WE'VE MOVED!

IM Towers has relocated – we have moved in to the Parkwood area of Maidstone and are now settling into our new “home”……..takes times doesn’t it?  

All that planning where to put the furniture (for us read washing machines, shirt presses and ironing boards) and who has what bedroom (for us, who has what desk in the office, or which board on the floor plan)   Common to both work and home is where to put the kettle, keep the teabags and hide the biscuits.  All big decisions.  Once you’re in your new place, it can take weeks to settle in, so I’ve been thinking about a few tips to make the entire moving process easier.

Here’s the Countdown……

8 weeks to go

• If you've accepted an offer on your home, so it’s time to start getting your affairs in order and compiling a list of folk to work with in the weeks to come.
• Start to gather quotes from removal firms - use a member of  the British Association of Removers for peace of mind. Chase up references and check their insurance, they should be liable for your property while it's in their possession, but they may not cover boxes you have packed yourself so check the fine print. Your removal men will be your best friends on the day.  If you know me ask me the story about the cream sofa, the narrow back gate and the olive tree.  Those chaps earned their beers at the of the day!
• If you have any exceptionally valuable belongings, take them to an expert to assess the exact figure to be sure you have adequate insurance.
• Declutter. Go through every room, clearing out what you don't need and don't want to take with you. It's a pain but will save so much time when you arrive.
• Start collecting packing materials - boxes, newspaper, bags etc.
• Run down your food stores, gradually emptying the freezer and larder.

 

6 Weeks To Go

·         If you are in rented accommodation, give notice to your landlord.

·         Now the decluttering is complete, do you still need to book storage space for any of your belongings?

·         If you need any essential furniture in the new house, order it now to be delivered to your new address.

·         Book time off work. If you can arrange it, a Friday is a good day to give you the weekend to get straight, but a few extra days on top may be advisable especially if you're moving from a large property.

·         Recruit help. Approach friends and family to help on the day, and see if you can leave young children and pets in safe hands, out of the way, on the move day itself.

 

4 Weeks To Go

·         The exchange of contracts means you've passed the point of no return, and the move is definitely on.

·         Start the process of contacting pretty much everyone in your address book, both personal and your utility providers – gas, electric and phone/broadband and TV services (see below). First on the list should be organisations who send you bills connected to the house you are leaving.

·         Confirm the date of the move so you have a fixed point of reference. Make a floor plan of your new home, colour code each room, and stick co-ordinating stickers on each box so the removers know where to deposit it.

Notification Checklist

·         Insurance -  notify your contents insurer and arrange to move the cover to the new address from the day you move in. Building insurance needs to start on your new home from the day you exchange contracts.  

·         Also remember other policies including: life; motor; medical; pets.

·         Gas and Electricity - let your supplier know your move is imminent, and remember you'll need to take final readings just before you leave.

·         Phone - inform both landline and mobile services of the date of the move and your new address.

·         Council Tax - Most councils have websites, so visit yours to submit details of when you leave your old house and move into your new.

·         Water - Let them know the date you are moving out and take a reading before you leave.

·         Employer - Let your HR department know your new details, and inform the tax office if you are self employed.

·         Schools - Don't forget to update your kid's contacts too.

·         Locksmith - Book a slot to change the locks in your new home as soon as you arrive.

·         Solicitor - If your conveyancer is not your usual solicitor, be sure to let them know your new information.

·         Internet Service Provider and cable/satellite TV - Arrange for the service to be transferred or shop around for a better deal.

·         Benefits - Update your records for any social security payments you may receive.

 

2 Weeks To Go

It's time to start dismantling your carefully arranged home, room by room, plus there are now a few more people that you need to notify

·         If you've decided to pack for yourself, the marathon begins! Work through non-essential items - books, ornaments, out-of-season clothes, toys - and mark the boxes with what's inside and what room it needs to end up in.

·         Send change of address cards or use an online service to notify friends and family of your new details and the date.

·         Confirm the details with your removal firm.

·         Arrange a time to collect the keys from the estate agent.

 

Notification Checklist

·         Financial companies - these include your bank, credit card, investments, savings accounts, loans, life assurances, pensions, and shares.

·         Doctor, dentist, optician - deregister if you're moving out of the area or notify your existing suppliers of your change of contact details.

·         Post - it takes five days to set up the instruction to redirect your post, so to be on the safe side visit the post office or complete the online forms now.

·         Deliveries - notify deliveries such as milk and newspapers that you are moving and the date on which you'd like the service to stop.

·         Electoral register - don't lose your right to vote - go online to update your details.

·         TV licence - if you don't notify TV Licensing of your new address, you could end up being unlicensed in your new home, risking prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000 – best to be avoided.  This can be done online very easily

·         Friends and relatives - Sending cards by post can be expensive- go through your email address book and send a message with your new details.

·         Non-essential organisations - don't overlook connections you may have to charities, loyalty cards, subscriptions, gym membership, and mail order and internet companies.

 

The Night Before the Big Day

 

Aside from the last-minute packing, there are a few more things to do to help the moving day itself run smoothly.

·         Pack a bag for each member of the family containing their essentials: change of clothes, nightwear, toiletries, and not forgetting bed linen and towels.

·         Organise a box for the kitchen containing tea, coffee, milk, mugs, cutlery, and the kettle. If you are staying in the same area, include a couple of takeaway menus, as you won't feel like cooking - and may not have the means to - by the end of the day. You may also want to pop in a bottle of bubbly - ideal as there's no need for a corkscrew which is always one of the first things to be lost and one of the last things to be found when you move house!

·         As you will probably arrive in advance of the van, keep cleaning materials and the vacuum cleaner with you - you may have the chance to give the house a quick once-over before every room is filled with boxes.

·         You may want to put together a mini-toolkit with a screwdriver and allen key, knife, tape, light bulbs, candles.

·         Keep important numbers with you, such as the solicitor and estate agent, and a pen and paper.  

·         Charge mobile phones.

·         Defrost the freezer.

·         Put valuables and documents in a safe place.

I’m not saying for a minute that if you do all these things you will move without incident but it does at least pay to be prepared.  Happy moving!  And remember to give us a call to pick up your washing and ironing for that first week or so.  Life’s too short not to……..

Outsourcing Your Laundry and Ironing

Every week when I tweet or post on Facebook, as well as having a great time engaging with folk all over the world, I have a serious business intention too – I hope to persuade anyone that may be interested that to hand over your laundry and/or ironing services to us here in Iron Maid Towers make perfect sense.

According to the font of knowledge that is Wikipedia (by the way, what did we do before Google and Wiki when we needed to know anything?), the process is known as outsourcing.  “Outsourcing is the contracting out of an internal business process to a third-party organization.  Two organizations may enter into a contractual agreement involving an exchange of services and payments.  Outsourcing is said to help firms to perform well in their core competencies and mitigate shortage of skill or expertise in the areas where they want to outsource”.  The term became popular in the United States around the year 2000.

This all sounds great on a very large scale and something only done by big businesses but there are definite advantages for small businesses too.  And when it comes to the domestic market, services have been outsourced for years from the garage servicing your car to the cleaner coming in once a week to make your home spick and span for the weekend.

With that said, what are the benefits of outsourcing for businesses, especially with Iron Maid clients in mind?

Commercial concerns such as hotels, restaurants and health spas tend to outsource their laundry as it is both more cost effective and more efficient

Processing laundry in the quantities generated by such businesses is very labour intensive. Unless an on-site laundry is equipped to handle larger volumes, it is difficult to be cost effective. The costs of energy, staff and equipment is constantly rising and it is difficult for businesses to employ the economies of scale that a commercial laundry service is able to provide.  Outsourcing converts fixed costs into variable costs and releases capital for investment elsewhere in your business.  This also makes your business a more attractive proposition to potential investors, as you can focus on spending your money on generating more revenue.

Also, if you outsource your laundry, you do not have to employ dedicated staff, or re-deploy existing staff, to carry out the task; thus your staff wages, NI costs and overall employment liabilities are much lower.  Focus your staff on where you need them most. The same can be said of your management team too  - let them focus on work that serves your customers. 

There is also space to consider – doing your laundry in house could take up valuable space within your business.  Would it not best be served as extra kitchen space, an additional dining area or even more space for your customers to enjoy your services?

An outsource service is also more flexible.  Unless a business employs full time staff for its laundry concerns, there is likely to be a “time lag” between the laundry being created and it being laundered and pressed and ready for use again.  Feedback from our clients tells us that we do things far more quickly than they ever could – we can even offer a 24 hour turnaround service if a client wishes.  Our greater resources dedicated to the task means that we can be far more flexible, with short turnaround times and early or late collection/delivery times available.

Imagine a member of your staff tears an expensive linen table cloth or scorches one of your Egyptian cotton sheets.  It’s ruined and there’s a cost to bear as you have to replace the item.  Not so if you outsource.  Your outsource company will have liability insurance in place that should mean they are able to offer a guarantee and a full refund and/or replace policy. 

There is also evidence that outsourcing laundry services improves usage rate and prolongs life of items.  In other words your sheets, towels and bathrobes will last longer if you let the “experts” look after them.

Quite simply, outsourcing your laundry is all about better resource management and making your business work more effectively for you and your customers.  You can concentrate on what you do best and so can we.  We’re blinkin’ good at this laundry and ironing lark and what’s more, we love to help out!

It’s like the old Trevor and Simon sketches; you and your team “don’t do duvets”.  But we do!

Give us a call to day to see how using Iron Maids can help your business thrive.

Wimbledon Worthy Whites

With it being Wimbledon fortnight, I couldn’t let it all pass without talking about Wimbledon Whites – and the inevitable grass stains.

Wimbledon - or The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club to give the tournament’s host its correct title - is the world’s oldest tennis tournament and it’s the keeping  of its long observed  traditions that help keep it so special.  One such tradition is that Wimbledon requires all of its competitors to wear an outfit that’s predominantly white (although you may have notice the odd pop of colour, such as Serena Williams’ tangerine shorts this year – shame they are no more as she has just bowed out) and this has been the rule since the tournament began in 1877.

The white kit rule was officially set down in the 1960s with a few extra guidelines requiring “almost entirely white” with exceptions for “a preference to pastel” and other minute deviations. For the most part, players are following the guidelines to this day—it’s up to the match referee to make the final call on decorum. And it’s made for quite the handsome array of on-court style over the years. Who can forget  Anne White’s 1985 all-in-one lycra number more suited to a Winter Olympic’s luge competition, or Andre Aggasi’s white headband holding back surely the most impressive of highlighted mullets ever?  Luckily there’s nothing too shocking in 2013  and Brit designer superstar, Stella McCartney has been dressing several of the ladies, including the nation’s new sweetheart, Laura Robson.  Actually there IS something shocking; Serena’s nails!  How does she play with those multi-coloured talons?  Rumour is that she is planning to open a nail bar in her post playing days……

Of course the big question for anyone with interests of all things laundry – which I assume anyone reading this blog is – how on earth do they keep everything so dazzlingly white?

One suspects that tennis stars differ from us mere mortals in that they don’t have to bother about getting their kits clean themselves but for those of us that do. How do we keep those whites white? 

Getting laundry sparkling cleans to lead to two camps – those of us happy to use bleach and strong chemical detergents and those of us who aren’t.  Here is not the place to argue either case, but merely to offer advice.

In General

• Wash white clothes in hot water. Provided the fabric can handle hot water, this is the best setting for white clothes.
• Use a colour remover on your white clothes if they discolour, become dull or look dingy, as they can remove the unwanted colours from whites. If you don't want to purchase a colour remover, mix boiling water with oxygen bleach and let the clothes soak in the mixture for the same effect.  If colours bleed during the wash, do not allow the garments or items to dry. Add colour removers to the wash and do the whole wash again. Once the wash has dried, the colour transfer tends to set.
• Consider adding a laundry booster to your wash. Adding washing soda, oxygen bleach or borax will increase the efficacy of your detergent. These boosters work best with soft water
• Make sure that clothes are completely rinsed. This removes all traces of dirt or grimy water that can dull the look of whites.
• Select an appropriate load size. The clothes or other items should be able to move freely around in the water.
• Clean your washing machine regularly to ensure that your white clothes are actually being cleaned and that any remaining dirt in the washing machine isn't being transferred onto them.

Going Green with your Whites

Going green means trying to avoid harmful chemicals in every day cleaning and laundry which means no bleach.  There are, however, a number of more natural ways to whiten your dingy laundry:

• If you spill something dark, pour salt on it to absorb moisture from the spill.
• Apply white vinegar or lemon juice directly to stains.
• Soak whites in a solution of water and lemon juice.
• Pouring 1/2 cup of lemon juice or 1 cup of white distilled vinegar into your washing machine with your clothes can keep your white clothes white.
• Wash whites with washing soda, similar to baking soda but with a lower pH.
  After washing, hang whites to dry in the sun. Sunlight naturally bleaches without setting stains the way a dryer does.

 Bleach Boys

  

• Dilute hydrogen peroxide with water and add to a stain. This can also work with colours too, although I would recommend a patch test first
• Dilute 3-percent hydrogen peroxide into your washing machine with your clothes can keep your white clothes white.
• Vanish Oxy Action Crystal White is a readily available product that has excellent reviews (not the pink tub, as this is better with colours)
• A decent bio powder - will do a good job BUT you must follow the instructions to the letter.
• Pre-treating with a liquid detergent may well help as well as they have optical brighteners in them that should help. 
• Napisan (the nappy soak liquid) is an excellent stain remover (think about it!) and it keeps the whites white. Use as a soak for stains or in the machine
• Boil using soap.  The key is to use only a little and then boil it gently for hours. It preserves the fabric and will get it spotlessly white without using any bleach. (This was my grandmother’s method of choice and my mother assures me that she and her siblings always had dazzlingly white clothes!)
• Add bleach to your clothes as a last resort. Bleach will keep clothes white and can act as a disinfectant. Make sure to use the appropriate amount of bleach as recommended on the packaging or else you may damage your clothes

 Removing Grass Stains

·         The golden rule is patience and not to dry the article as that will set the stain  Grass juice contains chlorophyll which is the green pigment  - known as a dye stain – that we see in grass stained clothing.

·         Synthetic (manmade) fabrics are generally easier to treat than natural fabrics such a cotton. The reason for this is that the grass stain, being a natural stain will form a stronger bond with natural fibres.

·         Wherever possible, keep the stain wet until you can treat it.

·         Often grass stains are accompanied by dirt. Rinse the item for the back with cool water to remove as much of the dirt as possible before treating the grass stain.

·         After flushing with water you're ready to treat the grass stain. The best method of removing grass stains is a simple paste of baking soda and plain vinegar mixed into a spreadable paste the consistency of toothpaste

·         Gently work it into the stain with your fingers, working from the backside of the fabric. Working from the back of the fabric pushes the stain back out rather than working it in deeper. Allow the paste to sit on the clothing for 15 minutes. Rinse with cool water, again from the back, until the water runs clean.

·         If it appears that the stain has been removed, launder with your normal detergent and then allow to air dry.

·         If the stain is still visible you can repeat the above method or buy digestive enzymes from the chemist, available in a powder or pill form  - make a paste with enough water to again get the consistency of toothpaste. Spread the paste on the top of the stain and leave for an hour. Flush the stain with cool water.

·         Depending on the severity of the stain and the amount of time that has elapsed before treatment, it may be necessary to treat multiple times before the stain has been completely removed.

There you go – no excuses now.  Gleaming, grass stain free whites on all occasions.  Or you could always call the experts………the Iron Maids will ensure you dazzle!