Custom Search

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Tips on Cleaning and Caring for Upholstery

We invest a lot of money in our furniture. So knowing how to clean and care for our upholstery is essential. Here are some general care guidelines to consider before cleaning.

Caring for Upholstery

You can increase the life of upholstery by following a few simple rules:

1. Vacuuming and light brushing on weekly basis helps to eliminate dirt before it becomes embedded in the fibers, causing the fabric to abrade.

2. Turn and reverse loose cushion every week to allow even distribution of wear and tear.

3. Clean spots and stains quickly.

4. If you have a large family, consider using nylon covers for your upholstery. It is long lasting and you can remove most stains easily.

Cleaning Upholstery

Clean your upholstery with an effective cleaner. Choose one that is safe on your fabric and does not contain harsh chemicals to avoid having any sticky remains. Getting a cleaning solution that cleans, remove stains and control odors is a good choice. It saves you time and money.

•Always vacuum or brush your upholstery first to remove dust and loose hair.

•Apply the cleaner and brush firmly any stained areas.

•Wait for one minute or less then wipe away the cleaner with a damp cloth or sponge.

•Keep your upholstery dry while cleaning it to avoid damage. Open a window or use air condition and allow it to dry thoroughly.

Identify Stains

Before trying to remove a stain from your upholstered furniture, you need to know the type of fabric you have. Most manufacturers put cleaning codes on the furniture hangtag or label. These codes tell you the best way to clean and remove stains. Here is a list of those codes:

•WS:fabric may be cleaned with water-based cleaning agents and foams, as well as with mild, water-free dry cleaning solvents.

•W:use water-based cleaning agents or foams only.

•S:use only mild, water-free dry cleaning solvents.

•X:do not use foam or liquid agents on this fabric. You can vacuum or brush lightly to remove soil and grime.

Removing Stains

You should inspect your upholstery for spots and stains and identify your problem areas. Usually a good cleaner can clean and work on removing the stains as well. But for the tough and sticky stains like grease, crayon, gum, and ink, treat the stain first before cleaning. A great option to use is a powerful solvent containing citrus , which break down tough stains easily leaving fresh smell.

•Always pre-treat stains first for color fastness in an inconspicuous area.

•Spray directly on stain and let stand for 30 seconds.

•Scrub with a brush and let is sit for 2 to 4 minutes.

•Clean with a damp sponge or rinse with water. If stain persists, repeat treatment and rewash.

To remove stains from non-washable upholstery, use an effective product made especially for dry cleanable fabrics . It is an excellent pre-treater with a lot of convenience and ease of use. Spray the soiled part and blot immediately from outside to the center, to avoid the clean part from leaving a mark.


Article Source:
About The Author

Vincent Platania represents the Fuller Brush Company. Fuller Brush has been in business since 1906, and offers safe, environmentally friendly products for keeping your home and your body clean. Visit http://www.fuller-brush-products.com

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

How To Be Your Own Cleaning Maid

Being a professional cleaning maid is not as sexy as it sounds. You don’t get to wear a short little dress and a frilly apron with fishnet stockings to do your job (if you do, cleaning probably isn’t part of the job description). If you’re a professional cleaner, you probably wear ordinary workaday denims or track pants that can stand getting in contact with lots of water and gunge. Or even a boiler suit.

However, one of the downsides of being a professional cleaner is that you can be over-exposed to household toxins. You think being exposed once or twice a week is bad enough as you clean – just think what handling ammonia, etc. for hours is like. Rubber gloves are a must, as a minimum.

Unless you switch to natural methods, which work just as well as the commercial stuff. This may be a bit harder to implement if you become part of a cleaning team, but if you’re cleaning your own house (or you are starting your own cleaning service), it’s time to crack out the microfibre cloths, the vinegar, the vodka and the baking soda, plus good old-fashioned soap and warm water. Honestly, they get the same job done for a fraction of the cost. If you want to introduce natural cleaning products and you’re the cleaner, you can suggest to your employers that they’ll save money and will reduce workplace hazards.

Where to use what cleaning product:

* Ordinary soap and water: hard floors.

* Baking soda: bathroom sinks, kitchen sinks, inside microwave ovens, removing greasy marks, getting foul smells out of rubbish bins.

* Dilute vinegar: glass and mirrors, around the lid and seat of the toilet, cleaning metal and stainless steel.

* Damp cloths: general dusting and wiping down stuff.

* Vodka or strong spirit: removing “permanent” marker, glass and mirrors, as a disinfectant, removing residue left by sticky post-it notes.

If you’re an ordinary amateur cleaner giving your own house a bit of a scrub down, make things a bit easier with these tips that this writer used as a professional cleaner:

* Categorise jobs into daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly and less frequently. Exactly what job will fall into which category depends on the sort of place you are cleaning. For example, as a professional cleaner of a school library that had lots of people trekking through, plus a big birch tree by the door shedding seeds, vacuuming was a daily job, as was cleaning the staff toilet. However, in my home, the vacuuming and toilet cleaning needs to be done only weekly.

* Carry a bucket, even if you’re not using water. You need some way of carrying the tools of the trade around with you.

* Work in a set order. This may sound boring, but once you get into the swing of things, your hands (and feet and legs) get into the pattern of working automatically, allowing your mind to concentrate on other things while you’re cleaning.

* Little and often is better than one big session less frequently.

* Do the vacuuming last – the work of dusting, straightening, etc. can knock fluff and the like onto the floor.

* You can never have too many cleaning rags.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/home_improvement/article_5872.shtml

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Vacuum Cleaners: How Long Will It Survive

Shoppers ask us repeatedly "How long will this sweeper survive?". You will discover a number of features to seek out in your next vacuum that will make your new sweeper last longer.

What's the main exterior built from? Metal endures for a longer time than plastic. A metal exterior will be able to last decades unless you strike it with a hammer. And epoxy exterior will be lightweight, and may even endure for decades.

You can find unique types of plastic. Lexan is more long-lasting than ABS. However even the lowest priced plastic exterior will go on decades unless somebody breaks it.

Motors can either have a steel or plastic exterior. A motor with a plastic exterior will seal in heat trapping it until it wears out the motor. A steel motor will conduct heat away from the interior of the motor.

Metal motors go on longer than plastic motors. Be sure to ask your local vendor about the type of motor the sweeper posesses.

Metal roller brushes are the best and most long-lasting. Wood is less sturdy, but will by and large not break.

Plastic roller brushes are on the whole common on the least costly vacuums.

Plastic roller brushes can soften if hair gets caught in the roller bearings.

The actual brushes should be of natural fibers, normally known as "horsehair".

Nylon brushes are not as sturdy, although the disparity in brushes is quite small.

The warranty of the machine will inform you a lot about the estimated life span of the vacuum cleaner.

A one year warranty is very standard. A 3 or 4 year guarantee means that the manufacturer expects the vacuum to last much longer.

The truth is that if you don't misuse your vacuum cleaner, it will serve you for many years. Busted pieces almost always are the result of misuse.

Pieces do not break down on their own. They must be "cracked" by someone.

We suggest that, wherever you are, you should buy from a well thought-of vendor.

They can point you to the right vacuum for you. They can also handle any service you can require.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Vacuum Cleaners: Which Category Of Motor Creates The Difference

The two types of motors are a flow-through motor and a bypass motor. They both offer benefits, and they each retain drawbacks. Let us examine each.

When you think of vacuums with enormous suction, you are considering a vacuum cleaner with a flow-through motor. All canister style vacuums use a flow-through motor. They are referred to as this since the air is pulled in a straight line through the interior of the motor. This really is the most efficient use of the energy given the motor, and creates the most suction.

As an example ,, the least expensive, smallest, most awful vacuum cleaner with a flow-through motor has more powerful suction than your most powerful and costly vacuum cleaner having a bypass motor.

Right away, you have to understand this: Suction isn't the thing that cleans. Suction is the measuring the strength of the air going through the motor. To provide an example, you can pick up a heavy bowling ball with practically any canister vacuum cleaner. The suction is heavy-duty enough to pick up the bowling ball without problems. Nevertheless there is no air movement, and air movement is the thing that picks up the dirt and pet hair.

Subsequently, canister vacuums with a flow-through motor will have better suction at the tools than practically any upright with a by-pass motor. The distinction is profound.

The flow-through motor needs all the paper bags and filters to be in front of it in the air stream. The motors aren't able to endure dirt going through the motor. So, you'll find this motor in canister vacuum cleaners, and in several upright vacuum cleaners where the air flows through the paper liner before it flows into the motor.

The bypass motor is titled "bypass" since the air flow and dirt flow around the motor. These motors are utilised in almost all upright vacuums. The suction generated by these motors is a small part of the suction in a flow-trough motor. However the rapidity of the air movement is much more. So, vacuums with bypass motors are frequently upright vacuum cleaners with a spinning brush. The motor turns the brush swiftly, and the fast airflow throws the dust into the paper liner or compartment.

These motors do not need filters or bags in front of the motor, since the dirt and air flow proceed around the motor. Vacuum cleaners with this design of motor generally have the bag in back of the vacuum cleaner, with a fabric outer bag. Vacuum cleaners with hard shells surrounding the bag are usually utilizing a flow-through motor.

The very best use of these motors would be to offer both inside the exact same machine. The bypass motor turns the roller brush swiftly, and speeds airflow into the paper liner or past the filter material. The flow-through motor generates a strong pull on the airflow to strengthen suction dramatically.

Discuss with your local independent vacuum cleaner dealer to see which style of vacuum cleaner is right for you.
http://www.sweeperstoreonline.com

Friday, January 7, 2011

Make Your Own House Cleaners

If you take a trip to the local supermarket, you’re bound to find a huge range of domestic cleaning products. Sprays for this, polish for that, cream for the other thing. It’s easy to buy bottle after bottle of specialist stuff and spend a small fortune.

Does it have to be this hard? Do you really need one product for your toilet, one for your kitchen bench, another for the refrigerator, another for the shower walls, another for the… Well, you get the idea! But it doesn’t have to be that way at all. All you need is a few basics and you can make your own.

One of the real benefits of making your own cleansers is that home-made ones are usually gentler on the environment and much less toxic. Some of them are even edible, though not particularly palatable. And they do a pretty good job of round-the-house cleaning, even if they do need a touch more elbow grease to work. Mentally replace “elbow grease” with “burning calories” and you’ll find these dirty jobs are a lot easier to face up to.

Basic ingredients you will need for making your own cleaners are probably already in your kitchen or bathroom cupboards. Baking soda and vinegar make excellent cleaners. So do lemons, but cleaning things with lemons can be a bit expensive unless you have your own lemon tree that produces prolifically. Toothpaste is another handy ingredient, as is dishwashing liquid (not the sort you put in dishwashers, but the sort you do dishes in the sink with). Biological washing powder is another very handy basic cleaner.

Baking soda is by far the most versatile of these cleaners. It doesn’t scratch delicate surfaces but it busts off the grime. It also absorbs smells somewhat in a refrigerator. Baking soda is perfect for washing down whiteware and cleaning the inside of the fridge. While I have heard that a very thick paste of baking soda can be used for cleaning the inside of the oven, I have never put this one to the test, so I can’t vouch for it. But you may be in luck.

Vinegar is an excellent cleanser for people in hard water areas. As it is an acid (and so is lemon juice, which can be used in the same way), it reacts with that annoying soap scum that has a tendency to stick to the side of sinks. In my experience, what doesn’t yield to baking soda will usually yield to vinegar – and you get a very satisfying fizz when baking soda and vinegar mix. Dilute vinegar works pretty well for windows and doesn’t leave streaks or residue. You can also use it as a fabric softener. My husband’s grandmother also recommended boiling vinegar in a saucepan to deter flies. It works.

Biological washing powder is quite harsh and should be handled with gloves, but it is useful in many more places than just the washing machine. To clean a really grubby bath, fill the bath with water and put a cup or so of biological washing powder in. Leave it overnight and drain in the morning. The enzymes will have done their work. This also works for burnt-on crud on pots and pans if you accidentally left something on the stove for too long.

Toothpaste is a very effective cleanser but should really only be used for smaller areas, as cleaning larger things such as whiteware with toothpaste could become expensive. Having said that, most of us could claim to use toothpaste to clean bits of the vanity unit and bathroom taps, as toothpaste smears are one source of the grubbiness in this area (or is it just my kids who get it all over the place?). Jewellery (especially diamonds) respond well to being cleaned with toothpaste, as it is gentle and leaves no residue (use a soft toothbrush for cleaning jewellery with toothpaste to avoid scratches). Toothpaste also helps to get scribbles of ballpoint pen off wallpaper.

Dishwashing liquid can be used for cleaning more than just the dishes. It’s great for mopping floors with. Use in a bucket of water at about the same concentration you’d use for doing the dishes, or maybe a bit stronger for really grubby floors. You can also use this for glassware, although it can leave a few bluish streaks – but seeing as it gets rid of handprints and flyspots and doesn’t have those unpleasant fumes that you get with commercial window cleaners.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Do Vacuum Cleaners Make Worthy Christmas Presents?

A fresh vacuum will generally be able to vacuum better than your other one. It may be less demanding to push, and even smell much better than your old vacuum. But is there a reason to give it as a Christmas gift?

Here is when it is just not a good idea to give a vacuum as a Christmas gift to your spouse. When she did not ask for one, or bring up that she really desires a new vacuum. Almost all ladies that do the majority of the vacuuming will not perceive this as a romantic or selfless gift.

In case you are a husband, shopping for a Christmas gift for your wife, and she did verbalize she desires a new vacuum as a gift, then she will truthfully be grateful for the gesture.

This really is entirely different if you are shopping for a Christmas gift for a full-grown son or friend.

If they have indicated that their vacuum isn't performing well, or that they need a brand new vacuum, then it's a fine gift and will be valued.

Make sure they in fact desire a vacuum. By buying one for them, they might take it to mean that you think they are not cleaning frequently, or that their house is not clean.

An added thing to take into account is that they will be using the vacuum often for several years.

Make sure you don't buy the lowest priced model available. Keep in mind, they will likely be paying out for the paper bags, filters, and repairs on this new machine.

One thing they will welcome is if it seems like you took a little time in selecting the vacuum for them. Aquiring a vacuum with features that go with their needs will help. Do they have carpeted steps? Then a longer hose would make vacuuming easier. Do they have problems with allergy symptoms? Then a HEPA filter would demonstrate that you were thinking of them.

The recipient may also be able to distinguish if you bought the least expensive model. If they find the same package on sale at Wal-Mart for $49, they won't be impressed. They are going to tell you how much they appreciate it, but that is not what they are thinking.

Purchasing from a vendor that also services what they advertise means that the person getting the vacuum as a gift can get bags or filters for it without hassle.

Purchasing from an independent vendor will also insure that they will be able to help you pick the best vacuum for your friend or loved one.

Many times, just bringing the person you are giving the vacuum to into a retail store with you will unravel any possible problems later.

Also, keep your receipt. If the person you got the vacuum for just got a brand new one the day before, you just want to know that they could get a refund or at least a store credit.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Is Your Miracle Mate Vacuum Cleaner As Good As Consumers Say?

Initially, let's get this idea out of the way, the Miracle Mate is moderately substantial. It weighs 19 pounds, which is about 3 or 4 pounds more than usual. There are two or three factors that the Miracle Mate is a little substantial. The motor is a duel stage (that means it uses two metal fans) metal motor. Metal motors will be heavier than plastic enclosed motors. Metal motors additionally give off heat away from the motor far more than plastic. Therefore the motors keep going longer. Do you recollect that Hoover vacuum that your grandmother used...40 years ago...that even now works? That's because it utilized a metal motor.

The shell of the Miracle Mate is additionally completely metal. A Die Cast Aluminum alloy that's virtually indestructible. That's one more reason it is a little heavier than average.

The primary claim to fame that the Miracle Mate has is that the container never clogs up, and you never lose the suction. The only way to lose the suction would be to fill the container so jam-packed that the dirt and filth is backing up into the hose. That's just about impossible to do. The air flow travels into the bag at an slant that forces the air stream to constantly blast the backside of the container. Keeping it free to allow seamless airflow.

Additionally, there's a few other vacuums that share that air flow system. The Tri-Star, Air-Storm, and Patriot vacuums share the same method of forcing the air over the dirt as opposed to through the dirt and filth. The real advantage that the Miracle Mate has, is that the paper liners are sealed at the top, and the lid of the bag compartment has a short nozzle that opens the seal at the top of the bag, when the lid closes. If you remove the full bag to throw it away, the dirt and filth is trapped in the bag and will not leak out into the room. The metal shell of the Miracle Mate is warrantied for a 30 year period with 3 years on everything else. That's a pretty excellent warranty.

I observe Miracle Mate vacuums sold on-line on E-Bay. These are not the latest machines, and they aren't current models. The manufacturer's warranty will be voided whenever you buy from a source that is not an authorized seller. We recommend buying from a local dealer who continues to be in business for a number of years, will be able to honor the manufacturer's warranty, and will offer bags, filters, and parts to repair your vacuum for years to come.

Of course, the Miracle Mate vacuum has sealed HEPA filtration to keep dust from leaking out the exhaust. Therefore the vacuum cleaner filters the air flow as you vacuum.

At $3,000 they are at the high end of high quality vacuum values. But if you bear in mind that this may be the last vacuum you ever ought to buy. The value is not out of line.