Cleaning tips from Grandma Owen, Floors and Carpets
Freshen carpets - liberally sprinkle oatmeal, salt or cornflour, leave for at least two hours and then vacuum.
Brighten colours in a faded carpet use a mix of one part vinegar to two parts hot water. Soak a cloth in the mixture, simply rub into your carpet, watch the colours come back!
Blot up pen ink with an absorbent piece of paper or cloth, sponge the area with cold water until the stain is removed.
Bloodstains on your carpet? sponge with cold water (not hot!) blot with a non colour fast cotton towel.
Puppy had an accident? Get rid of those little stains from your carpet, white vinegar and cold water should be mixed, blot up your stain, rinse and allow to dry.
Lift dents left by heavy furniture rub the dent with the edge of a coin.
Muddy footprints on your carpet? Stop…. leave the stain to dry, simply vacuum up the mud, sponge off and blot dry.
Lost your diamond in the carpet? place a stocking on the end of your vacuum attachment, vacuum the area, the stocking will stop your jewel disappearing into the cleaner.
Stop your rug wearing quickly turn them regularly to prevent premature traffic and wear.
Improve the appearance of scorch marks by using the edge of the coin to loosen damaged fibres and
then simply vacuum up. Extreme burn marks are here to stay, by trimming the fibres you will minimise the effect.
White rings on waxed surfaces, can be removed by mixing salt and olive oil, leave for twenty four hours, wipe off and re wax.
Repair a dent in the wood by filling with a few drops of nail varnish.
Recent Rug Cleaning
This week I have found myself with a large quantity of rugs, in one case, the rug had not been cleaned for more than twelve years!
I was looking forward to seeing the amount of dry soil that I could get out of it before any cleaning took place, I prepared my dust collecting plastic sheet, making sure that it was flat and fixed to the floor.
After fifteen minutes continuous vacuuming on the rug’s facing surface, I turned it over, face down. Again, I vacuumed the rear of the rug for a full thirty minutes, resisting the temptation to take a peek.
I then removed the rug from the sheet, I was greeted by a huge quantity of sand, grit, skin, soil and much more, the grey deposit looked like sand, I carefully swept the dust into a pile and then into my dustpan, the entire dust content of this rug filled a standard mug, right to the surface!
Before any cleaning had taken place, I had managed to remove a serious amount of dry soil, which is crucial when trying to clean a rug. I do often get asked to ‘run over’ people’s rugs when I am carpet cleaning, without following the correct method, you can actually damage a rug, the quantity of dust I had just removed would have quickly turned into mud/sludge…….now that would be difficult to remove.
This rug had come from a sleepy part of Meads, Eastbourne, not a house near a busy road or in a city, just imagine the dry soil in your innocent looking rug.
Not so sunny Eastbourne
I was rudely awoken last Thursday as lightening flickered across the sky and torrential rain tried to beat its way into our bedroom, in August I expected to have our windows open and sunscreen sitting next to the front door, but not this year.
I came downstairs as the phone rang, ‘hi, its Lakeland in Eastbourne here, please come as quickly as possible, our shop floor and carpets have been flooded’.
After rushing my breakfast, I made my way into town, this was going to be first test for our new Hydramaster Truck mounted system, I had already experienced the breathtaking results when using it for straightforward carpet cleaning, a flood was going to be a real test.
Sunny Eastbourne wasn’t so sunny when I arrived at the store, puddles of rain sat on the main shop floor, a look of panic was evident on the faces of staff members as they hopelessly threatened the invading water with mops and buckets.
I brought our hard floor wand in with our recovery pipes, the Hydramaster coughed slightly as I switched her on, the pipes shook as the offending water made its way to my recovery tank in the van, within two hours all of the water was gone, the shop had a delay in opening, but at least their doors were open for business.
This job would have easily taken five or six hours using an electric machine, thank goodness for our truck mount!
Interestingly, several areas of Eastbourne are affected by rising tides and water levels because of the Bourne Spring. The spring runs through many parts of our town, causing flooding problems from the Goffs, Terminus Road and Grove Road, many years ago, the spring fed a sheep dipping pond that was situated just outside Eastbourne library.
Useful Cleaning & Household Tips from Grandma Owen
Move furniture easily by putting foil pie dishes under each leg, now the furniture will slide easily over the carpet.
Furniture dents in your carpet? A cube of ice on the dent will lift the carpet pile.
Whoops! a smashed glass will leave small shards on the floor, use a piece of white bread to ‘blot’ up
any remnants.
Clean that wooden floor by using damp tea leaves, scatter and then dust up in one place when sweeping.
Get your quarry tiles shining by using sour milk to wash them!
For scuff marks from shoes on your floor, wipe with turpentine or use a rubber.
To clean a varnished floor add instant tea granules to your bucket of water.
Clean aluminium window frames with silver polish
Louvred windows and doors can be kept clean by using a 2″ paintbrush dipped in a mild soap solution, dry off with a towel.
Cure a condensation problem by using bleach, dry off by using warmth and ventilation.
Sticky label marks can be awkward and difficult to clean from glass, rub some peanut butter with a cotton cloth.
Don’t forget to clean dustpans and brushes, they need cleaning once a month, afterwards they will pick up better and be hygienic too.
Grandma Owen’s housekeeping tips
Here is another collection of useful cleaning tips from yesteryear.
Keep salt near you cooker to avoid a grease fire- After a spill, sprinkle your salt, when the oven cools simply brush off and wipe clean with a damp sponge.
To rid appliances of yellowing - Mix a half a cup of bleach, one quarter of a cup of baking soda and four cups of warm water, apply with a sponge and leave for several minutes, rinse and dry for a bright white result!
For a sweet smelling fridge - Pour some vanilla extract on a piece of cotton wool, place this on one of the shelves, easy!
To remove black mould that can grow around the edge and in the corners of windows, use a toothbrush dipped in a bleach and water mixture.
A little spray of polish on a curtain rail will make your curtains run smoothly.
To keep feathers on you duster clean, sprinkle on some talcum powder and then brush off.
Blow the dust off a pleated lampshade using a hair drier.
Make sure your dirt stays in the dust pan, spray a little bit of polish inside, now the dust has something to stick to.
Keep pewter clean by rubbing with a cabbage leaf, finish off by buffing with a clean dry cloth.