Stain Removal on Hardwood Floors

When caring for your hardwood floors, it’s always important to know the best way to remove stains and impurities from your flooring without damaging the wood. Below are a few examples of both you might face with your hardwood floors, along with explanations of how you can restore your floor’s lustre!

• Water Stains – Whenever puddles of water stay on your hardwood floor and dry up, the minerals found within the water cause stains to appear. The main strategy in removing these stains is to dissolve the minerals out of the floor. Using a pad of very fine steel wool drenched in lemon oil is one of the best ways to remove the stain and restore your flooring. The lemon oil won’t remove the stain, but it lubricates the steel wool so that it does not scratch the wood.
• Chewing Gum – Start off by using your fingers to pick off as much gum as you can. From there, take a plastic bag and fill it with ice, placing it over the gum on the floor. Leave the bag of ice on the floor until the gum has frozen. Then, try scraping with a credit card or something similar. Be careful not to use a razor blade, knife, or other hard object, as this could scratch and score the surface of the wood.
• Pet Accidents – Hardwood flooring can easily become the victim of pet accidents. If you discover the problem quickly, wipe up the mess with paper towels and follow by cleaning the area with detergent and water.  Unfortunately, if the stain is old, you may have to sand down the wood and refinish your floor.
• Crayons – Sometimes children decide to be their own interior decorators. If you are dealing with wax crayon drawings on your floor, take some toothpaste from your bathroom and rub onto the spot with a damp cloth.  After your child’s “masterpiece” is gone, clean off any remaining toothpaste and wipe the floor dry.

These few tips can help to keep your hardwood floors clear of any permanent damage it may face.  Ultimately, it’s important to keep up with periodic cleaning of your hardwood floors in order to sustain their natural beauty in your home.

Buying Tip for Carpeting: Don’t Judge Quality by Feel Alone

When choosing carpet, determine the performance you want and the conditions affecting your floors. Thick and luxurious carpet can fool you at times. A tighter, twisted fiber doesn’t feel as soft, but it will generally give you better performance over the life of the carpet. A tightly twisted yarn will resist soiling, matting and crushing. When a yarn is not tightly twisted, it may feel more luxurious but it will tend to crush and flatten out more quickly.

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How To Deep Clean Your Carpets

When spot cleaning and vacuuming just aren’t working, it’s likely time to either have your carpets shampooed or rent a carpet cleaner and do it yourself.  Here’s how to give your carpeting a thorough shampoo:

Step 1:  Remove as much furniture from the room as possible. Place plastic under the legs of furniture that cannot be removed.

Step 2:  Vacuum the floor thoroughly.

Step 3:  Test a small area of the carpeting, preferably in a spot under furniture or in a corner, for colorfastness.

Step 4:  Pre-treat any deep stains or discoloration with pre-treat solution that matches the brand of carpet cleaner you purchased.

Step 5:  Fill the carpet cleaning machine reservoir with hot water and mix in a proper amount of cleaning solution.

Step 6:  Follow the instructions on the steam cleaner.  Clean the carpet in even strips. Be certain to run the machine on a “dry sweep” without the water spray after cleaning each portion of the carpet. This will help absorb any excess water from the fibers.

Step 7:  Wipe water or foam from any wood or furniture promptly to avoid damaging the non-carpeted surfaces in your home.  This includes baseboards, chair legs and upholstered furniture.

Step 8:  Allow the carpets to dry completely, typically overnight, before walking on or replacing any furniture.

Spending some extra time and money on deep cleaning can mean extra years of performance for your carpet.  And for tips on buying carpet, click here!

 

Tips for Deep Cleaning Your Carpet

Let’s face it:  Carpet doesn’t stay looking new for very long. Many times, homeowners have purchased a house with sparkling new carpet just to find out that white may not be the best color when you have pets and a house full of kids. Likewise, the brightly colored carpet you picked out when you remodeled your house may simply not look so pretty after a year or two of daily wear and tear. Luckily, deep cleaning your carpet can go a long way to making it look brand new again.

When To Deep Clean Your Carpets

When spot cleaning and vacuuming just isn’t working, it’s likely time to either have your carpets shampooed or to rent a carpet cleaner and do it yourself. You will typically want to deep clean your carpet every 18 to 24 months, but if any of the following apply to your home’s carpet, it is likely time for a thorough shampoo:

• The carpet is no longer the same color as when you moved in or purchased the carpet
• The carpet releases a dust or smell when you vacuum
• The carpet looks matted or has sticky spots
• The carpet has darker patches in high traffic areas or discoloration around furniture

Next week be sure to check back for How to Deep Clean Your Carpets!

And, for tips on buying carpet, click here.

Flooring Options that Keep Allergies Away

The average person spends 12-15 hours in their home every day. Although you may not realize it, the flooring chosen for your home can help impact your allergy symptoms, especially during the fall and winter months. Dust mites, which can dwell in carpet or on cloth surfaces in your home, are known to cause allergies/asthma symptoms to almost 90% of people who suffer from allergies. Spending so much time at home with the potential of these dust mites living in your carpeting can worsen your allergy symptoms!

Carpeting might not be the best answer for your home flooring; here are some other types of flooring that can help air quality in your home:

Vinyl floors
The smooth surface of vinyl flooring minimizes the accumulation of dust or other allergens on your floor. If you suffer from allergies and want to install vinyl flooring, be sure to use low-VOC glue to prevent having an allergic reaction to the adhesive.

Cork flooring
Another innovative and environmentally-friendly source of flooring is cork flooring. Cork is not only warm and cushiony beneath your feet, but it also has a distinct surface that prevents dust from being absorbed into it.

Ceramic tile
As one of the most hypoallergenic flooring options, ceramic tile offers a hard, slick surface on your floor, reducing dust, mold, and other allergens. Although this flooring is the number one choice of people who suffer from allergies, ceramic tile is known for being very cold, limiting its installation to certain rooms.

Wood, bamboo, and laminate flooring
Wood, bamboo, and laminate flooring are other hard surface floors that help reduce dust and allergens and are much easier to clean; one dry mop is enough to eliminate any dust or allergens present on your flooring. In addition to wood flooring, try using wooden blinds in your home instead of curtains or drapes.

When making purchase decisions regarding the flooring in your home, it’s important to realize the benefits of using alternate forms of flooring rather than carpeting. These simple substitutions for carpet can help make all the difference in your indoor allergy symptoms!