We wrote the book on Power Housecleaning!  Every page in this 200+ page book, is packed with everything you need to know about getting it cleaner and doing it greener.

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  Steam kills germs on your cutting board in 2 seconds!

• No chemicals to inhale and damage your lungs
• No toxic chemicals to burn your skin or eyes
• No leftover chemicals in your next meal
• No worries about children or pets getting into chemicals or calling Poison Control
• Ever accidentally mixed bleach and ammonia? That’s a Deadly Combo!

1. Steam cleans more thoroughly than chemicals
2. Steam pressure reaches into cracks, crevices and other impossible-to-reach places
3. Steam is very economical, the only consumable is water
4. Steam leaves no chemical residue behind to attract more dirt
5. Steam is better for you (and the environment) than harsh toxic chemicals

1. Steam Cleaning Is Safe

Using steam as your only cleaning agent is a safe, non-toxic alternative that is actually more effective than chemicals. Clinical tests have proven steam cleaning to be more effective in killing common household germs faster (within 2 seconds) and more thoroughly than any chemical application. One steam cleaner system replaces dangerous, toxic, harmful, expensive chemicals with pure, natural, effective, safe steam vapor made from ordinary tap water. Steam cleaning is piece of mind.

2. Cleaning With Steam Enhances The Environment

Cleaning with steam enhances the environment by eliminating the unseen microbes and germs from the surfaces and air in our homes. With a steam cleaner you will not only stop contributing to the pollution problem, you’ll actually improve your quality of life.

Steam cleaners produce pure steam vapor using only ordinary tap water. No chemicals of any kind are ever used in your steamer. That’s better, healthier, and safer for you and the environment. You’ll never need to ask a government agency how to dispose of the wastes produced by your steam cleaner…there are no wastes! Replace your whole stash of cleaning chemical pollutants with a steam cleaner.

3. Steam cleaning does not cause chemical allergies

To my knowledge, no one is actually allergic to steam. Steam replaces chemicals that burn your hands and lungs and cause coughing and eye irritation. Steam cleaners not only help eliminate your chemical allergies, steam also kills the germs, bacteria, mold, and dust mites that can cause other types of allergies.

Sanitize as you clean, get everything in your entire environment chemical and germ free, and enjoy better health.

4. Steam Vapor Leaves No Residue

Steam vapor leaves nothing behind…no residue, no smell, no dirt. No chemicals are applied so there’s nothing to remove. Steam away every trace of the chemical buildup on the surfaces in your home and you will feel the difference. You’ll love the smooth, squeaky-clean way they feel to the touch.

You’ll clean faster and better with no residue or soap, no polishing, and no stripping solvents. Just clean, shiny, sanitized, sparkling surfaces that make you proud of your efforts. Steam cleaning even removes the static properties from dust particles so instead of stirring them up just to have them resettle, you’ll actually capture them in your cloth and really get rid of them.

5. Steam Is An Extremely Effective Way To Clean Any Washable Surface

No matter what you are cleaning, there is nearly always a safe way to clean it with our steam cleaner and our technique. Sargent Steam cleaners have an adjustable flow of vapor so you can use a little or a lot depending on the type of surface you’re cleaning. Turn it up full blast to de-grease your oven and turn it down until it’s safe to clean a live plant. Never before have you had so much versatility and flexibility in one cleaning tool!

6. Water Is The Only Thing Consumable When Cleaning With A Steam Cleaner

The only consumable in a steam cleaner system is water so the value of a steam cleaner goes on indefinitely. Sargent Steam is an investment that will last up to 15 -20 years with nothing else to buy but ordinary tap water. You’ll recoup your purchase price very quickly when you consider what you’ll save on consumable chemicals and cleaning gadgets, carpet and upholstery cleaning, car detailing, window and blind cleaning services, and dry cleaning. From then on your steam cleaner is FREE MONEY! Now, That’s my kind of investment!

7. No Side Effects To Cleaning With Steam, Only Benefits

To my knowledge, steam (unlike many chemicals) has never been linked, even remotely, to any type of birth defect, cancer or adverse psychological conditions! Anyone can use a steam cleaner safely and easily. It’s very user friendly and easy to handle.  Prolonged exposure to steam cleaning may flatten your hairdo or produce a callous on your trigger finger but that’s about the worst you can expect!

8. Steam Helps The Planet By Not Polluting The Water, Air And Landfills

Conservation begins at home…your home. Automatically clean up the planet as you sanitize your whole house. Cleaning with a steam cleaner replaces the need to manufacture, package, ship, use, or dispose of all those harmful and expensive cleaning chemicals and their containers. The wave of the future is in the oldest (and best) cleaning solvent known to mankind…water.

9. Steam Cleaning Offers A Variety Of Uses

The variety of uses are endless…aside from cleaning everything in your kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, living room, etc. you can defrost freezers, unclog drains, remove wallpaper, dissolve soap scum, de-grease car engines, deodorize tennis shoes, take a sauna or facial…let your imagination run wild. The very first time you get your hands on a Sargent Steam cleaner you’ll recognize the endless value.

10. Steam Cleaners Are Compact And Space Efficient

Chances are when you get rid of all of your cleaning chemicals you’ll have room under your kitchen sink to store your steam cleaner. Even in tight quarters like apartments, Rv’s and boats, a steam cleaner saves space because it replaces almost every other cleaning tool you need. A steam cleaner and a good vacuum are all you need to clean everything in your entire world.

A recent wildfire in Herriman, Utah (20 miles south of Salt Lake City) caused well over 1400 families to evacuate their homes. It took firefighters several days to bring the blaze under control and only 4 homes were actually lost. The families who were able to return to their homes were faced with a daunting task. Even if their homes didn’t suffer actual fire damage, many homeowners were completely unprepared for the huge job of restoring and cleaning up the smoke, ash and carbon residue that covered every inch of everything they owned in their homes and around their property.

Here are 9 tips for cleaning up your home and property after a fire.

1. Pressure wash or scrub all exterior surfaces including walls, walks, drives, decks, windows and screens.
2. Wash all interior walls and hard surfaces with a steam cleaner. Don’t forget inside cabinets, drawers and closets. Steam undersides of furniture, tables and chairs.
3. Launder or dry clean all clothing, linens and bedding.
4. Wash all movable items, including picture frames, knick-knacks with a steam cleaner and a soft microfiber cloth.
5. Disinfect and deodorize all carpets, window coverings, upholstered furniture and mattresses with steam.
6. Upholstery, fabric window treatments, etc. can be spray-treated with deodorizing products available at most supermarkets, but do not use odor-masking sprays – it just covers up the problem and doesn’t last long term. Steam actually melts the tar and neutralizes the odor and carbon film left by forest fire, cigarette smoke or wood burning fireplaces and stoves.
7. Have heating, ventilating and air-conditioning units and all duct-work professionally cleaned to remove soot, ash and smoke residue. Change filters when you first return to the premises and at least once a month for the first year.
8. Vacuum up dry aerial fire retardant or firefighting foam residue from inside the house or car. Pressure wash the home/car exterior and use a steam cleaner to remove the stuck on residue from inside surfaces.
9. Ash and soot on the ground and in your landscaping will continue to generate smoke odors and airborne particles when the wind blows so water it down regularly. Until the ash and soot are diluted and absorbed into the environment, run an indoor mechanical air filtration system to help minimize the uncomfortable and potentially health-threatening impact of these pollutants.

Most of these tips can be completed with a few power tools – an outdoor pressure washer for the outside of your home and a steam cleaner, dishwasher or washer/dryer for the inside of your home. If you’re new to steam cleaning, you’re going to be pleasantly surprised how fast, easy and effective it is at getting into all those nooks and crannies that regular cleaning chemicals and techniques can’t.

You may not get all these tips finished in one day but once you’ve laundered, steamed or pressure washed from rooftop to foundation and from floor to ceiling, you and your home will no longer smell like a camp fire.

Tips taken from FEMA’s website and elaborated on.

I have found the best way to kill bed bugs and get rid of their feces, carcasses and eggs all at once.

It seems bed bug infestation is a much more common problem than it used to be. It’s likely travel between countries and the importing of foreign goods allow these little hitchhikers to explore new and more parts of the world. How they got into your house isn’t as important as getting rid of them.

They’re attracted to our body heat and the carbon dioxide we exhale so they climb into our beds and find the easiest way to suck our blood. They’re nocturnal and it’s creepy to know they’re most active just before dawn when you’re at your deepest sleep, totally defenseless. I always thought bed bugs survived on dead skin cells but no, they need blood to survive. Your blood.

If you suspect you have an infestation of bed bugs, you’ve actually seen them or you have little red welts and bites, I’m sure you’re desperate to find a fast, easy, safe way to get rid of them – now! Don’t panic…you have a few options. You can pack up and move… but if the bed bugs have infested your furniture and mattresses, they will only come with you.

You can hire an exterminator to spray pesticide all over your home and your belongings but that can be very toxic to you and your family. Bugs evolve so it’s sure many bed bugs have built up a tolerance to modern pesticides. Some bug sprays may kill the live animals but not their eggs, so you’ll have a re-infestation when they hatch. You may find a pesticide that will kill the bugs and their eggs however, you’re still left with their dead little carcasses all over the place. And I’m just not convinced that the chemical used to kill a bug knows it’s not supposed to try to kill people, too.

You can use heat. Research scientists agree that a temperature of at least 115 degrees is a viable method for killing bed bugs and their eggs. Heat sounds a little safer than chemical pesticides so the question is how do you get your home, furnishings and surfaces that hot?

There is a company based in Cincinnati, Ohio that will pipe 140 degree air into the walls and rooms of your home. All wax, chocolate, makeup and oil products must be removed or melt. They charge around $1,200 for a tiny apartment. This will kill the bed bugs but you’re still left with the dead bugs, their feces and eggs on your furniture and mattresses. If you don’t live any where near Cincinnati, what else can you do?

The best option I have found to kill bed bugs and get rid of their feces, carcasses and eggs all at once without subjecting my whole family to harsh toxic chemicals is a household steam cleaning machine. These steam cleaning machines are not only extremely effective in cleaning your home, they heat to almost 300 degrees so you can just annihilate these little suckers and their eggs from every crease and cranny in your home. A good quality steam cleaner kills the live bed bugs and their eggs with steam then removes the refuse, the dead bugs and eggs in the process.

I would recommend getting a Sargent Steam cleaner to kill nasty little bed bugs. Then go after the bugs you can’t see, like salmonella, mold, bacteria – any common household germ you can name! Bonus!

* Degrease your oven faster than you ever dreamed possible
* Wash windows and screens (in place) in minutes
* Clean your refrigerator quickly without removing the food
* Floors, walls, cabinets, and counter tops are washed, rinsed, dried, and sanitized in one quick step

1. Chemical Accidents Can Be Fatal

Each year tens of thousands of children die or are severely injured due to accidental poisoning from toxic household cleaners. There are over one million accidental poisonings every year in the US alone and 80% of them occur in children from birth to 6 years of age. A product that warns you to keep it out of reach of children is an accident waiting to happen. If your toilet bowl cleaner can kill your child or your dog, why are you risking it?

2. Chemicals Pollute The Environment

When we think of pollution, we probably picture car exhaust or large factories dumping pollutants into the air & water. The real truth is households are the greater polluter and no government agency controls what homeowners dump down the drain.

The ordinary cleaning chemicals found in every cleaning cupboard pose an even bigger threat to our environment than big industries. An average of 25 gallons per household per year of waste, that’s not even remotely biodegradable, goes into the world’s ground water system.

“These chemicals can be found in virtually every home and they seem very safe, but make no mistake, they can be very dangerous,” said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Regional Administrator. “Routinely used products can harm you if you mix them or otherwise handle them improperly. If you throw them out in the trash or dump them down the drain, they can also contaminate groundwater, upset sewage treatment operations and contaminate the air.”

Chemicals considered household hazardous waste include pesticides (including indoor bug spray), kitchen and bathroom cleaners, toilet bowl and sink cleaners, drain openers, aerosol cans, caustic cleaning compounds, fertilizers, paints and varnishes, waste oil, automotive batteries, de-greasers and automotive coolant.

3. Chemicals Cause Allergies And Other Health Problems

Some chemicals cause mild allergic reactions like coughing while using aerosol cleaners in unventilated rooms or rough, red hands when wringing out a rag dipped in sudsy water, but mixing ammonia with chlorine bleach produces a very dangerous gas that can burn and scar your eyes, skin, esophagus, and lungs.

Prolonged exposure to many common household products has even been shown to cause cancer! Clean is good but at what price?

4. Chemicals Leave Residue And Streaks

Petroleum and mineral compounds in products like glass cleaner and furniture polish leave surfaces dull & streaky. They also leave sticky residue that attracts more dirt. Polishing and rubbing just pushes the chemicals deeper and soon you have so much build up you need a stripper solvent. It’s a never-ending circle of “wax on and wax off” designed by, you guessed it, the chemical manufacturers. ??Ever have a spot on the carpet that just won’t go away no matter what chemical you use? Well, carpet shampoo contains soap and any soap left in the carpet fibers just sits there doing its job…attracting more dirt.

5. Chemicals Can Harm Surfaces

Ever take the finish right off when you really only wanted to clean it? Is there something in your home with a permanent discoloration from spilling bleach on it? Household cleaners can do damage even when used according to manufacturers suggestions. Chemicals are by design intense and it’s often difficult to adjust the level of intensity…seems like it’s all or nothin’.

6. Chemicals Are Expensive And Consumable

The average household spends $20.00 per month ($250.00 per year) on a variety of cleaning chemicals that get flushed right down the drain! Now that’s no investment, that’s a non-recoupable expense year after year. Add to that the professional services like carpet cleaning, dry cleaning, and car detailing that really dip into your budget and must be repeated several times each year and you’re up to about $700.00 per year. You’re going to spend $7,000.00 over the next 10 years! Wow, that’s EXPENSIVE!

7. Chemicals Are Known To Cause Birth Defects

The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports, “Of chemicals commonly found in homes, 150 have been linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer, and psychological abnormalities.” Read the labels on the products you use to clean your home and if it says women who are pregnant should not use this product, no one should. Prolonged exposure to toxic substances put you and your family’s health at risk.

8. Chemicals Strain The Planet’s Natural Resources

It is just not logical to assume our planet will continue to support our current consumption of chemicals and their packaging. Household chemicals are hugely expensive to produce, package, ship, store, and dispose of…our planet’s future depends on finding a better way.

9. Chemicals Rarely Offer Extra Value For Your Money

Plastic containers, packaging, and advertising are a very large portion of the household chemical purchase price. The actual chemical inside is not where manufacturers make their money. Unless every plastic bottle and aluminum can is recycled, and we all know they are not, new containers must be manufactured again and again. The cost is then passed on to the consumer and in the end we all pay the price.

10. Cleaning Chemicals Take Up A Lot of Space

Picture your cleaning cupboard. Is it overflowing with the many different types of products for all different types of cleaning? Is it organized or are things just packed into any space available? Do you even remember why you bought the can stuffed way in the back? Is there a grimy, chemical soaked rag draped over any of the bottles? Do you have to lock this cupboard or use one that’s up high out of your children’s reach? Would you like your space back?

If you (or someone you know) has just survived cancer, God bless you! Now it’s important to discuss what to expect after cancer treatment. Frequently, patients and families are not informed or maybe don’t remember what they heard during the stress-filled days after diagnosis.

What about such potential problems as fatigue, chronic pain, depression and infertility as well as the roller coaster emotional changes? Regardless of whether problems are temporary or permanent, most can be managed.

Nurses recommend that cancer survivors heed the following advice:

1. Incorporate regular exercise, stress management, a healthful diet and weight control as part of a healthy lifestyle.
2. Schedule regular health checkups. Inform physicians and nurses about your previous cancer history, treatment, current medications and long-term effects you may experience – including infertility, early menopause, indigestion, dry mouth or taste changes, constipation, diarrhea, sleep issues, fatigue, dry skin, memory loss, changes in thinking, vision or hearing problems, depression, relationship/sexuality issues, anxiety, confidence issues, pain, tingling, or numbness or swelling in the fingers and toes.
3. Limit or eliminate the use of household cleaning chemicals, especially after undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatments. Many cancer survivors report a severe intolerance for the chemicals previously used in cleaning their homes because cancer treatment.  Look for a good quality steam cleaner that will eliminate 95% of the harsh cleansers commonly used in housecleaning. Cleaning with steam keeps homes free of dangerous germs and noxious chemicals – both must be avoided by anyone who is immune depressed.
4. Ask your oncology team for a written summary of your cancer diagnosis, treatments, tests and recommended follow-up once treatment is complete. Create a folder to organize diagnostic and laboratory reports, and give it to your current health care provider to make a copy for his or her records.
5. Ask your nurse or physician to help you and your caregivers learn about possible long-term effects of your cancer therapy and ways to prevent or minimize them. Effects differ from person to person; therefore, educating yourself is important.
6. Look for resources to assist with any physical, emotional or financial issues that you may experience.

To begin to address the many and varied health-related needs of long-term cancer survivors, the American Journal of Nursing (AJN) recently released a report, based on a July 2005 symposium, that offers action strategies and recommendations.

“The late effects of cancer and treatment for survivors diagnosed as adults remain poorly documented,” said Pamela J. Haylock, MA, RN, symposium co-director, cancer care consultant and doctoral student at the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Nursing in Galveston, TX. “Yet up to 75 percent of survivors have some health deficits related to their cancers and therapies. Knowing about potential risks and learning and using risk reduction strategies are important steps in survivors’ recovery.”

Helpful Internet sites are www.acor.org, www.cancer.org, and www.canceradvocacy.org  and  www.sargentsteam.com

Look at all these harsh, smelly, toxic cleaning chemicals! YUCK!

If you’re like the millions of people who are finding these outdated cleaning methods, tools and cleaning chemicals leave a lot to be desired, keep reading…

• Surfaces chemically cleaned are not as clean as when steam cleaned. The world’s most knowledgeable germ experts – the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommend steam as the number one method for sanitizing solid surfaces. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5217a4.htm
• Chemicals leave too many germs alive. Dr Robison, a microbiologist at a prominent university reports steam cleans more effectively than any chemical application and can sanitize surfaces in 2 seconds…some popular disposable disinfecting wipes take 4 minutes to kill 99% of the germs
• Every one of these chemicals are labor intensive and time consuming.
• Petroleum based cleaners leave a film that attracts dirt. That’s why you fight streaks on the windows and stainless steel appliances.
• Chemicals are not healthy and they make us sick. Ever mixed bleach with ammonia? It can KILL!
• Since they  must be consumed and disposed of, chemicals are Very expensive. The more of them you use, the more money you spend.
• We buy and try all these new chemicals, don’t get the results we hoped for and end up tossing them away filling our landfills.
• Did you know it’s unlawful to toss cleaning chemicals into the trash because they are considered toxic waste?
• Big corporations develop a plethora of new disposable products that we end up using and tossing filling our landfills even more.
• 100′s of millions of $$$ is spent on advertising these new products and 0 $$$ spent on teaching you to use them.
• Mother Earth is staggering under millions of tons of toxic waste.

Tell me if you’ve found what I’ve found…I have visited lots of websites and blogs, read a bunch of articles about cleaning green and keep finding the same stuff. I’m told to clean with baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, etc and frankly, I’m baffled. How do you find “green clean” in that? Yes, it’s found in nature so it’s not a harsh toxic chemical.

However all these products still involve production, packaging, shipping, advertising, hard manual labor when you get them home and then you have to dispose of the waste and the packaging that must be recycled or (heaven forbid!) added to the landfill. In my book, that’s about as un-green as chlorine, ammonia, or any other synthetic chemical that we all admit is not very environmentally responsible.

I’m glad so many of us are starting to think about what we’re consuming and looking for greener alternatives but we can’t stop at “natural” and think it’s “green.”

If you are serious about a sustainable (not a disposable) cleaning alternative may I suggest a Sargent Steam cleaner and microfiber products. You buy once, use them for decades and the ONLY thing you consume is water.

The nice surprise is that your stuff gets way cleaner with steam (super heated water) than it ever did with any kind of chemical or natural alternative.

I think the coolest part is that steaming is a blast! Did you ever think anyone would tell you that cleaning is actually fun?”