FAQ

April Fresh Cleaning cleans only offices and workplaces for the most part. We do not clean restaurants or homes on a regular basis. All of our employees work part time during the evenings and weekends. We do not have the employees to work during the daytime on a regular and ongoing basis. We will occasionally clean an empty residential property on a one-time basis, perhaps when a lease has ended or when new owners take possession of a property. We will clean the interior to make it in move-in condition. Please ask about availability for this service.

This is a loaded question because everybody’s idea of clean is different.  The words dust and clean may be used interchangeably.  When I mean dust, I mean wiping with a damp cloth or dusting agent.  However, sometimes that is not enough to clean something well in which case, we’ll take it to the sink and wash a particular item.  Additionally, when we say clean, we mean washed and dried so there are never any streaks left behind.

We will clean your office at a time you request. As a general rule, our employees work evenings and weekends. We don’t generally clean your office during the day unless you specifically ask us to do so. We have some clients we clean during the day because the office need to be open when we are there. Additionally, if you are having a corporate visit or overly important people come to your office, we can arrange to do a special clean right before they come. First impressions can make or break a contract, so we do everything possible to ensure a great first impression of your company. Scheduling is something that can be discussed to suit your needs.

We carry a liability policy with the following limits:

• Fire legal Liability:  $50,000 each occurrence

• Products/Completed Operations:  1 million each occurrence, 2 million aggregate

• Medical payments:  $1,000 each person, $25,000 each accident

We have a general service bond with a $10,000 limit. We can increase our limit if you need us to.

April Fresh Cleaning is incorporated. Our employees are real employees, hired and trained by us. We do not use subcontractors unless it is for a specialty cleaning areas, such as carpet or hard floor cleaning.

We use several types of cleaners, depending on what each situation calls for.  In general, we use green cleaning, all natural products whenever possible.  We use the following products:

• Peroxidet:  this is an all-natural cleaner designed for multiple uses depending on the dilution rate.  It can be used as a heavy duty bathroom cleaner and sanitizer, as well as a light duty general purpose glass cleaner, dusting agent, or floor cleaner.  It leaves no residue and has a very light citrus scent with no heavy perfumes.  I use it personally in all areas of my home.
• D’Mineralizer:  This is a safer, lower-acid cleaner to help remove hardware and mineral stains on most surfaces.  Proper use will not burn or pit metals.
• Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner:   H2Orange2 can be used as a daily TB cleaner, but for weekly or bi-weekly cleanings, we use Lysol.  It removes rust and water stains and leaves a light wintergreen scent.
• Neutrol  Neutralizer & Floor Conditioner:  this product helps to dissolve salt and snow-melt chemicals to make floor-washing easier and faster.  We use this only when floors are heavily coated with salt.  It will not damage any floor, including stone and granite, and leaves no residue.
• Soft Scrub, Ajax, Comet, Baking Soda:  Occasionally, a situation arises where we actually need a scrubbing agent – one with texture.  We use any of these listed to help scrub and remove stubborn stains.  Due to the bleach and chemicals involved, we use these on a very limited basis.
• Other:  we also use specialty products as necessary for specific needs, such as Mr. Clean Magic erasers, Brillo pads, brass and metal polishers, and other all natural products made by Melaleuca.
• Cloths:  we always use cloths to clean instead of paper towels.  We use high quality microfiber cloths and surgical cloths that leave no lint.  We also use microfiber mop pads.  We use them once and then wash and sanitize them.  We occasionally use a cotton string mop for large areas.  These are washed often to prohibit the development of bacteria.

Please feel free to ask about specific products.

Paper towels are costly and wasteful, as well as leaving a lot of lint, so we don’t use these. We use high quality, lint-free microfiber and surgical cloths. We also use microfiber mop pads. We use them once and then wash and sanitize them.

We use two types of vacuums:

• SEBO:  This is an upright vacuum we use most of the time.  It does have a beater bar, ensuring the deep cleaning of carpets.  It automatically adjusts to different carpet and floor levels, ensuring the proper height for the most effective cleaning.  It also has very easy to use and ergonomic attachments that enable easy removal of cobwebs, cleaning in crevices, tight corners, and edging along the carpet/wall border.  It folds almost flat, so it will vacuum under any object at least 5 inches high.  For areas the vacuum won’t fit, we either move the furniture or use the attachments.  The vacuum contains a 3-ply bag and 2 additional filters, so the dust and dirt in the bag stay; they are not blown around and redistributed on the furniture after we leave.  It is rated as hospital-grade allergy filtration.  This is the machine we use most of the time.
• Backpack Vacuum:  For areas where the SEBO isn’t appropriate, we use a backpack vacuum.  This is suction only so it works well on large hard floor areas or concrete.  The floor attachment is very flat so it fits under baseboard heating elements, under desk legs, and often where cubicle walls meet floors.  This vacuum is also very effective on very large areas.

For the most part, we use a Rubbermaid flat microfiber mop.  The mops can be used as a dry mop (dust mop), damp mop, or heavy floor cleaning.  Each microfiber mop head is used only once and then washed and sanitized along with the rest of our cloths.  This mop is also effective for dusting of walls and cobwebs.

For very large floors, we occasionally use large, commercial cotton or blended rag mops.   These mops can cover large areas more efficiently.  We wash and sanitize these frequently in order to prevent bacteria buildup.

For one time cleanings, we send an invoice immediately upon the rendering of the service.

For ongoing cleanings, we send one invoice, dated the last day of the month.  Some clients prefer we list each cleaning as a separate line item, sometimes  resulting in different totals every month..  Other clients prefer the same monthly rate.  The choice is yours.

Because we tailor our cleaning to individual offices, our rates are different for each client. However, they are all based on the same hourly rate. (This office requires 3 hours of cleaning while that office requires 6 hours of cleaning. The rate per hour is still the same). Please call us at 258-7380 to inquire about rates. Please keep in mind that your needs and idea of cleaning may not be the same as mine and will not be the same as another office. We always try to work within budgets and vary the cleaning a little in order to meet certain budgets. If I give you a price that is too high or too low, feel free to tell me what price you need to meet and I can tell you what we can do for that price.

Yes, New York State requires us to charge sales tax on our services unless you are tax exempt. We charge the sales tax for the appropriate county in which your office is cleaned. In Saratoga County, we charge 7% sales tax.

April Fresh Cleaning does not offer contractual cleaning, for your protection, unless you need to have one.  I have found over the years that if you are forced to hire a company for a specific length of time, the service starts out great and then eventually, the quality declines.  Our clients have the ability to hire any cleaning company at any time.  This keeps April Fresh Cleaning on our toes, ensuring top quality cleaning on day one, day four hundred, or day four thousand.  Of course, if there is ever a concern with our cleaning, bringing it to our attention right away would be helpful.  You won’t hurt our feelings.  Perhaps the communication or expectations in the beginning wasn’t clear.  Our entire goal is to clean your office the way you want it cleaned.

Additionally, the needs of your office can change at any time.  Being locked into a contract does your office no good.  We can always adjust the services needed when changes arise.

April Fresh Cleaning has a list of references we can provide at any time. Some clients prefer privacy, which is why we don’t plaster them all over our website. We do have a list of testimonials on the website we would love for you to check out.

April Fresh Cleaning does not clean carpets. However, we have relationships with a few carpet cleaners in the area and can arrange carpet cleaning for you at very competitive prices. We can either include the cleaning on our invoice or have you deal directly with the provider.

This is an area best performed by those trained in this specialty. At this time, April Fresh Cleaning does not buff or wax hard floors, do any marble or granite restoration, clean grout (other than basic cleaning), or other type of hard floor resurfacing. We have developed relationships with other small business owners who can take care of specialty cleaning for you. Again, we can either include the cleaning on our monthly invoice or put you in contact with the provider.

Everything is negotiable based on the needs of your office. In general, the office we are cleaning provides trash liners, paper products and soap for the restroom and kitchens. April Fresh Cleaning will re-stock and fill them, and we will let you know when the supply is getting low so that you can place another order. If you need us to provide any or all of these, we can take care of that too.

In order to keep insurance levels at a reasonable price, and therefore the prices we charge you at a reasonable level, April fresh Cleaning can’t clean anything that requires us to stand on ladders for extended periods of time or anything we consider unsafe. Will we stand on a ladder to clean a light fixture? Yes, provided the light fixture is not 27 feet high. However, we are not insured to be up on ladders over 8 feet high for hours at a time. If you have a question about a specific item to be cleaned, by all means, ask us at any time. We will try to accommodate every reasonable request.

As a small business ourselves, we understand the need to keep costs low whenever possible.  As such, is it very common to have the employees of a small business clean their own workspaces and empty their own trash.   However, when schedules are busy, the cleaning is the first to go, thinking they’ll “get to it later”.  Common areas, such as kitchens, bathroom, mail rooms, etc. are frequently not cleaned well because somebody usually thinks somebody else will clean it.  If it does get cleaned, it is usually in a few spare minutes and not done thoroughly.  Additionally, the employees of your office are paid to do their job, not necessarily to pick up after other people.  It is more cost effective to pay them to do their job well.

Employee morale will sometimes start to sink when their workplace is not up to par.  A clean office and workplace can sometimes be just the ticket to bring them back to maximum efficiency.

April Fresh Cleaning provides all the necessary equipment and supplies to thoroughly clean your office on a regular basis.  You will know when we’ve been there, the employees will be less stressed because they are in a clean environment, and they can concentrate on their own jobs.  Your clients will be greeted by a warm and clean environment, giving them a wonderful first impression of your company. Our goal is to take the stress off of providing a clean environment.