Birdcage Cleaning

Cleaning Bird/Avian Cages

Aside from the daily changing of paper/liner, birdcages should also be cleansed.
Tips on the Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Cleansing of your Avian Cages.

Daily
Toss out the old seed in each dish at least once per day. I find it is easiest to remember as a chore, first thing in the morning.
Change Water. Make certain water dish isn’t slimy. Wipe water dish with Vinegar and rinse well prior to refilling with water.

Do your birds bathe in their water dish? A separate bath for bird bathing can be placed in the cage during sunny times of day, when a wet bird should be able to dry easily. If you cannot place a bath in the cage, please change their drinking water more frequently.
Dispose of paper liner and any waste that is lying on the bottom of the tray. Replace bird paper, after doing so and after any baths where the paper should become wet.

Weekly

Wipe the bottom of your birdcage down with a damp towel or paper towel that is moistened with a vinegar and water mixture. I keep Vinegar/Water in a Spray bottle with a permanent label, since this mixture easily cleans as an All-Purpose Cleaner. If cage is damp, dry directly after.

Wipe any stick or perch off with another paper towel or a wire/stiff perch scrapper.

Monthly

Shower the Birdcage after removing the tray, paper liner, and all food/water dishes. Placing the birdcage in your shower (or outside on your patio if you do not feel comfortable mixing germs) stream the water from the shower nozzle into the cage, starting from top (ceiling) to floor (base). I do not recommend soaking.

If you regularly clean the avian cage, soaking would never be necessary.

After spraying cage with a medium hard stream of water, wipe all surfaces with a soft wet cloth of water and (food grade) Baking Soda (in a paste).

Rinse cage again with water from top (ceiling) to bottom (tray).

Spray cage clean with your Vinegar/Water bottle mixture.

Rinse with pure water and place onto a clean dry towel, such as an old bath towel.

Wipe cage completely dry with a clean rag or paper towel, and replace all items back into cage having hand wiped each prior. Resituate Bird Toys, after cleaning, into different areas of the cage for mental stimulation.

Giving your bird a change of scenery and brain stimulation is almost as important as it’s safety. Birds are very intelligent and can die from despair, as seen in a lovesick elderly person who’s lost their lifelong mate! If you have a couple of healthy birds, you can always swap toys, switching theirs from one cage to another.

The NEVER Do List:

Never have any of the following in your bird’s home:

• Cigarette/cigar smoke
• Oven Cleaner
• Perfume (typical mass-produced department store perfume/cologne/body spray)
• Flea Bombs or Pest Killer fumes or powders
• Hairspray
• Paint fumes

Always Treat your Bird as the Asthmatic Child of the House! Unlike an asthmatic, a bird may die from being exposed to harsh, chemical fumes even just once.

The above tips can be used for all birds including those in the Poultry Family, which make curious, clever, and loyal friends!

by Europa Pirate

The Paper Shredder

The Paper Shredder:

No longer just for The Office

In the Age of High Tech Identity Theft, shredding your paper can be your least expensive and an almost totally brainless defense. Ask your primary-school aged child to feed the Bot, ask your mate for a Shred Date, or do a Shred the Weight (Fitness Shredfest) to your Favorite Music CD. The point is, whether home or office, private documentation including any sort of Tax-ID, S.S., and Work-Visa Info must be Shredded and money, time, or space will no longer be an issue!

As a young person in Southern California… I turned to a hand-crank, manually operated (non-electric shredder). Therefore, whatever your financial status and locale in the world, chances are you can afford some sort of shredder to fit your needs. What you will need to keep in mind is this simple rule: the less expense, the least number of papers and the least amount of (shredding) time you will be able to utilize.

Motor and bits will determine how many sheets of paper and the number of minutes a shredder can do it’s shredding. Unless you are a Government and know of no price or destination limiting your ability for the highest technologic advances, home/typical office shredders do get hot/overheat with use. If the average number of papers you force into your machine is three and rarely have a Credit Card, you will find your choices seemingly endless, for a modestly priced Paper Shredder.


If you truly on an unyielding budget as a undergraduate or young parent, perhaps purchasing a Paper Shredder for only paper (not over endowed for CD destruction and plastic charge cards) would be your best option. So, you will want to remove the metal staples and certainly any paper clips prior to shredding yet having any automated, machine shredder is safer than none.

As you await your purchase, slice all papers listing your Social Security Number, Name, Address, and Age, and Birth date and Birthplace into tiny strips of paper. You may always place these in a bag or box inside your filing cabinet or metal safe until they can be properly shredded, if in doubt.

Businesses outside the home or of high revenue should really consult their Insurance Carrier since many companies will have information on Identity Theft and current product lines.

Unfortunately, I cannot list any one specific Brand or Model number due to the discontinuance of products, high turnover, or marketing/model name changes.

Here are a few tips for the Professional/Business User:



An Industrial Shredder will cost half or more of the price that you would pay for an automobile! Amazingly, Industrial shredders are not only efficient with time, yet are infinitely helpful for those not so detail oriented. These shredders will list the sheet (number) Capacity, Speed (sheet feet per minute), and Horse Power, aside from physical dimensions. Many look like little robots hungry for your rubbish to be tossed in.

The highest tier in protection will not necessarily be as fast as the Industrial Shredders although the High Security Shredder may be less expensive and offer immeasurable piece of mind. In the United States, these High Security Shredders are classified by Security Levels. A reputable dealer will not try to sell anything under the term High Security if it does not meet with N.S.A./National Security Agency current standards. An example is the destruction of a Classified or Top Secret (8 ½ x 11) paper document into 15,500 minuscule particles, something unmistakably outside the realm of a desktop paper shredder from your corner stationary shop. These incredible machines will be listed and sold under warrantee as long as serviced per manufacturer instruction as an automobile, with regular tune-ups and yearly maintenance. Cross Cut, Micro Cut, and Super Micro Cut are descriptions of cut assortment. And, the security rating will fall under Level 5, to Level 6 your highest-level standard.


Clearly, I am as fascinated with Security as I am with Technology and the choice offered in modern shredders delivers both. Shredder Residue Dispersion Systems will advance the highest level of security from here.




by Europa Pirate

Dusting

Dusting Pricey Wood and Pianos



For Dusting I again chose to utilize a natural fiber rag/dust cloth. Diaper Services will sell their older, cloth Diapers, which make nearly perfect dust cloths. If you have any hesitation, recall the times you have paid for your Auto’s Washing/Detailing. These professional automobile detailers are the #1 clients for Diaper Services, when selling their slightly worn cloths.

If your Porsche, Volvo, or Olds shimmers to satisfaction, than the idea of home use with diaper rags, as a prime cleaning tool, is surely applicable.




DUSTING DRY


For fine wood, such as a piano, I recommend dry dusting with cotton or cotton flannel. Dust all antique or pricey woods following the grain of the (natural) wood. Newer/Modern pianos and their technological advances on finishing’s should require much less care. Older, expensive models with basic finishes, therefore, will require more external care. Always dust prior to polishing your prized possession.



CLEANING KEYS:

The “key” to cleaning your Piano’s keys is cleaning one to two keys at a time. Again, your soft cotton dust rags will be used. Slightly dampened the cloth with water and a drop of natural dish/hand friendly soap. Very little soap is to be used. I recommend METHOD, ECOVER, or SEVENTH GENERATION. Have an additional dry cloth adjacent, drying each key precisely after cleaning.



The interior of the piano/case should be professionally cleaned every few years, or more if you are in a high humidity or severely dusty/windy locale. Once clean, “Wool String cover kits” can be purchased for longer-term storage or homes that again see high humidity or dust.


TUNING:

A new piano, during its first year of life, should be meticulously tuned four times, in ideal environmental settings, by a piano specialist only!

Remember:
For all wood cleaning, lightly dry dust
prior to polishing wood to avoid ingraining the dirt.

by Europa Pirate