There’s just something so luxurious about the soft, smooth feel of leather. But if you want your sofa, boots, or favorite purse to stay in prime condition, you have to care for it the right way. That means using a leather conditioner regularly to keep the leather moisturized, so it stays soft and flexible. It also makes your leather goods less likely to crack and can even help treat water and mildew damage. Some leather conditioners are part of formulas that contain leather cleaner or protectants, too, so you can clean, condition, and protect your leather in a single step.

source https://www.chicagotribune.com/consumer-reviews/sns-bestreviews-tools-the-best-leather-conditioner-20191214-2w2fvwpv7fcrdhubdqa34fsikq-story.html

source https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/students-living-with-flood-damage-at-ucsd-weeks-after-storms

PEMBROKE — Did you know that vinegar is one of the best mold removers?

Did you know that bleach does not kill mold on porous materials like wood and Sheetrock? Do you know how to use a moisture meter to test the moisture in porous materials in order to tell if mold can grow there or not?

These and many other questions and concerns about mold will be answered at the December countywide mold education, treatment and removal workshop at 6 p.m. Tuesday at First United Methodist Church in Pembroke. The church is located at 100 Breece St.. The workshop is free to the public. It is sponsored by the Mold Busters Program of Sustainable Sandhills and co-sponsored by the Robeson County Disaster Recovery Coalition.

The workshop utilizes training material provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. It is a 90-minute, hands-on, experiential workshop that includes how to use the equipment needed to protect one’s self from mold contamination while treating and removing it in the home, church, business or school. It will demonstrate how to use inexpensive, Tyvek coveralls to protect one’s body and clothing from exposure to mold spores when present. Safety supplies, including goggles, N95 respirators and gloves, will be given to participants free of charge to everyone who attends the workshop.

Participants will learn how to effectively spot, treat and remove mold without having to use toxic chemicals. They will also practice using moisture meters to test moisture levels to determine if mold can grow on various surfaces. The importance of adding moisture meters to standard tool kits will be discussed. Knowledge and skills regarding mucking and gutting homes and buildings will be discussed and the importance of utilizing the appropriate equipment to protect yourself from mold and other toxic exposures.

“Mold grows anywhere there is moisture and causes major damage to our homes, businesses, churches and schools,” said Mac Legerton, the Mold Busters Robeson County program coordinator. “It is a threat to our health and well-being, particularly to our young, elders and those suffering from breathing disorders. Mold grows in our warm climate and is a health risk twelve months of the year, not just after a hurricane. Learning how to spot it, reduce it, destroy it and prevent it is key to protecting our families and communities.”

Residents, civic groups and faith communities interested in hosting a Mold Busters workshop in their community may contact Legerton at 910-736-5573, or email him at [email protected]

source https://www.robesonian.com/news/business/129953/workshop-on-mold-prevention-is-tuesday

Last December, I was at my friend’s house and she asked me if I could help her figure out what was wrong with her houseplant. She thought perhaps it was a mold or mildew issue, because there were white, somewhat fuzzy spots on the leaves of her plant.

As a self-proclaimed insect nerd, I was pretty excited to discover that it was actually a slight insect infestation. I declared enthusiastically that it wasn’t mold at all, it was mealybugs! I guess I didn’t read the room correctly, because the statement did not bring her any comfort whatsoever. Quite the contrary, actually. She was completely disgusted. I persuaded her to not throw her plant away right there on the spot by talking her through mealybug biology and explaining how to manage them.

Mealybugs and their close relatives, scale insects, can be relatively common on houseplants. They’re not going to suck your blood or anything, but they can damage or kill your houseplants if left untreated.

Mealybugs are small, about 3/16 inch long and have white, powdery, waxy secretions covering their bodies. They also have white filaments sticking out along the sides of the body and at their tail ends. They are true bugs, similar to aphids, therefore they have piercing, sucking mouthparts to feed on plant sap. Heavy feeding can cause yellowing of leaves, stunting, or wilting. To detect mealybugs, watch for white spots that may look like mildew, as well as discolored leaves or honeydew. Honeydew is their waste product which is shiny and sticky on leaf surfaces.

Scale insects look similar to mealybugs, but don’t usually look fuzzy. Plus, scale insects can be brown, gray, or white. One other main difference is that scale insects can lose their legs once they’re adults that have pierced their mouthparts into a plant. Mealybugs don’t share this behavior. Fortunately, mealybugs and scales can be managed using some of the same techniques, so you don’t have to be absolutely sure of which critter is snacking on on your houseplant.

To treat mealybugs or scale insects, wipe down your plant’s leaves. You may squish some insects during the process. You can also try using lightly soapy water on the leaves. Another option is a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol. For mealybugs, touch the cottony cluster with the alcohol and it will turn orange; that means the insect has died. Make sure to examine the underside of leaves, along the veins, and at the junctures where leaves join stems. You will need to repeat the process about every 5 days until you’re sure you’ve gotten all of them.

You may not find mealybugs as exciting as I do, especially if they’re unwanted visitors on your houseplants. But, now that you know some steps for managing them, you can ensure you have a healthy houseplant with no small creatures attached.

source https://www.southernminn.com/lonsdale_area_news_review/opinion/article_406384a3-e7cd-5464-ab2a-86a11dba633c.html

Here are the restaurants and other food facilities closed by health inspectors in San Bernardino County between Dec. 5 and 12, 2019, according to the county’s Department of Public Health. If no reopening date is mentioned, the department had not listed that facility as reopened as of this publication.

Star Buffet, 1141 S. Mount Vernon Ave., Colton

• Closure date: Dec. 12
• Grade: Not graded
• Reason for closure: Fire damage, cockroaches. The health inspector was called out after a fire that started in the kitchen and went to the roof, damaging the exhaust hood and ceiling. The inspector also found live roaches in the food-prep area — a problem that led to six customer complaints in July and August and two closures Aug. 22-23 and Aug. 27-29.

Sail Inn, 325 Havasu Lake Road, Havasu Lake

• Closure date: Dec. 9
• Grade: 81/B
• Reason for closure: Rodent infestation. The inspector found droppings on the counter under the pizza pan rack, on trays holding coffee cups, on the lid of a container of coffee and filters and inside cabinets. There was one other critical violation, for ice being contaminated by black mold and pink residue inside the ice machine. The inspector also noted multiple areas that needed cleaning.

Non-closure inspections of note

Here are facilities that weren’t closed but had other significant issues in their inspections.

BeLeaf Vegan Burgers, at 4024 Grand Ave. Suite 102 in Chino (in the 99 Ranch Market food court), was inspected Dec. 10 and received a grade of 87/B with one critical violation, for not cooling down two containers of cooked onions in a safe manner. Among the seven lesser violations, the operator said utensils and other food-contact surfaces are cleaned only once a day, and there was some gray mold on the ice machine (not touching ice). Additionally, the restaurant had been operating without a valid health permit since September; it was given 72 hours to pay past-due fees or face closure.

Water Stop and Super Oriental, at 2021 E. Washington St. Suite 3B in Colton, was inspected Dec. 6 and received a grade of 80/B with three critical violations. There was no hot water (the facility sells only prepackaged food so this did not require a closure), some wrapped bags of tofu were submerged in dirty water (they were discarded) and the market was selling unlabeled food from an unverified source (also discarded; this included about 60 pounds of frozen tuna). Among the lesser violations, the inspector saw some dead roaches and said the floors and shelving were very dirty. This is the market’s third B grade since 2017.

My Rancho Lindo Mexican Restaurant, at 10075 Arrow Route in Rancho Cucamonga, was inspected Dec. 6 and received a grade of 82/B with two critical violations. Food was at unsafe temperatures in the main refrigerator (which required repair) and a prep-table unit. Also, there was “a heavy slime/mold accumulation” on the piña colada dispenser and heavy brown mold on the top panel inside an ice machine.

85C Bakery Cafe, at 11897 Foothill Blvd. Suite A in Rancho Cucamonga, was inspected Dec. 6 and received a grade of 86/B. It had one critical violation, for food being at unsafe temperatures, including inside a display case that wasn’t keeping cool. Among the lesser violations, employees didn’t know warewashing procedures and there were some uncovered cakes on a rack near leaking refrigerator fans in the walk-in cooler. The bakery had to throw away more than 40 cakes and other dessert items.

Round Table Pizza, at 11617 Cherry Ave. in Fontana, was inspected Dec. 5 and received a grade of 82/B. Among the 11 violations, none of which were marked as critical: The dishwasher was overflowing, flooding the floor with wastewater as two floor sinks weren’t draining until the owner unblocked them. The dishwasher also wasn’t dispensing enough sanitizer. The inspector saw several dead bugs including roaches and spiders. Some pizza toppings were at unsafe temperatures in a cooler that wasn’t keeping cold. The kitchen handwashing sink was inoperable and staff was using a food-prep sink to wash hands. An ice machine that the operator said supplied ice to keep food containers cold, not for consumption, had mold inside and out, and another ice dispenser at the soda machine had mold on the outer surface. A follow-up inspection was planned to make sure the dishwasher and cooler were fixed and all bugs were eliminated.

Tacos El Gordo, at 14845 7th St. in Victorville, was inspected Dec. 5 and received a grade of 85/B with two critical violations. A refrigerator wasn’t working and more than 30 pounds of food inside had to be thrown away. Also, some reheated rice wasn’t hot enough.

About this list

All food facilities in the county are routinely inspected to ensure they meet health codes. A facility loses four points for each critical violation and one to three points for minor violations. An A grade (90 to 100 points) is considered “generally superior,” a B grade (80 to 89) is “generally acceptable” and a C grade (70 to 79) is “generally unacceptable” and requires a follow-up inspection. A facility will be temporarily closed if it scores below 70 or has a critical violation that can’t be corrected immediately.

This list is published online on Fridays. Any updates as restaurants are reopened will be included in next week’s list. For more information on inspections of these or any restaurants in San Bernardino County, visit www.sbcounty.gov/dph/ehsportal/FacilityList/food. To file a health complaint, go to www.sbcounty.gov/dph/ehsportal/StaticComplaint or call 800-442-2283.

source https://www.sbsun.com/2019/12/13/rodents-roaches-fire-damage-restaurant-closures-inspections-in-san-bernardino-county-dec-5-12/

For 40 years, ServiceMaster of West Plains, 706 Porter Wagoner Blvd., has provided cleaning and restoration services related to water, smoke and mold damage and now, owner Juliet Cobb says, the business is growing.

The company is in the process of building a 5,400-square-foot addition to its warehouse south of West Plains, she announced, adding that the new facility will allow ServiceMaster to provide expanded packout services to seven counties in Missouri and Arkansas.

She explained what that means: Damaged items are inventoried, packed up and stored in climate-controlled location and then cleaned, deodorized and restored by trained technicians. When everything is ready, the items are returned to their owners.

Established in 1979, ServiceMaster of West Plains has been a member of the Greater West Plains Area Chamber of Commerce since January 1997. The company came under its current ownership in July 2011, with owners John and Juliet Cobb, Andrew and Laykin Cobb, and Jerry and Cathy Roberts.

Juliet said the company has nine employees and three management team members and provides 24 hour service seven days a week for commercial and residential properties.

“We have the experience, expertise including support from national headquarters, credentialed staff and the latest equipment to take care of your residential or commercial disaster mitigation. There is no project too large or too small,” said Juliet.

“We are the only certified disaster restoration company within a 50-mile radius that is equipped to handle your loss from its beginning all the way through the reconstruction,” she continued. Because demand has grown to “overwhelming” levels, she added, the company has added a rapidly-growing reconstruction division to its services.

Additional services offered include pre-loss planning; remediation of damages from fire and smoke, weather, mold and water; specialty large loss restoration; residential odor removal services; build back services; disaster mobilization; and trauma and biohazard cleanup.

She said that not only are employees certified in many areas, so are the owners: John Cobb is a registrant in good standing with the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification and is certified in odor control, applied microbial remediation, applied structural drying, fire and smoke restoration, health and safety and water damage restoration. Both John and Juliet are also certified instructors for continuing education and offer classes to local insurance agents and adjusters.

ServiceMaster is a Fortune 1000 company headquartered in Memphis, Tenn. and has more than 1,900 locations throughout the United States and additional locations in 14 countries around the world. ServiceMaster brands include Terminix, Terminix Commercial, ServiceMaster Clean, ServiceMaster Restore, Merry Maids, AmeriSpec and Furniture Medic.

The company was founded by former minor league baseball player Marion E. Wade in 1929.

While emergency services are available 24/7 and crews have a two- to four-hour onsite response time, office hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. ServiceMaster of West Plains serves Howell, Oregon Shannon, Texas, Ozark and Douglas counties and part of Wright County in Missouri, and Baxter and Izard counties in Arkansas.

For more information call 256-8773 or visit the website at www.servicemasterrestore.com

source https://www.westplainsdailyquill.net/features/business/article_667b6384-1d28-11ea-9b3f-8bbf074cdd9e.html

“I applied for anything and everything that was available,» she said. «So I did applications throughout the state, for everything, and I had to do all the documentation, every time, over and over again. And it wasn’t the same for every program, so one program may need some things, and another one doesn’t, and that makes it very confusing.”

source https://www.wect.com/2019/12/13/governor-cooper-visits-columbus-county-family-recovering-both-matthew-florence/

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Park City Utah Mold Inspection Job Completed by Utah Disaster Specialists  StreetInsider.com

source https://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Advantage/Park+City+Utah+Mold+Inspection+Job+Completed+by+Utah+Disaster+Specialists/16236154.html

For homeowners facing a water damage situation on their property need to get all the water removed from the place as soon as possible. There is one company that can help in this regard.

This press release was orginally distributed by ReleaseWire

Austin, TX — (ReleaseWire) — 12/12/2019 — A property can get damaged for many reasons, but water is one of the primary causes of property damage in Austin and Round Rock, Texas. Water damage can take place due to many reasons. Burst or leaking pipes, blocked drainage systems, clogged gutters, or a flood situation can cause extensive damage to one’s property. While standing water can cause damage to the contents of the house like the costly furniture and furnishings, moisture can also be the reason for substantial mold growth on the property. Mold growth is not good news for the property owner. Not only does it affect the health of those who reside in the house, but also the structural integrity of the building. The only way out of this is to opt for professional water removal in Austin and Round Rock, Texas. Professional help comes from one company that has been around for many years offering this service, and that is none other than All Pro Restoration.

Tasks like mold removal cannot be kept unattended to for a long time. It needs immediate attention, and keeping things as it is will only make things worse. When the expert team of professionals from All Pro Restoration takes care of things, one can be assured that only the best result will be delivered. They carry out a thorough inspection of the property for identifying domestic water problems. Not only that, they bring all sophisticated equipment for detecting water leaks and the presence of mold on the property. Not only do they handle the water removal with precision, but they can do away with all mold and bad odors from the house.

The cleaning and restoration crews at All Pro are standing by 24/7 to help with water removal and restoration. Get help with flood damage in Austin and Pflugerville, Texas instantly. Call 512-252-4722 for assistance today.

About All Pro Restoration
All Pro Restoration is a well-known company that offers a wide range of services pertaining to professional water removal, flood damage restoration, mold removal and property restoration services.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/all-pro-restoration-assists-with-quick-water-removal-in-austin-and-round-rock-texas-1267917.htm

source http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4534874

There is one company that offers professional help when it comes to handling flood damage on a residential property.

This press release was orginally distributed by ReleaseWire

Austin, TX — (ReleaseWire) — 12/12/2019 — Homeowners living in flood-prone areas need to be ready to face flood damage to their property. Trusting a professional company that can help deal with it is necessary. All Pro Restoration is one such company that has been assisting homeowners residing in flood-prone areas to get their properties back in shape with their flood damage services. Whether it is dealing with flood water or water from any other source, getting all that water removed from the property is the first most necessary thing to do. All Pro restoration has an extended list of clients who have received substantial help from the company in this regard. Their work has been excellent as long as flood damage in Austin and Pflugerville, Texas is concerned. They have more than 18 years of experience in handling flood damage properties and restoring them to their former glory.

No one can allow flood water to stay in the property for a long time. Standing water not only damages the furnishings and other costly furniture, walls, upholstery, and more, it also welcomes mold growth after some time. Moisture retention is not a good thing for the property. If mold growth begins once, then it will be hard to deal with the same. Water removal will need to be handled quickly and with precision. Not a single trace of moisture can be left behind as it might be dangerous for one’s house. The professionals at All Pro Restoration have the expertise to deal with it all. They have state-of-the-art equipment and the right skills and knowledge to carry out the job. As a part of their job, they deal with all the accumulation of water debris once the water is removed. Then they follow a dehumidification process to remove all traces of moisture from every corner of the house.

Get in touch with them today for quick water removal in Austin and Round Rock, Texas, mold removal, fire restoration, and other services. Call 512-252-4722 for more details.

About All Pro Restoration
All Pro Restoration is a well-known company that offers a wide range of services pertaining to professional water removal, flood damage restoration, mold removal and property restoration services. They offer their service 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/all-pro-restoration-helps-with-flood-damage-in-austin-and-pflugerville-texas-1267919.htm

source http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4534886