James Nokes Editor

Email address: jfntci@aol.com The Cleaning Institute 955 Karol Way, #3 San Leandro, CA 94577

As I said in the introduction above, I found these first three PDF files by using the words: "hardwood floors"+PDF exactly like that, for a Google search. I found these three PDF files within the first few articles listed on the first page of results.

1. How to Strip Floors - 2 pages long, no illustration. While a two page article on stripping floors isn't the most exciting reading in the world, give whoever wrote this his due. It gives thorough and easy to follow instructions on how to strip a floor. If you have never done this type of job before you can learn the right way to do it by reading this PDF. Here's a quote from the article:
   
   How many coats do I need?
   
   A general rule of thumb is, apply enough even coats so the floor “Looks Wet When It’s Dry”. This can usually be accomplished with 3-5 coats of finish.
   
   It was a while ago now, but that's pretty how my first boss explained it to me when I was learning to strip floors. You can find the article itself here:
   How-To-Strip-Floors.pdf
   
   
   
2. You can find a companion article from the same website here: How-To-Mop-Floors.pdf
   
   This is also a 2 page long article, with a surprisingly good description of exactly how to mop a floor properly. This is not a minor thing by-the-way properly mopping a floor is not just a question of slopping some water on and swishing it around. Doing it right is quicker, easier on your back, and will produce better results than the old slop and swirl approach people use when nobody ever showed them how to do it right. Plus it has information on which type of mop is best for different jobs.
   
   So if you're not quite sure what type of mop to use for: Daily Mopping, Floor Drying, or Applying Floor Finish; this is the place to learn.

   Note: Along with the various PDf files on this site, it also has a great deal of cleaning related information in plain old HTML. These include but are not limited to articles on:
      Dust Mites
      the Ph Scale
      Soap - How it Works
      Maintenance Tips - which is a whole slew of separate little articles on how to properly maintain your cleaning equipment; such as dust mops, wet mops and cleaning pads.
   
   You can check them all out at:
   parish-supply.com/cleaning_tips.htm

3. This is a one page long PDF poster with around a dozen illustrations teaching you the do's and don't's of hardwood floor cleaning. Here's a little quote from their poster:
   
   Wipe spills and water with a DRY cloth or sponge Clean with Hardwood Floor Cleaner -- which in my opinion is excellent advice, hardwood floors are never to be cleaned with water, despite what many amateur cleaners might think.

   You can find it here: Hardwood Floor Poster.pdf

4. Safety is a great selling point for any cleaning company these days. C&S Cleaning, Inc. out of Kansas makes this poster available to anyone who visits their site:
   Ten Best Ways to Avoid Slip and Fall Accidents

   As they say in their poster: Learn how to prevent one of the most common workplace accidents before you end up paying out huge claims!

5. The Green Seal non-profit organization was created to set the Environmental Standard for Cleaning Services. Here's a quote from their 18 page long document

   Green Seal is a non-profit organization devoted to setting environmental standards, product certification, and public education. Green Seal’s mission is to work towards environmental sustainability by identifying and promoting environmentally responsible products, purchasing, and production. Through its standard setting, certification and education programs, Green Seal:

   • Identifies products that are designed and manufactured in an environmentally responsible manner;
   • Offers scientific analyses to help consumers make educated purchasing decisions regarding environmental impacts;
   • Ensures consumers that any product bearing the Green Seal Certification Mark has earned the right to use it; and
   • Encourages manufacturers to develop new products that are significantly less damaging to the environment than their predecessors.

   You can find it at: Green Seal Certification

6. This article is by the American Lung Association of Washington:
   Get the Deep Dust out of Carpets
   
   Want to convince a family with small children that they should use your cleaning service? Here's a quote you might want to use:
   
   Many infants crawling on carpets are exposed to high levels of pollutants. They eat the most dust at the same time their brains and other organs are developing. If you are concerned about the effects of the environment on your children, a good place to start is to get the deep dust out of carpets. Five to 20 times as much dust may remain in older carpets as is removed by normal vacuuming.
   
   
7. This is the Environmentally Preferable Janitorial Cleaning Products for Commercial Applications Fact Sheet

   It was produced as a result of the collaboration between various State and City governments in an effort to create an authoratative list of 'green' cleaning products. It's 10 pages long and has a wealth of links to other sites which are also sources of valuable information

   
   

8. This one is from the O'Dell Corp. A manufacturing company that produces quality cleaning products. It's 10 pages long and I really like this one.

   It gives very clear explainations of all the different type of mops on the market. I know this might not sound too exciting but it actually is kind of interesting. And they're correct when they say that more expensive mops usually end up being cheaper (can be laundered and last a long time) and help to produce better results with less effort. Labor is far and away the biggest expense in professional cleaning services so it makes sense to invest in better cleaning tools and supplies to reduce your labor costs.

   Comparing Mop Yarns and Cuts
   
   

   Here is a nice article about O'Dell from Cleaning & Maintenance Management Online, it's in plain old HTML:    O'Dell Corp. Mops
   To give you an idea of what it's about, here's a few words from the article:
   
   Upgrading from a cut end mop to even the most modest of looped end styles has been proven to reduce total usage by at least 50%. When implementing the use of higher quality launderable blended yarn loop mops, long term costs are reduced much more drastically due to the product's life cycle being anywhere from ten to fifty times longer than economy cut end mops. From a standpoint of labor savings, looped end products are much more efficient to use. They provide complete floor coverage with each pass of the mop, rather than creating gaps between the strands of yarn that leave behind missed spots that must be mopped over and over again.

9. One of the nice things about advertisements for cleaning products is that often times they can be used to convince potential clients that your cleaning service provides a superior quality, green cleaning service. This is a 1 page brochure telling about the virtues of using a precious metal to fight bacteria.

   Want to see what a Sterling Silver mop looks like?

10. And as for Indoor Air Quality - Don't Get Me Started!
    
    

    There is a vast amount of information on this subject available for cleaners. That's because there is a vast amount of concern about it in the general population. From schools and hospitals, to office buildings and private homes, people worry about IAQ.

    Carpet cleaners especially should learn all they possibly can about the subject. Here is a quote from a 1 page long but information packed fact sheet

    ADVANTAGES / SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS:
    • Odorless, non-offensive to user and occupant.
    • Especially welcomed by professional cleaners and occupants of enclosed, centrally-ventilated buildings where occupants are subject to the effects of all toxic discharges within the building, including those from building and maintenance products.
    • When used in conjunction with SafeChoice Carpet Seal and SafeChoice Lock Out, provides a unique system for reducing the effects of carpet toxicity.
    • Safely used by and for the chemically sensitive.
    • Reduces indoor air pollution from soiled carpets.
    
    For Safechoice® Carpet Shampoo

    And, just to give you an idea of the range of issues that come under the heading of Indoor Air Quality, here is a 4 page article by the State of California on Mold Remediation For any of you interested in this kind of work, this is an excellent place to get started.

    And even if you don't have any immediate interest in doing mold remediation work, it's a good source of general information on a subject that any cleaning business owner should know something about.

    Here'a brief quote from their introduction, "... It describes health concerns related to mold exposure, and it also provides general guidelines on prevention, mold detection, as well as cleanup of mold -contaminated materials. Additional resources and documents are referenced."

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