Dangerous Item #4: Chemicals in Carpets

by Cristen Conger

Indoor carpeting has recently come under greater scrutiny because of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with new carpet installation. Although the popular floor covering isn’t inherently dangerous, people have reported health problems associated with it [/source].

The glue and dyes used with carpeting are known to emit VOCs, which can be harmful to one’s health in high concentrations [source 1="Consumer" 2="Reports" language=":"]. But often, the initial VOC emissions will subside after the first few days following installation [/source].

Scientists are still researching what specific chemicals new carpets may release and whether they are in fact dangerous for the average person [source 1="EPA" language=":"]. To alleviate this, the Carpet and Rug Institute in Dalton, Ga., has developed two Green Labels that guarantee lower VOCs, and it continues to test indoor air quality associated with carpets.

To be on the safe side, you can request your retailer to unroll the carpet and air it out a couple of days before bringing it in your home [/source]. You should also keep the newly carpeted area well ventilated during installation to minimize VOC build up.

Meet Karen Babbitt of Zen Spaces

Zen Spaces, owned by Tampa’s own Karen Babbitt, is an organizing and space design company whose focus is turning your chaotic room, closet or area into a tranquil space. Karen tackles disorganization and clutter in a strategic way.

By helping organizing your space, Zen Spaces helps alleviate your feelings of being overwhelmed and unsure of where to start. Karen guides you to a system that works specifically for you. Not only will you get your space organized, you will learn tips and systems for maintaining the organization.

The Maids is excited to count Karen and Zen Spaces as one of our friends an partners. Get in touch with her for a free consultation at 813-951-3763 or karen@zen-spaces.com. Visit her website at www.zen-spaces.com

Karen was nice enough to donate 3 hours of time for our Feb. Newsletter. One lucky winner will get a chance to work with this awesome organization!

Dangerous Item #3: Pressed Wood Products

by Cristen Conger

If you catch a couple episodes of “The Brady Bunch,” you can see pressed wood paneling at the height of its splendor. This faux wood is like the hotdog of timber products, taking bits and pieces of logs and whatnot and combining them together. Pressed wood products also include particle board, fiberboard and insulation, which were particularly popular for home construction in the 1970s.

However, the glue that holds the wood particles in place can cause a sticky situation for people. Some products use urea-formaldehyde as a resin, and the U.S. EPA estimates that this is the largest source of formaldehyde emissions indoors, which can increase as well in hotter, more humid conditions [/source].

Formaldehyde exposure can be dangerous, possibly setting off watery eyes, burning eyes and throat, difficulty breathing and asthma attacks. Scientists also know that it can cause cancer in animals, which leaves open a possibility for the same in humans.

Because of construction materials and smaller spaces, trailers and prefab homes often give off higher levels of formaldehyde emissions [source 1="EPA" language=":"]. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a preliminary report in February 2008 detailing this problem in FEMA trailers along the Gulf Coast occupied by hurricane victims [/source]. The people reported an unusual spike in illnesses suspected to have happened from prolonged formaldehyde exposure. As a result, the agency recommended that the people move out of the trailers.

If you live in an older house with pressed wood paneling or insulation, the good news is that it releases less formaldehyde as it ages [source 1="EPA" language=":"]. Using a dehumidifier and air conditioning to keep the indoor environment temperate can help. Today, pressed wood products also are more closely regulated to reduce formaldehyde emissions.

Dangerous Item #2: Pesticides

by Cristen Conger

According to the National Pesticide Telecommunications Network, 90 percent of households in the United States use some form of pesticides [/source]. Pesticide is a broad term that encompasses a variety of chemical formulas that kill everything from tiny microorganisms up to rodents. They could be insecticides, fungicides, disinfectants or other varieties. Because these are poisons, the U.S. EPA requires pesticide manufacturers to include the toxicity level of the product on its packaging.

Although the EPA goes to great lengths to test new pesticides before they go on the market, they should still be used with care and kept out of reach of children. In 2006, the American Association of Poison Control Centers received nearly 46,000 calls regarding children under 5 years old who had been exposed to potentially toxic levels of pesticides [source 1="American" 2="Association" 3="of" 4="Poison" 5="Control" 6="Centers" language=":"].

Since a majority of people’s exposure to pesticides happens indoors, be sure to ventilate any enclosed spaces after applying a pesticide and do not use unauthorized ones. If hiring a professional pest control service, ask them to review with you the chemicals they will use in your home before they spray.

Dangerous Home Item #1: Mothballs

by Cristen Conger

If you want to keep moths from eating your clothes, try cedar chips instead of mothballs.

Mothballs emit one of the most distinctive and unpleasant household scents. Since moths will chew holes through clothing or other textiles, people pack away these stinky repellents to kill any moths that attempt to. But as they convert from a solid to a gas, you do not want to inhale too much of it. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency even requires mothball manufacturers to include a warning on packaging to “avoid breathing in the vapors.”

Studies on one active ingredient in some repellents, paradichlorobenzene, found that it can cause cancer in animals [/source]. Although scientists do not know if it is also a human carcinogen, the animal trials provided sufficient evidence to urge people to handle them with caution. Other types of moth balls use naphthalene, which after prolonged exposure can damage or destroy red blood cells [source 1="Centers" 2="for" 3="Disease" 4="Control" 5="and" 6="Prevention" language=":"]. The chemical can also stimulate nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

If you must use mothballs, put them in a sealed container in an area with separate ventilation from the rest of your house [/source]. Also, wash any clothing that has been stored with mothballs before wearing it since the vapors will have absorbed into the fibers. For a safer, natural alternative, cedar chips should work as well.

Dangerous Everyday Things in Your Home

This is the start of a 10 day series highlighting one item each day, be sure to check back daily to find out about all 10!

by Cristen Conger

Either by accident or faulty manufacturing, household consumer products injure an estimated 33.1 million people in the United States every year [/source]. These incidents rack up an astonishing $800 billion in related expenses from death, injury or property damages [source 1="Consumer" 2="Product" 3="Safety" 4="Commission" language=":"]. The Consumer Product Safety Commission that regulates and recalls products on the market emphasizes potential dangers to children in particular for hurting themselves with toys, furniture or other common items in the home.

However, we can also pinpoint a number of invisible hazards from products we buy that aren’t as immediately apparent as a broken leg on a coffee table or a tear in a shirt. Scientists have realized that chemicals found in a wide variety of the goods we use every day may be more toxic than previously thought. In part because of the array of chemicals used to manufacture things we use in our daily lives, the National Poison Data System estimates 4 million cases of poisoning in the United States each year [/source].

We cannot discount that chemicals have made our lives easier. Thanks to them, we easily keep mosquitoes at bay, stop moths from eating our clothing and make our houses instantly smell like a dewy spring morning. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently concluded that indoor air may be more polluted than outdoor air [source 1="EPA" language=":"]. And since we spend an average of 90 percent of our time inside, our home sweet home may not be so safe after all [/source].

Where are these toxins coming from and what can we do about it? Read on to learn about 10 of the most common products that people are starting to think twice about bringing into their houses.

The Non-Toxic Way to Remove Mildew

by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd.

Make a thin paste of lemon juice and salt; spread the paste on mildew stains. Lay out the fabric in the sun to bleach it. Afterward, rinse and dry. Mildew stains on fabric can also be tackled with a paste of salt, vinegar, and water. If the stain is extensive, you can use up to full-strength vinegar.

Some garments may still retain a musty, mildewy smell even after washing. Get rid of the smell by soaking the garments in lemon juice and water and then letting them dry in the sun.

Baking Cookies Won’t Sell A Home…. Learn the Secret Weapons to Selling in 2010

This is the first edition of an ongoing segment with Rae Catanese, The “Tampa Bay Real Estate Insider”, with tips to help you to chose the right Realtor and successfully market and sell your home.

In the Real Estate boom of 2005-2007, it seemed all a seller had to do was place a sign in the front yard, bake some cookies, and within a couple weeks offers were flying in.

What has changed? The major factor is the amount of inventory buyers have to choose from, which creates a lack of urgency. It stands to reason that during that time of limbo, a larger number of properties on the market become available for buyers to choose from.

Tip #1 The Future of Real Estate Marketing

Viral Marketing is a fairly new concept in the home selling process. Innovative real estate agents are turning to new methods of advertising using blogs and social media to get the word out. Facebook, twitter and Linkedin are the most popular viral marketing campaigns now being used. Discussions about “where the best neighborhoods are” are being asked on these popular word-of-mouth sites, and friends and family are more than happy to share their advice.

Non-Toxic way to Remove Rust Stains

by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd.

Rust stains give us another laundry situation where cream of tartar is a great green hero — it has an acidic quality that enables it to break down rust. First, cover the rust stain with cream of tartar. Next, tie up the area surrounding the stain, making the fabric into a pouch. Soak the entire pouch in very hot water for about five to ten minutes, then untie it and launder as usual.

Salt and vinegar also work well as rust removers on fabric. Combine salt and vinegar into a thin paste and then spread the paste onto the stained area of the fabric. Next, lay the item out in the sun to bleach it. If sun is not an option, stretch the fabric over a large bowl or pan, secure the fabric, and pour boiling water through the stained area. Whether you use sun bleaching or the hot water method, allow the item to dry on its own. Run the item through a rinse cycle in your washing machine, or give it a good hand rinsing, and then check the stain again. If any of the stain remains, repeat the treatments. Never put the fabric through the dryer until you’re certain the stain is gone.

What you should know when picking a ‘Green Cleaner’

What does ‘green certified’ really mean? It certainly is the marketing catch word of the moment. Here is the truth about green cleaning and how the Maids compares.

1) We are green. As green as anyone claiming to be green. Probably even greener.

2) Companies like Maid Brigade that claim to be ‘green certified’ have in fact made up their
own ‘certification’ and then certified themselves. “We developed our unique internal certification
program,” claims Maid Brigade. That’s not intellectually honest really, but so far there are no
federal guidelines. See for yourself: http://www.maidbrigade.com/

3) Our chemical vendors cannot justify spending $5,000 per chemical label, per year, to buy a
made-up “certification.” It’s a scam. (And in any case, we do not use the concentrated
chemicals in our service – we dilute them, even less toxic.)

4) We believe green certification provides a made up standard by certification companies
hoping to make money. And we think that the made up standard costs too much. Do you know
it would require each franchise partner to host (and pay for) third party inspections each year in addition to an annual certification fee? This would equate to a cost of $3,000-$5,000 per year, per office and would therefore mean we would have to raise prices for our customers

In a recent survey, 71 percent of respondents said the use of environmentally preferred cleaning products in the home is extremely important or important.

We understand this need, which is why the products used by The Maids for regular maid service are environmentally 
friendly. They are neither toxic to your home, your family, the environment, or our team members who use them eight hours a day. Actually, the products we use meet and/or exceed all current EPA and green standards.

We are certainly not the only service that uses products commonly referred to as “green” but (as mentioned above) if you look closely at our competitors’ “green” claims, you will find that all are either referring to a certification that they themselves have invented, or a certification of the ‘products’ they use. But The Maids goes one step further, with our environmentally conscious cleaning system.

You see, even the cleaning process used by The Maids is environmentally kind in that we use very little waste water, launder and re-use cloths, eliminate the use of paper products, and we extract the dirt and dust from your home.

And you know our yellow cars? They help us be environmentally kind too. Because we send a team of four to one home, we limit the number of cars on the road, and that means less pollution.

All of this is because we care about the environment, just like you!

If you have any questions about the products, equipment and cleaning styles that the Maids uses in order to keep your house clean and family healthy…give us a call 813-871-9700