Cleaning the hard floors in your home is an important part of maintaining a healthy household. Hard floors are often found in rooms where hygiene is key, like the bathroom or kitchen, making proper cleaning vital. Here are our top tips for hard floor cleaning and maintenance.
Most homes have at least one hard floor. Examples of hard floor materials include laminate, tiles, hardwood and stone - most floor coverings that are not carpet. Where carpets can hide dirt and dust amongst their fibres, many hard floors leave dirt exposed for all to see. Hard flooring is also vulnerable to scratches, which are unsightly and lead to wider damage underneath your floors. Follow these rules to ensure that your hard floors are taken care of.
To prevent scratches on your floor, do not wear shoes in the house. You can also use rugs to protect the floor’s surface from wear and tear. However, make sure that you lift these rugs when cleaning, and follow advice to take care of your rugs, too.
In day-to-day life, it's easy to neglect hard floor cleaning when it's not part of our routine. Most households don't need to deep clean their hard floors every day, so long as they carry out small maintenance tasks regularly. For the best way to take care of your floor, sweep daily, vacuum every few days, and wet mop at least fortnightly. When you wet mop, it's crucial to use the appropriate floor cleaner for your specific floor type and you should always minimise water use on wooden and laminate floors.
While hard floors seem solid, many of them are actually porous. Spills can soak deep inside them, causing swelling and other damage. Drinks like coffee can also leave long-lasting stains if not handled immediately. You should always soak up spillages as soon as you can.
By dealing with damaged floor as soon as possible, you prevent damage from spreading. Restoration is different depending on what kind of hard floor you have, so research this process fully before attempting anything. Consult a professional hard floor cleaner if you are unsure what flooring you have or how best to reseal, repair or rejuvenate your flooring.
Hard floor cleaners are essentially vacuum cleaners that also scrub stains. They help you to tackle both dust and stains in a singular circuit around the room. However, beware that they are not always as effective at tackling dust as vacuum cleaners - you may be better off hiring a professional cleaner with access to industry standard machinery.
Hiring an expert to take care of your hard floor cleaning is a sure way to keep your home looking its best. Every National Carpet Cleaners Association member meets our high standards of training and insurance. They can be found in our directory of cleaners all over the UK.
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Slime is a popular trend for adults and children alike. This sensory toy comes in all sorts of colours and textures to collect, but its stickiness makes it an enemy of carpets.
In truth, slime is one of the most difficult things to get out of the carpets. Attempting to remove it with quick, DIY fixes could damage your carpet. Below, we’ll look at some of the steps that are often recommended, but we’d highly recommend getting straight in touch with a professional.
The first step is to remove as much slime as you can by hand. This will prevent it from soaking deeper into your carpet and also minimise the amount of slime that you need to dissolve.
Then, begin to scrape the rest with a spoon or a butter knife. Make sure that you work gently, so that you don't damage your carpet or drive the slime in further.
Next, mix one part water with two parts white vinegar. If you have a spray bottle, this is the best way to apply this mixture to your carpet. If not, you can use a paper towel to gently apply the solution to the slime. Do not apply too much – your carpet should only be slightly damp, not wet.
Leave this to work its magic for five to ten minutes. The secret of how to get slime out of carpet is acidity, which dissolves the slime. Unfortunately, the dilution of acetic acid in white vinegar is rarely strong enough to remove slime.
Professional carpet cleaners will attempt to remove slime with a solvent alkaline prespray and lots of heat – but even they can’t guarantee to get it out.
If the slime has been dissolved, blot it away with a paper towel. Work carefully, ensuring that you do not rub the area at any point. You may need to repeat steps 2 and 3 several times in an attempt to eradicate slime from carpet.
Any vinegar smell should dissipate within a few hours, but you can speed this up by using a clean towel to blot the area with water. Be careful not to saturate your carpet, as this will take a long time to dry and could potentially lead to mould.
If your attempts have been successful, the final step of how to get slime out of carpet is to remove any sticky residue. The white vinegar may have dissolved the slime, but this can re-thicken deep down in your carpet. To make sure that this doesn't happen, sprinkle over a generous amount of baking soda and leave it there for a few hours. This method should also help to remove excess water left over from the white vinegar solution.
Once the area has dried, you can vacuum up the baking soda. If your vacuum is struggling to pick up the powder, this is often a sign that the carpet is still wet and should be left a little longer.
Slime is one of the stains that DIY measures rarely fix. Your best bet is to hire a professional carpet cleaner to avoid damaging your carpet even more. An expert cleaner will have the best chance of getting slime out of carpet with access to the best equipment and up-to-date industry standards.
The National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCCA) directory makes it easy to find qualified cleaners in your area. With accredited, insured service, all of our cleaners meet a high standard of expertise.
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With the end of the tax year fast approaching, business owners should be getting their records in order. This will be significantly more difficult for businesses that struggle to keep their books up to date - you might find yourself with months of paperwork to work through! Here are our tips for effective bookkeeping as a cleaning business.
Keeping track of your income from cleaning jobs is the most important figure from a tax standpoint. It also allows you to see how well your business is doing, and understand how much money you have available for expenses.
While expenses are important to know for tax purposes, they're also important for business health. By understanding your expenses, you can adjust your prices, calculate your profit and keep your business out of the red.
Your expenses are likely to include equipment, payroll, insurance, taxes, marketing, utilities and administrative costs. You should save every receipt, no matter how small the cost.
Invoices are useful to both you and your clients. At the very least, they should contain the service offered, the cost, your contact details and the date, along with a way to pay you. This allows you to maintain a record of every job that you have completed.
Keep track of whether invoices have been paid or not. You should also decide whether to track income when an invoice is issued (known as accrual accounting) or when it is actually paid (known as the cash method) and make sure to do this consistently.
With so many transactions in and out of your account, it's possible for something to go unnoticed. By regularly checking your paperwork against your bank statements, you can ensure that your records are accurate.
It's important to pay employees accurately. Whether they are paid hourly or per job, you should know exactly how much time every employee has worked for. This will also allow you to process your payroll quickly each month. You can automate this process to make it even quicker.
Whether your records are digital, paper or a bit of both, you never know when you might need to find a specific document. Ensure that you store paperwork in order, so that you can find things easily at short notice. Digital files are easier to search through, but should still be organised into logical folders.
If you struggle to maintain or organise records on top of all the pressures of running a cleaning business, a professional bookkeeper can help you to get things in order. There is also a wide variety of software available to help you track everything.
The National Carpet Cleaning Association (NCCA) offers a number of courses and forums to its members. By joining, you can gain access to expert advice to keep your books in shape. Every member also receives our stamp of accreditation and appears in our directory, letting customers know that you are a trusted business.
VOCs can be found all over the household, especially if you are moving home, decorating or cleaning. They are commonly associated with carpets, but there is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding these invisible particles. Here is our guide to carpet VOCs and how to handle them.
Carpet Volatile Organic Compounds (Carpet VOCs) are gases released by chemicals used in the carpet-making process. Generally, the carpet backing releases the most VOCs, as it can contain latex and/or styrene. If your carpet was installed using an adhesive, this will also likely release VOCs.
When a new carpet is installed, the new-carpet smell comes from these gases escaping into the air – a process called ‘off-gassing’ which can last for months or even years.
Some VOCs can be harmful if inhaled at a high volume. Common symptoms of VOC exposure include headaches, dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing. Children, pets and people with respiratory issues are particularly vulnerable to VOC-related illness. Some of the chemicals are also linked to long-term health conditions such as cancer and kidney disease.
Many VOCs are considered pollutants that are bad for the environment, as well as individuals. However, it’s worth noting that carpets do not release VOCs in such high volumes and there are measures you can take to minimise exposure in your house…
VOCs will eventually dissipate on their own. There are a few things that you can do to reduce the impact of VOCs.
Some manufacturers sell carpets designed to be low in VOCs. You can also ask the people installing your carpet to avoid using adhesives, or stick to solvent-free adhesive.
If possible, airing your carpet outdoors before installing it is a great way to reduce the amount of VOCs inhaled by you and your family. Otherwise, ensure that any rooms with new carpet are ventilated by opening windows and doors. You can also use air conditioning or air purifiers to help increase the quality of the air in your home.
You should avoid sleeping in a room with brand-new carpet for a few days. This is especially the case with children's rooms.
Ideally, carpet should not be installed in moist areas. Not only does high humidity increase the rate of off-gassing, but it can encourage mould to grow on your carpet.
While cleaning a brand new carpet may feel pointless, it can help speed up the off-gassing process.
Professional cleaning is the best way to safely tackle carpet VOCs. Many cleaning products can increase the amount of VOCs in your home, so hiring a professional cleaner who can use extraction equipment is the most efficient way to keep your household breathing clean air.
The National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCCA) has a directory of expert cleaners. Located all over the UK, our accredited carpet cleaners are specially trained and insured. Make an appointment with a local carpet cleaner to decrease the carpet VOCs in your home.
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Carpets have been around for millennia, with evidence of early carpets as far back as ancient civilisations. While many people take carpets for granted nowadays, they weren’t always available to the general public. Read on to find out about the history of carpet.
The first recorded use of rugs as floor coverings was in Egypt in 3000 B.C. Archeologists found the oldest surviving pile carpet in ancient burial mounds from 400 B.C. in Siberia, made from hand-knotted wool. Persia, Egypt, China and Eurasia all have long histories of carpet craftsmanship, with early materials including wool, silk, plant fibers and natural dyes. The process could take months, as each knot had to be individually tied and designs were often intricate.
Carpets had great cultural significance for early civilisations. In Persia, carpets were valued for their beauty and intricacy, mainly used as gifts for royalty. Medieval Europe also associated carpets with wealth, using large luxury carpets as table-coverings or wall hangings.
In the Islamic world, the history of carpets also has religious significance. Prayer rugs have long been used to provide a clean and comfortable place to pray. These rugs often carry spiritual symbols.
Many different kinds of looms have been used to produce carpets, with early carpets being made on a horizontal loom. This loom was invented in the Middle East and made its way to the UK through Flemish weavers in the 16th century. This sped up the carpet-making process, allowing the first carpet factory to be opened in Wilton in 1655. Most carpets were expensive, as they were made of wool and still took a long time to weave.
The 18th century invention of the power loom was a turning point in the history of carpets, as it allowed for mass-production of carpets with significantly less human input. This allowed for carpets to be produced in sizes large enough to fill rooms.
In the 20th century, synthetic materials such as nylon, acrylic and polyester began to be used for carpets. Carpets became more affordable, meaning that more households had carpet than ever before. The UK carpet industry grew considerably, with factories opening up all over the country. Kidderminster, in particular, became renowned for carpet-making. Today, it’s home to the Museum of Carpet – which is also where you’ll find the National Carpet Cleaners Association head office!
This growth continued until the late 20th century, when overseas competition created challenges for the UK carpet industry. Cheaper prices from international sellers undercut many UK manufacturers, resulting in factory closures.
Despite this, the UK carpet industry lives on. Many modern homes have carpets, and it is common to have wall-to-wall carpet in most rooms of the house. While many affordable carpets have simple designs, it is still possible to buy intricately designed carpets from all over the world.
Help your carpets stand the test of time by getting them cleaned professionally. Choose a cleaner from the National Carpet Cleaners Association (NCCA) directory to ensure a smooth experience. All of our cleaners are accredited and insured.
Spilling bleach on carpet is one of the most damaging stains. Whether you've knocked over a bottle or tried to use bleach for carpet cleaning, every second counts in preventing lasting damage. Follow these steps to rescue your carpet from bleach.
Getting bleach on carpet causes a chemical reaction that permanently lightens the carpet – just like your hair – so it's important to work as quickly as possible. Even if you manage to get away with minimal colour stripping, bleach can damage the backing and underlay of your carpet.
Keep in mind the corrosive nature of bleach and wear gloves to protect yourself. You should also ventilate the room where the bleach spillage is, to prevent inhaling chemicals, and make sure that pets and children are kept as far away as possible.
Start by blotting the area with water and a paper towel. Make sure that you work towards the centre of the stain to avoid spreading any bleach further.
Then, mix one part dish soap with three parts water. Lightly apply this solution to a fresh paper towel or cloth, making sure to squeeze out excess liquid. Use this towel to continue to blot the area, using the same motions towards the centre.
Bleach’s corrosiveness is caused by the fact that it is highly alkaline, so using an acidic product like white vinegar helps to neutralise it.
Use a paper towel to blot away as much bleach as you can, then mix two cups of water with one tablespoon of white vinegar. Using a sponge or cloth, apply this mixture to the area of bleach on carpet. Be careful not to soak your carpet, as this can take a long time to dry and cause other issues like mould.
Leave the solution to work for five minutes, then use a damp cloth to blot the area until the stain disappears.
If there is any residual vinegar smell, you can leave baking soda on your carpet overnight to soak up any remaining mixture. This can then be vacuumed away.
A quick search online will give you all sorts of wacky methods to colour in your carpet after bleach, including permanent marker, crayons and hair dye. However, it is not recommended to try and fix bleach-lightened carpet yourself, as you are likely to just end up with a new stain! If your carpet looks different after removing the bleach, the best option is to consult a professional.
It’s worth noting that bleach is a serious stain. If you’ve tried to remove bleach to no avail, carpet repair may be the best course of action. This will make that damaged area disappear with near invisible repairs. It eliminates the need to replace the entire carpet, while getting rid of the problem area with a bleach stain. It's a highly specialised skill and only offered by a select number of our members who are full trained to offer this service.
Even if you have tried to tackle bleach on your carpet, it's worth bringing in an expert. A professional carpet cleaner can help prevent the long term damage that bleach causes. Use the National Carpet Cleaning Association (NCCA) directory to find an experienced cleaner near you. Simply enter your postcode, and we will show you accredited carpet cleaners in your area.
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