Author Archives: Alistair

Wool Carpets Are Cleaning The Air

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Wool Carpets Are Actually Cleaning the Air!

Recent scientific research suggests that installing wool carpets, curtains and soft furnishings could actually improve air quality inside homes and offices.

In these days of green initiatives and eco-friendly solutions, it is always good to hear that a natural and sustainable product that we work with daily can actually help in our homes.

A wool carpet could help cut air pollution inside family homes, research suggests.
Wool absorbs harmful chemicals which come from cleaning fragrances, paint, glue and furniture, scientists have claimed.

Note the sheep are for illustration purposes only. We do not recommend keeping grazing animals in your lounge.

There are a surprisingly large number of nasty chemicals that we are exposed to in daily life. For example formaldehyde (from fibreboard furniture) has been reported as causing health concerns in both domestic and business environments, these concerns being generally known as ‘sick building syndrome’.

These volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as gaseous formaldehyde, toluene, limonene and dodecane are of increasing concern due to their role as accumulating indoor air contaminants. Fortunately wool has been shown to absorb them.
Apparently volatile organic compounds have been connected to cancer and breathing problems. Researchers said wool might also be useful in combating chemicals breathed in at workplaces.

Wool carpets can help cut air pollution by absorbing harmful chemicals from cleaning fragrances. It is thought these can be a cause of ‘sick building syndrome’, where workers complain of feeling ill.

Scientists exposed sheep wool to VOCs including formaldehyde – which is linked to cancer and emitted by furniture made from MDF and chipboard.
They also saw what effect wool had on limonene, which is the lemony smell in cleaning products, and toluene, found in paint thinners.
The team from Bangor University said wool absorbed all of the chemicals, which became bound to the structure of the fibres.

Wool from the Blackface sheep breed was found to be the most absorbent, followed by Swaledale sheep.

The researchers said: ‘It suggests that installing wool carpets, curtains and soft furnishings could actually improve air quality inside homes and offices.’ They added: ‘Wool – a natural and sustainable material – is able to absorb a range of potentially harmful chemicals from the indoor environment. This has important considerations for the prevention or the reduction of ‘sick building syndrome’ at a time when this issue is becoming more prevalent.

‘The use of wool in building design may therefore have an important role not only in imparting thermal efficiency but also in the improvement of indoor air quality.
Graham Ormondroyd, head of materials research at Bangor University, who co-authored the report published in the journal Green Materials, said: ‘The more wool you have the more it can absorb. When sick building syndrome accounts for £9billion worth of work days lost it is worth considering.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7202975/Woollen-carpets-help-cut-air-pollution-homes-absorbing-harmful-chemicals.html

The detailed research paper is available. This paper summarises the quantitative analysis of the absorption of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), namely gaseous formaldehyde, toluene, limonene and dodecane, by different wool types. The paper demonstrates the potential of wool as a sustainable and natural solution to this problem.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249410477_A_rapid_method_for_investigating_the_absorption_of_formaldehyde_from_air_by_wool

Laminate or Carpet – Which is Safer?

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Did you know that most accidents occur in the home?

One of those reasons is Laminate flooring.

Laminate versus Carpet

My partner Sian slipped on her laminate flooring because her shoes were wet.
So off we went to A&E.
This slip resulted in her breaking a bone in her ankle !!
It’s not too bad, she’s not in a plaster cast, just a light weight strap.
However if you are thinking of replacing your carpet for a laminate floor…. just be aware… carpets are safer for a number of reasons!

Scientifically slip injuries are caused by the interface between your shoe and the surface being walked on. The more friction there is between a shoe and the floor, the safer the step. You can imagine how little friction there is between a shoe and a wet laminate floor.
Accidents involving slips and subsequent falls are sometimes known as ‘slip fall accidents’ or ‘slip and fall accidents’. And these are not all elderly people slipping on winter ice.

Here are some facts from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents:
https://www.rospa.com/home-safety/advice/general/facts-and-figures/

– More accidents happen at home than anywhere else
– Every year there are approximately 6,000 deaths as the result of a home accident
– Falls are the most common accidents, which can cause serious injury at any time of life. The risk increases with age.
– More women than men over the age of 65 die as the result of an accident in the home
– More accidents happen in the lounge/living room than anywhere else in the home

That last statistic was most surprising to me, I would have expected most accidents to happen in the kitchen or on the stairs. But we can’t argue with the facts!

And speaking of facts – Each year in the UK there are some 3,163,000 home accidents involving males and 2,548,000 accidents involving females of all ages.

The 65 and over age group have a lower rate of accidents than younger people, but
their injuries sustained tend to be more serious. More older women are involved in
home accidents than older men, partly due to the larger proportion of women in the
older population.
– Men aged 65–74 are involved in 89,000 home accidents a year
– Women aged 65–74 are involved in 157,000 home accidents a year.
This trend increases among older age groups.
– Men aged 75 and over are involved in 102,000 home accidents a year.
– Women aged 75 and over are involved in 303,000 home accidents a year.
(Source Health Promotion England).

An Heirloom Rug Worth Cleaning

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It’s always an honour to be invited to clean a fine Persian or Oriental heirloom rug. These rugs are a piece of artwork in themselves, and a high quality hand-made rug may often be passed from generation to generation.

Every hand-made rug has a story, especially older ones. The finest imports are works of art from cultures that are fast disappearing, and the weaving of fine rugs is a dying art.

Take a look at this picture of the back of a Persian hand knotted rug we recently cleaned.

Persian rug being cleaned

Back of Persian Rug

Why look at the back of a rug?

The reason, from a specialist’s perspective, the back is more interesting than the front because the knots make the pattern more defined.

It also tells you that it’s a hand knotted rug.

If you look closely, you can see the number of small knots that tells you that it is a high quality rug.

As you know, we recommend carpets and rugs should be vacuumed regularly to prevent layers of dust penetrating into the base. There are exceptions however for very old fine quality rugs. Even vacuum upholstery attachments can damage antique and delicate rug fibres, causing them to become frizzy.

For antique rugs, it is best to brush the top surface with a soft horse-hair brush across the width of the rug. As these highest quality rugs are often hung on walls rather than floors, the action of a soft brush will dislodge surface dust before it penetrates into the deeper layers of the rug. Take the same care with the fringes of the rugs, although brush these with the direction of the fibres.

We believe fine rugs should be properly maintained with periodic professional rug cleaning to preserve their lasting value. If you have any questions about the best way to look after your specific rug, give us a call today for expert advice.

End of Tenancy Carpet Cleaning

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End of Tenancy Carpet Cleaning

What do both tenants and landlords want at the end of a tenancy?

Spotlessly clean and fresh-smelling carpets!

So when a rental property lease is up, it makes a lot of sense to have the carpets professionally cleaned. We have been doing many end of tenancy carpet cleaning jobs and know just what tenants, estate agents and landlords expect.

Tenants:
Get your deposit back –carpets are one of the most disputed issues at the end of a rental period. Reasonable wear and tear is of course allowed, but any unusual stains or marks are not.
Our end of tenancy carpet cleaning service uses a high temperature steam clean with a powerful van-mounted vacuum system. This type of deep professional cleaning is approved by landlords, estate agents and letting agents for the best cleaning available. It also includes a full deodoriser treatment to ensure rooms and walkways smell fresh and new.
Most families keep their rented property clean and tidy, but thorough deep-cleans are not a must-do item on most people’s schedule. Except when moving out!
If you have had pets in the home (whether declared or not), then no matter how hard you vacuum, the smell of your furry friend may still longer on. You are used to your pet odours, but somebody new coming into the home (like a new tenant or landlord) may not appreciate your pet in the same way. Our professional de-infestation treatment and deodorisation are available, as the high temperature steam kills moth and flea eggs during the cleaning process.

Our end of tenancy carpet cleaning service includes a full deodoriser treatment to ensure rooms and walkways smell fresh and new.

Having your carpets and furnishings professionally cleaned helps to demonstrate to any landlord how you have been careful tenants deserving of a full deposit refund.

Landlords:
If you are re-letting a property, then if you are not replacing the carpets throughout, then a professional clean is the next best thing.
Prospective tenants will appreciate a clean and fresh-smelling home, which will help keep voids to a minimum.
In addition, our high-temperature cleaning system also helps keep the carpets flea-free, just in case your previous tenants had some hidden pets! The high temperature reached by steam cleaning eradicates moth and flea eggs during the cleaning process, ensuring you don’t have these complaints from your new tenants.

End of Tenancy Carpet Cleaning

End of Tenancy Carpet Cleaning Before and After

So call us today to arrange your Wirral end of tenancy carpet cleaning.

End of Lease Cleaning
The Government Authorised Tenancy Deposit Scheme recommends the best evidence of condition at the start and end of a tenancy is a comprehensive Inventory and Schedule of Condition. It must mention cleanliness, preferably in a schedule, with separate references to carpets and hard floors, upholstery and curtains.

See https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com/deposit-disputes.html

The Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme states that more than half of deposit disputes (52%) are the result of insufficient cleaning. This makes it the most common cause for deposit disputes. TDS has been collecting data on the reason for disputes for the last 5 years. They show that damage, cleaning, redecoration are the most common reasons given for a tenancy deposit dispute. In the most recently reported cases submitted to TDS, cleaning appeared in 52% of cases and damage in 45%.

Carpet Problems Solved

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Even in the cleanest home, there are also living creatures such as dust mites, fleas and other bugs that can call your carpet home. For example, have you heard of “woolly bears”? This is a colloquialism for a beetle that rather likes wool carpets. If you have ever seen a small beetle approximately 3 or 4 mm (⅛th inch say) dead on your window sill, it’s probably the carpet beetle (also known as a museum beetle). It has a zigzag cream and brown pattern on it’s back (wing-cases).

 

It is very common in the UK and a few years ago we had numerous phone calls regarding this beetle. It’s lava stage is a small cream furry looking “woolly bear” which is most commonly found on the edges of wool carpets. It basically eats the wool, your clothes – whatever, until it changes into a beetle and flies towards the light of the window. Most of them dehydrate and die on your window sill!

Adult Common Carpet Beetle. Anthrenus sp.

Adult
Common Carpet Beetle.
Anthrenus sp.

 

Larva Carpet Beetle. Size 2 or 3 mm

Larva
Carpet Beetle.
Size 2 or 3 mm

They are called museum beetles because when the Victorians started their great museum collections of silk robes etc., they very soon found “woolly bears” eating them. They can remain in the lava (woolly bear) stage for up to 2 years. It is due to this they can do considerable damage to your carpets and in particular your clothes. You see they prefer quality items like silk or wool pullovers. They can come into your house on birds nesting in the roof or just fly in your window on a hot summers evening.

How do you get rid of them? Through vacuuming – especially around the edges of the carpet, move furniture regularly to do this. If you do have a serious infestation though you need an insecticide sprayed down after the carpets have been thoroughly cleaned. We have the products to do this.

Dust mites are the most obvious unwelcome creature though. Most people don’t have a problem with them but if you are one of the people who has an allergy to the dust mite protein i.e. asthma, we can clean and treat your carpets (and uphol- stery, bedding etc.) with our unique anti dust mite allergen product. It works by locking into the dust mite faeces and de- activating the Der p1 antigen. It is this antigen which causes the allergic response in sensitive people.

 

Service Areas: Wirral, Heswall

 

Drying Times After Carpet Cleaning

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There are many different companies that consumers and businesses have to choose from when looking for carpet cleaning services, however the quality of the clean and service vary widely. For example the type of equipment used has a direct impact on both how clean the carpets are afterwards, but also on the amount of time needed to completely dry the carpets after cleaning. This may be important for many homeowners who want to see as little disruption as possible, but also for businesses who don’t want to lose any customers due to being closed while carpets are drying.

Carpet Drying Time
Most professional carpet cleaning services use a hot water extraction method. So naturally one of the questions we get asked quite often is “how fast are my carpets going to dry”? The simple truth is that our equipment has a far superior vacuum to most other carpet cleaning companies in this area and therefore your carpets will dry much faster , in fact they usually dry between 1 to 2 hours.

Upholstery Drying Time
Sofas and other quicker upholstery usually dry between four and six hours, depending on the type of fabric used.
Fastest Drying Time
Without being too immodest this is one of the fastest drying times in the industry and it is an important factor for most of our customers.

So, how long will the carpets and upholstery take to dry?

Well, carpets usually take one to two hours and upholstery takes somewhere between four and eight hours, depending on the fabric. It’s another reason why I like to come around and see each job first because I like to test the fibres and can then tell you roughly how long it’s going to take to dry and how long it will take to clean the upholstery. Carpets are more standard, and they usually take, as I say, about an hour to dry.

Powerful Vacuum
Something that we are also sometimes asked about, is that since our equipment is four times more powerful than most other equipment being used on the Wirral, won’t it damage the carpet? The simple fact is it has been designed in America to deep clean carpets and upholstery without causing any negative effects whatsoever.  It will actually lift the pile up in most carpets, and often a home looks like it has brand new carpeting when we’re finished.

I’ve been in this business since 1988 and in my experience we’ve put together the best cleaning package you can get in this area at this present moment in time. And we have invested heavily in the very best equipment which is at least four times more powerful than other cleaners who are using this type of van mounted equipment.

carpet cleaning services

No Soap or Shampoo Residue
Because of the fact that we do not use soap or shampoo your carpets will stay cleaner infinitely longer than most of the cleaners. The reason for this is that there is no sticky residue left in your carpets and wool carpets feel and look and smell absolutely terrific. The feel of the texture will be really soft. This particularly applies to oriental rugs. If you have an oriental rope which is worth maybe 1000 pounds or maybe even up to 2000 pounds I can assure you that we can clean it safely and beautifully, and bring it back home and they will look in most cases like a brand new rug again.

And another question that gets asked is about any chemicals that we use. The products we use are very, very safe and are actually specially imported from USA and will be safe to use and will not leave any sticky residue because they do not use any detergents which can go into the carpets. In fact actually the equipment we use is so efficient that we hardly have to use any spotting treatment to clean out any spots or stains. Very occasionally we have to use a rust remover or specialist product like that. But most things come out straightaway without any chemicals used at all.