Everyone likes a clean house, but houses just don’t stay clean as long as we all wish they would.  There is no avoiding it, a clean house will inevitably get dirty, entropy is a universal law after all.  Well, we have five simple tips that will keep your Cape Cod house a little cleaner throughout the year and inhibit entropy’s progress.

#1

Get a good door mat/mats.  Consider a door mat as your house’s last line of defense between it and dirt & sand being tracked in from outside, particularly with the sandy soils of Cape Cod.  If you have hardwood floors without a lot of area rugs then a good doormat is must!  As Cape Cod sand can to a number on your floors. In our opinion the best door mats are made from coconut fibers or other similar organic materials.  They have a nice course feel, their tight weave traps dirt, are biodegradable, and are ok to walk barefoot on (likely a frequent occurrence at your Cape Cod house ).  The worst door mats are the plastic ones that are similar to Astroturf.  These do not capture dirt very well allowing it to be tracked in.  They are plastic, and the worst offenders bear a close kinship to punji sticks, let’s just say they produce the occasional ouch!

#2

Get a boot brush.  This follows the same theme as the door mats.  Removing dirt from footwear before someone enters the house, will help keep it cleaner.  While boot brushes are more usefull in the winter, if you or someone in your household likes to wear goloshises when it rains, work boots, generally if someone wears any type of boot a boot brush is still useful throughout the year.

#3

Put pantry pest traps in… you guessed it your pantries!  Besides helping to protect your food from pantry pests, the traps will reduce the total number of bugs in your house.  This has the side benefit of reducing the number of spiders residing in your home by limiting the size of their potential food sources.

#4

Use that green thumb.  Did you know certain plants help improve indoor air quality by trapping particulates and certain common toxins?  Some examples of beneficial plants are Aloe, spider plants, snake plants, and peace lilys, all of which are easy to maintain. Besides, having a few Aloe plants in your house will enable you to sooth that sunburn you got when you fell asleep at the beach.  You know, that one that has you hoping that no one gives you a pat on the back, or at least that they will stick to the proverbial ones.

#5

Wash you linens regularly.  Did you know that much of the dust in a your house is shedded skin?  Ewwwe right?  Well guess where it is concentrated the most, bingo! The bed!  So wash your sheets, blankets, and pillow cases regularly. We recommend using pillow protectors on your pillows and washing those as well. Shedded skin is the primary food for dust mites, which can contribute to asthmatic reactions and allergies.  The rest requires regular vacuuming so give us a call if you would like a hand!

*6

Why six when I said five and what’s up with the star?  Well this one doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone, just those that own pets, specifically cats and dogs.  Its quite simple really, just brush you pets regularly especially during the spring when they are shedding.  Not only will this reduce the amount of hair they shed in your house but they will likely love you a little more for it.  Personally, the writer of this has a yellow lab and she’s a shedding machine.  Optimally in the spring and summer she gets brushed every other day and at a slightly longer interval in the winter.  While she still sheds in the house the abundance of dag hair is much reduced and by brushing her its possible to wear the occasional black piece of clothing.

In addition to the pages we will soon be adding to the site, there have already been a number of changes on the site.   The cleaning service faqs and the linen rental service faqs have been updated a process that will continue.  In addition we have added pages for Cape Cod Vacation Cleaning that makes information on our cleaning services more accessible to Cape Cod vacationers.  We also have created a separate page for major seasonal cleanings such as spring and fall cleanings.  In addition we have added a Cleaning Testimonials page, and a page on Window Washing and Gutter Cleaning.

We are proud to say that in the coming weeks a significant amount of new content will be added to our site.  Offering more detailed information on the services that we offer.  New pages for the cleaning service side of the site have been published with more additions on the way, and hopefully some features that will increase the online interactivity of the cleaning service.  There will be additional additions following the end of the summer season as well.  While we would like to add as many features as fast as possible there is a limit to the amount we can change before we get really busy.

The sites information on linen rentals will also be expanded.  We are putting the finishing touches on a quick ordering system which will be up within the next couple of weeks.  This will streamline the initial ordering process while still allowing you to customize your order to include any of the products we offer though our online linen rental store.  We are also looking at ways to speed up the current store as certain pages take longer than they should to load.   As these features come online we will announce them.  As always we appreciate any and all feedback and try to make changes to further our customers experiences with the Furies.

The Furies is a local business who believes in supporting our local community.      2011 being our second year volunteering to be a toy donation location for the  Lower Cape Outreach toy drive was a success.  The gifts donated went to the Outreach’s Holiday Store, Santa’s Stop at Captain Elmer’s in Orleans.  The new and unwrapped gifts will be going to local boys and girls whose families are in need.  Gifts ranged from tot toys to teenage games.  We are sure the presents will bring a little more joy to the families involved and to all those who donated.

The Furies is also proud to have donated over 500 pounds of gently used bed and bath linens to local charities.  Shared between 5 local organizations to support families in need, we know our linens will be put to great use.  From our family to yours, have a safe and happy holiday.