< READ MORE Reopening Guidelines from the CDC for Schools, Workplaces, Businesses and Homes

Here are some Dura Wax products that can help clean and sanitize your School, Institution, Workplace or Business:

Perox-C Plus Hydrogen Peroxide Cleaner - Click Here

New & Blue Neutral Deep Cleaning All Purpose Cleaner - Click Here

Orange-Aid Industrial Citrus Cleaner Degreaser - Click Here

Dura Wax Products can assist in keeping areas clean from the Flu, COVID-19 and other viruses and germs during this Fall and Winter Season.

<  READ MORE HERE

Dura Wax has what you need to 
keep your environment safe: 

1. Deep Clean With  Perox-C Plus Hydrogen Peroxide Cleaner


2. Kill The Virus With  Husky Disinfectants

CDC Phase 3 Disinfecting Plan Requirements:

Disinfecting solutions should be at every public interaction area and employee work area. Every hour the areas to be disinfected, including restrooms, cashier stations, POS stations, credit card readers, doorknobs, handrails, public areas, employee areas, company vehicles, offices, workstations, phones, keyboards, phones, staplers, and other work equipment.

Three Dura Wax products that kill COVID-19 and other viruses and pathogens: 

1. Husky 814 Q/T Tuberculocidal Spray Disinfectant
2. Husky 805 Neutral Disinfectant 128
3. Husky 891 Arena Disinfectant Cleaner

Some quick facts about the COVID-19:

• When a person sneezes the COVID droplets can project the virus up to 18 feet away.
• The COVID virus can linger in the air for up to 20 minutes before settling to the ground. It's very important to keep floors clean and disinfected. 
• Study on ICU/ER departments in sample hospitals showed a clean environment but workers were found carrying the virus on the bottoms of their shoes and transferring the virus to other areas. Dura Wax offers Shoe Covers to help prevent the spread of germs.
• According to WebMD, COVID-19 can live on aluminum for 4 hours.
• According to WebMD, COVID-19 can live on paper, ceramics and glass for 5 days.
• According to WebMD, COVID-19 can live on plastic for 2 to 3 days.
• According to WebMD, COVID-19 can live on metal for 5 days.
• Research was not done on clothing, skin and hair.

As we prepare to reopen, lets keep in mind the CDC warning of another big outbreak in the upcoming fall and winter months. Let’s keep our homes, businesses, facilities, schools, churches and institutions safe and clean.

On the label of all EPA registered disinfectants and/or on the manufacturers websites are lists of viruses, bacteria and other pathogens the product is effective against and, most importantly, the dwell time the product needs to kill the virus you are using it for.

Dwell time for a disinfectant is the time the product must remain wet on the surface to effectively reduce (sanitize) or kill (disinfect) the bacteria or viruses. Those dwell times, depending on the disinfectant and pathogen you are trying to kill can be as little as 15 seconds up to 10 minutes.

Every time there is an outbreak, schools and organizations send out their fleet of janitors to clean. The local news rushes out to show what these people are doing to protect you or your children.

They show these people on TV doing what I call “spray on, wipe off”. They spray the surface and immediately wipe it. Spray and wipe desks, phones, toys. While they think they are disinfecting, in actuality they have just rendered their disinfectant impotent.

Disinfectants do just that – disinfect. Unless the product is listed as a cleaner and disinfectant, the surface must be cleaned first, before disinfecting. Just the process of cleaning will reduce the germs on the surface. If the surface isn’t clean, the product cannot be effective and the dwell time becomes a moot point.

Whatever you purchase, read the label, develop a procedure taking into account the dwell time of the product and train your staff to follow that procedure. This is not the time for cutting corners and hurrying through the process just to get done.

We Fight Dirty!... and let you know how to also.

I wanted to repeat this blog because I think it is important and because I see the same mistakes made in cleaning.

Again this year, I saw on two different newscasts school employees using the "spray and wipe" method of cleaning.  Spray the surface and immediately wipe.   This is NOT the way to disinfect or sanitize.

For a disinfectant or sanitizer to work, it must sit on the surface for a specified amount of time (the dwell time) to effectively reduce (sanitize) or kill (disinfect) bacteria and viruses.

Chlorine bleach is used in many facilities, and in some cases overused based on the smell and discoloration of their surfaces and furniture.  One brand of chlorine bleach is registered as a general disinfectant when it is diluted ½ cup per gallon of water with a five-minute dwell time.  In contrast, it is registered as a healthcare-environment disinfectant only when (at the same dilution) it is left on the surface for 10 minutes, because that is the dwell time needed to kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa - a bacteria that causes nasty infections.

(For more information on the differences between cleaners, disinfectants and sanitizers, see this previous blog article: https://www.durawax.com/blog/cleaners-vs-sanitizers-vs-disinfectants/)

What is MOST important is the read the labels on the product to see how long it must sit wet on the surface to be effective and then establish a routine to allow that product to work before moving on.

For example, in a school you may want to spray the surface of all the desks, move to the next room, spray those desks and then return to the first room to wipe. Thus giving the product time to work.

Another way is to use disinfectant wipes, which are made to wipe a surface and dry with no follow up wiping.

Not following the mix ratios and dwell times listed on a product, even if doing general cleaning, will prove ineffective. More times than not claims of a product "not working" are not because the product is faulty, but because the person using the product is not using it correctly.

We Fight Dirty!... and help you disinfect too!

https://www.durawax.com/disinfectants-and-sanitizers/

I don't know if any of you have had the unique pleasure of having your dogged skunked. If you live in a suburban area or more rural area, you know that skunks have a pleasant habit of making their homes in whatever hole they can find.  Mine happened to be under our back stoop.

Thanksgiving night my wife and I returned from the relatives.  Since the dog was in all day, I opened the back door to let him out.  We go to hang up our coats.

Almost simultaneously, we both get of whiff of that wonderful skunk smell.  I look out the door and notice the dog shaking his head and sneezing.

Not fully putting two and two together, I open the door and Smack! That wretched odor!  The dog, not wanting to be around this anymore, bolts through the door.  

And he reeks! We're both trying to corner him, because all we need is the dog running around the house rubbing his stinky fur on the furniture and carpet.

Finally, I get a hold of him. But now what?  Put him in the shower! It was the only thing I could think of. And what to clean him with? 

I remembered a customer, Jim from Neighbors Carpet, telling us how his dog got skunked, and he used Perox-C because he saw the bottle sitting there. At the time we all thought he was crazy. 

Meantime, my wife is looking online for what to wash the dog with and yelling out "It says to use tomato juice, or buy skunk smell remover. This one says hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap."

I'm carrying the dog up the stairs (he can't go up stairs anymore) to the shower, I'm thinking. "Wait a minute! Perox-C is hydrogen peroxide, a surfactant (soap) and water."  I yell down to my wife to bring the gallon of Perox-C.  

I get the dog in the shower. I probably could have gotten in with him. My clothes reeked by now.  In comes my wife with the Perox-C and baking soda.  

How much to use?  Who care?!  My eyes are watering.  I pour some Perox-C in my hand and rub it on the dog. A little more.  My wife mixes the baking soda in some water.  I pour that on. 

I soap the dog all over.  Usually, he hates to get wet, but I think he was so miserable at this point he didn't care what I did.

Rinse him off.  Grab some old towels.  He shakes and soaks us. Thanks. Dry him the best we could.  

I put my nose to his fur.  No smell. Nada. Gone. Kaput!  

Since my clothes smelled of skunk, I put some Perox-C and baking soda in the wash.  Worked there too. 

Now, I am as surprised as anyone that this worked.

Apparently, using hydrogen peroxide for skunk smell is time tested.  

Here is a link for the recipe:  https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-de-skunk-your-dog...

Now. I'm not recommending to use Perox-C to do this. Because I have no idea how much you should actually use.  I poured a little in my hand with the water running in the shower.  And we didn't formulate it with this use in mind. 

But I am glad it worked.  So is my dog.

The gist of the article was the top 10 excuses people give for why they can't start a cleaning company. Or any company for that matter.

See the full article here:

http://www.cleanlink.com/news/article/Hesitation-For-Starting-A-Cleaning-Company--20451

The article lists the reasons, but no answers.  So I thought I would throw in my two cents.

1. It will be too difficult - Why? Start small, a few jobs here and there.
   
   
2. I don’t have the money to start a cleaning business - You don't need a lot a money.  Rags, buckets, mops, cleaners.
   
   
3. There are already too many cleaning companies in my town - then specialize. Look at what other companies are doing and see if there is a niche being missed. 
   
   
4. I’m already too busy working at my regular job - As I said in #1, start small. Office buildings are usually cleaned after hours or on weekends.
   
   
5. I will have no time to relax and be with my family - There are a lot of people touting the "you can do everything" mantra. I'm not one of them. In the beginning, it will take up your time. Running a business takes time. So don't try become an overnight success. Have a plan of what you want to do - and not do. Don't take every job just to get the work. You'll burn yourself out. 
   
   
6. My friends tell me I'm crazy to start any business - I love this one.  Unless you are trying to do something goofy like selling snow to eskimos, ignore this.  Anyone who has started a business can tell you they were told the same thing.
7. I don’t think I’m smart enough to run a business - What makes you say that? Look, having a business is a learning experience. Not every business that succeeded was started by a "smart" person. And plenty of "smart" people who started businesses failed. Learn what you can, explore different resources.  A good place to start is SCORE (Senior Core of Retired Executives), who can give you insight and help you look for pitfalls.   
   
   
8. It will take too long to make any money - Any money?  Or some amount of money you have in your head. Yes it does take time to build up a business.  But you can be profitable fairly quickly by managing spending and figuring your job costs.
   
   
9. I don’t know enough about cleaning - There is a great resource for that - the internet. You can pretty much find whatever you need to know here.  Blogs, cleaning forums, online magazines, Facebook, etc. Try googling "How to start a cleaning company."
   
   
10. And, the all-time favorite, I might fail. - You might.  But there is a saying that goes "You only fail when you quit trying".  Even if you do fail, figure out what went wrong and do it differently next time.

"The bags fill up too fast." 

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: This is a Good thing!

What you are seeing is the backpack picking up all the dirt left behind from your upright vacuum or carpet sweeper.

This is especially true if you are using a backpack vacuum on an area for the first time.

A ProTeam backpack is 43% more efficient than a commercial upright vacuum, so it is going to pull up more dirt.

And for low level carpets such as those in commercial buildings, backpack vacuums really shine.

What you will find is that after a few uses on the same area, your bag will not fill up as fast.

Which really means you are cleaning more efficiently. And that's not a bad thing.

We Fight Dirty!...  efficiently!    

Unfortunately, I saw on two different newscasts employees spraying and wiping with no dwell time.  For a disinfectant or sanitizer to work, it must sit on the surface for a specified amount of time to effectively kill bacteria and viruses.

Chlorine bleach, which many facilities use, and in some cases overuse based on the smell and discoloration of their surfaces and furniture, must remain wet on the surface being cleaned from 1-5 minutes in order to be an effective sanitizer.

(For more information on the differences between cleaners, disinfectants and sanitizers, see this previous blog article: https://www.durawax.com/blog/cleaners-vs-sanitizers-vs-disinfectants/)

What is MOST important is the read the labels on the product to see how long it must sit wet on the surface to be effective and then establish a routine to allow that product to work before moving on.

For example, in a school you may want to spray the surface of all the desks, move to the next room, spray those desks and then return to the first room to wipe.  Thus giving the product time to work.

Not following the mix ratios and dwell times listed on a product, even if doing general cleaning, will prove ineffective. More times than not claims of a product "not working" are not because the product is faulty, but because the person using the product is not using it correctly.

We Fight Dirty!... and help you disinfect too!

https://www.durawax.com/disinfectants-and-sanitizers/

was not what he expected.

The comment he made was, "What? Did the price of oranges go up?".

Actually that is exactly what happened. Orange-Ad is a citrus based product. Unlike many competing "citrus" cleaners on the market, It is NOT a petroleum based cleaner with a little citrus smell thrown in.

As such, we are at the mercy of the fluctuations in the citrus market. The last increase in our citrus base went up tremendously. While we did increase our Orange-Aid prices, the increase is not reflective of the full increase we received. 

We know many of our customers bid on jobs and need to be price competitive.  So instead of passing on this full increase, we took the hit.

Because Orange-Aid is a citrus based cleaner, it can be used safely on a wider variety of surfaces than a petroleum based cleaner can. And it is effective. That is why we will not change the formula. 

Yes, we could change the formula. But then it would no longer be the Orange-Aid that you have grown to trust over the years.