gordonswindows

  • Posts: 563
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #20 on: September 21, 2010, 09:06:13 am »
No more like an "egg hunt:
Don't Give Up
@askforthemoney

Adam P

  • Posts: 1443
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #21 on: September 28, 2010, 12:16:07 am »
...

for someone who appears so against this eco stuff it's odd that you can't stay out of this thread.

i offer only eco from one of the businesses i trade under (it's in the sig but can also be found at new site www.cleansurrey.co.uk) and customers do really like the idea. The idea is not that it saves the earth but that the chemicals are far less harsh so less of a risk to your health. i started using eco products as i used to work for a company that would provide all sorts of nasties and it really bugged me. that is the benefit of being eco. anyone can clean a house/office, but few will clean using the eco products leaving a cleaner clean ;)

kelley: i've mentioned before but perhaps you didn't see my reply. MDR which can be bought from window clean centre is a fantastic limescale remover, really really fantastic for taps and showers, not so good for putting down the loo though. it's 6 times more expensive then the cheaper harsh chemicals like harpic but it lasts longer then 6 times the amount harpic does as a little goes a long way and it makes life so much easier as it's very thick and far easier to deal with (doesn't smell and far kinder to your skin). only downside to mdr i find is on very bad limescale doors it can take a bit longer to get off.

for general cleaning i find eco products work good enough and should be used. you'll come across odd problems and perhaps take a little longer to find an alternative but there usually is a green alternative which does the job.

for deep cleaning i find most jobs can be done with eco products still but you will come across mould and grease which eco products aren't up to the job of cleaning in a decent amount of time. this is why we also trade under another name so we can offer a deep deep cleaning service, and a cleaner clean cleaning service :D

sgray: imo you shouldn't offer the 2 types of products as a choice. once you get to know what are the alternatives to the typical products you can be confident enough to offer green unless it's really bad and focus on that far more. i see companies say green cleaning isn't something customers care about and it doesn't sell, but they only put a little paragraph at the bottom of the site saying "we can also offer green chemicals." doesn't put much confidence in that style of cleaning and will be something most of their customers wont be bothered about as they aren't really selling the idea.

email me if you have any questions.

kelley

  • Posts: 47
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #22 on: September 28, 2010, 10:55:43 am »
Quote
kelley: i've mentioned before but perhaps you didn't see my reply. MDR which can be bought from window clean centre is a fantastic limescale remover, really really fantastic for taps and showers, not so good for putting down the loo though. it's 6 times more expensive then the cheaper harsh chemicals like harpic but it lasts longer then 6 times the amount harpic does as a little goes a long way and it makes life so much easier as it's very thick and far easier to deal with (doesn't smell and far kinder to your skin). only downside to mdr i find is on very bad limescale doors it can take a bit longer to get off.

hadnt seen it before but i have now!!  ;D

i sent a phone call your way a couple of weeks ago. did they mention me!!?  :)

Adam P

  • Posts: 1443
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #23 on: September 28, 2010, 04:48:14 pm »
what was the clean for? not had anyone mention you sent them our way but have someone booked for next week who said another company had suggested us but yet to find out who ??? the property is in milford

kelley

  • Posts: 47
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #24 on: September 28, 2010, 06:27:56 pm »
what was the clean for? not had anyone mention you sent them our way but have someone booked for next week who said another company had suggested us but yet to find out who ??? the property is in milford

it was a lady in camberley. a one off big clean but really short notice. one of her friends children had got really sick and she wanted a big clean to get her friends house deep cleaned. wanted eco friendly ideally as i think the child was having chemo.
we couldnt do it as it was too short notice but i gave them your number and said you may be able to help!

Adam P

  • Posts: 1443
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #25 on: September 28, 2010, 09:13:05 pm »
ah no Camberley cleans recently so not sure what she decided to do. i appreciate the recommendation though :)

Phild

  • Posts: 203
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #26 on: September 28, 2010, 10:41:54 pm »
Interesting thread: Lots of different views. We were awarded ISO14001 the other day which is a basically a 'badge' which recognises that as a company we are working in a 'greener' direction. It gives a message about where we are coming from as a business. I have completed tender documents for many years and the days of saying "we are working towards...etc" are only acceptable to a certain level of customer. If that's your market, that's fine but that is a very competitive area to be in. Perhaps almost price-shopping? That's fine if your just trying to get on the 1st rung but ............hey-ho, I started as a window cleaner so I'm into ladders ( and snakes now and then) so I think you have always got to keep progressing and adding value to whatever you are doing (and selling so stop thinking you are running a cleaning business - you're selling a service, your business!).

It's not just about using citric acids instead of Harpic or this product instead of that one, it's a mindset and one which can sit very comfortably with making money. You are in business aren't you?

For example: (....and these are just things we are doing or thinking about but they are the direction we are AIMING for i.e. it's a road your travelling along not a destination that you reach overnight)


1) Where you can, use the least aggressive product. It saves on protective gear aka P.P.E. (personal protective equipment), it's easier to store, transport and dispense.
2) How can you reduce mileage? Smaller more efficient vans?, Trackers to drill down?
3) How do you dispose of basic rubbish? Can you help your customet do it better? Sort stuff, compress stuff.
4) Ever thought of using cotton nappies as wipes? Great product, easily laundered and used over and over again. We were cleaning student accomodation last week - a £50k job and saved £200 quid using their laundry (with permission) to clean the cloths we were using.... customers see the green angle and want to join in!
5) Micro fibre cloths where appropriate and a simple spray bottle of water instead of chemicals ( remember don't spend too long saving on your chemical costs as they are a FRACTION of your labour costs... so that's the real area to concentrate on if you want to 'save' resources).

I could go on for hours but I don't want to be a boring know-it-all. If anyone wants more ideas e-mail me and I will try and expain further but only to completed profiles :-) PhilD

kelley

  • Posts: 47
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #27 on: October 01, 2010, 04:42:07 pm »
clean surrey,


did you get my email  i sent you last night?


kelley

Adam P

  • Posts: 1443
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #28 on: October 01, 2010, 04:55:06 pm »
replying to it now

kelley

  • Posts: 47
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #29 on: October 01, 2010, 10:44:03 pm »
replying to it now


didt receive anything   ???   not sure if you didnt send it or its my email!

Adam P

  • Posts: 1443
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #30 on: October 01, 2010, 10:47:28 pm »
sorry my reply is slow. it's half way on it's way to you and is next on my to do list

kelley

  • Posts: 47
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #31 on: October 01, 2010, 11:04:44 pm »
sorry my reply is slow. it's half way on it's way to you and is next on my to do list


oooh ok no worries. not trying to stalk you or anything like that, switched my server and email seems to be playing up a little. it had me a bit panicked that i might be missing out on work if people are trying to email!!


Grant Whyte

  • Posts: 114
Re: ECO FRIENDLY CLEANING, ARE THE CHEMICALS ADEQUATE
« Reply #32 on: October 02, 2010, 01:02:23 pm »
Hi

Put simply, green cleaning is 'cleaning to protect health without harming the environment'. Green cleaning is evolving beyond a specific product or service and is a concept similar to "total quality management and continuous improvement". It focuses on the entire effort to maintain a healthy, safe and attractive building while minimising any harmful impacts on occupants, cleaning people and the environment.

Green/eco friendly products exist on a continuum of less harmful to most harmful - all chemicals have an impact on our health and the environment. It's taken a lot and continues to take time to constantly evaluate products, methods and one's own practice to find a best practice, even that changes.

For products, there's no nationally agreed standard, the EU has its system, the US has a couple and they're mostly subscriber based, the big company's have there's. Others like the purists have their own systems for labeling.

To experiment, we tried a few and used them for extended periods, then changed to others to compare - we're convinced that eco-friendly products have distinct benefits for us and our customers. We try to be balanced in our approach, for some tasks like the one's mentioned we will use products that may have a higher environmental impact.

handwerka