A-1 Cleaning Will Provide a Clean Healthy, Warm and Safe Environment for Your Family. A-1 Cleaning’s “Baby Safe”



A-1 Cleaning Will Provide a Clean Healthy, Warm and Safe Environment for Your Family. A-1 Cleaning’s “Baby Safe”

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) May 29, 2010

Although many Atlanta-area housecleaning firms claim to be “green”, many talk the talk and don’t walk the walk. Essie Powell, owner of A-1 Cleaning serving Dunwoody, GA, Fayetteville, Peachtree city and Coweta county aim to change all that, starting with her own company.

For more than three decades, housecleaning professionals have used solvent-based cleaners, phosphate-based soaps; carbon-based deodorant sprays in harmful ways for the simple reason that the cleaning professionals before them did the same. And while scientists released study after study citing the harmful effects of these products both on the homes in which they were used and the workers who used them, the majority of cleaning firms continued to use these products simply for short-term convenience.

In October 2009, A-1 Cleaning was officially certified a “green” housecleaning firm by Green Home Audit Consultants, an independent firm that monitors leading environmental research and incorporates that knowledge into best-practices for cleaning firms.

For Essie Powell, this new business standard isn’t driven only by a desire to improve her product. It’s also personal.

“I was recently diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. It was big wake-up call for my family and me. I realized that I had been supervising the cleaning of homes for 30 years using chemicals that weren’t created with long-term health in mind. God has been good to my family. Now it’s time to use what I’ve learned to educate our customers and protect our employees.”

So what does it mean to clean “green”?

A-1 applies solvent-based cleaners using techniques that avoids creating vapors that can enter the respiratory system. This can be done by spraying directly onto the cloth instead of the cleaning surface.

A-1 also uses soap-based cleaners instead of solvents when possible. “This sometimes requires more elbow grease on the part of our staff,” admits Powell, “but it’s well worth it.”

A-1 educates every customer about carpet stains. When carpet stains occur at an office or home, people are often in the habit of “letting the cleaning crew deal with it.” But catching a carpet stain before sets often makes the difference between an environmentally friend solution and one that requires strong cleaning agents. Says Powell, “We help our customers keep cleaning agents strategically placed around the area so stains can be dealt with quickly and painlessly. Our staff is happy to finish the job, but a little effort upfront makes for a cleaner planet.”

A-1 Cleaning now uses what are called HEPA filters on all company vacuum cleaners. Historically, vacuum cleaners kick up dust and particles into the air that can be harmful to both residents and workers. A HEPA filter is an additional filter that prevents this from happening.

And perhaps most dramatically, A-1 now has a policy to avoid using fragrance sprays. “Customers love that ‘just cleaned’ smell, it’s really just high-density perfume.”, says Powell. It’s been standard practice for cleaning crews finish each cleaning session by spraying the area with a deodorizing spray to stimulate that extra sense. But a flowery fragrance created by harmful chemicals does not actually make an area cleaner. “It just things smell better for a while”, says Powell.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Be the change you want to see.” A-1 Cleaning is doing just that by earning the “green” certification from Green Home Audit Consultants, incorporating that knowledge and improving their products and services for the benefit of their customers, their employees and the globe.

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