How to Pick the Perfect Kitchen Floor

The heart of your home. One of the most commonly used rooms in your home, bringing family and friends together all year round. Those abnormally large family dinners or those “a cup of tea can fix anything” moments all take place in your kitchen. This is why it’s so important to have a kitchen you’re proud of, filling it with the things you love and that bring joy to your day to day life. With this in mind, the question that lingers is how do we pick the perfect kitchen floor? Before choosing the perfect kitchen floor for you, you may wish to identify some floors which are loved by the nation.

Solid Wood Flooring

High traffic areas need a floor which is built to last. Solid wood flooring is the answer for you. Timeless, elegant and unique are just three words that pop to mind when we think of solid wood flooring. The warm, comfortable atmosphere that a solid wood flooring provides is enough to make anyone feel at home.

Available in a variety of shades there is something you’re sure to love. If you wish to achieve that traditional, contemporary style, you’re sure to love solid wood flooring. One main benefit to solid wood flooring is its durability. When continued to be treated with the correct oils and varnishes, there’s no need to worry about those spilt drinks or messy children. With a quick mop, you will be able to remove those spillages without worry about those pesky stains. The darker the wood the easier it is to hide dirt, so if you don’t have a lot of time to spend cleaning you can reduce the amount of visible dirt with darker flooring. Replicating natural beauty.

Laminate Flooring

If you wish to achieve that solid wood flooring look but your budget doesn’t quite stretch that far, laminate flooring may be the perfect option for you. Whilst looking identical to real hardwood flooring, laminate provides many other benefits.

The authentic wood pattern is applied to the top of the laminate boards, then a layer of transparent melamine is applied over the top. This helps to keep the planks scratch proof, shatter resistant and waterproof. Keeping your floor looking good for longer. This also means that laminate flooring can be made in a large array of colours and finishes, so you’re sure to find something to your taste and style.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring

Achieve that wood or stone style of flooring with luxury vinyl flooring. Providing your home with that style, comfort and endurance. Here at QC Flooring, we ensure all our luxury vinyl tiles are produced from high-quality materials to create that perfect wood or stone effect in your kitchen. Capture that classic, contemporary style in your home, impress even the most judgemental guests.

Our main focus on quality and that is something we most definitely deliver. When it comes to maintaining the luxury vinyl’s good looks, you don’t need to lift a finger. When producing our luxury vinyl tiles we apply a good layer of PU on top, this helps to maintain it’s stylish, modern looks whilst protecting your floor from scratches and stains. With a stocked range of colours, shades and designs available you are sure to find something you love!

Choosing the Best Floor for Your Kitchen

When it comes to choosing the right kitchen floor for you it can be difficult to imagine what it’s going to look like. Well, no more. We can now provide some samples of the flooring to help you make this important decision. It’s helpful to see what the flooring looks like in your kitchen before making that big purchase. Get a glimpse into what it will look like with your already existing furniture and the light in your kitchen.

At the end of the day, it’s all down to you and your needs. Here are a few things to ask yourself before making that big decision;

• What level of care is required after I purchase the new floor?
• What is my budget?
• How much traffic will my new floor get?
• What style and colour should I go for?
• What finish am I looking for?
• How will my new floor impact the current design of my kitchen?

If you have any question or queries please get in touch today on 01908 378270 or visit our contact page where one of our friendly team members will get back to you as soon as possible. Do you have a spare hour or two? Why not head down to our store in Milton Keynes where we can start to understand what you want in more detail.

source http://www.qcflooring.co.uk/how-to-pick-the-perfect-kitchen-floor/

What is the Best Flooring for Soundproofing?

Unfortunately, apartments in multi-story buildings have a very low level of noise insulation. This is especially true of buildings built of reinforced concrete panels. Not only do the wall interior panels themselves have a very small thickness, but their structure does not contribute to the absorption of sound, and some of their components are even its conductor, for example, fittings. Therefore, insulation of the floor in the apartment has become an urgent need for many.

Yet not so long ago, it is very difficult, and at times – it was almost impossible to buy materials for sound insulation, an apartment or flat owners came up with different ways to protect their home from the thundering music, footsteps, or conversations of neighbours. Old carpets, remnants of foam packaging and even egg trays were used.

Today there is a huge selection of various soundproofing materials available, and expert flooring fitters offer numerous ways to set up a noise insulation system. To choose the option that is more suitable for a particular room, you need to consider the characteristics of some of them, and how they are arranged on the floor. Soundproofing your floor can be a brilliant way to reduce the amount of noise coming into your home. It is very useful if you are in an apartment or flat and have noisy neighbours above.

 

Soundproofing flooring

Laminate flooring has become increasingly popular in the past few years due to it being very affordable. Modern products are looking better than ever, and you can effortlessly get a wooden effect or a tile effect. However, this becomes questionable when it comes to soundproofing. Therefore, with laminate flooring, you would have to put down rubber mats to make the flooring soundproofing. These go underneath the laminate flooring and can be very easily installed. There is also something similar available for carpet this also underlies but this comes in separate pieces and interlocks with the other pieces. This is installed underneath the carpet and also makes the floor/carpet when its all laid more spongey and comfortable to walk on.

Soundproofing your apartment is no small task but is worth your time and effort if you have those noisy neighbours or would prefer a little bit more privacy and not as much sound to leak out as it does at present.

 

Reduce the amount of sound travel

 

To decrease the total noise travel in your flat or apartment attempt to make sure that there are no breaks among your soundproof flooring and the wall. If you would like to be extra safe you can even have your carpet or underlayment come up your wall a little bit so that will make the soundproofing even more intense.

That concludes our blog we hope that you found this informative and will help you when considering soundproof flooring. If you have any questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to give us a call 01908 378270 or visit our website.

 

source http://www.qcflooring.co.uk/what-is-the-best-flooring-for-soundproofing/

The Benefits of Carpet Tiles

Tips & Tricks: How to Decide on the Perfect Carpet

How to remove stubborn stains from your carpet | Best tips and tricks.

New carpet? Nothing can ruin a decent carpet like a stain. Whilst at the time it’s very frustrating, there are many possible kinds of stains that you can deal with and get out with ease. Whether there’s a previous stain your needing to fix or you are being prepared for a future scenario, there are many resolutions available to make sure that in your household, carpet stains are a thing of the past.

Coffee and wine stains are 2 of the most troubling stains out there, as a result of this, it’s important to attend to them as soon as possible. It’s a must that you must try and refrain from rubbing them or applying weighty pressure to the stain.

Tips for using solvent.

When cleaning stains with diluters, always work from the outside of the stain towards its middle. This averts you from spreading the stain and doing more and more damage to the carpet or rug. The procedure should involve applying the solvent, blotting it with a cloth, rinsing, eliminating the solvent and repeating the procedure until the stain has completely vanished. Always make sure that you don’t leave any remains behind and let the carpet dry as soon as you are done cleaning. If the stain has gone deeper in the carpet fibres, dry it rapidly with a fan or hair dryer to prevent any leftover stain from working its way up to your carpets surface.

Coffee or tea stain

Getting that coffee or tea stain out of the carpet may seem like a mission, however, if you pour a bottlecap of beer on to the carpet or rug and rub the beer lightly in circular motions with a cloth into the carpet and the stain should disappear. Not to worry if the stain doesn’t go straight away just repeat the process again it may just be it’s sunken a bit deeper into the material. With coffee and tea stains you can also combine equal parts white vinegar and water and blot the stain.

Wine or ketchup stain

Spilt red wine on your lightly coloured carpet. While the red wine is still wet, pour some white wine on it this will make the colour a lot less vibrant, then clean with a sponge and cold water after, sprinkle the area with table salt and wait about 10 minutes then vacuum up the mess.        Ketchup spill on your carpet? once this one dries, it will be nearly impossible to get out.  Spread salt all over the spill, let sit for a few minutes to draw out the colour of the stain, and vacuum. Sponge up any residue and continue salting and vacuuming until the stain has totally disappeared.

Vinegar

Vinegar is a hero in terms of stain removal and cleaning in general! Try these different proven formulas for homemade carpet stain removers:

Light carpet stain? 2 tablespoons salt dissolved in ½ cup of white vinegar. Let the solution dry, then vacuum and the stain should be cleaned without effort.

For much larger stains add 2 tablespoons of borax to the mixture and use in the same way as the above method.

For the tough ground in dirt and stains make a paste of 1 tablespoon vinegar with 1 tablespoon corn-starch and rub into the stain using a dry cloth, let the paste set in for 2 days and then vacuum.

Been decorating? Spilt paint? Use 1 ½ teaspoon of vinegar, 1 ½ teaspoon fabric conditioner and 2 cups water sponge away the paint before it sets in rinse away with cold water.

Juice stains

Your little one spilt juice on the carpet – no worries remove the stain with no elbow grease at all just a little bit of shaving cream. Blot the stain with a wet sponge, squirt some shaving cream on to the cloth and blot until the stain is gradually coming out then wipe clean with a damp sponge. Shaving cream also works great with grease and oil stains. You can also get shot of fruit and fruit juice stains by mixing 1 tablespoon fabric conditioner with 1 ½ tablespoon white vinegar and combine with 2 cups of water. Get a sponge and work the paste into the stain.

Baking soda

Need to clean up vomit or urine? Look no further than your kitchen cupboards baking soda will remove the stain effortlessly. Wipe up what you can with tissue, the pour baking soda over the affected area and pat with a paper towel. Let the baking soda dry completely before vacuuming up the residue. Baking soda will clean, sanitise and deodorise the messy stains. Baking soda can also be used to get rid of grease stains when combined with equal parts of salt. Baking soda is also very helpful for cleaning your oven glass!

Conclusion

We hope that these tips have helped you and now you can tackle those tough stains with confidence.

 

source http://www.qcflooring.co.uk/how-to-remove-stubborn-stains-from-your-carpet-best-tips-and-tricks/

How to Clean Laminate Flooring

As much as laminate flooring has the same look as a hardwood floor, it doesn’t mean that they need to be cleaned in a similar way. The most suitable way of cleaning the laminate flooring is very different. This type of floor needs to be cared for in a special way. This is because, unlike hardwood, you can’t just refinish the surface when it’s damaged or stained. It can be very costly having to replace even a portion of your laminate flooring. So, it’s critical that you treat and care for your floors with a lot of care. Here’s how to clean and care for both new and older laminate floors:

1. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions

The very first thing to do during the process of cleaning your laminate floor is to read the manufacturer’s instructions with a lot of care. Depending on the material used for your specific brand, there may be specific recommendations. Manufacturers mostly provide product guides which are rather detailed on their websites and give instructions on how to go about cleaning the laminate floors.

2. Deal with spills the moment they happen

Stains on laminate flooring result from spills that are left to stay too long on the floor and therefore become difficult to clean. To avoid your floor developing stains as a result of spills, ensure you tackle them as soon as they occur. Do this by wiping the spills immediately. Laminate floors don’t really do well with liquids and it’s necessary to minimize how much they’re exposed to the liquids.

3. Clean with soft tools

Laminate flooring can get scratched as a result of cleaning if enough care isn’t taken. To avoid scratching your floor, sweep debris up using a dust mop or a soft-bristle broom. When vacuuming the floor ensure you use an attachment without a rotating brush or beater to avoid inflicting scratches.

4. Never use too much water

Laminate floors should never be mopped the traditional way because of the use of too much water. The water can damage the floors by seeping into the seams. However, by using a microfibre that has been slightly dampened, you can clean the floors.

5. Avoid using regular cleaning products

Avoid using regular cleaning products as they can leave residue and streaks on the floor and can also cause damage to the floor’s protective sealant. You may use a laminate cleaner but do it sparingly. Also, don’t apply the cleaner directly to the floor but rather to the microfibre cloth or mop. Polishes or wax should also never be used on these floors.

6. Use common household items for cleaning tough stains

Right in the house, you’ll be able to find the solution to removing tough stains on the laminate flooring. These stains include candle wax or ink. To the candle wax or chewing gum, apply a plastic bag containing ice. Then, use a plastic knife, credit card or scrapper once the stains have hardened. Rubbing alcohol can also be helpful for dealing with ink, tackle paint, crayon and nail polish.

7. Protect the floor surface

The laminate flooring surface should be protected from developing scratches and other forms of damage using appropriate means. It’s a great idea to add furniture pads under table and chair legs. This is very necessary if you frequently move the furniture. A great wear to prevent wear and tear, floor rugs and mats can be placed on the floor, especially at the entrances.

source http://www.qcflooring.co.uk/how-to-clean-laminate-flooring/

Tips to help keep your carpet clean

There’s a whole of difference you can give to your home by ensuring that your carpets are always clean. Cleanliness of the carpets means they’ll smell and look good and generally, the ambience of the home will just be nicer. So, for any homeowner who loves their property and loves cleanliness, keeping the carpets fresh and bright is of great importance. If you’re looking for ways to help you ensure that you keep your carpets clean, here are 8 tips to aid you:

1. Allow no shoes in the house

If you have to ensure that your carpets stay clean, you must get every potential source of dirt out of the room. So, let everyone coming into the house get off their shoes before coming it. This should be the case for both family and visitors. Shoes being worn in the house are a source of mess and dirt. The no shoes policy will also protect your carpets from damage.

2. Add some Protection to the Carpet

By adding a presentable rug to your house in an area that experiences a lot of footfall, you’re making them stay clean. Though the rug will also require cleaning, it’s nothing compared to carrying out a deep clean of the whole carpet. Chair mats are also great for protecting the carpet from the legs of the chairs.

3. Vacuum Well and Regularly

For keeping the carpet clean for longer, regular vacuuming’s the simple way to go. But vacuuming thrice a week, you’ll begin to see a huge difference in the cleanliness of your carpet. When you vacuum regularly, dirt is picked and up and stopped from being trodden in. A tip for effective vacuuming’s to go slowly. Places with higher foot traffic should be vacuumed much slowly.

4. Before Vacuuming, Use Baking Soda

Appearing clean isn’t enough for your carpet; you also have to ensure that it has a clean nice smell as well. A great tip to help keep the carpet smelling fresh for longer periods is by sprinkling baking soda before vacuuming’s done. To do this, sprinkle the baking soda lightly and let it settle for a couple of minutes before you begin to vacuum in the normal way.

5. Ensure you Replace Filters and Bags Regularly

Keeping your vacuum itself in a perfect working state also contributes to keeping the carpets clean for longer periods. This should be the case with every type of vacuum, whether it’s a traditional, bag, upright or canister model. Ensure that the bag or filtered is changed regularly. Without this, it could lose suction and end up not picking up dirt effectively.

6. Carry out Deep Cleaning Two Times a Year

For keeping your carpet clean and protected like no other, proper deep cleaning is the best option. Don’t make it a habit to wait until the carpet clearly appears clean for you to have it deep cleaned. Plan to have your carpet deep cleaned twice every year. If you’re a DIY person, you can hire a deep cleaner. Alternatively, you can call in a professional to do it for you.

7. Deal with Stains the Moment they Occur

As a stain stays longer, it becomes harder to remove. It’s therefore, advisable to deal with stains and spills as soon as they occur. And the best way to deal with it is to blot it out and not by scrubbing.

8. Have an emergency kit close by.

There are certain items that you need to keep close by for cleaning stains that occur on an emergency. You should include commercial stain remover, club soda for the beer or wine pills, shaving cream, ice cubes for chewing gums, hydrogen peroxide and dishwasher detergent.

source http://www.qcflooring.co.uk/tips-to-help-keep-your-carpet-clean/