Enjoying the outdoors is at the very heart of why we and so many others love to call this state home. Good outdoor gear is essential to enjoying the outdoors. Properly cleaning your camping gear and equipment is essential to ensure it lasts longer, performs better, and stays safe and hygienic. Whether you’re a casual weekend camper or a seasoned adventurer, learning how to clean your gear effectively will save you money and prevent mold, mildew, and wear. The team at 208 Cleaning has put together a comprehensive guide on how to clean your camping essentials. Enjoy! 

How To Clean Tents

Start by setting up your tent or laying it flat in a clean, open area. Shake out any debris, leaves, or dirt. Use a soft sponge or cloth with lukewarm water and a gentle, non-detergent soap to clean the fabric. Never use bleach or harsh cleaners, as they can damage waterproof coatings and cause your tent to deteriorate quickly. Rinse thoroughly with water and let it air dry completely, ideally in the shade, to avoid UV damage. Always make sure your tent is completely dry before storing it to prevent mold and mildew.

For the tent poles, wipe them down with a damp cloth and dry them before storing. Check zippers for debris and clean with an old toothbrush if necessary. Lubricating zippers occasionally can also extend their lifespan.

How To Clean Sleeping Bags and Pads

Sleeping bags should be aired out after every trip. For a deeper clean, check the manufacturer’s instructions—many sleeping bags are machine washable using a front-loading washer and a gentle cycle with a mild soap made for technical fabrics. Avoid fabric softeners. After washing, lay the bag flat to dry or use a large dryer on low heat with clean tennis balls to maintain loft. Always ensure it’s fully dry before packing it away.

Sleeping pads can be wiped down with a damp cloth and mild soap. Be sure to dry them fully, especially if they’re self-inflating, to prevent internal mold.

How To Clean Camping Cookware and Utensils

Clean all cookware and utensils with hot water and biodegradable soap. Avoid scouring nonstick surfaces with harsh scrubbers. For stubborn soot on pots used over a fire, a paste of baking soda and water can help. Let them air dry thoroughly before packing them away. Store cookware in a breathable bag or container to keep it clean between uses.

How To Clean Backpacks

Empty your backpack and shake out dirt and crumbs. Use a damp sponge or cloth with mild soap to clean the exterior and interior. For deeper cleaning, submerge it in lukewarm water and gently scrub. Rinse thoroughly and hang upside down to air dry. Do not machine wash unless the label specifically allows it.

How To Clean Camp Footwear

Hiking boots or shoes should be brushed clean of mud and dirt after each trip. Use a damp cloth for tougher spots, and allow them to dry naturally away from direct heat. Consider applying a conditioner or waterproofing treatment depending on the material (leather, suede, or synthetic). Remove insoles and laces for separate cleaning.

 

By taking the time to clean your camping gear after each trip, you’ll extend its life, improve performance, and be ready for your next adventure with ease. While you're taking care of your gear, let us take care of your home or business. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

Sometimes, you just need another pair of eyes on the situation in order to see the proverbial forest for the trees. In our homes, if we’ve lived there for any significant length of time, we tend to fall into certain habits or routines when it comes to our cleaning. Sure, you can do the dishes, mop the floors, and dust the cabinets, but is your room really clean? In today’s article, we’re going to help to (gently) remind you of the most often forgotten and least cleaned places in and around your home and what you can do about them! If you have any tips or stories you’d like to share, we’d love to hear them. Share them in the comments below or on social, making sure to tag us in the process!

Forgotten Area 1: Behind and Under Furniture

It’s one thing to keep the living room tidy and vacuumed and dusted, but when was the last time you cleaned behind the couch or under the dresser or behind your bookshelves? For each room in your home, make sure that you are not only cleaning the outsides, aka the visible areas of each piece, but also underneath and behind as well. This is an area where a lot of dust and dirt can accumulate. 

• Move your furniture seasonally and clean underneath
• Don’t forget your beds, couches, display cases, bookshelves, filing cabinets etc.

Light Fixtures And Ceiling Fans 

While we (hopefully) use our lights every day, we probably don’t think to clean the light fixture housing except on the rarest of occasions. Dust buildup on light fixtures can negatively impact the functionality of the light itself as well as air quality in general if your light fixtures also include ceiling fans. 

• Using a long-handled duster, dust your light bulbs and lighting appliances regularly (while turned off for safety)
• Once or twice a year, take down all of your light fixtures and hand wash each one with warm dish soap and water and let it fully dry before replacing.

Under And Around Large Appliances

We may not think about it during our day to day cleaning, but making sure that you clean under and behind all major appliances is a must if you want to ensure that your house is as clean as can be. 

• Twice a year, it’s recommended that you pull out your fridge, microwave, stove, chest freezer, and any other large appliance and clean behind and underneath
• Clean out filters and dust your appliances regularly as well to help them maintain their proper efficiency 

For The Road

Keeping all of the spaces in your home clean is no small feat, but with a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

Spring cleaning is often dreaded by many of us, but it doesn’t have to be a slog. If you start early and break things down into manageable smaller tasks, like tackling one room at a time as opposed to trying to do the whole house at once, then you can get a lot more done without being as stressed! In today’s article, we’re going to talk about best practices for Spring cleaning your kitchen, especially those walls and cabinets! 

Gather Supplies

If you’re working alone, then this is a great time to put on your favorite podcast or high energy playlist to help you stay motivated while cleaning. For the average kitchen cleaning job, you will need to put together the following supplies:

• Cleaning Tools

• • Microfiber cloths
  • Paper towels 
  • Scrub brush
  • Step stool or small ladder for reaching up higher on the walls and cabinets
  • Bucket for holding soapy water 
  • Vacuum cleaner

• Cleaners And Solutions

• • White vinegar 
  • Baking soda
  • Dish soap
  • All-purpose cleaner
  • Glass cleaner
  • Wood polish

Declutter Your Kitchen 

So you can really tackle every available surface of your kitchen, you should start by quickly decluttering all of the items that can be moved, thrown away, or put away elsewhere. This may add some time to your overall cleaning routine, but it is worth it in the end once your kitchen is clean and free of clutter.

Start From Top And Work Your Way Down

In general, it’s just a good idea to start cleaning any room from top to bottom so that any dirt, debris, or suds falls to the next lowest surface (which is still dirty) rather than having to clean and re-clean every surface because you are cleaning a higher level surface after cleaning a lower level one.

Wipe The Walls Down With A Wet Cloth

Using your step ladder or actual ladder, make sure you can reach the very top of the wall in each part of the kitchen. Start by giving each wall a gentle wipe down with a moist microfiber cloth. This clears out the surface dust and grease without scratching the paint. 

Spot-Treat All Visible Blotches And Dirt Patches

Then, take your all purpose cleaner and start spot-treating any stains or blotches. You may need the scrub brush for more stubborn ones.

Gently Wash The Rest Of The Wall Surfaces

Once the visible blotches and spots are cleaned up, you can spray a thin layer of your all purpose cleaner or use a solution of warm water and a tablespoon of dish soap in your bucket and apply that to your microfiber towel and wipe down all wall surfaces from top to bottom. Once that’s done, then you can dry off the walls by wiping everything down one last time with a dry towel. 

For The Road

Getting your kitchen cleaned out for Springtime is no small feat, but with a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

As with any profession or pastime, there are many myths associated with cleaning techniques that many people believe without even realizing it. In today’s blog, we’re going to touch on the top cleaning related myths that you should ditch in 2025. If you have any myths that you’d like to share or discuss with us, please give us a shout out on social! We’d love to hear from you.

Myth: Vinegar Cleans Everything

It’s true, vinegar does clean a lot of things! Heck, you can even prepare food in it or even drink it to help reduce acid reflux flare-ups.  However, it doesn’t clean everything. It kills germs and is gentle on our bodies compared to harsher chemical compounds, but it is terrible at some things: cleaning delicate surfaces like granite and marble. For those, you will need to switch to something like pH neutral cleaners.

Myth: Bleach Cleans and Disinfects All Surfaces

Bleach is pretty much the nuclear option when it comes to disinfecting surfaces. Just about every germ, virus, bacteria, or mold folds like a house of cards when it is exposed to this titan of cleanliness, but it is not necessarily a good cleaner. Bleach is terrible at helping you get a surface that is covered with things like dust, grit, grime, or food particles at all. For those tasks, you should use something like a traditional cleaner that is more gentle like soapy water, or a vinegar solution. Then, once the surface is cleaned, you can apply a small amount of bleach to actually disinfect the surface to make it safer.

Myth: You Should Clean Windows on Sunny Days

It seems logical when you first think about it, but unfortunately, cleaning your windows (especially the outside surfaces) on a sunny day is about the worst way to go about it. The sunlight and excess heat actually works against you when it comes to creating unsightly streaks and drying off your cleaner before you have a chance to wipe it clean. Try cleaning your windows on an overcast day or in the morning or evenings before the sun is fully up.

Myth: Carpets Don’t Need Regular Cleaning if They Look Clean

Wrong! Unfortunately, carpets do require a fair amount of upkeep if you want them to last a long time and stay tidy for guests. Vacuuming alone can’t get your carpets as clean as they need to be and regular professional deep cleaning is recommended to get the most out of your carpet’s lifespan. 

Myth: You Only Need to Change Your Sponges When They Smell

Sponges are really good at soaking up large amounts of water and allowing you to scrub surfaces effectively with the help of the extra H20, however, this means that they are also really good at trapping bacteria and other bad things. You should be sanitizing your sponges weekly in the microwave or dishwasher or replacing them outright long before they start to smell off in any way. 

For The Road

Understanding the cleaning myths that still cling on to our collective memory is no small feat, but with a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

With the holiday season, we find ourselves, amidst the party preparation and the shopping, thinking about the challenges that the New Year will bring. We often contemplate large life goals and career opportunities that we will face, but keeping the house clean doesn’t often come up. Well, it should! A clean and tidy home is a fantastic foundation to help you be less stressed and more focused on your more impactful goals like your health and fitness, career, and family. In today’s blog, we’re going to help set you up for success next year and every year after with some New Year’s resolutions that you won’t want to dump after January. 

Resolution #1: Use Your Cleaning Time As A Workout Time

Get the most out of your New Year’s resolution to lose weight and work out more often while also keeping your home spotless! Turn your cleaning sessions into a workout so that you can feel good about getting more exercise while also keeping your home cleaner than it ever has been before. 

• Do everything with urgency. Don’t just lazily walk that trash bag out to the trash can, fast walk it and then book it back in the house. See how many cleaning tasks you can get done in a 30 minute block workout.
• Ditch the mop. Scrub the floor by hand with a sponge or cloth and bucket to really get an intense full body workout.
• Lunge while you vacuum. Doing deep lunges as you walk across the floor while vacuuming helps you burn more calories and develop those muscle groups
• Do extra cleaning tasks that you don’t normally do in the daily. Finished with the dishes after dinner? Instead of hopping on the couch, try washing the windows instead. You will get something useful done while also getting a fantastic workout in. Try it!

Resolution #2: Deep Clean One Appliance Each Week

This goes hand in hand with the first resolution. Deep cleaning anything burns a lot of calories and is hard work. Let’s deep clean everything, then! But, you don’t have to get overwhelmed by trying to do them all in a weekend or a single day. Spread them out over the year. Every major appliance should be deep cleaned at least twice a year, so book them out accordingly so that you can hit all of your home’s appliances two or three times a year by rotating them weekly. 

Resolution #3: Focus On Throwing Away As You Clean

As you clean and organize this New Year, ask yourself if you really need every item or piece of random junk that you come across. If you can get rid of something that you haven’t used in years or don’t even know what it goes to, then that is a huge win. The less clutter in your home, the less you will have to clean and organize! When in doubt, throw it out.

For The Road

Preparing for the New Year and staying ahead of the cleaning tasks at hand is no small feat, but with a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

If you’ve been to the supermarket lately, or tried to shop online, you may have noticed that there are a TON of cleaning products and accessories out there. In the spirit of starting the new year off strong, we wanted to put together a list of some basic cleaning essentials that you can purchase to ensure that your home or office is equipped to handle any cleaning task, next year or beyond! Let us know in the comments or on social media if you have any suggestions or additions to our list. We love hearing from you!

The Essential Cleaning Tools To Consider

We will get to the actual cleaning products later, but we first wanted to lay out some groundwork with these essential cleaning supplies. Some of these may sound like a no-brainer, but it helps to know that you have all of the supplies on hand that are called for in any given situation. 

• A sturdy broom with a dustpan
• A basic mop and bucket, preferably microfiber
• Scrub brush for dishes
• A large pack of microfiber towels for general cleaning tasks
• A vacuum 
• A smaller bucket, not used for mopping
• Several empty plastic spray bottles
• Heavy duty brush for tile and other bathroom messes
• Toilet brush
• Duster brush
• A toothbrush or two for smaller and harder to reach places (or a small brush)

Essential Cleaning Agents To Have On Hand

Now that we have the cleaning tools covered, it’s time to explore our options for the actual cleaners that are good to have around. This isn’t necessarily supposed to be an exhaustive list that will cover every situation, but it is a great starting place upon which more niche items can be added as you discover a need for them. 

• Baking soda
• White vinegar
• Concentrated liquid dish soap
• Lemon essential oils or all natural lemon juice concentrate
• Distilled water (to use for the base for some homemade cleaning sprays)
• Isopropyl alcohol 
• Bleach

With this mix of ingredients, you can make both an all-purpose cleaning spray that will be effective in most uses, especially around the kitchen. For a basic recipe, mix equal parts distilled water and white vinegar in a spray bottle and then add 10 drops of lemon essential oil and/or your other favorite essential oil like lavender, but lemon helps to kill germs and disinfect as well. For a toilet bowl cleaner specifically, we recommend getting a bowl and placing a cup of baking soda in the bow before adding about 3 tablespoons of distilled water. Start mixing until you get a thick paste consistency, you may have to add more water to get it where it needs to be. Place a generous amount of the paste on the end of your toilet cleaning brush and use it to scrub the rim and sides of your toilet bowl. Then, spray the paste with your homemade vinegar and water all-purpose solution and watch the bubbles go nuts! Once things have settled down, it’s time for a final scrub and then a rinse and you are set! The same paste can be used on tile and grout as well. 

For The Road

Putting together a full assortment of cleaning supplies is no small feat, but with a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

The best gift this holiday season isn’t found on store shelves. It’s not in a package or a box or can be wrapped in any way. The best gift this holiday season is something we all have, but desperately need more of. That gift is time. Give yourself (or maybe a loved one) the gift of time this holiday season with our home cleaning services! In today’s article, we’re going to talk about just some of the top benefits of hiring a professional cleaning home cleaning company like ours. Enjoy! 

Saves You Time 

Sure, they say that saving you time is a good thing, but what does that really mean? Here is what you can expect to be able to do with a little bit more time on your hands in any given month, time that you would normally be spending cleaning and scrubbing various parts of your home. 

• More time to focus on your hobbies, especially ones that you can do at home like watching movies, binging your favorite show, or even just catching up on your latest mystery novel. 
• You can spend more time with your family. Why not start a video chat with the grandparents or your favorite cousins who live out of state? Having more time on your hands means that you can find more ways to spend it with your loved ones.
• Take back your weekends. If you hire a professional cleaning service, then you will be able to free up your weekends to do the things that are important to you or to spend time getting to go outside and enjoy your local amenities.

Reduces Stress And Boosts Mental Well-Being

They say that the two biggest stressors in life are when you are moving and when you are getting divorced, but no one ever mentions the third most stressful thing in our daily lives: keeping the dang house clean. If you hire a cleaning service, you can reduce the stress and complication of keeping everything clean on top of everything else you’re responsible for in your daily life. Maybe you owe it to yourself to treat yourself to a year of less stress?

Achieve A Higher Quality Of Clean In Your Home

Sure, when you are cleaning things yourself it gets done well enough, but what if a professional did it instead? As professional cleaners, they have access to better cleaning products, more up to date cleaning techniques and best practices, and more experience getting things perfectly clean. With a pro doing the cleaning, you will see the difference our expertise makes when it comes to just how spotless and perfect your home can get!

For The Road

Getting your home clean for your next big holiday party is no small feat, but with a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

The holidays are such a bittersweet time. You are excited about seeing your friends and family that you may have not seen very often this year, yet there is so much planning and preparation involved in hosting, that it can add a large amount of stress to an already stressful time of year. In today’s article, we are going to help you get your home ready for all of the holiday hosting you’ll be doing this year with less stress and more downtime so you can finally take that peppermint hot chocolate break you’ve been wanting. 

Plan Out Your Cleaning Tasks!

This may not seem like a fun or interesting first step, but it is as vital as it is banal. Put together a quick checklist of the main things that need to get done so that you can stay organized and on track throughout your cleaning day(s). You will want to put a high priority on the high-traffic areas first and then on guest accommodation areas like guest bathrooms and bedrooms. Do this well ahead of time (if possible!) so that you can avoid last-minute rushing and stress to get everything accomplished. 

Declutter Before “Disinfecting”

Before you dive into the actual cleaning and disinfecting of your home AKA Party Central, you will want to tackle some or all of the clutter first. Remove unnecessary items from your countertops, tables, floors, beds, etc. Anywhere that clutter has piled up, it’s time to either trash it or put it away in a more permanent and organized way. 

Set Aside A Coat Room For The Party 

If you are going to be hosting a party that is on the larger side of things, then you will need a designated area to store and organize guests’ coats and bags and other belongings that isn’t in a main staging area. You may have to designate your own master bedroom for this if your guest rooms are being used by visiting guests. 

Deep Clean Essential Entertainment Spaces

If you can’t necessarily deep clean the entire house from top to bottom, focus first on the key areas you will be using for your entertainment. This includes places like the kitchen, living room, and bathrooms.

• Dust and vacuum your party areas and make sure that the floors are clean and all furniture is clean and uncluttered.
• For your kitchen, clean the countertops and appliances and fridge. As you are cleaning the outside of your fridge, you will want to also clean out the inside and make room for party food as well as any food that a guest will bring that needs to be refrigerated. 
• For your bathrooms, you will want to scrub the toilets and sinks and clean up the mirrors. Make sure every bathroom has enough soap, toilet paper, clean towels, and other bathroom essentials to keep your guests happy without them having to come to you with an embarrassing question about missing toiletries… Feel free to stock up on toothpaste and extra toothbrushes as well for guests who are spending the night!

For The Road

Getting your home clean for your next big holiday party is no small feat, but with a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!

Your kitchen is, in many ways, the heart and soul of your home. It’s a great place to spend time with friends and family and to try out that new cookie recipe you’ve been dying to make, but it is also prone to messes that build up over time. Today’s blog is all about tackling that dirt and grime buildup around your kitchen sink in the grout area. Let us know your favorite cleaning techniques for scratching this one off the to-do list on social media, we’d love to hear from you!

Getting Started

This isn’t necessarily the toughest project in the kitchen when it comes to cleaning, but it is no small fry. The dirt and buildup that accumulates in grout can be tough to clean out and it can keep coming back with a vengeance if you’re not careful. Here are some basic supplies you will need in order to really knock out this cleaning job.

• Scrub brush with stiff bristles. If you have an extra toothbrush handy, that is a great size and shape for this task as well. 
• Dish soap or general all purpose cleaner
• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• Microfiber cloth
• Paper towels
• Grout sealer
• Your favorite podcast or music playing on your phone or speakers (optional but fun!)

Do An Initial Clean

We know that the grout has gotten pretty dirty at this point. In order to get all of the deep down grime, you will need to first scrub off the top layer of more loose or cursory dirt. Spray the impacted area with some all-purpose cleaner or drop some concentrated dish soap on the area and then rinse it with some warm water. You can lightly scrub it with your brush as well. Make sure the area is fully rinsed off.

Start The Deep Clean

Take your baking soda and put 2 tablespoons in a small bowl. Add some warm water a teaspoon at a time until you have a thick paste that is just a little thicker than toothpaste. Apply the paste along the grout lines liberally. Let stand for 15 minutes. 

After it has set for 15 minutes, it’s time to add the vinegar and start scrubbing! If you have some vinegar in a spray bottle, that will help to evenly apply it to your paste. If not, then you can pour some onto a sponge or clean wash cloth that you can use to sprinkle around the baking soda paste.

Let the mixture fizz for a minute or two and then start scrubbing with your brush! The reaction from the vinegar should help to loosen any grout stains and the baking soda paste is a fantastic abrasive scrub that is tough on dirt but gentle on kitchen surfaces like tile and stone. 

Repeat As Necessary

Once you rinse away the baking soda and vinegar mixture, you may see some minor buildup left. At which point, you can either repeat the process or let it dry out and then try it again in a week. In the meantime, you can spray it with a 10% bleach mixture to help really kill off any mold or bacteria that has taken hold. 

For The Road

Getting your kitchen sink clean, especially around the grout area is no small feat, but with a little preparation you can be ready for anything that comes your way this year. Contact us if you or someone you know may be in need of a residential or commercial cleaning service like ours. We can’t wait to hear from you. Give us a call or email us here. Have fun and stay safe out there!