By: Jean Hanson
Are you thinking about starting your own cleaning business? Running your own business offers many rewards and gives you the freedom of being your own boss. You can also achieve great personal satisfaction from starting with a just few cleaning clients and building a successful and thriving business. Starting a new business is demanding on your time, family and finances. So before getting too far into the process of setting up your new cleaning business, it's important to take an objective look at yourself and see if you have what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur.
Answering the following questions will help you discover your entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses:
1. Do you have a positive attitude about yourself and your abilities? You're going to run up against competition, tough to sell clients and many other obstacles. A business owner needs to be able to have a strong positive attitude and a thick skin to make it through rough times.
2. Are you a leader? Your employees, customers and even suppliers will be relying on your strong leadership abilities.
3. Do you like to make your own decisions? Decisions can be tough to make and at times they'll have to be made quickly.
4. Are you a self-starter? Remember, as a small business owner everything is up to you - from getting clients to bookkeeping to following through to make sure the work is done properly. If you don't make things happen, it's not going to get done.
5. Do you like people and can you get along with all kinds of people? Besides working with different types of clients, you are also working with suppliers, employees, bankers and other professionals. There will not only be dissatisfied clients to deal with, but also cranky suppliers and incompetent employees.
6. How well do you plan and organize? A small business owner is responsible for everything -- ordering supplies, making bank deposits, sending out invoices, scheduling, etc. It takes advanced planning and good organizational skills to stay on top of all the details involved in running a cleaning business.
7. Do you have the physical and mental stamina to take on a new business? Many small business owners have to work 10-12 hour days, 6-7 days a week to keep the business running.
8. Is your family going to be able to adjust? As well as the time commitment involved, if you are giving up a steady income to take on a new business you may have to adjust your standard of living until your business takes off.
9. Do you have the basic cleaning skills and knowledge of products and equipment? Your clients depend on you to provide the most effective products, equipment, and procedures needed to get their buildings spic-and-span.
10. Are you willing to invest time and money to develop any skills you may be lacking? Do you need help with accounting, marketing or managerial skills? Local community colleges often offer workshops and short courses to help business owners gain confidence in these areas.
Honestly answering these questions will help you to judge if you are ready to take on the role of small business owner. A great deal of time, effort, sweat and hard work is needed to get your cleaning business off the ground. Many small business owners work full-time jobs and start their business on a part-time basis -- starting slowly and building consistently over time. It can take several years before your cleaning business is successful enough to support you and your family. That's the bad news. But the good news is that once you have developed a good reputation, business will be easier to get and clients will come to you instead of you going to them. Patience and hard work will pay off as you see your cleaning business grow and become profitable!
801 S. Congress Ave, Boynton Beach, FL, 33436
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Boynton Beach Cleaning Company: How To clean an Old Quilt
If you have just acquired an antique quilt, there are some things to watch for before you think about how to clean it. You need to look carefully at the quilt's age and condition. You also need to think carefully about whether you should wash a quilt. It is a good idea to seek the advice of a professional textile conservationist first. You can find one by contacting The American Institute for Conservation, 1717 K St. NW, Suite 200, Washington DC 20006. It is true that no matter how careful you are, you may permanently damage a quilt by washing it. You should certainly never wash a damaged quilt before repairing it.
There might be stains on your quilt, since old quilts are made of natural fibers which absorb things like body oils, liquids, soils, and other organic substances easily and over time these invisible stains oxidize and become colored stains. That makes it difficult to know how to pretreat them. Often what we think of as blood stains are really the remains of a dead bug and these stains are nearly impossible to remove. Another problem is dye migration. Changes in temperatures will cause dye migration that results in brown stains in quilts folded and stored for years. Since, the dye has permanently stained adjoining quilt fabrics, most stains caused by dye migration can't be removed. You shouldn't even try because you can do even more damage by trying than they have already. In addition to these stains, your quilt might have damaged scattered spots known as foxing, which is caused by the growth of molds.
If your quilt is very stained, it may be a good idea to spot treat areas with sodium perborate, the active ingredient in Clorox 2, before washing the whole quilt. Another way to spot clean is to brush a paste of Biz, Ivory Snow flakes or Shaklees Nature Bright on the stained spot and then vacuum it well with the brush attachment of your vacuum cleaner after it dries. Be careful to have all portions of your quilt equally clean. Using lemon juice to bleach stains, or laying linens on the lawn stains is not a good idea as your fabric may be temporarily brightened, but this usually turns to yellow after a while.
If you are going to display your quilt folded over a rack, and there are no holes, rips, frayed seams, stains, delicate fabrics or embellishments etc in it, you may be able to just simply air it outside on a nice warm day to remove dust and dirt and freshen the quilt. You can lay it on the lawn with a clean sheet underneath it and another on top of it for protection, especially from sunlight. If you don't have a lawn, you may hang it over a wide railing with a sheep protector.
You could also vacuum it with the brush attachment of a low powered vacuum cleaner, although you would need to put a clean fine mesh screen over your quilt first, to prevent threads and yarn from getting sucked away, if it had elaborate embellishments or damage. You want to vacuum gently, use a Dust-buster if you have one. Be careful not to pull loose material from your quilt. Hold the vacuum cleaner at least half an inch above your quilt, vacuum both sites, and repeat that if you need to. Never vacuum painted quilts since you may strip the paint off.
In summary, cleaning an antique quilt can be a challenge. A lot depends on the age and condition of your quilt, and whether it has delicate fabrics or embellishments on it. It is probably a good idea to avoid washing it if you can, although you do want to get rid of dust and dirt as much as possible. Always check with a professional textile conservationist first to see what they think about the advisability of washing it.
801 S. Congress Ave, Boynton Beach, FL, 33436
There might be stains on your quilt, since old quilts are made of natural fibers which absorb things like body oils, liquids, soils, and other organic substances easily and over time these invisible stains oxidize and become colored stains. That makes it difficult to know how to pretreat them. Often what we think of as blood stains are really the remains of a dead bug and these stains are nearly impossible to remove. Another problem is dye migration. Changes in temperatures will cause dye migration that results in brown stains in quilts folded and stored for years. Since, the dye has permanently stained adjoining quilt fabrics, most stains caused by dye migration can't be removed. You shouldn't even try because you can do even more damage by trying than they have already. In addition to these stains, your quilt might have damaged scattered spots known as foxing, which is caused by the growth of molds.
If your quilt is very stained, it may be a good idea to spot treat areas with sodium perborate, the active ingredient in Clorox 2, before washing the whole quilt. Another way to spot clean is to brush a paste of Biz, Ivory Snow flakes or Shaklees Nature Bright on the stained spot and then vacuum it well with the brush attachment of your vacuum cleaner after it dries. Be careful to have all portions of your quilt equally clean. Using lemon juice to bleach stains, or laying linens on the lawn stains is not a good idea as your fabric may be temporarily brightened, but this usually turns to yellow after a while.
If you are going to display your quilt folded over a rack, and there are no holes, rips, frayed seams, stains, delicate fabrics or embellishments etc in it, you may be able to just simply air it outside on a nice warm day to remove dust and dirt and freshen the quilt. You can lay it on the lawn with a clean sheet underneath it and another on top of it for protection, especially from sunlight. If you don't have a lawn, you may hang it over a wide railing with a sheep protector.
You could also vacuum it with the brush attachment of a low powered vacuum cleaner, although you would need to put a clean fine mesh screen over your quilt first, to prevent threads and yarn from getting sucked away, if it had elaborate embellishments or damage. You want to vacuum gently, use a Dust-buster if you have one. Be careful not to pull loose material from your quilt. Hold the vacuum cleaner at least half an inch above your quilt, vacuum both sites, and repeat that if you need to. Never vacuum painted quilts since you may strip the paint off.
In summary, cleaning an antique quilt can be a challenge. A lot depends on the age and condition of your quilt, and whether it has delicate fabrics or embellishments on it. It is probably a good idea to avoid washing it if you can, although you do want to get rid of dust and dirt as much as possible. Always check with a professional textile conservationist first to see what they think about the advisability of washing it.
801 S. Congress Ave, Boynton Beach, FL, 33436
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