Do you hate to clean? Would you rather be enjoying the outdoors with your family instead of on your hands and knees scrubbing the tub?

I would rather be almost anywhere than cleaning my house, even at the dentist. (Well, that might be pushing it. I hate visiting the dentist!)

If I could just afford to pay a full-time cleaning service to come and take care of it all, I would be in 7th heaven. Instead, I will settle for learning how to clean more efficiently; like a professional.

Professionals follow a formula: 25% Chemical, 25% Heat, 25% Agitation and 25% Time. This simple process spells C.H.A.T.

As home-owners, we usually don’t have the heat needed to compare with the professionals. Instead, our cleaning solutions tend to be room temperature, and so is the water (no matter how hard we try to keep the cloth warm). We also don’t give cleaning solutions the time needed to work properly. Lacking adequate heat and an appropriate amount of solution dwell time, we need to be cleaning with the right product.

When we clean at home our CHAT chart looks more like this: Chemical 40%, Heat 10%, Agitation 25% and Time 25%. We must use the right product and let it dwell on the surface as recommended. Only then we can use agitation and time to our advantage.

So, use the right products and follow the recommendations and we can all be cleaning like a professional!

Would a red wine spill stain your grout?

Sealing your grout is essential to protecting your investment.

Grout is made of porous cement and takes on the colors and odors of oils, soil, and other contaminants. The tiny holes in the cement can be filled with either whatever it comes in contact with, or with a grout sealer. Unfortunately, grout that is not sealed will eventually ruin your tile floor.

Grout sealant is applied immediately after cleaning. It is a clear in color and penetrates to protect the grout from future discoloration. It does not change the appearance of the floor.

Most floor dealers recommend applying sealant when the flooring is installed, but sealant does not last for the life of the floor. It is important to ensure periodic reapplication in order to extend the life of the tile.

The benefits of applying a grout sealant are numerous:

• If you’ve ever spilled red wine or anything else on your tile, you know that once it soaks into the grout, your chances of removing it are basically zero. If the tile is sealed, the liquid is repelled and cleans up nicely.
• Mold and mildew can grow in unsealed grout that is continuously exposed to a wet or humid setting. Mold is not only unsightly, but more importantly, can also be unhealthy. By sealing the grout, mold growth in the grout is entirely eliminated.
• You spend less time cleaning and more time doing the things that are important to you!

Start the new year fresh and banish the clutter!

De-cluttering at the end of the year might not be fun, but it is necessary. Making this an annual practice will pay off down the road in shorter, more manageable stacks, access to more storage space and ease in locating those items you really do need. Here are a few tips to get you started with the process.

Tax Returns

The general rule is to keep personal supporting documentation for three years; business for six. When disposing of sensitive information containing social security, credit card or bank account information, be sure to use a criss-cross shredder.

Home Improvement Documentation

As lending and ancillary appraisal industries continue to tighten their standards, it is more important than ever to keep track of the improvements you make to your home. Scan and upload receipts, or keep a home-improvement binder. The key here is to keep everything in one place to that it’s handy when you need it and won’t have to go digging through mounds of paperwork.

Photos

Printed photos need to be stored in acid-free, archival-quality albums or boxes. If you keep your photos digitally, be sure to back them up online or away from your home. You never know when the computer will decide it has processed its last byte; or, heaven forbid, when a disaster might strike.

Computers

Speaking of computers, how many out-dated peripherals do you have stuffed in closets, under desks and in the backs of cabinets? If old equipment is still functional, it just might be valuable to a non-profit, school, or other organization. Be sure your erase the hard drive (if you don’t know how, it’s worth paying the nominal fee to have it done professionally) before donating or disposing of computers. If the equipment is not usable, many big box stores have turn-in programs to take old equipment off your hands. Some will even give you credit towards new equipment, so be sure to ask.

Books

There are a lot of options for used books. Those in reasonably good condition might be acceptable inventory for resale on EBay, Amazon, Craigslist, or similar websites. Yard sales and flea markets are great outlets for used books as well. If you are feeling more charitable, many non-profits accept books for sale in their thrift stores or through special book fairs or sales. Finally, don’t forget your local schools and libraries. Many are experiencing declining budgets and will gladly welcome (appropriate) donated reading materials.

Magazines, Catalogs and Newspapers

One word: RECYCLE! (Oh, and cancel any unwanted subscriptions and remove your name from catalog mailing lists at www.catalogchoice.org to keep them from piling up again in the future.)

Clothes

Keep the classic looks, donate the trendier ones. Neutrals, tailored pieces and garments that can be used for multiple looks are keepers. Bell-bottoms, leg-warmers and grown-up footie pajamas are thrift store fodder. Likewise, any clothes that haven’t been worn in the past one to two years need to be donated, assuming they are clean and in good repair. Take a deep breath and toss any stained, ripped or worn clothing directly into the trash.

Old Towels

This one might surprise you. There are many businesses that might actually appreciate your old towels. Veterinarians, kennels, automotive repair, and cleaning companies are just a few to consider. This is one category where your trash really might be someone else’s treasure.

Toys

Remember the movie Toy Story? There is always another home where toys will be loved again, so most make great donations or yard sale items. For hygiene and safety reasons, make sure toys are clean and in good repair. Pay special attention to potential choking hazards. Items that have seen better days – such as games that are missing pieces or dolls with no heads – sadly, need to begin their journey to the garbage truck.

Tick-Tock Tosses

Expiration dates exist for a reason. Pay special attention to:

• Food that is past its expiration date or in dented or rusted cans.
• Outdated medicines (visit www.fda.gov for proper disposal suggestions).
• Opened paint cans, oil or other solvents that are more than a year old (visit www.epa.gov for disposal guidelines).
• Used batteries (see the EPA website referenced above).

Getting started with these tips will set you on the path towards banishing the clutter in your home. Who knows? It might even motivate you to tackle those pesky junk drawers next!

Many homeowners choose to install carpet specifically because it provides a soft surface for children to play on, sit on and – we all know it – wrestle on! But, while a quality carpet can help prevent injury, it can lead to other “silent” injuries.

Dust, bacteria and other contaminants build up in carpet and negatively affect the air quality in your home. Carpeting can serve as a breeding ground and therefore, is typically not recommended in homes of those with allergies. While vacuuming certainly helps, it does not rid carpet of the deep-seated, stubborn, and unwelcome visitors.

Adding pets to the mix naturally compounds the problem. The hair, dander and even fleas deposited into carpet (courtesy of man’s best friend) dials up the air quality problem. With pets, of course, also come pet stains. In addition to being difficult to remove absent the help of a professional, they are also extremely unhygienic. Be sure not to allow children to play in a stained area.

While carpets add beauty and function to a space, they must be properly maintained in order to ensure a healthy home environment. Regular vacuuming is a good start, but having your carpets professionally cleaned by a company that utilizes green, environmentally-friendly products is a must as well (especially if you have little feet running about!).

What is your child being exposed to?

While no one in school should be exposed to dangerous chemicals, children are especially vulnerable to environmental health hazards. Medical research shows that children’s organ systems are still developing. They proportionally eat, drink, and breathe more per pound of body weight than adults. Their behavior exposes them to more environmental threats and they are least able to identify or protect themselves from hazards. Air pollutants can cause respiratory ailments such as nasal congestion, shortness of breath, wheezing or worsening of asthma, nosebleeds, a cough, or other symptoms such as itchy, watery eyes, headaches or dizziness, fatigue, nausea, rashes, fever, muscle aches and more.

HOW CHILDREN ARE EXPOSED TO TOXIC CHEMICALS IN SCHOOL

Whether a product is freshly applied or misapplied, mixed improperly (some common cleaning products, when mixed together, can give off deadly gas), used in an undiluted state, stored in an unventilated hall closet, or leaves a heavy residue, there are three exposure routes.

1. Inhalation: (children breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults) Aerosols, vapors, fumes, or dusts can be inhaled causing breathing problems, and/or absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to other body organs.
2. Skin contact: (children are less able to identify and avoid hazards; they have immature systems that may not detoxify poisons) Residues from chemicals can damage skin by burning skin tissue or by being absorbed through the skin and carried to body organs, resulting in dryness, redness, or dermatitis.
3. Ingestion: (children play on the floor or ground, put their hands in their mouth, and rarely wash their hands before eating lunch or snacks) Can accidentally eat chemicals via hand-to-mouth contact.

CHEMICALS USED TO CLEAN AND MAINTAIN SCHOOLS TODAY

Of the 85,000 synthetic chemicals in commercial use today, only a small fraction have been individually tested for toxicity. Tests on various chemicals acting in combination with one another is practically nonexistent.
Despite this, a wide variety of toxic or hazardous products are routinely used for cleaning homes and offices. Schools are no different, except the majority of school occupants are children, packed very closely together. Adult exposure limits are negotiated in a federal regulatory process. But new research on children and their vulnerability gives reason to urge preventive measures to protect children.

Source: Healthy Schools Network, Inc.

(Stay tuned for Parts II and III for solutions and “green” product tips.)

Is it really dangerous?

How threatening is it? How does it get indoors? It rides on air currents and on our clothing. We bring in an estimated 35% on our shoes. And, it has been directly associated with cancer, pneumonia, skin rashes, allergies, throat irritations, asthma, bronchitis, sinus & eye infections, and even learning disabilities.

What’s really in dust?

Dust contains living biological contaminants, like the dreaded dust mites, viruses, bacteria, mold and fungus spores. Even more frightening is that is supplies an inexhaustible food supply (pet and human skin cells, insect body fragments, dust mite excrement, and pollen) to perpetuate proliferation.

Scientific analysis of indoor dust usually reveals the presence of pesticides as well. For example, DDT and chlordane, which have been banned for years, along with other pesticides specified for “outside use only” are also found indoors.

Who is most vulnerable?

Dust is especially dangerous to children, as they have underdeveloped immune systems and live closer to the floor. In fact, children can consume up to 10 grams of dust per day through inhalation and ingestion as they run, jump, and wallow in dirty environments, put their hands in their mouths and handle foodstuffs with unwashed hands.

What can you do?

I) Keep exposed surfaces dust free. Never use a feather duster to stir the dust into the air to be inhaled. Use a damp cloth to collect it carefully.

2) Mop hard surface floors twice weekly.

3) Vacuum carpet 2-3 times a week.

4) Have carpets regularly cleaned by a professional who understands the science behind contaminants such as dust and who uses green cleaning products to combat them.

= You need to own rugs that can be WASHED, so look for woven rugs instead of tufted ones. If price is an issue, look for machine woven rugs, or perhaps synthetic rugs. Synthetic fibers tend to be less expensive than natural fibers (they also are not as nice, because the best fiber for rugs is wool… but if your pets will be puddling often, you might as well have them do it on an inexpensive machine made synthetic rug).

= Pick a rug with a BUSY design so yellow stains will not be obvious. Rug Cleaners can wash the odor out of woven rugs, but stains will likely be permanent.

= Use a pad under the rug even if it does not slide or buckle on you, because this will help create a barrier between your rug and your floor. If pet urine penetrates the rug and gets into your flooring, you will have a much larger odor removal problem on your hands, especially if you have specialty hardwood floors. It may not be possible to remove the odor short of replacing the floor, so a pad can help protect you from the worst case scenario… or at least delay the inevitable if your puppies aren’t trained quickly.

(courtesy of Lisa Wagner)

I receive a lot of “help me” calls from rug cleaners and rug owners on rugs that are buckling. They want to know what to do.

And my answer is usually… it depends.

That’s because there are a number of reasons why a rug is buckling on someone. Some of these reasons are correctable. Others are not.

Here is the list of different causes of buckling:

Weaving Characteristics

No hand woven rug is perfectly symmetrical. There will always be a little bit of variance in the width and length, and some fluctuation in the weaving tension throughout the rug itself.

A city rug (woven in rug factories in weaving cities) will of course have more quality control than rugs woven by tribal weavers. I personally prefer the tribal rugs because they have more character and personality.

Weaver using a horizontal loom.

That said, in some tribal weaving centers, especially in areas that are war-torn like Afghanistan, the consistency can vary beyond being an interesting weaving characteristic to being seen as a weaving flaw in some extreme cases:

Tension along end of this Afghan rug causes buckling.

Buckling from weaving tension changes, or width or length variations, are not unique to Afghanistan. You see examples of this in all weaving countries. And in most cases they are seen as unique characteristics of a rug’s personality. Like a few great laugh lines on a smiling face, or dimples, they are what make the rug have character.

And as with those lines or dimples, you can’t just take a steam iron and make those go away. There is no “Rug Botox” to use.

Sometimes a weaver – especially if the loom is a nomadic one – will not know the rug has a “buckling” problem until after it is completed and cut off the loom. In some cases a rug manufacturer will apply a sizing to the rug (similar to starch) to try to make the rug stiffer than it would naturally be.

The problem with sizing is that it will wash out, and it may be difficult to have it re-applied. So if you are buying a rug, or you are getting ready to clean a rug, you want to look closely at the shape of the rug and if you see any evidence of problems on the BACK side.

Creases can be clearly seen on the back of this Afghan rug. These are causing buckling on the front.

Sometimes a rug can be stretched to help it lay flatter, but this is a strenuous process that may damage the rug.

Stretching an Afghan rug to help it lay flatter.

In these cases you need to think about weaving variations as no different than one of your feet being a bit larger than the other. Think of what you would need to do to try to make them perfectly equal, and then apply that though to a rug, on the work that would be needed to make a side that may be an inch longer than the opposite one even.

It is often impossible to do. So your expectations need to be realistic, and if the variations are too much, then pass on purchasing the rug.

Material Backings

With embroidery, needlepoint, and hooked rugs, the buckling is often due to the construction especially if that construction includes a heavy material backing.

Embroidery needlepoint rug with a heavy cotton backing.

This type of weaving, though often very elegant, can also often not be perfectly symmetrical. And when you have two independent pieces – the hand crafted needlework and the material backing – that are loosely stitch to one another, this can create some buckling and waves.

Crewel stitch (aka chainstitch) needlepoint with material backing.

Hand crafted custom rugs using different fabrics and fibers can also lead to buckling, especially along the seams of there the pieces are put together.

Seam tape can split and buckle.

Seam tape can split under foot traffic, or with age, or from cleaning (especially if the individual piece are made of different fibers and may react differently during the cleaning process. Some fibers swell when wet, others condense. Some are stronger when wet, others are weaker. Some absorb more moisture and dry slowly, others dry quick. And these variances can split a seam if you are not careful.

Tufted Rugs (Latexed Material Backing)

Tufted rugs are the rugs you see with latex holding it together. Latex over time deteriorates and crumbles away, so often it is covered up with material to hide this kind of ugliness:

Old latex delaminating on a tufted rug.

Rugs are meant to be on a HARD floor, and not over soft wall-to-wall carpet. But, sometimes a soft floor is your only option.

While woven rugs (rugs you can see the design on the back of the rug same as the front) have some “give” to flex when over a soft floor, a tufted rug is not so forgiving.

Heavy furniture on top of a rug that is over a carpeted floor can stretch the fibers of a woven rug, and in worst cases create tears and holes. And with tufted rugs, which have a latex backing holding them together, they can create waves in the rug you won’t be able to get out.

Buckling in a tufted rug from furniture.

With these rugs, once they have been stretched from heavy furniture, and the latex backing cracks and bends, it’s damaged and will be very difficult to make flat again. It’s like when an elastic band gets over stretched, you can’t get it back to its original shape.

With woven rugs, you have a better chance of washing and reshaping a rug that has gotten buckles from furniture. And to protect BOTH types of rugs, short of putting them on top of a hard floor instead, you can seek out a stiff pad to place between the rug and the carpeted floor.

If your rug is tending to want to move and buckle even when it’s on a hard floor, then often a good rug pad will keep you from having any safety risks of people tripping on it. (Plus pads are “shock absorbers” for rugs and keep them from wearing from foot traffic as fast, and they also tend to deter bugs from wanting to find a home under your wool rugs. I personally love Durahold pad for rugs on hard floors.)

Edge Finishes (By Machine or By Hand)

Sometimes the ends or sides of a rug are finished a bit too tightly, or overdone, and this can create curling of a rug.

Heavy side cord wrap by hand on this dhurrie rug makes the corners curl up.

Machine serging of edges created curling of this rug.

The curling may be immediate, or only evident when the rug gets wet or damp. The level of buckling depends on how the fibers react to water. Some fibers get tighter when wet, and loosen when dry. This is especially evident on oriental rugs that are tightly woven, and the cotton foundation fibers tighten up when wet. (Think about your clothes when you take them out of the washer. Your cotton items are smaller and tighter, and your wool items are looser and stretchy. Most woven rugs are wool face fibers twisted around cotton foundation warps and wefts, so “wet” they can create some buckling that will go away when dry.)

Side curls on this damp Sarouk rug that is drying face down.

Leather or vinyl strips are sometimes sewn along the sides to help keep them flat on the floor.

If a hand woven wool rug is perfectly flat when dry, but curls when it is wet, then it will regain it’s proper shape when dry. Don’t panic.

An exception is Navajo and other American Indian weavings. Often the outside wrapping threads are not pre-washed before being used in the final weaving, and these strands may shrink a bit during cleaning, which can give the illusion that the overall rug has shrunk, when it is in reality just the outside cords.

Navajo rug from a flood, the outside cords have shrunk creating a buckling of the rug.

On the very first cleaning of a Navajo rug, the outside cord will need to be adjusted to make up for the shrinking of the cords, and future washes will not be a problem as far as buckling. (There are other concerns when handling American Indian textiles, from potential dye migration to wool fuzzing, that require an expert’s touch when cleaning. These rugs can be quite valuable, so always seek out someone with expertise in handling these pieces, as well as any investment textile or rug.)

Floods and Extraction Equipment

When rugs are exposed to flood water for extended periods of time, buckling can result from the absorption of the water in the cotton foundation fibers. In most cases, this buckling will be correctable. Though you need to follow the right steps to make sure you thoroughly clean and decontaminate any rugs exposed to flood waters.  Click here => for tips on handling rugs from floods.

Heavy extraction equipment (Rover and Xtreme Extractor) though excellent at pulling out the water, can sometimes create some buckling on looser woven rugs that may or may not be correctable. Whether it’s this type of equipment, or other extracting wands, it is better on the rug to extract from the BACK of the rug to try to avoid any marks or buckles from equipment. When using a wand it can help to have someone stand on the edge you are extracting to help hold the rug flat while doing the work.

Most rug cleaning facilities have roller or spinner wringers to remove water, which removes the buckling risk. Especially with the rollers, which tend to flatten out the rug smoothly for the drying process. But if extraction is your water removal method, you just want to make sure you are not too aggressive in this step.

Buckling in field of a rug from extracting.

1. Begin with a 15 Minute Living Room Cleanup. This will clear out the clutter and give you room to do the actual spring clean up. Don’t worry about cleaning the floors in the 15 minute clean up. We will do this later.

2. Dust down the ceiling and corners of walls. Determine if the walls need washed in dirty spots. Spot wash, remembering air vents, doorknobs, doors, and switch plates.

More Surface Cleaning Resources

Best source for supplies

Dust and clean all art and photographs along the wall.

Of course don’t forget regular professional cleaning of your rugs, upholstery and hardwood floors.

Thanks for reading,

David Gargan