What Should You Do To Clean Up After Fire Damage?

Fire Damage Austin, Texas

Most people don’t expect that their home or business will ever suffer fire damage, but in case it does happen, you need to be prepared. After the fire is extinguished, there will be a long, expensive clean-up process before you can rest easy. You might be thinking of cleaning up on your own to save money. Here’s why you shouldn’t, and some advice on what to do instead.

Lingering Smoke

Even after the fire is gone, smoke will likely still remain inside the structure, and much of it will cause irritation to the eyes, nose and throat if you’re not properly equipped. Right after a fire, the smoke may still be thick enough to cause you to pass out from carbon monoxide poisoning if you’re trying to clean the property on your own.

Health Risks

Depending on how much smoke you’re exposed to and for how long, it could even increase your risk of developing long-term health problems later like lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. For example, firefighters are known to develop these health issues at a higher rate.

Children and the Elderly

Even if some amount of cleaning has already been done on the burned home or business, children, elderly people, or anyone with a weakened immune system should still not risk going into an environment that may have smoke, soot or harsh chemicals in the air.

Harmful Chemicals

In the wake of a fire, especially one that has reached the kitchen of a home, there may have been harsh chemicals that burned, creating toxic smoke and sometimes even combustion. To stay safe from these dangerous chemical reactions, you should keep your distance from the burned property and let professionals handle it.

The Safe Way To Clean Up

Because of the potential dangers listed above that can occur after fire damage, you should leave the cleaning and restoration up to professionals only. We just happen to have an expert team that can safely clean and restore your home and hopefully many of your personal belongings. For more information on our fire damage restoration service, visit The Steam Team website.

How To Reduce Dirt in Your Carpet

carpet cleaning cedar park

Carpet cleaning might seem endless, but there are several small changes you can make that result in big benefits. For example, simply removing shoes from walking on the carpet will elongate its lifetime by reducing daily wear and tear. If you’re tired of vacuuming constantly, we might have a few tricks up our sleeve to help. 

Remove Shoes at the Entrance

We’ll start here since we briefly mentioned it already, remove yours and everyone else’s shoes at the entrance to your home. You can purchase a decorative basket or shoe rack for the shoes to stay while you have guests over. This simple way of protecting your carpet will save the individual carpet fibers from damage resulting in them lasting longer.

Decorate With Area Rugs

Area rugs are another great way we can protect our carpet from wear and tear! We’re not saying you should cover all of your carpet. Just maybe those areas that receive the highest amount of foot traffic, like entryways, hallways, and living rooms. Lay area rugs down to prevent more wear and tear, and enjoy decorating your home while you do it! 

Deep Clean Your Carpet

Eliminate stains and signs of wear and tear by having your carpet deep cleaned occasionally! A professional-grade steam cleaning machine, like the ones we have here at The Steam Team, are powerful enough to extract dirt and grime from the fibers of your carpet, but gentle enough not to harm the carpet itself. So if it’s been a while since your carpet has seen the professionals, give The Steam Team a call. We have plenty of experience in both protecting and cleaning carpet; you’ll be amazed by our results! 

Don’t hesitate. Give The Steam Team a call today. They’ll provide a clean that you can truly trust, and one that will last a while, too! 

Getting Rid of Grease Stains the Steam Team Way

Professional Rug & Carpet Cleaners

One of fabrics worst enemies: grease. Have you ever watched the grease spill- slow motion- onto your favorite shirt, favorite pair of pants, or even worse- favorite couch cushion? Whether you’re staring at grease on your furniture or flooring, The Steam Team is here to help!

Grease Stains and Carpet

How do you remove grease stains from carpet? It’s quite simple, actually. You probably have a bottle of rubbing alcohol lying around in your medicine cabinet. Since rubbing alcohol is a solvent, it’ll help to dissolve the oil and separate it from the carpet fibers! Once the stain has lifted, rinse away the rubbing alcohol with water. 

Grease Stains and Tile or Grout

What about tile and grout, when it comes to grease? It’s all too easy to spill while cooking an oily food. For grease stains on tile and grout, put on your gloves and goggles, and pour one gallon of water into a bucket. Stir in ¾ C of liquid chlorine bleach. Let the mixture sit on the tile and grout for 30 minutes, wetting it as necessary. With a scrub brush, scrub the tile and grout in small sections. When finished, mop with plain water to rinse away the bleach! 

Grease Stains and Countertops

Lastly, trust in the professionals to thoroughly clean grease off of your countertops. A professional-grade steam cleaner can remove grease stains from your countertops with ease. So give The Steam Team a call today! We’ll be out in no time to give you a hand! 

The Steam Team has been serving the Austin community for over a decade now. Don’t hesitate to give us a call today; we’ll come out to your home, inspect the area(s) that need cleaning, and we won’t leave until everything is spotless! You can rely on us to get the job done properly the first time. 

Upholstered Furniture 101: Stressful Stains

Carpet Cleaning

From couches and loveseats, to upholstered chairs and ottomans- fabric covers a decent portion of your home. If you have kids (and/or pets) you know how hard it can be to keep those surfaces clean (and dry!). Fortunately, our expert technicians here at The Steam Team, have the tools they need to remove any stains from upholstered furniture. Today, on our blog, we wanted to share some tips to keep your favorite furniture from being stained:

Leave Your Shoes at the Door

Let’s start with something simple: shoes. Sometimes it can be helpful to leave dirty, sandy, and muddy shoes at the entrance to your home. Don’t give those feet a chance to dirty up your furniture! Leave your shoes at the door, and start seeing results right away in how frequently you have to vacuum, or clean up stained furniture.

Don’t Bring Food Around Furniture

Secondly, let’s instill this policy: if it belongs in the kitchen, let’s just leave it there, friends. Food and drink spills happen all too easily around our furniture, and account for most furniture stains! This is most important when it comes to those kiddos- we know they’re cute, but they definitely can’t be trusted with food around the fabric.

Learn the Ropes of Stain Removal

It’s always best to stay informed- this preventative action is easy; learn the ropes of stain removal. Learn how to prevent these stains from happening, and you’ll be well on your way to success! 

Remember, The Steam Team is always here to help. If you have an unsightly stain on your fabric or upholstery, don’t hesitate to give us a call! We’ll send our team of techs to help you get rid of the stains that plague your furniture.

Let's Compare: Steam Cleaning Versus Other Cleaning Methods

We were voted best cleaning company in Austin by The Austin American Statesman in 2020

As of late, steam cleaners have been on the rise as the preferred cleaning method of many home and business owners around the world. But what exactly is it that makes steam cleaning so desirable when compared to other, more common cleaning methods? Let’s discuss the differences between steam cleaning and other methods so you can decide for yourself which is best.

Vacuum Or Steam Clean?

One of the most common cleaning practices for floors, especially carpets, is vacuuming. Many people vacuum every few days or every week, and sometimes not even that often. But is this achieving the kind of clean that many homeowners think it does? Not quite. Most vacuum cleaners are only able to get a fraction of dirt and debris out of carpets, and dust mites that thrive at the lowest parts of the carpet are almost never reached by vacuum cleaning alone. For a full, deep clean of your carpet there’s no better method than the high-pressure steam of a steam cleaner!

Saving Money and Saving The Home

While the cost of having professionals steam clean your home or buying a steam cleaner yourself may seem like a lot, you’ll actually be saving quite a bit of money in the long run when you consider the repeated costs of buying detergents and other home-cleaning products. And you’ll see that the money was well spent when you realize how much better a steam cleaner is for your home. Since steam cleaners use only water and heat, they won’t have the potentially harmful effects of some harsh chemicals commonly used for cleaning. 

The Steam Team

Now that you’ve seen the benefits that steam cleaning can offer, you can make the choice of getting a costly steam cleaner for yourself, or paying professionals from The Steam Team to use high-powered steam cleaners and other professional cleaning methods to quickly make your home sparkle again! For more information on how we can help, please visit The Steam Team website.

Advice From The Steam Team On Maintaining Your Carpet and Rugs

In the eyes of many homeowners, carpets are a much simpler, more comfortable and more attractive alternative to hardwood or tile flooring. But a carpet that isn’t properly maintained can easily become a problem. But if you follow these tips form The Steam Team, you’ll be able to maintain your carpet with no problems!

Avoiding Common Mistakes

The first step to maintaining your carpet is understanding common mistakes made by other carpet-owners, so you don’t make those same mistakes yourself. For one, don’t use carpet powders. Many carpet powders are advertised to remove odors from your carpet, but many of them will leave behind residue that does damage to the carpet over time. To remove unwanted scents, baking soda is a better and cheaper alternative. Also, don’t rub stains. Instead of rubbing, dab on stains to remove them from the carpet, rubbing may only push them deeper.

Preventing Stains

Spills and stains are terrible for any carpet. Here’s some expert advice on how to avoid getting spills and stains on your carpet at home:

• Train your pets well to avoid them urinating on your carpet.

• Make use of rugs in areas where spills are common to protect the carpet underneath.

• Remove shoes before walking on carpet.

Advice On Cleaning

Understanding how to keep your carpet clean is vital to maintaining its look. Here’s some important advice on how to clean your carpet:

• Vacuuming with baking soda. Vacuuming can help remove dirt and debris from your carpet, and baking soda can remove odors. Combining the two makes for an even more effective vacuuming.

• Remove stains right away. When stains are allowed to sit, they’ll sink deeper into the carpet.

• Call in the professionals. Even with all these other tips utilized, your carpet will still get dirtier over time, and will eventually need a full cleaning. No one does this better than The Steam Team. Give us a call and our professional team of technicians will use the best equipment and methods to completely clean your carpet. For more information about carpet cleaners, please visit The Steam Team website.

Handling Leaky Appliances 101: Steam Team Style

There’s nothing more frustrating than coming home to a leaking appliance in the kitchen, laundry room, or bathroom. Making a call to a technician is typically the first step here, but how quickly that call is made is imperative. A small leak might seem temporarily harmless, however, it can turn into a much larger, much messier disaster. If you’re dealing with leaky appliances, don’t hesitate, here’s why:

Damage To Possessions 

Although this one might be obvious to you, but leaky appliances can grow much worse, perhaps turn into a small flood and damage your possessions like your furniture, even the flooring. To avoid all of this from occurring, call in the professionals (like The Steam Team) as soon as you detect a leak. We seriously can’t stress this enough. 

Worsening Leaks

Leaving a leak to grow worse overnight could leave you with a big mess. If you wake up in the morning and find that this is the case, don’t panic. Just call in The Steam Team! We’ll be right out to help control the leak and cleanup the leaky area. We won’t leave until it’s all settled and you’re one satisfied customer! 

The Growth and Spreading of Mold

The first and foremost thing you should be concerned about with a leaky appliance is the growth and spreading of mold. Yes, it’s true that mold only needs twenty four hours to begin growing, so tackle that issue as soon as you come across it. Call in the professionals. A professional-grade steam cleaner will eradicate mold and grime from the area. 

Well friends, there you have it! Leaky appliances are no joke, and nothing to be messed with. So just get in touch with The Steam Team as soon you find out you have a leak, and you’ll be good to go!

How Can You Know What Cleaning Products Are Harmful?

These days, it can be somewhat difficult to know if the products you use to clean are actually safe for you and the loved ones in your home. In fact, according to a study by The Environmental Working Group, 53 percent of cleaning products contain lung-harming ingredients. So the question is, what can you do to identify which products are safe to use?

Look Out For These Toxic Chemicals

If any of your cleaning products contain the following chemicals, you might want to think twice about using them:

Phthalates -- These can be found in many fragranced household products like air fresheners, dish soap, and even in toilet paper! If the product says “fragrance”, it likely contains phthalates, which are known endocrine disruptors.

Perchloroethylene or “PERC” -- This is a neurotoxin, and possible carcinogen that can be found in most carpet and upholstery cleaners.

Triclosan -- Another possible carcinogen that can be found in most dishwashing detergent and hand soap labeled “antibacterial”.

Ammonia -- This is a very powerful irritant that has been known to cause chronic bronchitis and asthma after prolonged inhalation. Unfortunately, ammonia can be found in most polishing agents and glass cleaners.

DIY Alternatives

Luckily for you, there are safer ways to keep your home clean. We’ll list a few for you here:

For carpet cleaning; mix 3 cups water, ¾ cup vegetable-based liquid soap, and 10 drops peppermint essential oil. Then rub the foam into the carpet with a damp sponge, let the spot dry, and then vacuum!

Instead of regular laundry soap, you can try “soap nuts”. They’re made from the dried fruit of the Chinese soapberry tree. They’re available online and in some natural grocery stores. They come in a cotton sack that goes into the washing machine with the clothes.

Rather than using furniture polish, try a microfiber cloth. You can even use a little olive oil as a polishing agent.

Keep in mind, in this article we have only listed a few of the cleaning products that may contain toxic chemicals, as well as only a few healthier alternatives. For a more in-depth idea of what’s in your cleaning products, call a professional from The Steam Team and feel free to ask!