Shawnee is our home base

Older Shawnee homes need careful cleaning

Shawnee grew up around the railroad, and many houses near downtown and Oklahoma Baptist University went up generations ago. Those homes tend to have original wood floors, tall painted baseboards, deep window sills and small bathrooms with old tile. Further out you find brick ranch houses, and newer subdivisions sit toward the edges of town. Each kind of house asks for something different from the people cleaning it.

Old wood floors are where a rushed clean shows first. A soaking mop pushes water into the seams between boards and dulls the finish. Grit left behind scratches that finish every time someone walks across it. Painted trim and old grout hold dust and soap film in every groove. If nobody gets into those edges, a house can be vacuumed every week and still look tired.

So we match the method to the surface. Wood gets a damp mop, never a flooded one. Tile and grout get scrubbed instead of wiped over. Baseboards, sills and door frames get wiped by hand, because a feather duster only moves dust around in a house this age. On a newer build some rooms go faster, and that time goes into the kitchen and the showers.

• Wood floors damp mopped, never soaked
• Baseboards and window sills wiped by hand
• Old tile and grout scrubbed, not wiped over
• Showers scrubbed and mirrors left streak free
• Bathroom floors mopped behind the toilet too

Oklahoma wind carries red dirt inside

The wind in central Oklahoma rarely lets up, and around Shawnee it carries fine red dust off farm ground and gravel drives. That dust gets in through door gaps and old window frames, even with the house shut. It settles on ceiling fan blades, blind slats and the tops of picture frames, and it turns white baseboards a pinkish brown. Spring storms add mud, and it gets tracked across the entry and down the hall.

Then there is pollen. Cedar sheds through the cold months, and oak and grass follow in spring. A fine film of it lands on window sills, porch furniture and anything near a door. Summer heat keeps the house closed up with the air running for weeks at a time. The same dust just circulates inside instead of blowing out, and a home can feel stuffy even when the counters look clean.

That is why dusting in Shawnee starts high. We work from ceiling fans and cabinet tops down to the floor, so whatever falls gets picked up last. Blinds get a damp cloth, because red dust clings to the slats and a dry wipe smears it. Entry rugs and hard floors by the doors get extra time after a wet spell. Red clay stains grout if it sits, so kitchen and entry tile get scrubbed on every visit.

We clean offices and shops in Shawnee

Shawnee is the county seat, and a lot of the county's business happens here. You find storefronts on Main Street downtown and plenty of offices and shops along Kickapoo Street and Harrison Street. We handle commercial cleaning as well as homes, so janitorial work for these buildings is part of what we do. A waiting room or a sales floor gets the same red dirt a house does, with a lot more shoes carrying it in.

Commercial floors take the hardest beating. Vinyl tile in an office or store gets red grit ground into it by every pair of shoes. The wax wears through in the walkways first. Once the finish is gone, dirt goes straight into the tile and mopping stops helping. Floor cleaning and waxing puts a fresh protective coat down, so the daily mop has something to work on again. A front entrance with a good shine also tells customers somebody is looking after the place.

Along with cleaning, our listing includes laundry and light handyman work. If a cabinet door hangs loose or towels need washing, mention it when you call. We will tell you whether it fits the visit. Affordable Cleaning Services is veteran-owned and women-owned, and customers who review us name Rita and her team. One wrote: "They came quickly and cleaned thoroughly, all while my grandma sat comfortably on her couch."

Getting a price in Shawnee

Call (405) 821-0861 Monday through Saturday, between ten in the morning and eight at night, or send us a note through this page. Tell us where the house or office is in Shawnee and what matters most to you, such as the floors or the bathrooms. We will give you a free quote, so you know what is included before any cleaning starts.