Sunday, 28 April 2013

Best Top Carpet Cleaning Tips



With spring around the corner now is the time to spruce up your home and get it ready for the new season. Spring cleaning is an age-old tradition that has origins in many countries and cultures and it is now common for households to undergo a transformation around March/April, just as spring bursts into life.
At this time of year homeowners go all-out to revive and restore their rooms. From throwing out tins that have lingered at the back of a cupboard for months to finally getting round to taking down and washing the curtains, spring cleaning can be a mammoth task.
One of the most common things to clean at this time of year is the carpets. Over the months carpets and rugs can become grubby, especially in homes with kids or pets, or accident-prone people who knock over glasses of wine and cups of coffee!
So if you're planning to tackle your soft furnishings this spring, read on for our top five tips.
1. Vacuuming should be done first
Always vacuum rugs, carpets and furniture before washing. This will ensure that any loose debris or dirt is picked up and not simply moved around or rubbed in.
2. Use the right cleaning solution
The cleaning products you use must be suitable for the fibres your carpet or rug is made of. Different solutions will be needed for a luxurious pure wool bedroom rug than for a hardwearing acrylic stair carpet. The wrong detergents could cause damage and leave the carpet looking worse than before. Check the label or manufacturer's recommendations and always read the labels on bottles thoroughly and follow instructions carefully. Test out the product on a small area first.
3. Work your way out
Start to clean in the corner furthest away from the door and, working in straight lines, make your way backwards towards the door. This ensures you don't miss any spots and allows you to avoid walking on damp carpet.
4. Don't oversoak
Get the carpet or rug too wet when you clean and it will take longer to dry. The moisture can also damage the fibres. Don't go over the same area more than four times with wet strokes and finish with lots of dry strokes. Use the rinse function on the cleaner if there is one.
5. Stay on top of it
A thorough clean every few months or once a year should be topped-up with regular efforts as and when needed. Deal with any spills immediately so that they cause as little damage or stains as possible. Sprinkle baking soda on the carpet, let it settle for 30 minutes, then vacuum, to control odours.
Follow these tips every time you tackle carpet cleaning and your home will quickly be given a new lease of life. If you're not sure about hiring and using a carpet cleaner then save yourself the hassle and bring in a professional to do the work.
One final tip - do the carpets last in each room. Get all your other cleaning, tidying and re-arranging out of the way so you don't drag up dust and dirt and undo the hard work you put in cleaning the carpets.

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Saturday, 27 April 2013

Soap Free Carpet Cleaning


Soap free carpet cleaning is the latest hype in the industry. Many householders will ask for this service, and most carpet cleaning companies offer either soap free or "no residue" cleaning. But what is this all about, and how important is it? This article will examine the relevant issues and attempt to shed some light on the subject, for interested householders.

 Most people are wary about the effects of "soaps" used in the carpet cleaning process, especially when the hot water extraction or steam cleaning method is employed. This is a carry over from the old days when the principal cleaning agent used in this process was highly alkaline soaps derived from natural plant or animal fats and oils. This soap was usually made from the reaction of sodium hydroxide or lye, with the fatty stearic acids in a process known as saponification.

The resultant detergent was very effective in the removal of all kinds of soils, but was very caustic and had a very high pH value. To ensure proper cleaning, the residues from the cleaning process would have to be thoroughly neutralized and extracted, or they would become a virtual soil magnet, that would only attract more dirt when dried.

 Thus, the old myth that it is better to wait as long as possible before cleaning your carpet, and that carpets will get dirtier much more rapidly after cleaning, has been perpetuated. But lets look at the chemistry of cleaning, and particularly, at developments in the production of detergents in recent times. Carpet cleaning is the process by which soil is removed from the fabric, either mechanically or by the use of solvents or emulsifiers.

Some soils are soluble in aqueous or organic solvents and are relatively easy to remove, while other types become trapped in tars and oils and get fixed or permanently embedded unto the carpet fibers. You might hear that all you need is specially treated water or steam to get your carpet clean. This will work if the carpet is not heavily soiled or stained, but for situations where the fabric is heavily contaminated, that definitely will not suffice.

 Cleaning is accomplished when the soil is sequestered from the carpet fibers by the action of a wetting agent, and transformed into a solution, emulsion or suspension which can then be flushed out. This is a complex process, but for simplicity, consider water-soluble soiling. Water is a good wetting agent, but its action is limited by surface tension which has to be reduced in order to get it close enough to the soil particles. That is what the soap does. Now, fast forward to today. Most soaps or detergents, are now made from synthetic materials.

There is wide variety of chemical formulations available. These not only have cleaning properties, but may have accelerants, builders, deodorizers and fluorescent dyes included. As a result, their effects vary widely, and they are no longer called soaps. In reality, they are surfactants, or surface acting reagents, and vary widely in properties. Carpet Cleaning Brisbane Southside | Carpet Cleaning Brisbane northside