When Lydia first met Just Helpers Founder Antoinette, she knew she wanted to be part of it.

Doing the right thing is at the heart of Just Helpers, from a commitment to fairness, to the London Living Wage, and this appealed to Lydia straight away.“It was an instant click,” she says. “Antoinette’s ethos, passion and commitment is so inspirational.”

Working for Just Helpers

Lydia is our Finance and Enquiries Manager, and brought valuable experience to the business. Before taking a break to care for her children, Lydia had worked as an Executive Assistant to the Chief Information Officer in a large insurance company. A friend, ActionCoach James Dodd, introduced her to Just Helpers.

For Lydia, it’s the people that make Just Helpers so special. “We are a fabulous team,” she says. “We’re passionate about ensuring that we do the right thing for our clients, our Helpers and the company, and I’m proud to be part of it.”

Doing the right thing in 2020

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lydia sees dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic as being the biggest challenge she has faced with Just Helpers. After weeks of uncertainty, the team had make sure that the business could continue to deliver a service in a way that is safe for clients and Helpers alike. Again, for Lydia, it was the people that made it possible. “Our Helpers carried on, our clients supported us, we supported each other. If we hadn’t been as strong and determined, I don’t think we would have survived this far.”

Job Satisfaction

As well as the flexibility of working from home, Lydia enjoys the opportunities for learning at just Helpers. Her role has provided lots of opportunity to develop new skills, through working in different areas of the business as well as learning new software applications.

Again, Lydia recognises that the team has played a big role in her development too. “I really value feedback from the team. I’m quite a talkative person and I’ve learned to listen more, and pause before I speak. I was already quite calm but It’s made me calmer.”

As the first point of contact for new clients, Lydia spends a lot of time of the phone. “It can be quite nerve-racking, but I really enjoy it and I’m developing my communication skills all the time,” she says.

The satisfaction of working for a business that is doing the right thing makes it all worthwhile for Lydia. “I get up every day and look forward to doing my job,” she says, … “I look forward to all our dreams and aspirations coming to fruition.”

Find out more about how Just Helpers is doing the right thing, on our website.

I founded Just Helpers after seeing first hand the exploitation which migrant workers – and particularly women – were experiencing in our cities. I wanted to offer an alternative – a cleaning business which paid fairly, offered decent working conditions and developed potential in our people.

I’m proud of what Just Helpers has achieved. But if we are to see meaningful change in the cleaning industry, we need to address the real cost of cleaning. We need to tackle some fundamental issues, nationally. And we can’t do that alone.

A Clean Conscience?

A recent report from Clean For Good, our main ‘running mate’ in the cleaning industry, estimated that in 2020, 60% of workers in the cleaning sector still earn less than the Living Wage.

The report states that the Low Pay Commission estimate 1 in 5 cleaners in the UK who were entitled to the Minimum Wage were actually being paid less than this by their employer. Remember – the Minimum wage is widely recognised to be a poverty wage, which means that someone working full time being paid the Minimum Wage would still be living in poverty.

The Clean For Good report urged businesses who are outsourcing cleaning, to ensure that their cleaning provider shares their values. “Too many employers don’t just outsource a service, they unwittingly outsource their values and responsibilities too.”

The Challenges we Face

We share the vision expressed in the Clean For Good report.  However, while Clean For Good focus on providing commercial cleaning,  at Just Helpers, we want to provide domestic cleaning to ethically minded individuals in their own homes.

But, we face some big challenges.

 Price – The Real Cost of Cleaning

We pass as much of the cleaning charge as possible on to our Helpers. All of our Helpers receive the London Living Wage.

However, we also need to keep our charges as low as we can so we remain affordable to our clients.

The challenge is to pay our Helpers a decent wage, while remaining competitive in a crowded cleaning market.

We want to highlight the real cost of domestic cleaning. That’s not just about the amount your cleaner is paid. It’s also about the cost to their health and well-being of low wages, and uncertain income.

We want to reveal the cleaning industry’s dirty secret of exploitation, low wages and poor working conditions. And, we want to offer an ethical, quality, affordable alternative to people who want a clean home and a clean conscience.

Survival – A Profitable Business

Since April 2020 the domestic side of our business has been profitable for the first time. This is as a result of some changes we made to our contracts. We increased our rates, and we now require our clients to pay for their cleaning, even if they cancel.

This is important so that our business can survive tough economic times and continue to offer decent, predictable pay to our Helpers, and a quality, reliable service to our clients.

Taxation -An Unfair Burden

We believe that low margin industries like ours should sit within a lower VAT bracket.

Currently, cleaning services are subject to 20% VAT. This high tax burden encourages illegal practices such as “cash in hand”.

In the current COVID-19 climate, some industries such as hospitality have been moved into a lower VAT bracket to help them survive.

We would like to see the cleaning industry moved into the 5% VAT bracket, permanently.  This would lead to better regulation, better working conditions and ultimately more money being paid by our industry in taxation.

Changes to Employment  Law

The “gig economy” has been the subject of much criticism recently. However, the fact remains that some workers want the flexibility that being self-employed offers. Plus, the additional costs of being an employer, and the risks associated with uncertain income, mean that we, like many cleaning businesses, cannot afford to directly employ our Helpers.

We need changes to employment law to protect workers and protect businesses, so that direct employment becomes viable.

Sharing the Challenge

My passion is for people, and for tackling injustice and doing the right thing.

But these challenges are too big for me to tackle alone. I need people with the know-how to navigate these issues, so that we can achieve change for the cleaning industry at national level.

Will you join me? Get involved – join our End Exploitation Facebook Group and share your energy, experience and expertise to help us.

Many of us have a dishwasher in our kitchen – but do we use them effectively? Here are our top dishwasher tips for getting the best from yours.

What do those buttons do?

Lots of dishwashers have fancy features that we never use! But they are worth investigating as they could save you money and time. Here’s a few you might have:

• Eco – this setting uses less energy and water so it’s good for the environment and your pocket. Which estimate that using an eco program could save £300 over a year!
• Pre-wash – this program rinses your dishes, so it’s useful if you don’t want to run a full wash every day.
• Timer – set your dishwasher to finish as you get home from work, or to run overnight.
• Delicate – A gentle wash for fine crockery or glasses.
• Adjustable racks – If you can’t fit your new plates in the dishwasher, don’t panic! Check to see if you can adjust the height of the top rack to make more space.

Load it up!

The key to clean dishes is to make sure the water can get to all the surfaces. This sounds obvious, but if you overload your dishwasher, you might find some items aren’t cleaned.

• Make sure dirty surfaces face inwards, towards the water jets.
• Avoid placing big items (baking trays or platters) close to the centre, where they will block jets from reaching everything else. Put them at the sides.
• Some items such as plastic cups or delicate glasses should only be placed on the top rack, where the wash is gentler and the temperature lower.

Not just for dishes

Your dishwasher can clean lots of items around the home as long as they are dishwasher-safe! Try these:

• Plastic toys – place them on the top rack and put small items in the cutlery basket.
• Make-up brushes – always benefit from a good clean to get rid of excess product and bacteria.
• Keys – these harbour a surprising level of germs!
• Dishcloths and sponges – pop them in the top rack to freshen them up.
• Flip-flops! We’ve heard you can clean these really well in the top rack though you might prefer to do this separately from your dishes.

Remember it’s always a great idea to check the user guide for your dishwasher. Many are available online too.

Do you have any dishwasher tips? We would love to hear them!

Cleaning the fridge is one of those tasks that’s easy to overlook. But a clean fridge helps to keep your food fresher for longer, and stops the spread of potentially harmful bacteria.

Just Helpers Founder Antoinette shares her top tips on how to clean your fridge with minimum fuss.

When to Clean Your Fridge

It’s a good idea to clean your fridge at most every 3 months. Of course, if something spills in the fridge it’s best to wipe it up straight away. This is especially important for milk, which will smell bad if it isn’t cleaned up quickly. Wiping up sticky spills as they happen will also make it easier to clean your fridge.

To clean your fridge thoroughly, you need to empty it first. So, it makes sense to clean your fridge before you go to the supermarket or before your delivery arrives. That way, you will have less food to store whilst you clean.

Before you Start to Clean Your Fridge

Now is the time to have a good sort through the contents of your fridge.

• Throw away any food which is out of date or inedible – don’t forget those half jars of chutney left over from Christmas!
• Empty your vegetable drawers and salad crisper.
• Take everything out of the door racks – get rid of flat fizzy drinks or the dregs in wine bottles.
• Put perishable food (especially meat, fish and dairy products) into a cool bag or box with frozen chill packs to keep them fresh while you clean.
• Finally, check the manufacturer’s instructions for your fridge for any special precautions.

How to Clean Your Fridge – Step by Step

1. If possible, pull out your fridge. Vacuum around, underneath and behind it, and wash the floor.
2.  Remove the drawers, crisper and shelves.  Leave them on the kitchen counter to come up to room temperature before washing. This is especially important for glass shelves which can shatter with a sudden change in temperature.
3. Wipe all the surfaces inside the fridge including the door. Avoid using bleach or strong-smelling cleaning products which can taint the food. A solution of bicarbonate of soda, vinegar or Milton is ideal. Bicarbonate of soda is also great for neutralising odours if a spill has gone unnoticed and resulted in a nasty niff!  Cotton buds are great for cleaning fiddly corners. Dry thoroughly with a clean tea towel.
4. If you notice a pool of water at the bottom of  your fridge, it’s likely that your drip-hole is blocked. Find this at the back of the fridge – a cocktail stick is useful to clean it.
5. Wash the shelves, drawers and crisper in hot soapy water (washing up liquid is perfect). Remember to remove the plastic guard strips from each of the shelves. These often need a good soak and a scrubbing brush to get to the bottom of the narrow crevices. Don’t be tempted to pop them in the dishwasher either  – it’s too hot. I also find that it leaves watermarks on the  plastic components.  Dry thoroughly before putting them back in the fridge.
6. Don’t forget the outside of the fridge. A micro-fibre cloth is great for getting a streak-free finish. Use a vacuum to clean crumbs and debris from the door seal and wipe with your bicarbonate of soda solution. Dry thoroughly.
7. Now you’re done! Let your fridge get back to the correct temperature before re-filling it (a fridge thermometer is useful for this).

Keeping your Fridge Clean

Now that your fridge is fresh and clean, you’ll want to keep it that way! Try these tips for fridge organisation.

• Wipe the outside and bottom of jars and bottles before you put them back in the fridge.
• Try to put everything back in an organised way so you can find things.
• Try to put food which needs to be used first closest to the front.
• Consider using labelled baskets or trays to keep similar foods together (cheese, yoghurts, jams etc)
• Organise your vegetable drawers, with tender products such as salad leaves separate from heavier, more robust veg such as carrots or sweet potatoes. This will stop them getting crushed and spoiled.
• Label your left-overs and plan when you will use them, or freeze them so they last longer.
• Write the date on jars or bottles when you open them – that way you can be sure to use them up while they are still fresh, and avoid waste.
• When you do your big shop, get into the habit of checking and pruning current items before adding more stuff in. Take this opportunity to give shelves and doors a quick wipe too.

“Just Doing the Right Thing” is at the heart of what Just Helpers is all about.

So when I was recognised as Employer of the Year in London, in the Venus Awards, I couldn’t have been more thrilled.

What are the Venus Awards?

The Venus Awards have been called “The working women’s Oscars”. They recognise the achievements of hard-working women, and female-friendly businesses, across the country. I was lucky enough to be nominated for the award by a Just Helpers customer. From 45 nominations, I made it down to the shortlist of 4. Then, at a glamour-filled ceremony at the Waldorf Hotel in London, I was announced as the winner! For me, the award is a recognition of the achievements of the whole team at Just Helpers.

Values

I founded Just Helpers out of a passion for justice, fair pay and decent working conditions. Inspired by my charity work with an anti human-trafficking organisation, I placed these values at the heart of the business.

In our cities, vulnerable migrant workers, and particularly women, are often exploited by unscrupulous employers with poor pay and working conditions.  I saw this injustice first hand, and so I decided to begin my own business to provide an alternative – providing domestic and commercial cleaning services.

The Just Helpers Approach

Being an ethical, professional business which nurtures and supports women is central to the Just Helpers Approach.

• Paying the London Living Wage – a good day’s work for a good day’s pay
• Developing People – mentoring our Helpers to improve their confidence and communication
• Professionalism –through our process of vetting, hands on interview and shared standards, we ensure your Helper is right for you
• Pride – Our Helper of the Month Award, nominated by our clients, rewards a job well done
• Recognising Potential – where we can, we grow our Helpers into Managers

Campaigning

Campaigning is a big part of who I am. The award has been a great opportunity to encourage people to follow the Just Helper’s approach. In my acceptance speech I said: “Please make sure you know how much you pay your cleaner and if you are going to use an agency, make sure they are ethical. A good day’s work for a good day’s pay – everyone deserves that.

A good day’s work for a good day’s pay – everyone deserves that.

Just Helpers is affiliated to the Living Wage Foundation. This organisation campaigns for workers to be paid fair wages which reflects actual living costs in the capital, and across the nation.

Expertise

In further recognition of what we have achieved at Just Helpers, I am excited to have been asked to be a Champion for the London Mayor’s “Good Work Standard”. This initiative aims to bring together the best employment practices in London. It will work to raise standards for workers across the city, through educating employers and informing government policy. I’m looking forward to sharing my expertise and working alongside them to ensure a robust and fair policy for all sizes of businesses.

The Future

The Venus Award has been a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and to reflect on all that we have achieved so far at Just Helpers. The positive validation from someone outside the agency has encouraged us to punch bigger and higher. Our greater passion has now become to end exploitation within the UK cleaning agency. Watch this space!

Over the coming months, Just Helpers will continue to grow, with a new Just Helpers App, an exciting new rebrand and new services such as Lifestyle Support for people in retirement.

Merry Christmas from Just Helpers!

As an office team, we want to take this opportunity to say thank you for trusting us to find great cleaning colleagues who match your home and office spaces over this past year. This year has been a big year of growth for us, which has been exciting and has kept us all very busy. We are excited about the creation of our new App which will be launched in the first quarter of next year. This will help to ease communication, allow you and your Helper to keep up with your cleaning schedules, give you an easy platform to make comments and allow you to connect with the team more readily.

It was thrilling to have our 3 babies in the manager’s team and the arrival of baby Matthew to Monika in September has been wonderful – more on that in January!

Empowering Women

Being nominated by one of you for a Venus award this year was also very humbling, and much more making it through to the final 4 and a ‘juoozy’ awards evening at the Waldorf with the team on the 3rd as an Employer of the year has been an interesting journey. We look forward to announcing the results.

Spreading Christmas Cheer

Many of you ask me about potential gifts for your Helper. For all of the team, the very best thing for them is a monetary tip as they are often trying to support family still located in their countries of origin. I will leave this between you and your cleaner, but please do be mindful of your last cleaning day before Christmas with your regular Helper. I would suggest just leaving a card etc, in a prominent place where she is likely to find it. Last year I can honestly say that most of my team were moved to tears because of your generosity. Thank you in advance.

Our Christmas Charity Appeal

We are supporting two charities this year:

The first is Bulgarian charity spearheaded by Olga one of our cleaning colleagues. She and a group of friends organise a busload of items to be delivered to a charity that cares for Children in the care system in Bulgaria. There is a desperate need for items of clothing, toiletries, stationery and toys. As many of our team are Bulgarian, we want to get behind this in two ways:

Our team will rally together to donate various second-hand items from their family. Secondly, any money raised by the team for both this and our UK charity below will be matched by the agency. We will divide the money and have a day as a team in the spring where we create as many gift-boxes as we can to send with the next bus that Olga and her friends will organise. We would LOVE it if you could consider donating some money towards this.

The second is Children with Cancer UK. This was the charity that is close to our manager Yana Yaneva’s heart and won the team’s vote too. Already as a team, we have raised over £600. This will be matched pound for pound by the agency. Could you join us in donating to this charity too? Find out more at https://www.childrenwithcancer.org.uk

Christmas Festivities near you

We currently clean for 9 great churches and their clergy around London. I know that they will be busily planning their Christmas services now. If the thought of Carols by Candlelight, Alfrescosinging, festive wreath making, midnight mass, an evening of carols at your local jazz bar, Children’s Nativity service, a Christmas market or the chance to find out what Christmas is really all about beyond the trees, carols, Santa and gifts piques your interest, why not drop into one of their services or a church more local to you. See below for details of our connections:

Streatham Central Church
Dundonald Church Wimbledon
Hornsey Parish Church
St Michael’s Battersea
St Thomas More Swiss Cottage
St Peter’s Bethnal Green
St Andrew’s Chelsea
The Bridge Battersea Community Church
St Mary Abbots Parish Church Kensington

Christmas and New Year often provide a time and space for us to reboot, rethink and in some cases change direction. I pray for safety and well-being for each and every one of you as you pause, reflect, spend time with family and friends and enter into a new year.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!
Warmest wishes,
Antoinette, Lydia, Monika, Vivian, Vanya, Yana, Yana, and the Just Helpers Team

Just Helpers Journey – The Reason

I started the company in 2013 when I landed an amazing part-time job working for an anti-human trafficking organisation.

Having loved being a secondary school teacher for 12 years, the cut in salary to pursue something that I am so passionate about was tricky. I have always loved cleaning for friends and family and took pride in seeing peoples faces after my efforts. Coming home after a long day of work and knowing that your home space is serene, organised and clean is a joy to behold. Ensuring that “wow” and “ahhhh” feeling when clients get home still gives me the same satisfaction today. This motivation was key in inspiring and brainstorming business ideas to help support my charity work. So through my love of cleaning and hard work a business was born.

Small Beginnings

Consequently, through friends at church, I was connected to my first amazing client (Eve, how apt!) and the cleaning agency has rapidly grown from there.  My passion for justice, fair pay and working conditions was at the core of the business from the very beginning. As I received more and more referrals the business grew and gradually evolved through word of mouth recommendations. From a one-woman business to appointing my first colleagues Barbara and Yana Yaneva along the way, to what you see today – Just Helpers.

It was clear by 2015 that my role should evolve more strategically and I should continue to combine my two passions:

Cleaning and Empowering Women

Unfortunately, through my anti-trafficking work, I saw first hand the exploitation that happens in all communities even those right on our doorsteps. In our UK neighbourhoods, vulnerable people are taken advantage of and not given the opportunities, rights and kindnesses that every person should be afforded. I knew early on that If I could provide an alternative career, where women were nurtured and encouraged to build their own businesses: then my vision would help many individuals in their own journeys.

Fair pay and good working conditions are rare in the cleaning industry

I decided that this ethic should underpin everything that we do. So “Just doing the right thing’ became our motto. Just Helpers from its very inception have been proud affiliates of the London Living Wage Foundation. An organisation campaigning tirelessly to ensure fair pay is awarded to workers and help highlight the poverty crisis in the UK (please find out more here). Just Helpers supports your cleaner by ensuring they receive an equitable wage from their clients but my conscience pushed that we go way beyond that. Just Helpers is my family and I instil pride and enthusiasm in all of my teammates from the very start. With a team of great in-house, ‘home-grown’ managers, we mentor your Helper to improve their confidence and assist them in their communication with their clients.  Where we see Helpers with the potential for growth beyond cleaning, we promote them to be a manager at the earliest opportunity.

Ethics are central to our company operations and we employ this internally within our office team and in our interactions with you and your cleaner.

We have grown to be a management agency providing London cleaning services for both domestic and commercial clients. We act on behalf of professional, affordable and conscientious cleaners (we prefer the term ‘Helpers’), who will love your home like their own. Our experience in the industry enables us to help you and your Helper develop a strong, solid relationship.

All of our Helpers providing cleaning services in London are vetted and put through three hands-on cleaning interviews to make sure that they are the right Helper for you.  We want to know that they subscribe to a shared standard that they have agreed upon as a collective over time. This is ever-changing, especially as new Helpers join the ranks and share their expertise. We have learnt how to spot a great ‘Helper’ through our robust interview process and are regularly approached by women wanting to join Just Helpers as our honest, fair and empowering reputation spreads across communities both here and abroad. I am so proud and delighted to advocate and administrate for such a committed team of colleagues.

So that is the Just Helpers Journey so far. What’s next?

The Future

Being a South Londoner, London has always been my home but since childhood, I have had a love of the sea. In my younger years as a teacher, I taught both in the UK and in Africa and have been fortunate enough to travel broadly.  Even with experiencing many countries, I love nothing more than coming home. This summer I took the first step in making my longer-term dream come true. I moved to live by the sea. Just Helpers now has a team of Operations Managers and over 40 Helpers providing high quality, reliable and efficient cleaning. My aim is to eventually own my own home by the sea and help raise teenagers through fostering.

This is my 5-year plan

Professionally, Just Helpers must continue to grow and I have some great people supporting me in navigating the next exciting phase of growth. I have also been privileged to have been invited to contribute to the Mayor of London’s ‘Good Work Standard’ initiative as a Champion.  The aim of this initiative is to promote equitable and nurturing working standards in London businesses. This exciting committee should help to educate and inform other businesses and government policy in this sector. Ensuring working conditions improve for all is the focus for the future.

I am also extremely excited to have been nominated for the Venus Women’s Awards (by one of our clients) in the category of ‘Employer of the Year – London’. This team effort is a great recognition of how far we have come. We are thrilled to have just found out we are Finalists. The whole management team will attend a lovely event in December to find out if we win. Regardless of the outcome I am so proud of everyone and cannot wait to celebrate!

Who knows what the future holds after that, Homecare and Life Administration is another string to our bow coming soon to London’s postcodes. A new system and App to streamline our communication between Helpers, Clients and the office team,  Just Helpers in another part of the UK…Watch this space!

For now though lets ‘Just’ take one step at a time!  And thank-you to all of those who have journeyed with us along the way.

Room by room by Antoinette – Entrance Hall

The Entrance Hall in your home is often the first space that your guests will see. Taking time to ensure that this room is clean and clutter-free will enable both you and your guests to feel relaxed as soon as you come through the door.

With so many elements making up an Entrance Hall it is often overlooked as it can be tricky.

Here are my top tips on how to achieve the best for your Entrance Hall. It is the window into your home after all.

Order

• When cleaning your home a common mistake can be doing the hallways last.  If the floors need mopping you need to think this through, as the worst thing is mopping and then having to walk back over your hard work.  Consider doing the downstairs hallway before you go upstairs or vice versa depending on what order you have cleaned the rest of your house.  This gives your floors time to dry.
• Vacuuming rugs and moving them out of the way is essential for a thorough clean.  Expensive and delicate rugs should be vacuumed carefully and then placed safely somewhere to air.
• Bookshelves are often housed in hallways and can give a lovely aesthetic to this space. This feature is often neglected and can get very dusty. By using a  Feather Duster you can easily eliminate the dust. The much maligned feather duster is great for getting to the tops of books and into the edges of the bookshelf. I highly recommend an annual prune and spring clean where all the books come completely off of the shelves to prevent any stubborn marking on your selves.
• Every home has it! The ‘Tidy Disaster Zone’. You know that drop zone by the front door. Shoes, scarves, jackets, scooters, shopping bags, Abel and Cole boxes… and anything else that randomly gets dumped there. Is it time to throw away the broken umbrella that’s been lurking there for 3 years? YES!
• Entrance Halls are also notorious for cobwebs. Staircases are often the highest ceilings of the house, so by using a Telescopic-Static-Duster, you can dust high-level cobwebs with ease.
• Light fittings and their bulbs show dust off when illuminated. So take time to dust light fittings and chandeliers.  If you do have chandeliers in your home be very careful when dismantling.  Allow an hour for this task and take a photo before you start from all angles! They are like a jigsaw puzzle, you do not want to be left with a random piece once you have carefully reassembled it.
• Carefully dust tops of pictures. Be careful of precious artwork. I find an old-fashioned feather duster comes in handy here.
• Polish mirrors using a special glass microfibre cloth for a sparkly, streak-free finish.
• Dust Dado Rails and Skirting Boards.
• Dust tops of light switches, then anti-bac wipe and polish them for a hygienic and sparkling finish.
• Dust tops of plug sockets, anti-bac wipe and polish them to ensure no dirt accumulates.
• Dust between the balusters (I bet you didn’t know that term!) for us common folk, they are the spindles or banister supports on your staircase.  If they are really dirty, use the damp cloth to give them all a thorough clean.
• Hard to reach windows can be difficult and potentially dangerous to clean effectively. You may need specialist window cleaners. Please feel free to contact us for our recommended window cleaning partners should you require this service.
• Vacuum the whole area including the stairs.  Don’t forget to do edges first with the corner nozzle attachment and then use the large attachments for each step. Ensure that you adjust for the correct floor setting for carpet, hardwood or other surfaces to do the landing areas.
• Mop, make sure you always mop your way towards the next room you will clean.

Enjoy

Now you can fling open your front door with pride and let your Entrance Hall welcome guests in.  Think how proud (and shame free ;-)) you will feel the next time friends and family visit. Until next time. Happy Cleaning! Antoinette.

Is your bedroom a place for relaxation and rejuvenating sleep?

In order for your brain to ‘switch off’ this room should be clutter-free and look and smell fresh and clean. Here is a helpful insight into how your Helper ensures that this is our priority in your home, enabling you to spring out of bed ready to rock with whatever your day has in store.

Having the correct toolkit for any job is essential for getting great results. Here is a list of the key ingredients to making your boudoir beautiful. Next, of course, is the method in which the magic happens. Follow this simple, yet highly effective order and I know you will be impressed with the outcome:

Order

1. First strip the bed linen and place it in the washing machine. If you are anything like me, the idea of getting two jobs done in one time slot is intensely satisfying.
2. Vacuum any rugs thoroughly and remove them to the landing outside the bedroom.
3. Make the bed with clean linen (It’s really important to do this now so that lint and fluff doesn’t land on your newly dusted surfaces)
4. Dust all available surfaces going from high to low. Don’t forget your window ledges, blinds and radiators.
5. Use this opportunity to declutter your room and arrange high traffic areas such as dressing tables and bedside cabinets so that things are relevant and easily accessible. This is the time to let your artistic flair shine!
6. Vacuum the floor. If you are a shredder and don’t have a fabulous Miele Hoover with it’s special hair grabbing head, then try using the brush function to loosen any hairs from the carpet.
7. I would suggest, that once a month if you store your life under the bed, pull it out and make sure the vacuum gets into all those nooks and crannies. Once a quarter pull your bed away from the wall and make sure you get to these areas too. Grossly, it’s renowned for dead skin cells, hairs, runaway tissues and all the other clutter you have dropped down the side during your nightly Netflix binge.
8. It’s likely that you have ruffled the bed. Make sure that one of your last actions is to give it that hotel feel. Pull the edges of the duvet out and smooth the duvet down from the middle to the edges using the flat palm of your hands.
9. If you have special items such as silver, gold or brass trinkets, take them out to the hallway and treat them using specialist cleaning solutions. Watch this space for our future blog on ‘The Lost Art of Polishing including Silverware’.
10. Return any rugs.

Stand back and admire our handiwork, smug in the knowledge that you can look forward to a good night’s sleep in crisp fresh linen and a newly adjusted Feng Shui bedroom.

Rock a bye baby….

It’s worth noting that we would recommend minimal use of sprays and products in your baby’s bedroom. Dry dusting with microfibre cloths should be sufficient along with a good vacuum. At worst, an anti-bacterial spray could be used, though there is a school of thought that recommends no products so that your baby can build resilience to germs. I’ll leave that battle with you!  Don’t forget to do a regular dust between the struts of your baby’s cot too.

Sweet dreams, Antoinette.

I have to make a confession straight off the bat, as all who know me well, will know that the last time my iron was sighted was circa 1903!

Don’t get me wrong, I love a well-ironed piece of clothing or better still bedsheet, but running my own business has meant that time for such luxuries has gone out of the wind.

We asked the expert opinion of two of the best ironers from the Helpers, and here’s what they had to say about some time-saving features that help to get you that perfectly smooth finish:

A comfy handle – In order to ensure that you don’t feel too much discomfort as you embark on your Sunday evening ironing marathon, check that your handle is suitable for you. It helps to have a soft or smooth handle, and one where the grip is not too wide enabling you to hold it comfortably for long periods of time.

Steam Generator v Steam Iron – You are probably wondering what the difference is between the two! A steam iron is markedly smaller and cheaper, so it’s the better choice if you’ll be ironing small amounts of clothing, or don’t have storage space for a larger steam generator iron – the best steam irons put out an impressive amount of steam, so can be as effective as their counterpart. If you can pay the premium (normally well over £100) and want the largest steam output, and would also rather spend less time refilling your iron – then the bulky water tanks of a steam generator iron (as recommended by our Helpers) are a far better fit. The best steam generators produce significantly more steam, meaning that you whizz through those stubborn wrinkles in no time. So if budget and space aren’t a concern, then a steam generator is for you.

Self-cleaning  – As we have already addressed the issue of limescale in another blog, a self-cleaning iron, especially in London with the pesky hard water might be a serious consideration for you. The amount of steam your iron produces can be severely impaired by the build-up of limescale over time. Most irons come with a built-in limescale filter, but some don’t, and these irons will clog up really quickly. This is the case where a little bit more spend on a iron with a limescale filter, might save you a few more pennies in the future.

Spray button  – Is a standard feature on most modern irons but should not be underestimated. The extra water boost is essential in helping steam out stubborn creases.

Luxuries include Auto-shut off – This helps cancel out that panicky feeling when you have left the house that you have accidentally left the iron on. If you like me, are always in a rush, then this could be the mind-saving feature for you. If your iron is not moved for a while, then it is programmed to automatically shut off. A useful feature, guaranteeing peace of mind.

The Lamborghini of the irons 🙂

Vivian and Vanya from the South West have said that the Philips Perfect Care Elite Steam Generator Iron is the “Lamborghini of irons”. They love it because:

“It is our favourite iron because it is so light that you can iron for hours without feeling any pain in your hand. It has a large 1.8l tank and works at optimal temperature! We look forward to ironing when we find this in one of our client’s homes”

Maria who works in West London loves the Philips 7400 Series Pressurised Steam Generator

“This iron is efficient, lightweight and ergonomically designed. Excessive steam gives you the ability to iron with excellent results without much effort. An ironing table that has a stable stand and a solid heat-resistant coating is very important. Both are an excellent choice for any quality household”.

Happy ironing!
Antoinette

Our recommended irons and other options can be purchased from  John Lewis and Argos