It’s said that moving house can be one of the most stressful times in someone’s life. To help calm that stress, we’ve come up with the top ten things you need to get done before you move.

Contact your gas, water, electricity and internet companies to let them know you are moving house and cancel or transfer your accounts. This is a great time to look for new specials!

Get in touch with the postal service to put a forward on any mail address to your old home, so that you can have it re-directed to your new house.

Call around and get quotes on removal companies before settling on the best one. Make sure you ask them whether they will disassemble your furniture, or whether you need to do this yourself. Also check their online reviews to ensure they are a reputable removal company.

We recommend hiring a professional cleaning company to do your final clean to ensure it is left in the best possible condition. Ensure the carpets are steam cleaned, the windows are cleaned and all the hard to clean items such as your oven is cleaned properly.

Make sure everyone in your family packs a bag of essentials to get them through the first night or two in the new house. You don’t want them having to sort through boxes to find their pyjamas – so take the stress out of the first night in your new home.

So often it’s the important documents – such as birth certificates and passports – that get lost in a big move. Store these in a safe place before the removers come. We recommend moving these items yourself in the car.

The best way to pack is by packing everything that goes in one room into the same box or boxes. For example, all the kitchen drawer utensils should be kept together. Pack up the rooms one by one and label the boxes clearly.

Before you start packing though, you need to make sure you have all your boxes and packing tape ready to go. You can hire moving boxes instead of buying them which will save you money and mean you don’t have to worry about disposing of them after the move.

Once you have vacated your home, don’t forget to disconnect all the main appliances and services.

Let your friends and family know you are moving house by dropping them a courtesy email.

This article was written in conjunction with the Sydney removals company, Hire A Mover

We all love a good ‘life hack', don't we? This has become the new term for tips and tricks which can help you cut corners or get better results from everyday activities. While there are plenty of technology and food hacks out there, there are also plenty of great ideas you should be using when it comes to everyday hygiene.

Your office or workplace is going to be teeming with germs. It’s an unfortunate fact! However, there are a few sneaky things you can do to keep yourself well-protected against nasty bacteria moving forward.

Keeping cool is obviously going to be a good idea in warm weather. But with warm weather comes plenty of smells, bacteria and personal hygiene problems. Sweating and rashes are two of the worst! However, providing you shower regularly, drink plenty of water, change your clothes each day and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, you will soon be able to beat the heat and keep those nasty summer bacteria back.

It’s not so easy to keep a clean desk, especially when you find yourself having to eat lunch through working hours. However, this can mean that your workspace becomes a hotbed for nasty bacteria very quickly. Therefore, always stash antibacterial wipes either in your desk or in your work bag. This way, you can confidently wipe down your space as well as your keyboard and mouse at the end of your shift.

It’s good to try and get your colleagues into good habits. While some people may take more encouragement than others, practising good hygiene is for the sake of everyone's health, not just your own. Piled up rubbish and refuse can breed bacteria. Work together with your team to take it in turns to collect up rubbish every so often. This will mean anything likely to spread nastiness is well out of the way. It may also help to encourage good practice in less fastidious workmates!

The more technology we use, the more cables get tangled up. Not only is this an organisational headache, but it can also mean you're likely to see bigger dust buildups. That's because stray wires and cables can be tricky to clean – and many people ignore them! Bundle up or keep your cables together as best you can for ease of cleaning and safety.

It’s probably tempting to leave the coffee machine or water fountain to sit idle for a few days at a time, right? Probably not. Stained, greasy coffee pots and unclean fountains can spread bacteria, and can be more hassle to clean the longer you leave them. Always make sure you clean them down every few days.

Need help with commercial cleaning? UK Cleaning’s team of experts are on hand to help make your workspace that little bit more hygienic. Call us on 0800 002 5001 or email info@ukcleaning.co.uk for a free quote!

Many of us like to think that we're on top of our hygiene and cleaning habits. However, when it comes to the office environment, it's easier than you think to fall victim to a few unhealthy traps! The fact is, office workers face unhygienic hazards each and every day.

While you can’t control what everyone else does, you can start to think about how to be that little bit more careful. Here are a few things you might already be doing in the office that are seriously unhygienic!

Believe it or not, the average office desk is said to harbour 400 times the bacteria you’ll find on your toilet seat. This disgusting fact might already have you reaching for the hand sanitiser, and for good reason!

There are plenty of great ways to reduce the bacterial impact your desk has upon your life and those around you. Make sure to wipe down keyboards, telephones, mice after each use. If you’re worried, antibacterial hand gel is always an asset to have to hand!

It’s understandable that not all of us have time to eat properly some days while working. However, eating at your desk can be a trigger for bad hygiene habits. If you can, avoid eating messy lunches and snacks at your desk at all.

You could be transferring food waste to your keyboard, mouse and other items. The best thing to do – where possible – is to eat outside of the office during designated break times. It may be convenient, but it’s not necessarily pleasant!

To some people, it’s an obvious point to make, but so many office workers fail to wash their hands after using the toilet. As stated, you can’t control what other people do – but you can encourage hygienic behaviour.

Having clear signs to encourage hand washing and hand sanitiser points will help to curb the spread of germs. Take care of yourself, again, with hand gel and good desk practice.

Offices are hotbeds for germs to spread and for illnesses to pass from one person to another. Think how many times that one door handle has been used in just the past few days. Has it been wiped down after each use? Probably not!

Office hygiene matters as, ultimately, the fewer people who get sick, the better! Illnesses can spread to people outside of the office, too. What's more, with more people off ill, less work gets done.

However, there are steps you can take to make sure your office and your own habits are in check. Simply take care wiping areas down, washing your hands and encouraging good habits.

UK Cleaning can help with regular office cleaning from carpets to doors, windows, surfaces and more. Worried about workplace hygiene? Don’t be! Call our team today to learn more about how we can help on 0800 002 5001, or book a quote online.

Here at UK Cleaning, we are, of course, always focusing on keeping things clean and healthy for our clients. However, there is still some confusion over what certain bacteria can actually do to us on a daily basis. Is it wrong to be too careful? What hygiene ‘facts’ are actually myths in disguise?

We always advise that you take sensible care with hygiene, especially in a commercial or working environment. However, in this guide, we are going to bust some myths that you should really start thinking differently about!

We’ve all heard this one – that if you drop food on the floor, it will be free from germs for up to 5 seconds. This has been completely disproved a number of times. Studies undertaken by researchers in recent years, in fact, found that germs and bacteria head for food within a second of them hitting the floor. Therefore, if you drop any food, it is probably a good idea to throw it away.

Research into E.coli bacteria and hand washing has found, surprisingly, that cold water may be just as good as hot water when it comes to killing off germs. While this study may only look at one particular type of bacteria – one that wasn’t infectious for safety reasons – it does indicate that, providing you wash your hands full stop, you probably won’t have to worry about the temperature. It’s also been found that washing for longer removes more germs.

There are all sorts of myths and worries out there about toilet seats. Despite the rumours you may have heard, there is no evidence to suggest you’ll ever contract STDs or anything else particularly nasty from a seat. The fact is, most germs will die fairly soon after hitting the seat at all. There are bugs, however, which can spread after flushing, though protecting seats with covers will do little to help you. The best thing to do, as always, is to wash your hands thoroughly after using the toilet!

When you’re ill, it may be tempting to ask your doctor for antibiotics to bring you back to health. The fact of the matter is, however, that antibiotics are only going to help with bacterial infections. Viral infections, such as the common cold and influenza, are resistant against such medicine. There has been growing concern in recent years that antibiotics are being prescribed and taken when they really shouldn’t be. Listen to your doctor and your pharmacist – there sadly isn’t a wonder pill to cure all!

The fact of the matter is, there is still so much we don’t know about germs and hygiene. What we do know, however, is that good habits breed good health. Is your workplace in need of regular cleaning and hygienic attention? Call UK Cleaning today on 0800 002 5001 for a free quote, or email us via info@ukcleaning.co.uk

When you have an office fitout, it's a great time to think about how you can make life easier for the cleaners because if you make their lives easier, things get more efficient and that means you get more cleaning for your buck. So here are our top 5 tips on things to bear in mind when planning the design of your new office:

This is self explanatory, the more plugs there are, the easier it is for the cleaners to plug in their vacuums but what might not be so obvious is that it's good practice to get circuit protected plugs so that if the vacuum causes a surge for whatever reason, it wont kill your computers.

Again, this seems obvious but the number of times that there are no taps installed for the cleaners is amazing. These taps should be above a sink that gives enough room to get a mop bucket in and be both hot and cold.

Putting a Perspex or glass sheet below a hand dryer will save your wall from looking mucky and takes just a couple of seconds to wipe down each day. It will keep your freshly painted wall looking as good as the day it was painted.

The cleaners are going to need a fair bit of room to store the mops and buckets but there also needs to be a lockable cupboard where they can store the chemicals, cloths and consumables along with all of the associated health and safety, risk assessments and COSHH information.

Rather than having one bin per desk, put a larger bin at the end of each bank of desks. It may seem like a small thing but each evening it will save around 10 seconds per desk and in a week or month, that time really does mount up.

Historical Hygiene
(15 fun facts about soap)

1. The first record of soap use was around 3000 BC. Sumerians were using soap solutions of water and ash mixed with animal fat to clean dishes and wool (in preparation for dyeing).

2. Soap was initially used as a medicinal agent. The Ebers Papyrus, a medical document circa.1500 BC, describes a mixture of animal and vegetable oils with alkali salts to form soap used for treating skin diseases. Today, real soap (sans artificial ingredients) often has a healing effect on acne, eczema, psoriasis and other skin conditions.

3. Ancient Roman legend suggests soap derived its name from Mount Sapo. From here, rainwater washed melted animal fats and wood ash (both from sacrifices) into the river below, where the soapy mixture was found to benefit the washing of clothes.

4. As Roman civilisation advanced, so did bathing. The first of the Roman baths was built in 312 BC. It is thought that the use of soap for cleansing was propagated throughout the Roman Empire.

5. The fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD heralded a falling away from hygiene in much of Europe, ushering in the plagues of the Dark Ages and a reduction in life expectancy to around 35 years.

6. By the 8th century, soap had made a comeback in Italy and Spain. France hopped on the bandwagon a few centuries later.

7. Soap is thought to have arrived in England around the 13th century, to be used for preparing wool and cloth for dyeing, rather than for personal hygiene.

8. 13th century soap making in Britain was centred in large towns (London, Bristol and Coventry) with each town making its own variety.

9. Late 1600s people began to make the connection between personal hygiene (or lack of it) and disease.

10. Industrial innovations of the 19th century brought about further changes in public health with the introduction of the first carpet sweeper (Daniel Hess, in 1860) and vacuum cleaners (Ives McGaffey, in 1869 and Hubert Booth in 1901).

11. 1853 dynamite was invented, made from a chemical derivative of glycerine (nitroglycerin), a waste product of soap making.

12. 1868 BJ Johnson developed the first formula for liquid soap, made from palm and olive oils. He called it, Palmolive. The first liquid soap for household cleaning soon followed, made from pine oil.

13. Soap manufacturing processes were consistent until 1916 when the first synthetic detergent was developed by German chemists in response to a shortage of animal fats for making soap.

14. By 1950s synthetic and chemical detergent had all but replaced soap for washing clothes in developed countries. Not until the new millennium did the demand for a reduction in carbon footprint bring about the release of more biodegradable, environmentally friendly products.

15. Today, researchers in London estimate that if everyone routinely washed their hands with soap, a million deaths could be prevented. CDCs (Centres for Disease Control) remind us that cleaning and disinfecting are not the same thing. Cleaning with soap and water removes dirt and germs from surfaces, whereas disinfecting actually kills the germs.

At UK Cleaning we understand that surfaces may look clean while still harbouring infectious germs that can linger for hours and even days. We have the right cleaning solutions and schedules to suit your needs and your budget.
CDC recommends a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of areas where dangerous germs could be spread to others -- break rooms, staff and customer toilets, waiting and clinic areas, and school settings.

Call us (request a call back) or book a quote online today, because healthier employees and customers means a healthy bottom line for everyone.

Historical Hygiene
(15 fun facts about soap)

1. The first record of soap use was around 3000 BC. Sumerians were using soap solutions of water and ash mixed with animal fat to clean dishes and wool (in preparation for dyeing).

2. Soap was initially used as a medicinal agent. The Ebers Papyrus, a medical document circa.1500 BC, describes a mixture of animal and vegetable oils with alkali salts to form soap used for treating skin diseases. Today, real soap (sans artificial ingredients) often has a healing effect on acne, eczema, psoriasis and other skin conditions.

3. Ancient Roman legend suggests soap derived its name from Mount Sapo. From here, rainwater washed melted animal fats and wood ash (both from sacrifices) into the river below, where the soapy mixture was found to benefit the washing of clothes.

4. As Roman civilisation advanced, so did bathing. The first of the Roman baths was built in 312 BC. It is thought that the use of soap for cleansing was propagated throughout the Roman Empire.

5. The fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD heralded a falling away from hygiene in much of Europe, ushering in the plagues of the Dark Ages and a reduction in life expectancy to around 35 years.

6. By the 8th century, soap had made a comeback in Italy and Spain. France hopped on the bandwagon a few centuries later.

7. Soap is thought to have arrived in England around the 13th century, to be used for preparing wool and cloth for dyeing, rather than for personal hygiene.

8. 13th century soap making in Britain was centred in large towns (London, Bristol and Coventry) with each town making its own variety.

9. Late 1600s people began to make the connection between personal hygiene (or lack of it) and disease.

10. Industrial innovations of the 19th century brought about further changes in public health with the introduction of the first carpet sweeper (Daniel Hess, in 1860) and vacuum cleaners (Ives McGaffey, in 1869 and Hubert Booth in 1901).

11. 1853 dynamite was invented, made from a chemical derivative of glycerine (nitroglycerin), a waste product of soap making.

12. 1868 BJ Johnson developed the first formula for liquid soap, made from palm and olive oils. He called it, Palmolive. The first liquid soap for household cleaning soon followed, made from pine oil.

13. Soap manufacturing processes were consistent until 1916 when the first synthetic detergent was developed by German chemists in response to a shortage of animal fats for making soap.

14. By 1950s synthetic and chemical detergent had all but replaced soap for washing clothes in developed countries. Not until the new millennium did the demand for a reduction in carbon footprint bring about the release of more biodegradable, environmentally friendly products.

15. Today, researchers in London estimate that if everyone routinely washed their hands with soap, a million deaths could be prevented. CDCs (Centres for Disease Control) remind us that cleaning and disinfecting are not the same thing. Cleaning with soap and water removes dirt and germs from surfaces, whereas disinfecting actually kills the germs.

At UK Cleaning we understand that surfaces may look clean while still harbouring infectious germs that can linger for hours and even days. We have the right cleaning solutions and schedules to suit your needs and your budget.
CDC recommends a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of areas where dangerous germs could be spread to others -- break rooms, staff and customer toilets, waiting and clinic areas, and school settings.

Call us (request a call back) or book a quote online today, because healthier employees and customers means a healthy bottom line for everyone.

Historical Hygiene
(15 fun facts about soap)

1. The first record of soap use was around 3000 BC. Sumerians were using soap solutions of water and ash mixed with animal fat to clean dishes and wool (in preparation for dyeing).

2. Soap was initially used as a medicinal agent. The Ebers Papyrus, a medical document circa.1500 BC, describes a mixture of animal and vegetable oils with alkali salts to form soap used for treating skin diseases. Today, real soap (sans artificial ingredients) often has a healing effect on acne, eczema, psoriasis and other skin conditions.

3. Ancient Roman legend suggests soap derived its name from Mount Sapo. From here, rainwater washed melted animal fats and wood ash (both from sacrifices) into the river below, where the soapy mixture was found to benefit the washing of clothes.

4. As Roman civilisation advanced, so did bathing. The first of the Roman baths was built in 312 BC. It is thought that the use of soap for cleansing was propagated throughout the Roman Empire.

5. The fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD heralded a falling away from hygiene in much of Europe, ushering in the plagues of the Dark Ages and a reduction in life expectancy to around 35 years.

6. By the 8th century, soap had made a comeback in Italy and Spain. France hopped on the bandwagon a few centuries later.

7. Soap is thought to have arrived in England around the 13th century, to be used for preparing wool and cloth for dyeing, rather than for personal hygiene.

8. 13th century soap making in Britain was centred in large towns (London, Bristol and Coventry) with each town making its own variety.

9. Late 1600s people began to make the connection between personal hygiene (or lack of it) and disease.

10. Industrial innovations of the 19th century brought about further changes in public health with the introduction of the first carpet sweeper (Daniel Hess, in 1860) and vacuum cleaners (Ives McGaffey, in 1869 and Hubert Booth in 1901).

11. 1853 dynamite was invented, made from a chemical derivative of glycerine (nitroglycerin), a waste product of soap making.

12. 1868 BJ Johnson developed the first formula for liquid soap, made from palm and olive oils. He called it, Palmolive. The first liquid soap for household cleaning soon followed, made from pine oil.

13. Soap manufacturing processes were consistent until 1916 when the first synthetic detergent was developed by German chemists in response to a shortage of animal fats for making soap.

14. By 1950s synthetic and chemical detergent had all but replaced soap for washing clothes in developed countries. Not until the new millennium did the demand for a reduction in carbon footprint bring about the release of more biodegradable, environmentally friendly products.

15. Today, researchers in London estimate that if everyone routinely washed their hands with soap, a million deaths could be prevented. CDCs (Centres for Disease Control) remind us that cleaning and disinfecting are not the same thing. Cleaning with soap and water removes dirt and germs from surfaces, whereas disinfecting actually kills the germs.

At UK Cleaning we understand that surfaces may look clean while still harbouring infectious germs that can linger for hours and even days. We have the right cleaning solutions and schedules to suit your needs and your budget.
CDC recommends a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of areas where dangerous germs could be spread to others -- break rooms, staff and customer toilets, waiting and clinic areas, and school settings.

Call us (request a call back) or book a quote online today, because healthier employees and customers means a healthy bottom line for everyone.

Historical Hygiene
(15 fun facts about soap)

1. The first record of soap use was around 3000 BC. Sumerians were using soap solutions of water and ash mixed with animal fat to clean dishes and wool (in preparation for dyeing).

2. Soap was initially used as a medicinal agent. The Ebers Papyrus, a medical document circa.1500 BC, describes a mixture of animal and vegetable oils with alkali salts to form soap used for treating skin diseases. Today, real soap (sans artificial ingredients) often has a healing effect on acne, eczema, psoriasis and other skin conditions.

3. Ancient Roman legend suggests soap derived its name from Mount Sapo. From here, rainwater washed melted animal fats and wood ash (both from sacrifices) into the river below, where the soapy mixture was found to benefit the washing of clothes.

4. As Roman civilisation advanced, so did bathing. The first of the Roman baths was built in 312 BC. It is thought that the use of soap for cleansing was propagated throughout the Roman Empire.

5. The fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD heralded a falling away from hygiene in much of Europe, ushering in the plagues of the Dark Ages and a reduction in life expectancy to around 35 years.

6. By the 8th century, soap had made a comeback in Italy and Spain. France hopped on the bandwagon a few centuries later.

7. Soap is thought to have arrived in England around the 13th century, to be used for preparing wool and cloth for dyeing, rather than for personal hygiene.

8. 13th century soap making in Britain was centred in large towns (London, Bristol and Coventry) with each town making its own variety.

9. Late 1600s people began to make the connection between personal hygiene (or lack of it) and disease.

10. Industrial innovations of the 19th century brought about further changes in public health with the introduction of the first carpet sweeper (Daniel Hess, in 1860) and vacuum cleaners (Ives McGaffey, in 1869 and Hubert Booth in 1901).

11. 1853 dynamite was invented, made from a chemical derivative of glycerine (nitroglycerin), a waste product of soap making.

12. 1868 BJ Johnson developed the first formula for liquid soap, made from palm and olive oils. He called it, Palmolive. The first liquid soap for household cleaning soon followed, made from pine oil.

13. Soap manufacturing processes were consistent until 1916 when the first synthetic detergent was developed by German chemists in response to a shortage of animal fats for making soap.

14. By 1950s synthetic and chemical detergent had all but replaced soap for washing clothes in developed countries. Not until the new millennium did the demand for a reduction in carbon footprint bring about the release of more biodegradable, environmentally friendly products.

15. Today, researchers in London estimate that if everyone routinely washed their hands with soap, a million deaths could be prevented. CDCs (Centres for Disease Control) remind us that cleaning and disinfecting are not the same thing. Cleaning with soap and water removes dirt and germs from surfaces, whereas disinfecting actually kills the germs.

At UK Cleaning we understand that surfaces may look clean while still harbouring infectious germs that can linger for hours and even days. We have the right cleaning solutions and schedules to suit your needs and your budget.
CDC recommends a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of areas where dangerous germs could be spread to others -- break rooms, staff and customer toilets, waiting and clinic areas, and school settings.

Call us (request a call back) or book a quote online today, because healthier employees and customers means a healthy bottom line for everyone.

Historical Hygiene
(15 fun facts about soap)

1. The first record of soap use was around 3000 BC. Sumerians were using soap solutions of water and ash mixed with animal fat to clean dishes and wool (in preparation for dyeing).

2. Soap was initially used as a medicinal agent. The Ebers Papyrus, a medical document circa.1500 BC, describes a mixture of animal and vegetable oils with alkali salts to form soap used for treating skin diseases. Today, real soap (sans artificial ingredients) often has a healing effect on acne, eczema, psoriasis and other skin conditions.

3. Ancient Roman legend suggests soap derived its name from Mount Sapo. From here, rainwater washed melted animal fats and wood ash (both from sacrifices) into the river below, where the soapy mixture was found to benefit the washing of clothes.

4. As Roman civilisation advanced, so did bathing. The first of the Roman baths was built in 312 BC. It is thought that the use of soap for cleansing was propagated throughout the Roman Empire.

5. The fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD heralded a falling away from hygiene in much of Europe, ushering in the plagues of the Dark Ages and a reduction in life expectancy to around 35 years.

6. By the 8th century, soap had made a comeback in Italy and Spain. France hopped on the bandwagon a few centuries later.

7. Soap is thought to have arrived in England around the 13th century, to be used for preparing wool and cloth for dyeing, rather than for personal hygiene.

8. 13th century soap making in Britain was centred in large towns (London, Bristol and Coventry) with each town making its own variety.

9. Late 1600s people began to make the connection between personal hygiene (or lack of it) and disease.

10. Industrial innovations of the 19th century brought about further changes in public health with the introduction of the first carpet sweeper (Daniel Hess, in 1860) and vacuum cleaners (Ives McGaffey, in 1869 and Hubert Booth in 1901).

11. 1853 dynamite was invented, made from a chemical derivative of glycerine (nitroglycerin), a waste product of soap making.

12. 1868 BJ Johnson developed the first formula for liquid soap, made from palm and olive oils. He called it, Palmolive. The first liquid soap for household cleaning soon followed, made from pine oil.

13. Soap manufacturing processes were consistent until 1916 when the first synthetic detergent was developed by German chemists in response to a shortage of animal fats for making soap.

14. By 1950s synthetic and chemical detergent had all but replaced soap for washing clothes in developed countries. Not until the new millennium did the demand for a reduction in carbon footprint bring about the release of more biodegradable, environmentally friendly products.

15. Today, researchers in London estimate that if everyone routinely washed their hands with soap, a million deaths could be prevented. CDCs (Centres for Disease Control) remind us that cleaning and disinfecting are not the same thing. Cleaning with soap and water removes dirt and germs from surfaces, whereas disinfecting actually kills the germs.

At UK Cleaning we understand that surfaces may look clean while still harbouring infectious germs that can linger for hours and even days. We have the right cleaning solutions and schedules to suit your needs and your budget.
CDC recommends a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of areas where dangerous germs could be spread to others -- break rooms, staff and customer toilets, waiting and clinic areas, and school settings.

Call us (request a call back) or book a quote online today, because healthier employees and customers means a healthy bottom line for everyone.