Rug Doctor vs. Professional Cleaning

"Just Rent a Rug Doctor and Clean it Yourself" - A True Story

Reputable professional carpet cleaners really work hard to provide the finest possible service for their clients. They spare no expense when it comes to the cleaning agents purchased or the equipment that is used. It's not uncommon to pull up to a client's home in a rig that costs over $60,000. Some even bring 100 gallons of softened water with them to each job to provide a more thorough rinse that assures no residue is left behind to attract soil.

I mention these facts for a particular a reason. It was prompted by a conversation I overheard one beautiful late summer day last year.

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Get Ready for Winter Advisories & Ice Storms

Cold weather is finally hear and FEMA and Ready GA are encouraging everyone to be prepared for this winter weather. These tips are from www.ready.ga.gov and we hope they are useful to all of you.

Prepare for Winter Weather

• Make sure your home is well insulated and that you have weather stripping around your doors and window sills to keep the warm air inside.

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IICRC is Now The Clean Trust

The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) announced the change of its name to The Clean Trust at the Fall 2011 Meeting & Instructors Symposium. Along with the new name, a new, updated, branding campaign will be rolled out in the coming year.

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Small Business Saturday

First there was Black Friday, then Cyber Monday. November 27, 2010 was the first ever Small Business Saturday. Small Business Saturday is the day we celebrate the Shop Small movement to drive shoppers to local merchants across the U.S.

More than 200 organizations have already joined American Express OPEN, the company’s small business unit, in declaring the Saturday after Thanksgiving as Small Business Saturday.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

 

American Express cardholders, register your card with American Express and receive a $25 statement credit when you shop at a small business on November 27, 2010.

 

Thank you for your support of our locally owned, small businesses.

 

Icela Reets - Marketing Support

Nook Tablet vs. Kindle Fire vs. Ipad

With all the new technology available today I thought I would blog about the New Nook Tablet and the New Kindle Fire.

First of all, I do not own a Nook or a Kindle at the moment. However, I am very interested in both. I do own an Ipod Touch and have the Kindle app and Nook app on it and enjoy reading from them. Now here is the dilema...I would love to own the Nook, Kindle and an Ipad but who has the money for all of them?

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Fall Recipe: Easy Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
• 2 (10 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle Mountain Dew™

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Cut each apple into 8 wedges and set aside. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in crescent roll dough starting at the smallest end. Pinch to seal and place in the baking dish.
3. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Pour over the apple dumplings. Pour Mountain Dew™ over the dumplings.
4. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Ask the Carpet Cleaning Expert:

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I HAVE MY CARPET CLEANED?

There is no simple answer for this question. But on average, it is recommended that your carpets be cleaned a minimum of once per year. Some situations call for more frequent cleanings (kids, allergies, pets, etc.) - but once a year should be the minimum.

How to Choose A Carpet Cleaner

If you find that no matter how much you vacuum, your carpet still does not look like it used to, it may be time for deep cleaning. While there are do-it-yourself cleaning methods on the marketing, hiring a professional is the safest, fastest and easiest options. Cleaning professionals who utilized CRI-certified carpet cleaning products as part of their cleaning process are recognized as Seal of Approval service providers. Using Seal of Approval service providers is an easy way to make sure that your carpets are being professionally cleaned with quality products that will help maintain your carpet's life and beauty.

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How can that other company clean my whole house for $99?

Low priced carpet cleaning companies survive on two things:

Volume: Book as many jobs as possible each day, get in and get out fast and hopefully complete all of the days bookings - if they show up on-time or miss a few customers - oh well they tried.

Sales: Hard sell as many extras as possible before angering the customer. If your cleaner isn't taking the time to pre-treat soiled areas, spot stains, and thoroughly rinse cleaning solutions and dirt from your carpet, then he's a salesman (not a technician) and you're being seriously shortchanged!

Ways you're getting short-changed with a low-priced cleaner:

Employees: Low price cleaning companies cannot afford to pay wages that attract long term dependable employees. High employee turnover is common, and leads to poor quality work from under-trained employees that couldn't care less if you are satisfied with their work. After all what do you expect for $99.00!

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How Does Carpet Effect Allergies?

The science of indoor air quality is very interesting and relatively new. In the past, the focus was on the quality of the outside air and the interest was in lowering emissions of all types into the air.Since we now spend more time indoors - an average of 90% of our time - indoor air quality has become a concern to the EPA, as well as government and private health organizations.Following the energy-saving efforts of the 70's and 80's, buildings and homes are now much more air-tight, leaving little opportunity for diluting the indoor air with fresh air from outside. Indoor air has thus become more polluted.

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