June 29th, 2010

Happy Fourth of July from Sprayway!

Here at Sprayway, the Fourth of July is one of our favorite holidays.  Beyond being a celebration of everything America, it’s also a great time to gather with friends and family, watch some fireworks, and fire up the grill!  In honor of this great American holiday, we wanted to pass along a few tips and fun facts as well as one of our favorite recipes!

Barbeque Tips

  1. If you’re working on a charcoal grill, be sure to let your charcoals get ashy white before grilling.  This ensures your grill is at the optimal temperature for food preparation.
  2. If you’re working with barbeque sauces, don’t apply the sauce until the very end of the cooking process.  Otherwise these sugar-based sauces will burn—leaving a sooty, black residue where sweet flavors should be!
  3. If the griller in your family has a tendency to dry out meat, they may be cooking it too long on insufficient heat—causing the moisture to run out.  Higher heat and shorter cook times will sear in flavors and moisture.  After a few minutes of high heat, move meats to lower heat to finish cooking.

Did you know?

Thomas Jefferson was the first American president to hold a 4th of July barbecue at the White House.

Ben Franklin didn’t want our national bird to be the bald eagle.  Instead, Franklin believed a turkey would be “a much more respectable bird.”

Early fireworks were exploded for the sound until Italian firework makers added colors in the 1830’s.


Easy Fajita Style Boneless Chicken Breast

4 Skinless/Boneless Chicken Breast

¼C (Regular) Olive Oil

2 Chipotle Pepper (Remove Stem)

2T Chopped Chili Peppers

2t Brown Mustard

1t Chili Powder

1C Fresh Basil

2 limes (optional)


Directions:

In a Food Processor (or Blender) combine all ingredients except Chicken & Lime. Blend well, and reserve ¼ of it for later.

Squeeze limes over chicken and add remaining marinade over chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Pre-heat grill place marinated chicken on grill.  Cook thoroughly and serve with reserved marinade.

Enjoy it on its own or slice for chicken fajitas!

Best,
The Sprayway Team



Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

April 26th, 2010

What’s in a Word? Understanding Aerosols

No CFCs

Sprayway Products Contain No CFC's

Nearly every day it seems, new people are discovering our products.  While we nearly always get excited calls from happy customers, there’s always someone who loves how our products perform but is concerned that our aerosols are harmful to the o-zone layer.  This couldn’t be further from the truth!  As there seems to be general confusion on this topic, we figured we’d set the story straight.

The misunderstanding regarding modern aerosols can be traced almost entirely to one culprit—the chlorofluorocarbon or CFC for short.  CFC’s are an organic compound that rose in popularity during the 1930’s among aerosol manufacturers because they were non-toxic and non-flammable.  In short, they were considered safe and stable.

But in the 1970’s, scientists discovered that CFC’s were causing unforeseen damage in the o-zone layer.  When this discovery was made, the aerosol industry switched away from CFC’s and developed improved formulas that would not deplete the o-zone layer.  As a result, the industry has been CFC-free and o-zone safe since 1978.  Even after thirty years, confusion over this fact persists.

While CFC’s are a thing of the past, the broad use of the term “aerosol” in the scientific community has also created confusion for consumers.  Because the word “aerosol” can refer to any fine mist or gas, the term applies to “good” aerosols (non o-zone depleting aerosols like ours) and “bad” aerosols (greenhouse gases like CO2).  Unfortunately, scientists rarely make these “good” and “bad” distinctions between aerosols—leaving consumers with the impression that all aerosols are the same.  Not so!

Hopefully that clears things up.  So, the next time someone tries to tell you all aerosols are bad, set them straight!

Posted in Sprayway & The Environment | No Comments »

March 16th, 2010

Starting Spring Cleaning? Stop Dust Where It Starts

With spring approaching and winter coming to a close, your home is at its dustiest.  Humans naturally slough off about 7 million skin flakes per minute and, when we spend the majority of our winter minutes indoors, more dust has less places to go.  Thankfully, with a bit of ongoing maintenance, you can win the fight against dust in a few easy steps.

1.  Prevent Dust From Coming In

The best way to reduce dust in the home is to never let it in in the first place!  While that is nearly impossible, the best way to block dust from entering the home is through frequent changing of your air filters.  Air filters trap a lot of airborne particles and improve air quality.  As a general rule, filters should be replaced every month to ensure maximum effectiveness.

2.  Properly Capture Dust

A lot of people assume that picking up dust is just a matter of sweeping the floors and dusting the bookshelves.  Unfortunately, methods like these typically amount to little more than pushing the dust around or, even worse, back into the air you breathe.  Statically charged dusting wipes, HEPA approved vacuums, and air purifiers are a few proven ways to trap dust rather than re-circulate it around your home.

3.  Neutralize Dust Mites

Despite all your best efforts, some dust is inevitably going to accumulate on your carpets, rugs, furniture, and mattresses simply due to the sloughing off of human skin.  And when that happens, millions of microscopic dust mites get to work digesting it—ultimately leaving behind their highly allergic fecal pellets.  It’s not pleasant to think about, but as one of the most pervasive indoor allergens, dust mites pose a problem everywhere—from the chairs we sit in to the beds we sleep on!

To make your home less hospitable to these micro-critters, first keep the relative humidity of your home between 30-50%.  Dust mites have trouble surviving in cool, dry environments so keeping an eye on your thermostat and your dehumidifier is a good idea.  Second, make sure you wash your bedding and other upholstered surfaces in the hottest water possible.  Dust Mites can’t withstand high heat, and this ensures your sheets come out as clean and dust-mite free as possible.

While high heat will kill existing dust mites in the bedding, the dust mites on your mattress will still remain.  To neutralize these populations, apply Good Night across the surface, creases, and headboards. When your mattress dries, you’ll be ready to remake the bed.  With these easy steps for dust removal, you’ll be dust-free by spring!

Have any spring cleaning tricks or tips you’d like to share?  Let us know by posting a comment!

Best,

The Sprayway Team

Posted in Home Cleaning Tips | 2 Comments »

March 1st, 2010

Welcome to the Sprayway Blog!

Hey Everybody!

Welcome to the new Sprayway Blog!  Here we’ll be serving up exciting news, home care tips, special coupons, and anything else we think will make your homes cleaner and your lives better!  So stop by often, take a look, and chime in on the conversation when you feel like it.  We’d love to hear what you think.

If you have a great idea for a blog post, a fun story about our products, or even just a general home cleaning question you’d like to share, please let us know.  We’re always excited to hear from our customers!

We’ll keep it short and sweet for now, but check back often for more posts!  Or you can sign up for our RSS feed (that nifty orange logo up to the right) and get posts sent automatically to your blog reader.

Thanks for stopping by and talk soon!

Best,
The Sprayway Team

Posted in Sprayway News | 24 Comments »

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