Why Clean Your Carpet?

Victor Reyes

If you’re reading this, I would assume here that you have a carpet, or at the very least want something to learn about carpets. Almost everyone would love to have a carpet. I mean, why not? They’re soft and warm on your feet, they look good, and there might be a possibility that the carpet you bought could fly. Carpets are great at covering the floor and making things look and feel better.

However, that’s only the case when the carpet is clean. If you notice, stains and dirt will make it look a lot worse and even reduce the comfortable feeling you have when stepping on a carpet. A dirty carpet is also a paradise for bacteria, allergen and other harmful stuff. Additionally, dirt and stains will damage the carpet itself. It will cause more harm than good if your carpet is dirty.

If you like your carpet and don’t want you or the people around you to deal with the negatives of having a dirty carpet, then it’s best to clean your carpet. You can do it yourself or you can ask professional cleaners to do the job for you. If you opt to ask for help, there are two kinds of carpet cleaning that they usually offer: Dry carpet cleaning and steam cleaning.

Dry Carpet Cleaning? Steam Carpet Cleaning?

Both start off with a pre-cleaning vacuum. Professionals use industrial-grade vacuums to remove dust and other stuff that are removable through vacuuming. The difference between dry cleaning and steam cleaning becomes clear when we look at what happens after the pre-cleaning vacuum. Whatever is not removed through vacuuming will most likely be removed after these two.

Dry Cleaning

There are many ways to do dry carpet cleaning, but the most common method is using dry powder. The idea here is using a chemical compound and sprinkling it over the carpet to encapsulate or absorb dirt and other kinds of soiling after a period of time. Yes, it’s sprinkling, not powdering, as although its name is dry powder, the compound still contains a very small amount of water. After being given some time to dry, it is then vacuumed once again to remove the encapsulated or absorbed dirt.

Since there is only very little water used, it only takes a very little time to dry, making it very practical and quick to perform. Dry cleaning is mostly done on office or hotel carpets where there are always people present, making it difficult for you if you want to clean the carpet for a longer time.

Steam Cleaning

On the other hand, steam carpet cleaning cleans more thoroughly than dry cleaning. With this method, a cleaning compound is sprayed onto the carpet which is then followed with hot water spraying. After a while, a machine sucks up the hot water, the compound and the dirt back up.

While this method gives a deeper clean than dry carpet cleaning, it will definitely keep the carpet wet for a much longer time. You have to stay off the carpet during that time, making it less ideal for places that constantly have people around. There are also times when the carpet becomes damaged due to it being way too wet.

What’s Important

These two methods are the most common methods used by professional carpet cleaners. Picking one of the two will depend on you and your circumstances, but whichever one you choose, the important thing is that your carpet will be cleaned and you, your loved ones and your carpet will be protected.

Tree Removal – Things To Consider

Victor Reyes

Not all kinds of “removal” are created equal. There are good kinds of removal, and there are bad ones. Removing your vices, though hard, will benefit you, and is a good kind of removal. Removing a loyal friend from your “friends list” just because he/she made a tasteless but harmless joke is an example of the bad kind of removal.

Removal of trees can also be classified into good or bad. Trees are very beneficial to us and our environment, but there are times where the tree is simply in the way of something else that’s more beneficial. There are even times when the tree is straight up harmful, like if a tall tree has some big, heavy fruits and can cause accidents if the fruits fall.

Tree removal is usually done by professional arborists. This is because tree removal is very difficult without the right tools and knowledge, and can even bring harm to you, to people around or your property. There are even people who wound up doing more damage to the area than when the tree is still there while performing Do-It-Yourself (DIY) tree removal.

DIY Tree Removal

If you think that you have to do it yourself if you want the task done right, then here are some things you should first consider.

Safety

Is it safe to do the DIY tree removal? Is the tree that you’re about to remove too tall? You know that a tree is too tall for you to safely remove by yourself if you have to use a ladder to reach its big branches (also known as limbs). So many things could go south if you cut a tree that’s too tall. Additionally, if a tree is that tall, it’s also probably quite thick. If the tree is not safe enough to remove by yourself, then by all means abandon the idea of DIY tree removal.

Legality

You should also make sure that it’s legal to remove the tree before you do it. Don’t just go removing trees from your neighbors without their permission, or those that might be protected by the government.

Equipment Preparedness

Do you have the necessary stuff to do the removal?

You need the proper saws in order to cut down trees. Examples of these are crosscut saws, chainsaws or rope chain saws (yes, they’re different). They have to be well-maintained and functional, otherwise they might cause damage to you or those helping you out first before even being able to finish cutting the tree.

You also need to have something to remove the stump that was left behind after cutting the tree. Sure, you can leave it as is, but it might become another source of problems as there may be pests that would call it home later. You’d need heavy equipment to remove the stump or something else to grind it. If you don’t have either one of those, then you should consider the possibility of pests living in the left-out stump.

Think It Over

If you find that you’re alright with all these things, then you can go ahead and do the tree removal yourself. If some of the things to be prepared has caused you to pause and have second thoughts, then it might be better to hand it to the expert tree removers Hobart. Professional arborists will be more than happy to remove problematic trees for you.

Why Clean Your Gutters?

Victor Reyes

There are only a few times that one is told to clean his gutters. And most of those times, it’s already too late and the clogged gutter has already done its damage. Most probably, the roof is already leaking due to damage, or rainwater comes flooding in after it has accumulated on the roof. Maybe there were already pests living inside the gutters or on small puddles created by the overflowing water. A small crack in the fortress that we call “home” has made a really big problem. If you want to avoid bigger problems caused by clogged gutters, then you have to clean them.

Sun Tzu’s Art of (War) Cleaning The Gutters

For best results, you can ask a professional gutter cleaner to do the job. However, if you prefer to get down and get dirty to clean the gutter, then here are some tips (courtesy of Sun Tzu) that you can follow:

Know Yourself, Know Your (Enemy) Gutter

According to Sun Tzu, if you know yourself and your enemy, you will win all your battles. In the same way, if you know what you have and what you are facing, then you will be able to clean all your gutters. Is there anything that can help you reach the highest point of the gutter? Do you know where the clog is? Additionally, what is clogging the gutter? How clogged up is it? Do you have the necessary tools to clean the gutter?

Victorious People Win First And Then Go To (War) Cleaning

Be prepared for anything and everything that will happen when cleaning time comes.

You should get a good, sturdy ladder if you can’t get to the top of the gutter through other means. Also, be careful when setting up a ladder. The usefulness of the ladder is also dependent on where it is set up on, so be careful of soft soil and random pebbles that can make your ladder slip.

You should prepare your cleaning equipment as well as your attire. Be ready with gloves and strong work pants. If needed, use upper attire that can cover your arms. Sometimes, it is necessary to wear something to shield your face, or at least your eyes. Get your power washer or leaf blower ready, depending on what is clogging the gutter up.

If The (Enemy) Gutter Is Superior, Evade

Later on, if you realize that you just don’t have the things that can help you clean the gutter, or perhaps, you actually can’t stand to do the work yourself due to whatever reason (like if your phobia of rats kicked in when you found them while looking where the clogged area is), then you can hire someone else to do the job. Professional gutter cleaners can do the job really well. Another interesting alternative are gutter cleaning robots. You can let them do the cleaning for you, so there’s no reason to not have clean gutters.

Concluding Thoughts

A clean gutter is a safe gutter, and a safe gutter will lessen your worries. You can forget about all the additional expenses if they don’t happen in the first place. You, your family and your home are safer when the gutters are clean. You can do it yourself, or you can make someone (or something) else to do the cleaning for you. Gutter cleaning is necessary and beneficial, and should be done every once in a while or when needed.

Should we power wash when it’s raining?

Victor Reyes

There are contradictory answers to this question: Yes you can, and no you shouldn’t.

You can, if you obey a few basic rules. Firstly, your equipment must be certified as being safe to use in wet weather. If it is, you are able to safely proceed with your planned house washing project. However it is recommended that you store your equipment under cover, don’t leave it outside where it is likely to be exposed to the weather for a long time.

Cleaning on days when there is cloud or light rain might really be easier. If the surfaces are already wet, your pressured water jet has less trouble dislodging the dirt and grime. If you are using detergents, they will have more time to do what they are supposed to do. Rainy weather will aid in rinsing the detergent away, and will also benefit your plants or grass by washing off any detergent drips.  

Another advantage for power washing when it’s cloudy or raining, is that the sun has basically been “dumbed down”.  You won’t have the problem of looking up into a bright sunny sky, and the glare of sun on water makes it hard to see what you are doing.

So, if your equipment is certified safe, and the rain is light, there is no reason to prevent you from getting on with the job. Just make sure you are safe, and reconsider whether you must use a ladder or other platform to reach up high. These can become dangerous in the rain, as their surfaces will become slippery.

This is the “yes” argument for basic, standard, light rain. But rain doesn’t always behave in a sedate manner. If there is very heavy rain, strong wind or storms, by no means should you consider going out there with your pressure washer, even if it is safety certified.

If you don’t have experience with pressure washing, you run the risk of accident through slipping on wet surfaces, so don’t take chances in heavy weather. Gain the necessary experience by starting out in fine weather, perhaps early morning or late afternoon, until you are confident in being able to handle the equipment in wet weather. But even when sufficiently experienced, do not go out in a storm. It should not be necessary for me to say that, but I want to make sure that particular piece of information is emphasised.

There may be a reason why your power washing project must proceed regardless of the weather. Maybe you are planning to sell your home or commercial property, and want it to look its best. My recommendation is that you get in touch with a company which is well experienced in pressure cleaning in Townsville, and then you can be confident in the knowledge that the job will be done well, and more importantly safely, by someone who is familiar with this work.

How Important Is Gutter Cleaning?

Victor Reyes

A lot of people overlook gutters when thinking about house maintenance because they think that they won’t cause serious problems at all. They are just there to control the flow of water, right? Basically to avoid any structural damage when heavy rainfall occurs. It’s just rain, so it’s not a big deal. That said, why bother cleaning them?

Well … if that’s what you believe in, we’re wondering if you’ll still be able to continue believing in that once your house unexpectedly becomes a house of lakes. We just hope that you don’t eat your own words.

We will go straight to the point: Gutter cleaning is important because, if you don’t know, gutters get clogged. Once gutters get clogged, there won’t be a smooth flow of water—or the water won’t flow at all—and your gutters will become useless as a result. Other problems that root from clogged gutters include:

  • Flooding
  • Leaks
  • Damaged roof and ceiling
  • Structural issues
  • Foundation issues
  • Molds

Problems caused by gutters are actually preventable, but only if you are willing to give enough attention to them. There are a lot of mistakes people make when cleaning their gutters. Most of those mistakes are actually small mistakes, but they could lead to huge and more serious problems if ignored.

4 Gutter Cleaning Mistakes Homeowners Make

One of the best ways to avoid dealing with big issues is by solving the small ones the moment they come up. Most gutter problems are due to the inability of the homeowners to take care of their gutters; sometimes, it’s not all about the gutter itself. Here are 4 gutter cleaning mistakes homeowners make:

1. Not Taking Action Until the Gutter Starts to Cause Problems

It’s one thing that humans are guilty of: ignoring the problem until it starts to affect their daily lives. Gutter problems, just like most problems, start off small and even unnoticeable, so people often don’t do something about it. But the thing is, if you don’t take action until the gutter starts to cause problems, you’ll have to use more time, more money, and more energy to solve them.

That’s a stressful situation to be in.

2. Not Checking the Gutter After a Heavy Rainfall

If it’s very light rainfall, it’s okay not to check the gutter afterward. But if the rainfall was heavy rainfall, hesitate no more and just go up there and check if some serious damages were made. This is important because, as mentioned earlier, you have to check the gutter before it starts to cause more serious problems. Don’t wait for the next thunderstorm before you make a move!

3. Depending on the Gutter Guards

Using gutter guards is helpful because they indeed guard the gutters from leaves and other debris that may clog the pipe, so you don’t have to clean frequently. But you shouldn’t depend on them. You see, gutter guards also get damaged, and easily if they aren’t UV protected, so they also need to be checked for issues from time to time.

4. Choosing the Cheapest Over the Best

We understand that cleaning isn’t a fun thing to do, so there’s a huge possibility that you will hire someone to do the job for you. But here’s one thing to note: When hiring people, make sure that you hire those who know gutter cleaning inside and out. They may not be the cheapest option, but the problems might get worse if you choose the cheap over the best.

Sometimes the best course of action is bring in the experts, like these gutter cleaners in Perth.

Why Should Cloth and Leather Upholstery Be Cleaned Differently?

Victor Reyes

This is an important topic to talk about because even though there are a lot of professional cleaners out there who can help you clean your upholstered furniture in exchange for a few dollars, we know that you will still choose to do the task yourself because, well, dollars are dollars, right?

There’s nothing wrong about that. In fact, it’s actually a good thing to be smart about your money as we don’t know when we’re going to need it the most. However, it’s important that before you begin, you already know what to do. You see, not all materials are created equal, so they aren’t supposed to be cleaned in the same way, using the same products.

If you have furniture made with both cloth and leather upholstery, for instance, you shouldn’t use the products for cloth to clean the leather, and vice versa. You’ll ruin it rather than clean it. In most cases, you’ll get a manual or booklet on how to clean the furniture, but here’s a simple guide that might help.

How to Clean Cloth Upholstery

The good thing about cloth upholstery is that it is low maintenance. You can be able to clean cloth with white vinegar, dishwashing liquid, and water, which are all available in your kitchen. Just add in ¾ water, ¼ white vinegar, and a little bit of dish soap (one to two teaspoons) to a spray bottle and that’s it.

You can use baking soda, but it’s harsh, so only use it when the stain is hard to remove.

How to Clean Leather Upholstery

Even though it’s much easier to spot treat leather (due to being nonporous), it is more sensitive than cloth, so you have to make sure that you don’t use products that aren’t specifically made for it. Some products that are safe for leather include olive oil and white vinegar. The process is simple: Just mix ½ cup of olive oil and ¼ cup of white vinegar in a spray bottle.

How to Keep Your Upholstery Looking Fresh According to the Experts

If you don’t want to have to clean your upholstery many, many times in a year (or even a month), the best solution is to protect it from dirt and any other substance that may leave stains using covers. If you don’t want to add covers (maybe because it looks better without them), leave your food and drinks in the kitchen or dining room then!

If it’s now too late because you’ve already spilled over your coffee onto your couch a few minutes ago, just before coming across this post, you could follow the simple (too simple, in fact) cleaning guide above. But here’s what the experts want to add: When rubbing the affected area with cloth to remove the stains, don’t wipe like it’s the end of the world! Dab, dab, and dab!

And keep in mind that stains should be dealt with immediately! Don’t wait until tomorrow before you remove it!

Here are some other tips on how to keep your upholstery looking fresh according to the experts:

  • Keep the furniture away from direct sunlight.
  • Avoid sitting on the armrest and backrest.
  • As much as possible, don’t sit on leather upholstery when you’re sweating.

Also, remember that there are limitations to what non-experts can do. If the upholstery needs thorough cleaning, think twice no more and call in expert upholstery cleaners in Launceston!

How to avoid common carpet problems.

Victor Reyes

One of the best ways of renewing a room is new carpet. New colours, new styles … new carpet just gives a fresh, new feeling to a room that might have previous felt dull and lifeless.

However, putting down new carpet every time we feel a little bored with the current look of our room is neither practical nor financial feasible. So, eventually, the carpet is going to age and grow old.

Over the years, carpet gets battle scars, the effects of being used, being walked on, having furniture on it, becoming dirty. But there are ways of mitigating those signs of aging, not only during the life of the carpet, but even before you have bought that carpet.

How to combat loss of carpet pile thickness?

Carpets are made to be used. People walk over them to get from one place to the next, and over time this causes wear and tear on the carpets. The more foot traffic a carpet receives the worse the wear and tear becomes.

Carpet pile refers to how long and thick the fibres in your carpets are. Some carpets have long fibres, others, naturally, have shorter fibres.  Over time, due to heavy foot traffic, the carpet fibres begin to loose their thickness. Vacuuming it often, at least twice a week, helps combat this if you are already beginning to experience this problem, as does having a regularly scheduled appointment with a professional carpet cleaner in Townsville.

But you can also be pre-emptive with combatting this problem. Before buying a carpet, talk to the carpet salesman about where the carpet will go, and the levels of traffic the carpet will experience. If you have pets and lots of kids, this needs to also come under the consideration of which type of carpet you should place in any particular room.

How to combat indications of carpet wear?

When a carpet wears thin, usually this means a loss of the carpet’s pile fibre and weight. This is often caused by the underlay beneath the carpet. Without the underlay, walking on your carpet would feel like you are simply walking on fluffy concrete. It’s the underlay that gives your carpet it’s bounce, it’s the underlay that cushions your feet and makes it feel nice to walk on. If the underlay is incorrect and not providing these benefits, your carpets will begin wear out quicker.

Unfortunately, this problem mostly needs to be pre-empted. Before buying the carpet, ensure you are buying the right underlay. Consider a noise dampening underlay for second or above story carpets, as this will dampen the footfalls of those areas.

However, if this is a problem you are currently experiencing with your carpets, you just might have to disguise the problem with some large colourful rugs. Or, rip up the carpet and start again, only this time with a better underlay choice.

How to combat furniture indentations?

The wight of furniture causes indentations in the carpet. We all know that. Anyone who has ever moved house and looked back on their rooms with the furniture gone can almost imagine a map of their room based on the furniture indentations left behind. To combat this problem, you might have to foresee it first, and talk with your carpet salesman about using the best type of carpets to combat furniture indentations.

Once you have carpet though, moving the furniture around helps spread out the indentations, making them less obvious. Or, not moving them at all will at least lessen the number of indentations, even if it increases the severity of each individual indentation. Or once again, use can use the trusty rug to help disguise the indentations.