Hunterdon County will continue using a janitorial service to clean county buildings, a service it outsourced in 2011 instead of using county employees to do the work.

The Freeholders at their meeting Tuesday night voted to hire Maverick Building Services of Rutherford. It submitted the low bid of $516,384 to do the work for two years. A total of seven firms put in proposals.

Also the Freeholders OK'd the purchase of snow plows for dump trucks they'd bought earlier for the Road Department.

A Mercer County company, All Clean Building Services, has provided the janitors for the past four years. The Freeholders twice voted to extend the initial two-year contract; it now runs through until Feb. 28. It is being paid $269,934 for its final year.

When the county initially hired All Clean in February 2011, it eliminated the jobs of 15 people who had cleaned the various buildings. The Freeholders said then that the annual cost was about a third of the $791,000 the county was spending in wages and benefits to have its custodians do the work each year.

Freeholder Rob Walton remarked on the savings of at least $400,000 a year. While union leaders and a few other county employees have periodically complained that the buildings are not being cleaned as well as when their colleagues did the work, no objections have been voiced at recent Freeholder meetings.

The board approved a $188,888 contract for 10 Gledhill plows and six Gledhill patrol wings, with Henderson Products, Inc. The wings go on the right side of the truck, allowing snow on road-side banks to be pushed back.

More at source: NJ.com

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1. Extend your cleaning reach. With today’s homes and soaring ceilings, reaching those tall places without a ladder may seem impossible. But the Extendable Pole Cleaning System has attachments for all your high household jobs. $49.95-$179.95, williams-sonoma.com.

2. Ditch the dryer sheets. If you’re tired of finding dryer sheets stuck to your clothes, go with a natural alternative made of lamb’s wool. Woolzies Drying Balls come in a set of three and agitate your laundry while providing the natural softening power of wool. $19.95, crateandbarrel.com.

3. Choose your own cleaning solutions. Sometimes, you like the scent of your favorite cleaner. Other times, you just want to use your own cleaner on your floors. The Rubbermaid Reveal Microfiber Spray Mop has a wide, microfiber mop head and a refillable bottle so you can squirt the cleaner of your choice as you go. $19, homedepot.com.

4. Organize your cleaning tools. If your brooms and mops are slumped in the corner of your laundry room, tidy up with the Evriholder, a five-position wall organizer. $17, walmart.com.

More at source: Charlotte Observer

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Imagine you could replace every bottle of cleaning product cluttering up the space under your sink with only three things. 

It may seem too good to be true, but cleaning expert Jan M. Dougherty has done just that — and she's sharing her secrets with TODAY.

Alexander Raths / Shutterstock

“I’ve run my business for 10 years, cleaning 100 houses a week with my crew,” says Dougherty, author of "The Lost Art of Housecleaning."  "And I only use three products in my business and in my home." 

Those three products are:

• Krud Kutter, a biodegradable, non-toxic cleaner/degreaser
  
• Undiluted white vinegar
  
• Old English Lemon Oil

When it comes to cleaning products, I'm kind of a delicate flower. Strong chemical smells make me gag, and the fumes give me a headache long after the rest of my family has stopped noticing them.

To avoid harsh chemicals, I find myself spending a ridiculous amount of money on natural cleaning products at stores like Whole Foods. I wanted to try making homemade cleaning products, so I turned to local sustainable living consultant and author Linda Mason Hunter for guidance.

I decided to clean our house's bathrooms with recipes from Hunter's book "Green Clean: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home." The recipes were easy to make and featured simple ingredients, most of which I already had in my cupboard — baking soda, distilled white vinegar, Castile soap, essential oil and tea tree oil.

Mirror, countertop, and shower stall: I added ½ cup distilled white vinegar to two cups water in a spray bottle and cleaned as I would with any spray cleaner. Hunter said this will keep for months.

More at source: Desmoines Register

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Video and more at source: ABC

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The old storefronts will soon work together on E Pike just above 13th

As often happens, news of the longtime business closing sparked an outpouring of support among regular customers — so much so that McDonnell is now considering running a pared down business out of Dave’s Appliance shop just up the block.

As a young boy, McDonnell was quickly ushered into his father’s grown-up world. Dick McDonnell was a longtime Seattle horse breeder and boxing promoter and coach. Dennis grew up surrounded by horses and boxing, topics he’s much more interested in talking about than Central Vacuum’s seven decade run.

The shop is filled with images of McDonnell’s favorite boxers and horses, many with Seattle ties. He jumps from one picture to the next, telling stories of gambling and drinking with a strident laugh that causes him to hunch over. There were nights at Swannies Sports Bar, rubbing elbows with comedians who were playing the Comedy Underground and countless afternoons spent betting atLongacres Ractrack in Renton before it was torn down in 1992

“Our family is fun dysfunctional,” McDonnell said. “The vacuum business kind of held it all together.”

The business hasn’t changed that much over the years, including the prices — McDonnell hasn’t raised his $20 service charge in 25 years. In the past, Central Vacuum had clients from hotel and janitorial companies. Most of those clients have gone away, leaving mostly individuals and a few property owners who continue to use old vacuums.

McDonnell grew up in Issaquah and started working in his father’s vacuum shop when he was 16. It’s not the job he imagined he would spend most of his adult life doing, but McDonnell has few regrets.

More at source: Capitol Hill Seattle

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DETROIT (Legal Newsline) - Former employere of a janitorial cleaning service company filed a lawsuit on Jan. 15 against the business alleging they were owed overtime pay.

Johnny Cody, Leeanne Snow, Alfred Sanders and Anthony Claiborne filed the class action suit against Michigan-based U.S. Servico, Inc. and its owner Brian Rogers in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The plaintiffs said they served as operations manager, supervisors, crew leaders and janitors, but were all exempt from overtime pay based on U.S. Servico's policy.

Their job title, however, meant little in terms of their responsibilities, according to the lawsuit.

More at source: Washington Examiner

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The business was founded in September of 2014 and is run by husband-and-wife team Nathan and Valerie Schuett. Nathan and Valerie combine their talents perfectly for the sake of their customers. Between them there’s a staggering 40 years of experience. In time their daughter will be joining this family-run business. N&V Helping Hands provides its services to homes and businesses in Guelph and the surrounding region.

N&V Helping Hands has all the right attributes to make the company thrive with its customer-focused ethic and commitment to provide the finest possiblecleaning services. Nathan and Valerie have a deep appreciation for the importance of having a clean home and take their responsibilities in the role quite seriously.

There’s a very significant value attached to having a clean living and work environment. Maintaining a tidy, hygienic home and work space can be critically important to children, the aged, and to anyone who might suffer with the challenges of a compromised immune system. N&V Helping Hands understands this. Challenges that might come from unclean indoor environments includes health threats caused by dander and pet dander, dust and dust mites, bacteria, pathogens, and the dangers of mould. Any of these common household and workplace health hazards can pose serious problems to the inhabitants, 

More at source: Guelph Mercury

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