April, 2021 | BCS Cleaning Specialists

Grease and oil residue from cooking can seem like a nightmare to remove from cooking surfaces and vent hoods. But with this simple tip using a kitchen staple you have in your cupboard right now, you’ll have both sparkling again in a jiffy!

You may already be familiar with the singular brilliance of baking soda as a cleaning tool. But many people don’t realize that to remove oil from vent hoods and cooking surfaces, cooking oil can work wonders. And yes, I know this concept sounds strange (to say the least), but oil is often the best substance to soften and lift existing oil.

Simply moisten a paper towel with cooking oil and rub the grease until it’s gone. Buff to a shine with a clean, soft cloth to remove any remaining residue.

To schedule your next deep steam clean, give BCS Cleaning Utah a call today at 801 561 1730.

Most people think about dusting the surfaces of their furniture, but rarely do people consider dusting or washing their walls. Dust walls?!? I hear you exclaim. Why would one ever dust one’s walls??!

The truth is, just like any other surface in your house, walls get dusty. Very dusty. And over time, that dust combines with moisture in the air, smoke residue from nearby forest and mountain fires (this means you, Utah), and oils from grubby fingers to leave your paint dingy (at the very least). 

The good news is that dusting your walls needn’t be a cumbersome task. Simply run the dry head of a microfiber mop along the wall, starting at the ceiling and working your way down. You’ll be shocked at the amount of dust, dirt, pet hair, human hair and other little surprises you’ll discover on the used mop-head.

While you’re cleaning your walls, you’ll probably notice that much of the debris will fall onto the floor below, so make sure to dust walls before you dust the furniture or do the vacuuming. 

When your carpets need blitzing from all that icky floating dust, give BCS a call at 801 561 1730 to schedule your deep carpet cleaning treatment.

If you’re anything like me, I put off cleaning blinds until they’re almost at the point of cloning themselves with dust. Blinds can be fiddly business! But with this week’s top tip from BCS Cleaning Utah, your blinds will be spit-spot and top-notch in no time.

1 Cut a microfiber cloth in half and wrap each piece around one side of a pair of kitchen tongs, before securing with rubber bands. 

2 When you’re ready to clean your blinds, get your hand slightly wet and wipe it across the microfiber contact surface. The very-slightly damp microfiber gives you even better dust grab-ability. 

3 Place each slat between the cloth-clad tongs and swipe across to dust. 

4 For very dirty blinds, run the brush attachment on your vacuum over the blinds to suck up the worst of it, then use the tongs to finish up. 

And hey presto, spick and span blinds in a jiffy! If all that dust has settled on your pristine carpet below, give BCS Cleaning Utah a call today to schedule your next deep carpet cleaning – 801 561 1730.

It seems rather fun and industrious to wash one’s own windows. The first time. And then you realize what’s involved and promptly turn the task over to the professionals, a rare breed of human being who actually enjoy the detailed, involved and surprisingly skilled task of cleaning your panes. 

But we understand – the first time you want to try it yourself. We did too. And were promptly hooked. If you feel the same, hurrah – welcome to the club! If you’re not immediately enthralled with the process, give the experts at BCS a call at 801 561 1730. We’ll come charging over with our fancy-looking tools to get your windows sparkling like new in a jiffy!

1   Use a strip applicator.

Cleaning picture windows requires large, dedicated tools. The long cloth head of a strip applicator soaks up lots of lovely soapy water and dislodges dirt without scratching the glass. For a cleaning solution, we suggest using just a teeny squirt of dishwashing liquid and about a half-cup of plain white vinegar in a bucket of warm water—the less suds, the better. The more suds you put on the glass, the more water and elbow grease you’ll have to use to remove them. And modern soap products are highly effective emulsifiers – you only need a teeny bit to go a long way.

2   Wipe clean with a squeegee

This is the fiddly bit! Professional window cleaners make it look easy and quick, but wielding a squeegee is a skill that comes with a lot of practice. 

Starting at the top left of your window, pull the squeegee over the still-soapy pane in a reverse-S pattern (do the opposite if you’re left-handed). Keep the squeegee in contact with the window through the entire motion, keeping your wrist loose and bendy. Don’t apply too much pressure on the squeegee or you’ll get strange lines on the glass – just keep enough pressure to keep it in contact with the pane. At the end of each stroke, wipe the squeegee’s blade clean with a lint-free cloth. Old linen napkins are perfect for this.

Alternative Method:

If you’re washing the outside of your windows, you can get all big-gunsy about it and just use the hose to wash the suds off the glass. And then proceed to the last step. We would suggest doing one window at a time though if you’re going to do it this way, as the water will dry and leave nasty little mineral deposits and spots on the glass if you don’t get to it right away. 

3   Remove any remaining drips

Remove any water or suds remaining on the edges of the glass with a damp, wrung-dry chamois, which soaks up wetness without leaving streaks. Dry the windowsill with a rag. Repeat with the other side of the window. Don’t be tempted to use anything other than a damp chamois for this purpose – anything else WILL leave streaks and bits of fluff. It’s worth investing in a good chammy if you’re planning to clean your own windows regularly. It’s a jolly useful bit of kit. 

If all this sounds a bit more than you wanted to do and you’re frankly ready to throw in the towel, give the experts at BCS a call at 801 561 1730. We’ll take all the ‘grrr’ out of window cleaning and have your panes sparkling in a jiffy. With a smile, we might add.

Solar panels are clearly built to live outside. They’re not dedicated little flowers that will fall apart with a single rainstorm. However, they are also complex and important electronic machines, and need specialist maintenance to work at their best.

Utah and the Salt Lake Valley tend to have heavy air particulates at certain times of the year. In winter especially, aerosolized salt can corrode delicate glass surfaces and leave etching that can mess with a solar panel’s operation.

Another interesting factor to consider in maintenance frequency is the angle of your solar panel array. Flat panels tend to require more attention and upkeep as rainwater can pool and leave a nasty muddy residue when it evaporates. Angled panels naturally allow rain to run off, keeping them cleaner for longer.

Some homeowners choose to try cleaning their own solar panels. This usually only lasts once when the homeowner starts to see the sheer level of work involved! If you decide to give cleaning your solar panels a go yourself, remember that it is always going to be safer to do it from the ground, wherever possible.

However, the much-agreed best way to clean solar panels is by using a professional solar panel cleaning company.

So how do you know when to bring in the big (water) guns to get your solar panels back up to snuff?

If it’s just a case of a bit of dust buildup, you can probably wait. However, during winter, at the start of spring, or when the job just becomes too much of an undertaking or hazard to do yourself, it’s well worth calling in the professionals at BCS to get things taken care of. 

You know that your solar panels will be cleaned to the highest possible standard and any issues will be spotted and taken care of, without you having to walk on the tightrope of your own roof to inspect things yourself.

Give BCS Utah a call today at 1 (801) 561 1730 to schedule your solar panel cleaning.