A busy day at the office! Cleaning Rugs at Natural Carpet Care

We all get them, a leaflet through your door offering super cheap and discounted offers for rug, carpet and upholstery cleaning services. But lets look at this a little closer..

The company advertising will often give very little away about themselves, check for a local address and see if they have a local telephone number, many companies these days will use free phone telephone numbers to hide the fact that they are from another county or region.

Look for Trade Qualifications ~ For example, in the carpet cleaning industry, the recognised qualification is to become an NCCA member (The National Carpet Cleaners Association) this involves course attendance and examination passes before membership is offered. Many carpet cleaners will try to convince you that a basic course thrown in with a machine purchase or membership of  a website that checks trades is enough, well, in our opinion it is not. Many carpets, rugs and soft furnishings are ruined each and every year due to lack of, or no knowledge at all, with operators simply learning at your expense.

Talking about expense, why not try to calculate the cost of replacing your soft furnishings, favourite rugs and carpets ? You will be shocked! If your sofa and matching chairs cost £3000, are you really sure that you are willing to let someone clean it for £30 or £40 ? Often very cheap solutions are used to try and keep the cost down, usually detergents that remain in the fabric, rapidly attracting more dirt and dust.

Carpet and upholstery cleaning involves us visiting peoples homes and places of work, trust is a BIG consideration for our customers, not only have we been in the business for over 25 years, we are Trading Standards approved, giving our customers more peace of mind.

Equipment is an important factor too, we monitor the market and always update our equipment regularly, embracing new technology and developments to deliver better cleaning results and faster drying times. We have recently just upgraded our portable system to a new Jaguar extractor, this was imported in from the States.

Kill the Heat ~

Allow air to circulate by opening windows and turn off your heating system.

Be careful when purchasing antiques or second hand furniture ~

A regular route into our home is via a piece of used furniture, rugs or even second hand clothes, larvae or even the moths themselves can be hiding in the lining or backing of rugs. The simple answer is to thoroughly clean any item before bringing into your home, hot wash clothing, employ a professional carpet cleaning company to clean soft furnishings and rugs. Keep vigilant too, look at our images of carpet moth larvae here ~

http://www.naturalcarpetcare.co.uk/blog/carpet-cleaning/carpet-moths-found-in-hove-east-sussex

Cleaning ~

Investing in a quality vacuum cleaner will remove eggs and cases from the carpet fibres, be sure to remove the bag immediately after using the vacuum cleaner too, if you leave them in the cleaner they will simply consume the dust and fly out and continue to eat your natural fibres in your home. It is extremely important to move furniture regularly, beds, book cases, large units and drawers are a favourite hiding place for the carpet moth, also, up-end these units periodically as the carpet moth can attach the cases underneath too.

Natural Products ~

Cedar balls are becoming more popular as a moth deterrent, but the only downside is that the cedar balls properties fade after a few months and you will need to invest in more.

Vacuum pack and store ~

Once you have washed and cleaned your clothes, seal your coats and suits in plastic storage bags. This is very sensible action to take particularly if you own expensive silk or cashmere suits. Garments that can’t be washed can be placed in plastic and frozen, this will deal with the eggs and larvae too.

For more advice, please call us on Brighton 634177 or Eastbourne 520044.  Ask for Spencer Davies or Christopher Goodhew.

The dying technique least susceptible to sunlight fading is solution dying, pigments are added to polymers before the fibres are formed, this seals the colour. Polyester, acrylics and nylon fibres found in carpets use this dying method.

As less dye is required when producing lighter shades, these shades fade faster than darker fibres, most dyes are made from two or more colour components, when one colour is affected more than the other, fading is viewed as colour change instead of lightening. Green hues are often made from blue and yellow dyes, if the yellow dye is affected more than the blue, the green textile looks as though it is turning blue.

In other examples, colours can fade uniformly, giving an appearance of a slightly lighter shade of the original colour. Extreme cases show a ‘bleaching’ effect, with fibres almost looking white, the fibre itself will deteriorate, becoming brittle, silk textiles are particularly prone to this type of U.V damage.

By keeping windows covered, by using blinds or curtains, damage can be reduced. More companies are now appearing offering filtration treatment for glass, these are almost invisible to the untrained eye, but delivering excellent protection for your textiles. Use search engines to locate a company local to you that will be able to provide filtering applications or solutions, search terms such as ‘window uv filter’ or glass uv screen’ should deliver results.

This is a very worthwhile exercise when you consider the cost of replacing belongings around the house, why not spend five minutes and add up the value of items that are kissed by the sun in your home!

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.

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.

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.

Keep Moths Away! Place conkers or bay leaves in your drawers and wardrobes.

Make your clothes smell nice by putting empty perfume bottles in your wardrobes and drawers.

Absorb smells in any closet, use charcoal bricks can be placed in a small muslin sack, ideal for families with teenage boys.

Remove tannin stains from your teapot- put a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda in the teapot, add boiling water and leave to soak overnight, rinse thoroughly in the morning.

To shift tea and coffee stains from china cups mix equal amounts of salt a vinegar, leave to soak and then rinse out.

Get rid of limescale from your kettle – simply put a cup of vinegar in your kettle and boil it up, rinse out thoroughly afterwards.

Remove tarnish from silver cutlery- place your knives,forks and spoons in a saucepan with some scrunched up kitchen foil and water, boil them for around ten minutes.

There will me more tips and hints coming over the next few weeks, with shopping becoming more of an expensive experience, some of these tips may save you money as well as being more environmentally friendly.