The Bee-Kleen Blog

Is Bee-Kleen open during the Coronavirus Outbreak?
Yes. Disinfection, cleaning and maintenance are deemed necessary services to maintain the safety, sanitation and critical operations of residences or other critical businesses, based on the Amended Public Health Order pursuant to the Governor’s directive in Executive Orders Ordering Coloradans to Stay at Home Due to the Presence of COVID-19 in the State. As you can imagine, we are experiencing an unusually high demand for cleaning and disinfecting services and we are doing our best to prioritize customer requests. We are also continuously monitoring updates from the city of Colorado Springs, the county of El Paso and the State of Colorado surrounding the COVID-19 situation and adjust our business plans accordingly.
 
Does Bee-Kleen offer special cleaning and disinfecting services to help curb COVID-19 infection?
Bee-Kleen follows the “Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection Recommendations” from the CDC which states “For soft (porous) surfaces such as carpeted floor, rugs, and drapes, remove visible contamination if present and clean with appropriate cleaners.” While no current evidence suggests that COVID-19 is transmitted from soft surfaces like fabric or carpet, Bee-Kleen is providing preventive measure cleaning with hot water extraction steam cleaning with application of an EPA-registered, industrial-strength disinfectant.
 
What precautions does Bee-Kleen take to protect customers and employees?
 
We wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – During your cleaning service, your cleaning technician will be wearing personal protective equipment including disposable gloves, shoe covers and masks (if appropriate).
 
We sanitize our equipment – Our cleaning technicians wipe down and disinfect all equipment between each cleaning job so you can be sure that equipment coming into your home is clean and sanitized.
 
We minimize face-to-face interaction and practice social distancing – Since Bee-Kleen is paperless, we can also be touch-less. What this means:

1. We text you when we arrive instead of knocking on the door so we can arrange entry into your home and still maintain a safe distance.
2. We email or text you a copy of the invoice when the job is complete.
3. Your technician will call you from the work vehicle after sending the invoice to collect credit card information for payment.

 
How can I learn more about Bee-Kleen’s services?
Call us at 719-597-5559.
 
Bee safe and bee healthy,
Steve

​eStep 1: Contrary to that Google search or Wikipedia article, do not use vinegar
Once the accident has happened and bleach is on the carpet or upholstery, move quickly to neutralize the effects of the bleach. Allowing the bleach to sit too long untreated could result in the bleach ‘burning’ a hole in the carpet or fabric, chemically speaking.
 
A quick web search will yield a treasure trove of information—or should we say, mis-information (even on Wikipedia!) about how to neutralize bleach. Many sites recommend applying a mixture of vinegar/water to the affected area. However, this is not safe and you should never use vinegar or any other acid when trying to neutralize chlorine bleach.
 
According to this article on Chemistry Stack Exchange:
“Technically, since Cl2ClX2 (Chlorine) is volatile, soaking material in an acid like vinegar would probably eventually result in all of the bleach/chlorine coming out of the material. However, this is a really bad idea from a health/safety perspective.”
 
Step 2: Protect your lungs and skin and remove the bleach soak
When working with bleach, it’s important that you take precautions to protect the air you breathe and your skin. Ventilate the area and use rubber gloves before handling it. You could use towels to blot the area until you have removed the soak—but be careful not to rub the stain or you will run the risk of spreading it. Removing the soak is just the first step.
 
Step 3: Flush, extract and neutralize
We highly recommend calling a professional carpet cleaning company in Colorado Springs who can thoroughly ‘flush’ the affected area with water and remove it with high-power extraction such as with a truck-mount steam cleaning machine. Once the bleach is removed, there is still a chemical residue that needs to be neutralized. A professional can assess and determine the best approach for neutralizing the bleach by using bisulfite, metabisulfite, thiosulfate or peroxide.
 
Step 4: Restore the color
Once the bleach has been removed and the area chemically neutralized, then discussions can begin about how you want to restore the color to the carpet or upholstery. This can range from dying the area to patching it.
 
Spilling bleach on carpet and upholstery is a bummer. Moving quickly and safely to extract and neutralize the area are important first steps to fixing the situation. And remember—never use vinegar on a bleach stain because it is unsafe to do so.

This past March, we made the leap into the world of business automation by launching HouseCallPro or "HCP", as the biz calls it. HCP is a cloud-based field service management mobile app that, as we discovered, would enable us to do some pretty cool things to delight our Colorado Springs carpet cleaning customers. Things like:

1. Get personal: Actually see on the iPhone home screen when a current customer is calling.
2. End phone tag:  Allow customers to book us online.
3. Save a tree: Enable us to email and text electronic estimates and invoices.
4. Flex our payment options: Accept online payments with a click of a button.
5. ​Join the 21st century: Stay connected with customers with automatic postcard and email reminders.  

Rock, Paper, Scissors: Mobile Always Wins
It wasn’t easy at first—but we knew we needed to break the trusted paper cycle and get in touch with our inner digital native.  And through the trials and tribulations of building service lists, cleaning up our customer database (hello, Excel!) and keeping two calendars while we gained confidence with e-calendaring, we kept our eye on the prize. Our customers. 

Becoming Like a Utility Company, But In A Good Way
Everything we had done in the business up to this point was focused on the customer—from our investment in the best equipment, training and certification, to our relentless focus on 110% satisfaction at the job site. And the next step of the journey was to sharpen our focus on communicating with our clients on their terms and in a way they’ve gotten used to with everyone else they do business with-- banks, airlines, and even the utility companies. While the old way of doing things SEEMED easier, our ‘spidey sense’ told us that this was the only way to achieve our goal of building customers for life.
 
A Lot Can Happen In 100 Days 
So, we're 100 days into this phase of our journey, and three amazing things have happened so far:

1. Bee-Kleen has achieved 125 Five-Star Reviews across the web--more than half of those coming in the last 100 days (you can scroll through these on our Reviews page)
2. We were recognized by HouseCallPro as a “SuperPro” (a home service professional committed to servicing customers with excellence in addition to providing them with a modern, transparent, and online experience from the moment they schedule a job to serving them for years to come)
3. A wonderful Bee-Kleen customer baked us a Beehive Cake

 
Funny enough, it’s that Beehive Cake that we’re the most proud of because it means that maybe--just maybe, we're onto something in our quest to delight our customers.  The way we figure, when a customer decides to delight you right back, there's a very good chance that you’ve baked a customer for life.

​🍯 🐝

With hundreds of carpet cleaners in Colorado Springs and surrounding areas-- many coming and going on a daily basis--picking the right company for the job can be tough. Before you dial the digits to a company advertising super low prices through an extreme coupon, etc, STOP and remember these 3 keys to selecting the right carpet cleaning company in Colorado Springs:

1. Check out their online reviews – Reputation matters! Consumers are actually more likely to share poor experiences than positive ones. So before booking, do yourself a favor and jump online, check out the reviews and see what others have experienced with their service. Read what customers in Colorado Springs have to say about Bee-Kleen on Google, Facebook and Yelp.
2. Make sure they’re bonded and insured…and willing to prove it – If you’re looking for a great deal on your carpet cleaning, beware of extreme coupons. Companies that invest in the right equipment, supplies, training and insurance deliver safer, higher quality service with better results. Don't be shy! Ask about these things and don’t take the company’s word for it-- request to see their proof of business insurance. If they don't provide it, think twice about using them. Learn more about Bee-Kleen's Gold Standard Guarantee.
3. Ask for references  – You may not actually have time to call the references, but just making the ask to see what the company's response is will be telling. If they “hem and haw” or feign a bad cell connection, be wary! 

Your home and office are among your most important investments. If you follow these 3 Keys to Finding The Right Carpet Cleaning Company in Colorado Springs, you're more likely to have the experience and results you're looking for. Call Bee-Kleen today to discuss your project or book online now.

Many people believe that winter isn’t an ideal time for getting carpets cleaned. In fact, here in Colorado Springs, December through March is typically viewed as the ‘off season’, with many customers and property managers postponing work until the spring.
 
Here are 3 key reasons to reconsider putting off your carpet cleaning during the winter and early spring:
 
1. Protect Your Health: To escape the ice and snow (although not so much this winter!) we generally tend to be indoors more, with closed windows and less fresh air. Soiled carpets often have allergens and pollutants that contribute to poor indoor air quality.

2. Protect Your Investment: The more dirt and grime is allowed to build up, the harder it is to remove from carpet. Soil and dirt act as tiny ‘daggers’ to carpet—with every step you take, these tiny daggers cut at the fibers which in turn, shortens the life expectancy of the carpet. Also, spots left untreated turn into stains, making it difficult-if not impossible-to remove.
 
3. Get More Flexibility: In the spring and summer, good carpet cleaning companies like Bee-Kleen can book out two to three weeks. During the winter months, appointments are much easier to come by, which is especially helpful should there be an emergency.
 
It can be tempting to postpone carpet cleaning, especially in the winter and early spring. With daylight savings just around the corner and some nice days in the forecast, beat the spring and summer rush and book your cleaning today!
 
719-597-5559