Pollen Season – A House Cleaners Nightmare @SavvyCleaner

The Ask a House Cleaner Show and Podcast with Angela Brown

Pollen Season can wreak havoc on house cleaning

Spring is in the air and there is an urge for our house cleaning clients to fling open the windows to let in some fresh air and WHOA! Our job just got harder. We have to clean up the pollen that comes in through those open windows and sticks to everything. Worse than dust, pollen is a fine yellow/green powder produced by flowering plants, grass and trees with the purpose of pollenating and fertilizing other plants.

If you’re like me, you’re allergic to pollen. These allergies are commonly known as hay fever, and the symptoms are: itchy, watery eyes, runny nose, itchy throat, hives, fatigue and irritability. (And nobody wants an irritable house cleaner in their house for hours at a time.)

So here’s the thing, pollen is carried through the air, through those open windows (even if they have screens on them.) As that fresh air circulates though the house, the pollen will settle on books, tapestries, curtains, paintings, furniture, in carpets, linens, bedding, clothes, on walls, inside computer keyboards, remote controls, and on top of just about anything. It creates a mess on electronics, TV screens, home security cameras, game controllers and sound speakers.

Lots of plants pollenate year round, so depending on where you live, you may have to deal with lots of it every spring, summer, and fall.

Spring = Flowering plants (thousands of types)

Spring, Summer & Fall = Trees (Alder, Ash, Birch, Cedar, Cypress, Elm, Hazelnut, Hickory, Hornbeam, Oak, Olive, Pine, Plane, Poplar, and Willow)

Summer = Northern grass in colder climates (Timothy, Rye and Bluegrass) In Southern grass in warmer climates (Bermuda and Bahia).

Fall = Weeds, (Ragweed, Nettle, Mugwort, Fat Hen and Sorrel.)

What can you do about the pollen in your client’s homes?

Most people don’t realize the damage done to their homes due to pollen. I recommend leaving your house cleaning client’s an alert notice along with their worksheets which reminds them to close the windows and doors except when entering and exiting. This will keep it down to a minimum, and it will make cleaning a whole lot easier for you. You can download my Pollen Alert Notice to Give Your Clientsor hang it up at home on your own doors that lead outside, as a reminder for your family.

Want to track your area – to see when times are most severe? There’s an Allergy Alert App for that. Thanks to Pollen.com you can be aware when it will be at it’s worse and take precautions. iPhone & Android