That Darn Dust!

War against Dust Bunnies.

We the Wizards have an ongoing, daily fight against dust. It drives us nuts if after a three-four hour cleaning we go around your home for a last look to make sure everything is a 100% and we see dust speckles on your tv stand, end table or kitchen counter. We cleaned there!! We dusted it, we polished it, and here they are again!
So it is only fair to say that we hate those little flying bastards.
Here are some tips that we have learned, that make our war against dust easier:

*Feather Dusters are cute and sexy when you wear them with your French maid outfit. They are no use for actual dusting as they just spread dust around and shed the feathers too so you're just creating more work for yourself. We do recommend Swiffer Dusters for a quick weekly/daily dusting.

* Stuffed animals, throw pillows and blankets collect dust. Toss them in the dryer for 15 minutes to get rid of dust. If delicate materials, put it on "air fluff" cycle. If you're looking to kill dust mites, wash and dry with high heat.

* Damp is good!-Use a slightly moist cloth to attract and trap dust. Dry cloth just pushes it around. A little water works fine, even on wood.

*Furniture polish should be used at least once a month. It moisturizes and protects your furniture. Do not spray the furniture directly, spray the polishing cloth. This way you use less product and it's easier to polish. Make sure you remove all the smeary residue as it attracts more dust!!

*Clean paintbrush whisks dust from pleated lampshades, wood chairs, railings and picture frames. Use your vacuum's brush attachment  to clean a lamp shade that has not been dusted in a loooooonnngg time.

*Blow Dryer on "cool"  cleans books, knickknacks and plants (safe for even real plants!).

*Your upholstery is like a luxury hotel for dust mites so unless you want them to move in, take action! Use your vacuum's fabric attachment on all sides of the cushions as well as on the platform underneath (you'll find some change, pens and old candies as a reward )

Just a fact: 60% of household dust comes from outside, most significantly from shoes. Also, if your window is open all day after our visit and you come home to dusty surfaces, please don't shoot an angry email blaming your Wizard of being lazy and not doing her job. Try this: dust the dusty area and check again in a few hours. There's a big chance that the dust is back again. And now you're just another soldier in a war against dust.

We do promise to keep fighting and to keep looking for new ways to keep the dust away for good!

Give a gift of time off!

Giftgiving,-a real hard task that only so few of us have mastered. I happen to be a terrible gift giver. Maybe I am so ignorant that I never take the time to get to know you enough to know what you like or need. Maybe I just have terrible taste (probably the reason!).
Anyway, there's one gift that you can hardly go wrong with: gift card!

 In 2006, gift card was the 2nd most given gift in USA. It was the most wished for gift by women and 3rd most wished for gift by men. Don't ask what were the two most wished for gifts by men. Probably a sports car and a weekend at a golf resort?

Anyway, Wizard of Homes finally took the big step and started offering the gift cards! So if you know someone in NYC metro area that you don't know what to get for birthday, anniversary or "just because" then email us at info@wizardofhomesnyc.com
How it works? Should be easy: you email/call us and tell us what you know about the apartment that you're looking to get cleaned. How many bathrooms or bedrooms there are and where it's located is pretty much all we need to know (You don't need to know the exact address). Then we will figure out how you will get the gift card and how we get the payment. If you're local, we can just come to you. If you're out of the area, you can pay by paypal and we will deliver the gift card to the recipent. We will also gladly include fresh flowers or chocolates with our service to make your gift extra special.

Keep the flowers fresh!

We the Wizards are wishing all of you a very happy Valentine's day. Let's hope your Valentine will rememer to buy you some flowers! Here's how to keep them fresh longer:


*Fill the vase with lukewarm water and add the included flower food. Cut off the stems on an angle with a sharp knife to create more surface area for the water to absorb. Don't place the vase in a direct sunlight or right next to a radiator. Replace the water and retrim the stems every other day.
*If your flowers came without the flower food, fill the vase with half water, half lemon-lime soda-the sugar will feed the blooms while the acidity will keep flower-life-shortening bacteria at bay.
Or, put a crushed aspirin in the water before adding your flowers. Other household items that you can put in the water to extend the life of your flower arrangements include: a multivitamin, a teaspoon of sugar, a pinch of salt and baking soda, and even a copper penny.
Happy Valentine's day!

Keep your stainless steel stainless with proper care

 Stainless steel is one of the most durable materials available for a wide range of household and industrial uses. In the process of making stainless steel, a little chromium is added to form the hard oxide coating on the surface. This coating can keep your appliances looking new and shiny for a long time. But if you don't take proper care of it, your stainless steel with rust like a regular steel.


Here's a trick for old water stains that doesnt go out with regular cleaners and polishers: add a little mild dish detergent to your dishwashing sponge and very gently scrub the affected area (in the direction of the metal). Wipe off with soft cloth and clean as usual.
Make your sink look like new by polishing it with olive oil or baby oil.


We have tested a lot of stainless steel cleaners and have never been fully satisfied with any of them. Till we found Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish

Weiman leaves behind a shiny streak-free surface. This is something that all the other products claim to do as well but none of them delivers 100%. Weiman is very easy to use and you'll definitely notice the difference.;

Tips and Tricks

Feel free to add your opinions and tips-tricks in the comments!

Box of homeless items

* Be green-Keep a basket next to your printer for paper that still has one good side. Use that paper to print mapquest directions or cut it into pieces for little notes.
*Nap like a cat- take a powernap. An afternoon nap (no more than 15 minutes) can help relieve stress and give you that little boost to get through the rest of your day.
*Stop the static-Run your hands over a new dryer sheet and then lightly pat down the charged-up fabric
*Put the clutter in a box-Keep a basket or a decorated box in the most cluttered part of your home (hallway, livingroom) and throw the "temporarily homeless" items in there. Every day (ok busy bee, once a week) walk around the house and place these items where they really belong.

Smelly Kitchen Tips

Unless you’re an absolute clean-freak or you don’t keep food in your kitchen, you are bound to have some smelly situations from time-to-time. Here are a few tricks we’ve found do wonders with all kinds of stinks:

*Stinky Sink- What makes it smelly is the food scraps in the garbage disposer or pipes. First clean the disposer blades by grinding up some ice cubes. Thoroughly rinse the rubber gasket, if you have one (flip it up and get the underside, too).
Finally, even if you dont have a disposer, pour in half a cup of baking soda while running warm tap water.

* Cooking Fumes-Broiled fish yesterday? Burned popcorn? Try this: in a saucepan, mix 3 tablespoons of white vinegar and 1 cup of water and boil for several minutes. The acidic vinegar will neautralize the alkaline odors. Problem solved

* Treat your trash can-As soon as you get a whiff of a smelly trash can, empty the can and wipe it with a wet paper towel. Then spray the can with a disinfectant spray (Lysol works great!). Let it dry before you put the new bag in. Do this once a week.

*Spa day for appliances-If your dishwasher starts smelling like a seedy New York restaurant, it’s time to take action. Clean the filter (below bottom rack) by whisking out any particles with a paper towel. Then run a “rinse only” or “quick rinse” with the machine empty, this will wash away the debris. Make sure to leave the door open after the cycle ends, let it air out. For a smelly fridge and freezer, make sure to toss the leftovers. Face it: you are not going to eat the General Tso’s chicken from last week! From the freezer, make sure to dump the old ice cubes, they’re just collecting odor (you can grind them with your garbage disposal!). Clean the obvious spills with a sponge. Pour a thin layer of fresh baking soda into a few small, shallow dishes. Cover this with plastic wrap and punch holes in it. Distribute on shelves to keep the air fresh (up to three months!). You can also pick up a few ARM & HAMMERrefrigerator air filters.

*Oven spills-As soon as you see the spill in the oven, sprinkle a generous amount of salt on it. This will keep the burning “scent” at bay and will also make it easier to wipe off once the oven has cooled down.

Vinegar is a wonderful thing

My dear Shark Steam Mop started to act weird today: the power was on but only a little steam was coming out. Like it was congested or something. I was very sad to see my little friend like that!

I added a cup of vinegar to the water tank. Shook it all up and whaddaya say: working like a charm!

I'm thinking about starting to use vinegar-water mix in it weekly, the floors look great!

Another great use for vinegar is to clean the coffee machine: add pure vinegar in your coffee machine's water tank and let it run a full cycle. Then repeat that with water until there is no vinegar smells left. And your coffee machine brews coffee like on the day you bought it!

Also, pour a cup of white distilled vinegar down the kitchen sink drain once a week. Let stand 30 minutes and flush with cold water. This deodorizes and cleans.

And if the water doesn't go down so easy in the bathroom/shower, pour some baking soda inside the drain and add vinegar. Again, let it stand and flush later with cold water.

Welcome to our home

Yesterday I was cleaning a house of a very nice Australian family. They had just moved to America a few weeks ago. After a 5hour deep cleaning the man of the house handed me my payment and a bottle of vintage wine. This is a tradition in Australia, to welcome someone in your home.
Not only is it a nice gesture but I find it very heartwarming and a great compliment to my business. This is how I feel in all the houses that we clean at: we are welcomed as new friends! Clients thank us with most sincere words, brightest smiles on their face. I think this is the best tip you could ever give us, your Appreciation.

-- Posted From My iPhone

Shark Steam Mop

My boyfriend saw the Shark ad on TV and was talking about it for weeks. He was sure I have to have it and I will love it.

So when he saw the ad again, at 1am in the morning in Atlantic City hotel room after Madonna concert, he bought the thing. Paid $150 for it to get Express shipping!

You can imagine  how mad he was when after two weeks our Shark still hadn't arrived and we saw it on sale at Target for $79. Haahaaaa silly boy!

Anyway, three weeks later it arrived. I was disasspointed. It seemed to just push the dirt around. You could see the push-marks on the floor (I wish I could explain this better but my english bad bad )

At that time I didnt have a vacuum cleaner yet. So even if I sweeped the floor before mopping, there was still some dust on the floor and that's what caused the rolled-up dust-bunny push-marks.

That's it I can't explain what I'm talking about. The picture of the "push-marks" is on your left. 

It was a hassle mopping the floors! I had to use a rag to swipe off little marks from the floor...

But when I got my vacuum, the problem was solved! Now my floors are clean, it's easy to mop and the best thing is that I don't use any chemicals,- mop cleans with hot steam. And the pads are machine-washable! Very eco-friendly!

And it does really good job steaming the carpets too (comes with a carpet glider attachment)

I recommend this to all my clients and bring it with me whenever I can.

This is a Ticket Campaign

Don't you hate it when all these companies put their flyers on your car? If you're like me, you don't even look at the flyer, you just toss it on your passenger seat and forget about it.

And don't you hate it when you come to get your car and there's a parking ticket on your car? You grab the ticket and read how much the city wants this time.

Well, I came out with the idea that is sure to get attention, people will most likely read what it says and if they have any sense of humor, they will smile. And if I'm really lucky, they actually tell their friends about that flyer. I created a flyer the size of a NYC parking ticket envelope:

We've been putting t

hese out around Christopher street and Upper East Side. When it gets warmer out I want to actually film people's reaction and if I'm extra confident, I might actually ask people what they think about the campaign. 

Of course, I'll keep you all updated and will sure add some videos to youtube. 

The Beginning

I finally took the big step and got all the things running. I started my own cleaning business. This whole thing has been in works for as long as I can remember.

The first sign to this was when I was 7 years old. The way I always loved to clean my grandmother's house or whoever's house I was at.

My mother couldn't believe this: "I wish she would clean her own house like that too!"

And yes, I didn't clean my own house. At some point I had a pile of clothes as high as my bed. I guess it has always been boring for me to clean my own house. 

Luckily by now I have mastered the self-control to clean my own house too, like once a month (joke, I make myself clean it once a week).

When I moved to New York, I was having hard time finding a job. I was fresh out of high school (graduated in Estonia) and I had one year "experience" as a live-in babysitter.

I knew I couldn't do that anymore or otherwise I will never want to have children on my own. I did some research, designed some brochures (but never printed them) and was going to start a cleaning business. But I ended up starting a flooring business with my then-boyfriend Kris. You should've seen me buffing the floors! I was quite a sight with my 5'9" tall-ness, 125 pounds and blond hair. One time, when refinishing Nicole Miller's showroom floors, I was looking for something in the back and someone said: "What are you doing here? Models are supposed to be in the fitting now!" and  she apologized when she realized I'm just a dust-covered flooring chick :-D

After that I was a real estate agent, model, actress and a brand ambassador for several companies. None of these brought in steady income so I tried again with the cleaning business. This time I actually made a website and ordered business cards. Even went from building-to-building on Manhattan, giving out the cards. 

But at the same time, I got really into another company that I was promoting that time and I ended up working full time for them  (I will always love GURU Energy for the experience they gave me).

But when the Big Recession hit, I was out of job again. And this time I was ready to give my 100% to get this business running.

So here I am, with my good friend Karinn beside me. Ready to clean houses and give the best service in the city.

I have designed posters, business cards, fliers and website. We've been walking around countless hours giving out flyers, "ticketing" people of NYC for having dust-bunnies(See THIS IS A TICKET campaign post). I've been using my online marketing skills (thank you again GURU) to establish our web presence.

I'm also working hard to get over my fear of phones and am now actually answering the phone when people call :-D

And I'm happy to say that we have found clients that are super-happy with us. 

Good luck to us, let's hope we'll make it this time!!!