OUT DAMN SPOT
Melissa Maker, the Toronto woman behind Clean My Space on YouTube, has a new book and cleaning advice for Star readers,
Melissa Maker is no Molly Maid.
The 34-year-old Toronto woman behind Clean My Space — the popular Toronto YouTube channel, cleaning service and new book — calls her boutique business the “Starbucks of cleaning.”
Clean My Space is a well-oiled machine with its own vernacular. Where Starbucks invented coffee sizing lingo, Maker’s team created a new cleaning language, from the PTTs (products, tool and techniques) and MIAs (most important areas) to the “59 Point Checklist,” which is used to ensure the best clean of all spaces.
You wrote the Star with your burning questions, which Maker says were representative of some of the most common problems in cleaning. Here’s her advice for how to tackle stains, glass, leather, hardwood and grout. Problem: Glass Toronto’s Valerie Bain needs a ladder to clean the10-foot-tall floor-to-ceiling glass wall that surrounds the staircase in her home in Trinity-Bellwoods. It needs to be cleaned often, she says, noting she has dogs, but she can’t manage it without streaks. The glass is typically cleaned with a towel and a homemade solution of alcohol, water and Dawn, or the classic Windex with vinegar. But she likes her house smelling clean and fresh, not like she’s been pickling all day.
“The struggle is real on leather pieces. Ivory leather couches and humans don’t generally mix well.” MELISSA MAKER
Solution: Squeegee and vinegar Invest in a double-sided squeegee (one side padded, the other rubber bladed). “You will not believe how easy it is to clean glass with this powerful tool and it takes just seconds to get a streak-free shine,” Maker says.
Forget glass-cleaning brands. Instead, fill a bucket with a homemade solution of 16 cups (4 litres) hot water, 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) dish soap and 1cup (250 millilitres) of white vinegar. If the vinegar smell is too strong, infuse orange peels in the vinegar, leave in a Mason jar for two weeks and strain before using. “This is now your citrus-oil cleaning vinegar, which not only smells lovely,” Maker says, “but also provides an extra degreasing punch.” Problem: Hardwood floors Port Credit’s Melora Parker Pistore has difficulty with her “fumed oak” hardwood flooring, which has a natural oil finish. She lives in the Mississauga home with her husband, two daughters and their large Bernedoodle dog. The family’s white socks still come up dirty, despite a weekly clean of the hardwood. She’s nervous about getting too much water on the natural wood, but the current method of vacuuming and mopping with a Swiffer WetJet isn’t working. Solution: pH-neutral products Leave the Swiffer WetJet for touch-ups, not the main job, Maker says.
“I find the absolute best method to clean hardwood floors is to use a pH neutral product that won’t leave any waxy, sticky residue behind and will take all of the dirt with it,” she says.
Look for a trusted formulation such as Armstrong spray or Bona cleaner and opt for a flat-head microfibre mop with interchangeable pads. Problem: Grout Sonya Matte loves her kitchen tiles. But the 1/4-inch-wide grout in between are exhausting to clean. She’s not alone. Carmen Krasevac, Marilyn Rothmanm, Sophie Dixon and Andrea Greene also wrote to the Star about the grody grout in their homes. They’ve tried toothbrushes and steam cleaners, baking soda and vinegar concoctions to no avail. Solution: Hard work and dark grout The short answer is you either get on your hands and knees or call in a professional, Maker says. “Grout is porous, like our skin. And when grout isn’t sealed, it avails itself to absorbing dirt from food, body oils and products.”
If using a steam cleaner, it needs to be powerful. Those purchased for $50 likely won’t do the job. Make sure it’s heating up to 212 F (100 C) or it won’t work. Maker suggests a brand called Reliable. If using a toothbrush, try cleaning with oxygen bleach, a common cleaning powder such as OxiClean, and seal the grout after it has dried.”
“Oh and, next time there’s a tile job,” she says, “opt for dark grout.” Problem: Leather Elizabeth Cornish thinks her ivory leather couches were a bad decision. She thought they’d be easy to clean, but her often barefoot son, who wears shorts and T-shirts most days, seems to have stained one of the couches with his bodily oils. They used to have a cleaner every two weeks at their Horseshoe Valley home, but opted to clean themselves as expenses rose. Solution: Leather degreaser “The struggle is real on leather pieces,” Maker says. “Ivory leather couches and humans don’t generally mix well.”
But for oil stains, a leather degreaser, which could require several applications, should do the trick. Maker suggests the Leather Master degreaser.
“Make sure to keep food and oily body parts off the sofa,” she says. Try laying down blankets, a “slippers- or socks-on rule” and clean the couch on a regular basis with a product like Leather CPR. Problem: Stains Wendy Galati has tried to remove the pet urine stains left by her small, female poodle-mix on her wool and cotton area rug to no avail. First, she tried pouring vinegar on the stain — nothing. Next, she tried baking soda to diminish the strain — that didn’t work either. She’d love to solve the problem without bringing in the pros. Solution: Enzymes “Vinegar and baking soda really aren’t going to affect pet urine,” Maker says. Since pets have heightened sense of smell too, they’ll come back and reoffend in the same spot all over again.
But some “specialty enzyme cleaners” — products that can eat through urine — such as Urine Off or Nature’s Miracle, are the best tool when you catch the stain immediately. Use a pheromone product that calms pets, such as Comfort Zone, for prevention.
Ultimately, a good cleaner always knows when to delegate, Maker says. “As someone who has two cats at home, one of which loves peeing on the carpet, the best, most surefire way to get rid of a pet stain is to take it to a professional.”