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/

How to choose wood flooring

Wood flooring is a beautiful feature to add to any home. By choosing hardwood flooring, you’re investing hugely in your home. Yes, their initial cost is relatively higher than that of the other alternatives; this shouldn’t a hindrance as they’ll prove worth the investment as time goes by. When properly taken care of, these floors can last a lifetime. It, therefore, calls for you to take a whole lot of factors into consideration before you finally decide to make a choice. It’s not simply deciding on the colour of the wood and nothing else. Presently, these flooring options are completely customizable. To help you make the decision, take the following into consideration:

1. The Wood Type

There’s a wide variety of wood species that you can choose from. Each of them has a different hardness and grain. Maples, cherries and oaks are the most common types of wood flooring due to their hardness. They’re very sturdy and can withstand a lot of harshnesses put on them in terms of use. Exotic woods like Brazilian cherry and mahogany have an incredible look but aren’t as durable.

2. The Colour

Wood flooring colours vary depending on the wood type chosen and the finish is done on the wood. There’s everything from black to luscious cherry colour to brilliant blond floors. Staining on wood floors can be done to achieve nearly any colour.

3. The Hardness

Those who have children and pets will need to invest in a flooring option that’s as hard as possible like the red oak floor. The wood species has the capacity to withstand wear and tear far much better than pine floors; softwood that often easily scratches.

4. Engineered or Solid wood

Today, there’s an option of engineered wood for flooring. Basically speaking, these come as thinner wood planks that have a hardwood layer that’s bonded to other composite layers. In solid wood flooring, there’re solid wood planks. Each of these two options has both advantages and disadvantages. These are:
• Sand scratching out of engineered wood isn’t possible because the top layer is way too thin.

• Engineered wood can be glued directly to concrete. Solid wood floors, on the other hand, are often installed on a layer or layers plywood. This makes it likely possible that the solid wood floors can interfere with baseboards or doors.

• The design of engineered wood ensures it prevents shifting and warping.

• Solid wood shouldn’t be used on floors that are underground because moisture from the ground can cause problems.

5. Width of Board

The different types of boards that are available make it possible to do a lot with wood floors. For a more traditional appearance, there are narrow strips that are less than 3 inches in width. Wider planks, on the other hand, have a rusty appearance causing a space to look more open. Geometric designs like rectangles and squares can also be used to make a place appear more formal.

6. The Texture

Whether you’re looking for a floor that looks rustic and lived in or shiny and brand new, you have the option of hand scraping the wood. This gives it an appearance that’s timeworn. This makes a floor to look incredible and allows one to disguise heavy use with time.

7. The Finish

The finish of the wood is its source of colour and protection. You have the option of either finishing the wood on site or buying a prefinished one. Prefinished wood often lasts longer. The site finishes give more options to choose from. Prefinished wood is also easier to replace in case of damages.

source http://www.qcflooring.co.uk/how-to-choose-wood-flooring/