house cleaned, I clean someone else's house for $120. I just made a $30 profit and have a clean home too!
2. I could be selling/marketing/blogging, which doesn't make me money but does increase my chance to gain clients so again, I am losing the opportunity to make money. Example: Again, it costs me $90 to have my house cleaned but I get 3 calls from the marketing campaign I worked on while my house was getting cleaned and I actually sell 1 of those clients for a $120 recurring cleaning service. 
3. I could be spending time with my family. This doesn't make me money but it makes me, and my family happy!  
4. I could be exercising! Oh shoot, I just found time to exercise!?!? And what's more important, a clean home or a clean bill of health? Example: It costs me $90 to have my house cleaned but I choose to do it myself thus not having the time to exercise. Not exercising leads to muscle loss which leads to a lower back issue which I have to go to the doctor for. The doctor send me to a specialist who needs to do some expensive procedure which costs me way more than that $90 maid service.
5. I could be just plain ole relaxing! In this hectic life style we've created, taking time just to relax is a must for your sanity! 

It all boils down to what is your time worth? For me, it's worth much more than what I would pay to have my house cleaned and I'm sure you feel the same. You would be greatly surprised just how affordable a cleaning service for your home is especially after you factor in the Opportunity Cost associated with your time.

So I ask you, what is your time worth? 

Get your FREE maid service estimate by visiting our website at www.cleanrightco.com or calling (509) 534-3343

Erica Jensen -President

Clean Right Company

(509) 534-3343

Servicing Spokane, WA and surrounding areas.

Kitchen Cleaning Tips and Tricks

The kitchen is another area of the home that most people are not too keen on cleaning. But, it doesn't have to be as big of a chore as it seems. Let me share some tips and tricks for getting, and keeping, your kitchen clean (even if you cook in it!!).

• The Microwave: Ever open your microwave to find, what looks like, a bomb has gone off in it? We come across this often in our industry in both commercial and residential settings. Because you use this appliance to cook food, you don't want to use a chemical cleaning agent to clean up the mess. So what can you do? Take a towel and get it damp, place it in the microwave and nuke it for 60 seconds. Once the dinger goes off, let it sit, with the door closed, for another 60 seconds. (You can use this down time to wipe the back splash and counter tops!) Now open the microwave and use that warm towel to wipe away the mess. What happens is you are creating a steam bath in your microwave that loosens the stuck on junk. Make sure you wait that second 60 seconds so you don't burn your hands on the hot towel!

• The Fridge: I've already done an extensive post on cleaning and organizing your fridge. Check it out!  http://cleanrightco.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-about-fridge.html

• The Oven: Yuk! The oven is one of the cleaning tasks everyone dreads. But, here are some tips to make it a job that isn't so bad. First, use the self cleaning mode, if you have one. Sure it's gonna heat your house up and, usually, stink it up too but, it sure beats scraping and scrubbing all that gunk from the bottom of the oven. Once the self cleaner ends, open the door and wipe out the ash. Any remaining gunk can be scraped out with a razor or scrubbed out with a piece of fine grade steel wool. If you aren't lucky enough to have a self cleaner or just don't want to use it, there are a couple choices you have. 1- use a chemical oven cleaner. Spray it in, let it sit, scrape up the gunk and scrub out the left overs with a piece of fine grade steel wool. 2 -if you don't want to use chemicals your are going to have to put some elbow grease into it. First, scrape out as much gunk as you can with a razor. Then put some water in an oven safe container and turn your oven on a low temp. Close the door and heat the water till it steams the inside of your oven. Let the steam work over the gunk for as long as you want but make sure you don't let it go so long that all the water evaporates and you end up cooking the gunk back on. Turn the oven off and let it cool. Once it has had a chance to cool down, wipe out the gunk. You may need to use a piece of steel wool to get any left overs. Another helpful tool for an oven is a pumice stone. Yes, a pumice stone. The inside of your oven is made of porcelain, just like your toilet, and a pumice stone will scour out those stubborn stains. Tip: Don't let your oven get out of control. Wipe out the spills and splashes as soon as you notice them. Of course, make sure your oven is cool before you do it!

• The Garbage Disposal: Oh my how these things can get stinky! Once a week you should sprinkle some baking soda down the disposal drain and then pour some vinegar down it till the foam fills the drain and comes through into your sink. Not only is it fun but it cleans out the drain! After that run HOT water down the drain for a minute or so. Once I do that I like to take half a lemon and grind it up in the disposal. Tip: When your dishwasher is draining, turn your disposal on while it does it. The water draining from your dishwasher is super heated (as long as you have that button selected on your dishwasher) and will help clean out the drain and blades of your disposal.

That's it for this week! Hope you've enjoyed ~Erica Jensen, President of Clean Right Company in Spokane, WA

Want a clean kitchen but would rather spend the time with friends and family? No problem! Give Clean Right Company a call and we'll do it for you (along with the rest of your house!) (509) 534-3343 or visit www.cleanrightco.com for more information on Clean Right Company and the cleaning services we offer.

Did you smell that smell?

Smell is a very powerful sense. It invokes memories, emotions, cravings & behaviors. Our sense of smell is also 70%-75% responsible for the way things taste and impacts us 24 hours a day. We take 26,000 breathes a day and are able to distinguish over 10,000 different aromas. In the cleaning industry smell is a very important part of our job. The first experience a customer has when they walk in their home or office after a cleaning is the smell. 


Aromatherapy, the practice of using essential oils taken from plants, flowers, roots, seeds, etc., in healing,  is meant for psychological and physical well being. Though aromatherapy has been practiced for thousands of years, dating back to the ancient Egyptians and the Vedic culture of India, where plant extracts and medicinal plants were widely used, there is much more scientific research being done for both fields today. ~serendip

Aromatherapy is being used to:

• Promote relaxation and reduce stress
• Improve work performance
• Elevate mood and reduce depression
• Modify sleep and dreams
• Enhance self-image
• Retrieve memories
• Enhance sexuality
• Improve social relationships

What smells do you associate with clean?

Clean laundry is associated with a bright floral scent including a faint smell of bleach perhaps. Or maybe you enjoy a citrus-y scent or a slightly spicy smell. Whatever the scent, we associate clean with scents including bleach, lemon/citrus, lavender and pine. There is an ever growing market of cleaning agents with different fragrances to choose from so you can customize your aroma-therapeutic environment. 

Citing:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1887

Hiring an Independent Cleaner versus a Professional Cleaning Service.... What's the difference?

When most people consider hiring a cleaning service for their home, the most common questions they have include; What price am I willing to pay for the service? What areas of my home do I want cleaned? and How often do I want service? 

What most people are not aware of are the differences between hiring an Independent Cleaner and a Professional Cleaning Service. This is one of the more complicated, and possibly dangerous, things to consider. There are numerous laws, both state and federal, surrounding employment, worker's compensation, taxes, and payroll that you would have to research and follow if you didn't have Clean Right Company as your home cleaning service.

Below are three legal facts you should know before hiring an independent cleaning service.

FACT 1. If you pay more than $1700 per year to an independent housecleaner, you must sign up for an Employer ID Number with the IRS. You are required to pay Social Security and Medicare (also known as FICA) and Federal Unemployment Tax. You may also be liable for Federal Income Tax withholding, state taxes and disability taxes. These taxes become part of your personal tax liability and must be reported on your Form 1040. Penalties for non-payment include interest penalties and fines.
(For the entire list of forms to be completed, see this page on the IRS website .)

FACT 2. You must verify that the person is legally allowed to work in the United States by having them complete the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form. Penalties for hiring illegal aliens range from $250 to $10,000. You should keep a signed W-4 form on file for each employee; you may also want to keep a photocopy of each employee's Social Security card. (For the entire list of forms to be completed, see this page on the IRS website .

FACT 3. Make sure that your homeowners' insurance includes a liability clause in case your employee gets injured at your home. At least $300,000 in liability protection is recommended, but up to $1 million in an umbrella or excess liability policy may be needed to protect you. You also may be liable for workers' compensation payments that would not be covered by your homeowner's insurance. See this page for workers compensation laws in your state.

If you hire a professional home cleaning service, like Clean Right Company, all of these concerns will be taken care of for you. We are the employer, so you don't have to worry about filing with the IRS for an employer ID number. We also verify that each employee is legally allowed to work in the U.S. and we have all of the insurance that covers any accident that happens in your home. Not only that but Clean Right Company diligently screen each of our staff members to ensure we are hiring honest, dependable and hard working individuals. Once hired, each of our team members are put through a rigorous training program teaching them Clean Right Company's unique cleaning system which has been developed to provide a thorough, quality clean each and every time.