[micsampip]

  Hi everyone,

I am new to this site and to the domestic cleaning business but have been doing plenty of research.

I am interested in cleaning with Eco Friendly products for my own, employees and customers health - as well as environmental reasons.

Has anyone got any thoughts or comments on this?

P.S. I have just got my first one off clean. Large 4 bed detached covered in a fine layer of builders dust - they want a sparkle clean. They have accepted my quote of £180. Would this sound reasonable?

Lisa 

[adl]

Chemspec do a product called ecogent this is totally enviromentally friendly

regards Dave ADL

[premiermaids]

I use the Ecover range of products.

Their website is www.ecover.com and some products are available from many supermarkets and many health food shops stock the full range.

The products are very good.

Regards

Jim

[micsampip]

  Thanks for the replies.

I've just received some Ecover products through the post and have been using them around my house. I like the fact that I'm not choking on the fumes as I'm using them.

Have you had much feedback from your customers with regards to using these products?

Lisa

P.S. I sent for the Ecover products via www.everydayonthe.net and they only charge £1 for delivery - no matter how many products you order. Delivery took 7 days.

[Mike_Boxall]

Lisa

You need to be careful with certain products that claim to be 'environmentally friendly'. A lot of organisations (distributors and manufacturers) are guilty of misrepresentation!

Take 'biodegradable' for example. The Detergents Directive says that all cleaning products should be biodegradable but simply being biodegradable doesn't make them envionmentally sound. Certain products may break down into other hazardous substances which are potentially more hazardous, such as phosphates, for example.

Other people assume that because something is natural then it must be good for the environment - not so. Orange extracts and d-limonene do not biodegrade and are extremely toxic to fish.

It may also be that although the products themselves are 'environmetally acceptable' the way they are manufactured isn't. Lots of companies profess to sell 'green' products but actually create a lot of waste by-products as a result. The classic example is recylcled tissue paper. Sounds great until you consider how much chemical is used to bleach it.

Our supplier, Selden Research, are not necessarily known for their environmental policy and yet they pioneered the Industrys first bio-reactor treatment facility that digests 100% of their chemical waste. They continue to be the only company in the industry to do so.

I don't want to put you off - just be aware that there is a lot of 'hype' out there.

Regards

Mike

[micsampip]

  Thanks Mike,

I have taken your advice on board. There's obviously more to being environmentally friendly than I first realised.

From a handling point of view I wondered if there might be less absence due to headaches or respiratory problems with employees - that is if there is a lot of absence due to these problems of course!!!

Lisa 

[Sarah2005]

Welcome to the site 

I am also going into eco friendly cleaning products for the same reasons and wow does it take some research.  I contacted Ecover which I am considering and do think you do have to be careful about making sure products are what they claim, which has been pointed out already in this thread.  I believe Ecover are a trusted brand, however am still researching....sometimes though the more research you do the more frustrating it gets as you find a recommended product by one foundation and then another site will slate it 

I am still setting up myself, although I have also done a one-off job to date with weekly cleans to follow once my client gets back from her 6 week trip to Italy.  Saying that I have also just done a painting and decorating job at my Sisters which has been a nice little earner to go towards my products and equipment.  My one off clean was a new build clean which I got £235 for on a very large 6 bed house with 4 bathrooms and the Client worked with me and it did take 2 days, so £180 sounds fine to me, although I am not really experienced enough to advise    The only thing to be aware of is timing of jobs which can only come with experience.  I was kindly given advice from Martin which helped me to charge my client and work out the time it will take which I had already guessed as 2 days when I visited the client, this price also took into account she can pass me onto clients in the future as she could have paid more than that which I made her aware of.  I have my business cards now and am currently ordering in equipment so not to much more to do now, I can see myself up and running by the beginning of June and have people interested in my service from courses I have attended in setting up my business.

Good Luck 

[maggie67]

Hi there & welcome

There are many kitchen cupboard items which can be used as cleaning agents.

Vinegar, great for limescale and cleaning windows, bicarbonate of soda, lemon great degreaser. Refer to the 'how clean is your home' book. Most of the good old fashioned remedies are provided in this!

Sparkle cleaning prices can vary greatly. £180.00 sounds very competitive to me and therefore should give you more business in the future but I am in the South East and I know prices/labour costs can vary greatly depending on the location you are in.

Anyway good luck wishing you well with your new venture

Maggie

[micsampip]

  Thanks for the advice Sarah2005 and Maggie67.

I have found white vinegar to be a Godsend when it comes to windows. I also mixed it with olive oil 2 parts to 3 and cleaned half of my oak sideboard with it and compared it to the other half which I had done with a standard polish containing beeswax. The vinegar solution won hands down.

I started my sparkle clean today (the one quoted for £180). Did I mention that it is a huge 4 bed farmhouse, with over 40 oak beams and oak panelling throughout. It is packed full of enormous oak furniture and crammed with foreign nic nacs in every room except the childrens which are filled to the brim with toys. No electric for half the day so most of the dusting done by hand and no running water. I was going to leave complimentary flowers on their kitchen table but I think they should buy me some!!   I am only joking.

I have actually really enjoyed my day.

It has been a steep learning curve. I underestimated the time it would take me. Also because it is an old house it is almost impossible to remove all of the dust. Sometimes dusting round the oak crevises and the old plaster creates dust. The amount of furniture and nic nacs also makes a difference to the time it takes. In hindsight I wish I'd have quoted separately for windows and beams.

However this one off job might lead to a permanent contract cleaning the owners offices. So I can't ask for more than that!

Lisa 

[Sarah2005]

Glad you enjoyed your day, I was really enjoyed my first job, especially when you see the results of your hard work    As newbies, we are bound to underestimate in the beginning, so don't worry it's all a learning curve and if you get more work from it then that makes up for it anyway, plus you enjoyed it and did make money    The property I did was empty, so I managed to do what I set out to do, however with all that furniture around at the farmhouse, it must have been a lot of work and the beams 

Maggie, I have that book    Thanks for your reply by the way, I had finally managed to track them down, literally just that minute faxed an order when I got your reply, so had to ring and cancel it as I had spent a fortune on the mops, well the spare heads anyway, he, he.  Did order one anyway (went for the premium one) as won't be able to get to John Lewis at the moment as too busy and stocked up on my microfibre cloths too    Oh and just thought I better let you know the number you put on that thread for them was wrong so you may want to edit it as I got through to some poor lady and went into how I wanted to order some microfibre products.....   She is probably getting loads of calls from Cleaners, he, he.  It was just the last digit, you put a 6 instead of a 9 oops 

Anyway have a great weekend as I am going to busy tomorrow getting ready for a weekend in Brighton with the girls for my friends hen night....can't wait! 

Sarah 

[maggie67]

Hi Sarah

Tempted to join you on saturday, you are less than an hour away (Ha! Ha! )

Seriously you will be more than impressed with your mops/cloths & that book is brilliant but time consuming although I s'pose its a learning curve and once you get used to which natural product does what you don't think twice about it!

Lisa, sounds like more than a sparkle clean, these are usually carried out prior to furniture & posessions going in. I would have been charging an awful lot more! Well done for getting it done. As a matter of interest how long did it take you and how many pairs of hands??

Ooops re number for norwex, will try to work out how to revise my posting - Thanks Sarah for pointing that one out!

Maggie

[Sarah2005]

Maggie

To edit a post just go to that post and click on the modify button at the top, this allows you to make any changes and then you select save at the end    The even funnier thing was I had called the number earlier in the day and got an answering machine (one of those electronic voice ones from the telecommunications company) and left a message with my enquiry and all my details.  At the time I thought how unprofessional!     

[micsampip]

  Hi Sarah and Maggie - thanks for your support.

I have finally finished the clean and with a little help from a friend and my partner on the second day it took 25 man hours in all. It could really do with another 25 but the client was happy.

I could have easily doubled my money on this property. We worked like Trojans to get it finished for the weekend.

I had lots of encouragement and 'rather you than me's' from the workmen who were working on the other part of the house. They seem to think there will be plenty of work out there.

'Where there's muck there's brass' as my Mum puts it!

Lisa 

P.S. I tried to use a dust mask for the job but they only seem to come in 'one size fits all'. I found them too big. Does anyone have any suggestions. I feel like I have got a severe case of hayfever after ingesting all that dust?

[Tim Downer]

Hi Lisa

Glad you enjoyed your 'sparkle clean' !! If you go to your local cleaning supplier they should have a range of masks.....some look like de-contamination masks.....but if they stop you from feeling rough and stop dust getting into your system then they are worth it.

The price of £180 was a nice sounding quote....however have you worked out the hourly rate? Take off materials and insurance etc etc and what have you left?

But having said that, that is what experience is all about, and after a couple more cleans you will develop a quicker means to clean and the next one will work out profitable.

All the best in you new venture.

Regards

Tim

[micsampip]

  I think I could have done with an extra 5 hours at least, maybe due to inexperience. I only really quoted for 10hrs @ £15/hr originally with the extra to cover for expenses. In all it took me 25 hours.

How long should this size house normally take in your experience and do you have any tips? (the forty odd beams were time consuming - I was having to go up and down the ladder moving it along each time)

(I will search through the info on builders cleans also.)

Thanks for any help

Lisa