Life hacks aren’t science.
Hi, my name is Amber Starling. I am the owner of Good Witch Cleaning Services, LLC and an IICRC Certified House Cleaning Technician. My (messy, wonderful) husband and I live on a hobby farm in Kansas with our children, Bailey the Maine Coon and Neddy the weird mutt rescue pup.
The theme of this blog will probably be controversial. My grandma had a large part in raising me and I was fed on a platter full of steaming, deep fried conventional wisdom. Wisdom that says "early to bed, early to rise," "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right," "measure twice, cut once," and "vinegar is an antibacterial." A lot of that conventional wisdom is coming back nowadays as “life hacks.”
Life hacks aren't science. There, I said it. Now hear me out.
I never said that conventional wisdom holds no value. Take vinegar for example. Vinegar is neither a life hack or science. It's a chemical - specifically an acid with a pH of 2.5 and a volatile organic compound. (That's a liquid that likes to turn itself into a gas.) It's made by fermenting ethanol. It kills a lot of germs, but isn't capable of eliminating staphylococcus and is not a federally-registered disinfectant. What matters here is the application. Using vinegar on soap scum in an acrylic shower because soap scum is neutralized by an acid and because it will not damage the acrylic? That's science.
Using vinegar on everything, willy-nilly because some article on the internet said it would work? That's a life hack and a good way to damage stone and make the germs in your house laugh at you.
When I became a Certified Technician, I took a three day class on the science behind clean. It culminated with a 160 question exam, with practicals. I passed with a 96%. My goal here is to bring that knowledge to you. Answer some questions, share some stories, bust some myths.
Now, I want to bring that knowledge into your home and give every surface the loving care that it deserves - using scientifically proven methods to create a clean, healthy living space for you and your family.
