Summer Is Coming! Clean Your Fans!

As you may already know, the snow season is over and we are entering the air conditioning season. In the Niagara region, with our hot and humid summers, it is especially important that all of your equipment for keeping your home or business cool and dry is in good working order. There are things you can do to make sure your home or business stays cool this summer, some are easy and some are a bit more difficult.

Clean Your Fans!

Fan blades, whether the fan is mounted on the ceiling or is a table fan, can accumulate a noticeable amount of dust from being in use for a long time. There may be other things, like dust bunnies or even spiders that could surprise you when you turn the fan on if you don’t clean it beforehand. 

Tip: Clean your fan blades with a duster, like a Swiffer duster, before turning it on for the first time.

Tip: For table fans, you could use a can of air for cleaning computers to spray the dust off the fan blades, without having to take the fan apart to clean it.

Change Your Furnace Filter!

If you have a forced-air furnace / air conditioning system in your home, it is important to change the filter(s) regularly and replace them with the appropriate new filters. Please refer to the instructions for your specific furnace or consult an HVAC Technician for more information about this. Furnace filters prevent dust from being blown all over your home. They are an important part of your HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) system. By changing your furnace filter every 30 to 90 days, depending on what the manufacturer of your furnace recommends, you can help keep your home cleaner.

Tip: Mark on your calendar when you need to change your furnace filter, so you don’t forget to do it!

Tip: Have an extra furnace filter on hand, just in case.

Check Your Dehumidifier!

Do you have a dehumidifier in your basement working tirelessly day and night? Maybe you don’t remember putting it there because it was so long ago. Perhaps it is time to check on your dehumidifier and clean it!

Dehumidifiers have a filter to prevent them from getting dusty inside. This filter needs to be cleaned periodically. 

Check the cord to make sure the cord is intact, with the plug and cord not having any damage or exposed wires that could pose a hazard to you and your home.

Tip: Clean the dehumidifier filter with cold tap water in the sink and wipe it with a microfiber cloth.

Tip: Wipe off the outside of the dehumidifier with a damp microfiber cloth to keep it looking as good as it works!

What About The Cold Air Returns?

Cold air returns are the vents that allow air to come back to the air handling unit of your furnace / air conditioner if you have a forced air system in your home. These are usually located on the lower part of walls or in the floor, allowing hot air to rise and cool air to fall, as is normal for the convection of heat.

Cold air returns often have angled slats that allow air to flow through them while preventing objects from getting into the duct behind it. These slats can become covered with dust and grime. It is both unsightly and can affect the function of the cold air return when it is partially or completely obstructed with debris!

Uplift Cleaning Company routinely cleans the outside grate of cold air returns in the homes we service. We do this by vacuuming them, and if they need more attention, wiping the grate with a microfiber cloth and some soapy water. 

Tip: Vacuum your cold air returns when you vacuum your floor every time!

Tip: If the vacuum doesn’t get all of the debris off the cold air return grate, you can use a microfiber cloth and soapy water to clean the grate by wiping it off thoroughly.

What About The Outside Unit?

The outside unit, called a condenser, is where a home’s central air conditioning takes the heat from inside your home and puts it outside into the environment. This unit may be surrounded by vegetation and trees, living in a forgotten area beside your home where people rarely go to check on it. It is important to make sure that this unit is in good working order, or your air conditioning may not work properly.

There should not be grass or trees overgrown around it, preventing the unit from operating or from blowing large quantities of warm air through it, as this is where the warm air from inside your home is discharged. Where the air blows out, usually on the top, and the area surrounding the condenser, should be free of trees, tall grass, or other potential obstructions.

Tip: When you cut your grass, make sure to clear any grass or other vegetation from around your air conditioner condenser, so that it does not have anything close to it or growing into it.

Tip: Make it a habit to regularly check on home devices that live outside of your home.

This can be your air conditioner condenser, clothes dryer exhaust vent, water heater exhaust vent, furnace exhaust vent, and other vents or devices that exist on the outside of your home.  

Check Your Windows!

Having windows that are not leaking cooled air from the inside of your home to outside is important for your home to get and stay cool in the hot and humid weather of a Niagara summer. 

Seasonal deep cleaning can be helpful, including cleaning the windows, to find issues with windows like water leaks, broken or damaged windows, and broken or damaged window frames. 

Tip: Not only does cleaning your windows every season keep them and the great outdoors looking amazing, but also lets you inspect them for damage.

Tip: If you want clean windows inside and out, consider hiring a professional.

Make This The Best Summer Ever!

Summer 2026 may just be the best summer ever! At least that is what we can aspire for. Having your home cool and comfortable through the hot and humid weather of a Niagara summer is important for your comfort, and depending on your health, your safety. 

Taking a moment to check on equipment and vents, clean or change filters, and making sure none of your home machinery is forgotten, can help make a hot Niagara summer easier on you and your home!

If you need your home or office cleaned, Uplift Cleaning Company provides cleaning services throughout the Niagara region.

Cleaning To Prepare A Home For Sale

The time when someone is getting ready to move or working to sell a home as part of an estate can be a stressful and difficult time for many reasons. One of them can be related to cleaning the home to get it ready for sale.

Uplift Cleaning Company Cleans Homes!

We have cleaned homes to get them ready for real estate. Usually it is so the home can

be staged to get it ready to be put in the market. 

I have to say, seeing a home go from looking lived-in to deep cleaned is satisfying! While we are not painters, we can make the walls clean. We can make the floors and appliances clean. We even dust the blinds! We can clean the windows if you need us to!

Hire A Cleaning Business To Help

When time is important, like trying to get a vacant home on the real estate market as soon as possible, it may be time to hire a cleaning business to get the job done quickly and efficiently. 

With Uplift Cleaning Company, we have a crew, the supplies and equipment, and the knowledge and skills to get the job done! By hiring this task out, you can focus on doing other things you need to do during what is possibly a stressful time. 

We Make Lived-In Become Real-Estate Ready!

A satisfying job I was on once for Uplift Cleaning Company involved a home that was part of an estate. The family wanted it cleaned up and made ready for staging, then real estate, in a short amount of time. It was a long day for the two of us there cleaning. But, at the end of the day, the home was cleaned thoroughly, with all of the little scuffs, stains, and signs that it was lived-in washed away by us!

If you need help getting a home ready for real estate, let us know! We love to clean empty houses! The transformation is spectacular! 

Are There Standards In The Residential Cleaning Industry?

If you are looking for a residential cleaner in the Niagara region, have you ever wondered if there are any regulatory bodies or standards that these cleaning businesses you are choosing from need to follow to call themselves residential cleaners?

Not That We Know Of!

Unfortunately, we don’t know of any standards that a person or company would have to meet in order to call themselves residential cleaners. We don’t mean to gate-keep the cleaning industry at all here. It just seems to us that people seeking cleaning services have to navigate a wild-west of people and companies offering cleaning services without regulation making sure they are competent and operating a legitimate business.

There are some associations in Canada for the cleaning industry who are attempting to make things more legitimate and somewhat regulated, but any membership, participation with, or regulation by these organizations is entirely voluntary. There really  is no standard for a cleaning business to meet if they want to present themselves as a cleaning business.

Some Basic Issues

There are some basic issues with finding a cleaning company to clean your home that goes beyond standards for the cleaning industry specifically. We have noticed that there may be people operating as a business on the side, not as a registered business, where that can present a variety of problems to the person offering the services and can be an issue for you especially if the cleaner gets injured in your home.

Unlike Uplift Cleaning Company, cleaning businesses you are looking at may not have staff who are Vulnerable Sector Checked. We like to think that you should at least know that nobody we bring to your home has a criminal record. There is no requirement for this, but we do it for our client’s peace of mind.

Matters as simple as the cleaning business having business insurance, being registered as a business operating in Ontario, having WSIB for the workers, and having a human resources manual for the employees to follow, are not necessarily things you get with all the choices you have out there.

Ask Questions!

We invite you to ask us questions about our business, if you are interested in hiring us to do residential or office cleaning, or even for dog waste removal (poop scooping)! 

Here are some questions you might want to ask a cleaning business you are considering:

• Are you registered to operate as a business in Ontario?

• Do you have business liability insurance?

• Are your workers Vulnerable Sector Checked?

• Do you have a human resources manual?

• Do your labour practices comply with the Employment Standards Act?

• Do you have a first aid kit in your work vehicle?

• What happens if one of your employees gets injured in my home or office?

• Do you have professional standards for your workers to practice at work?

Choose Uplift Cleaning Company!

Uplift Cleaning Company may be a great choice for your residential and office cleaning needs! 

We are a registered business, with insurance, WSIB, and our crew receive all of the necessary training to be professional cleaners who conduct themselves competently and appropriately on the job, and we have dedicated customer service! 

If you want to see our human resources handbook that all new employees have to review before they go to anyone’s home to clean for us, you can take a look at that if you want to! We are a professional cleaning business, serious about providing our clients with excellent service, and doing so while operating a legitimate business that complies with all applicable legislation.