Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year for 2012
We would like to say a BIG thank you to all our customers, who have invited us into your homes and offices. It’s been a fantastic year at Art of Clean, and we would like to wish you all a very Happy Clean Christmas and a Fantastic 2012.
Brick floor cleaning can be a real challenge as the bricks are porous due to them made of clay. We find mostly that these floors are either unsealed allowing for massive amount of dirt being absorbed into the floor. In some occasions bricks floors in Cambridge can be sealed with several coats of unsuitable sealers that can be a real challenge to remove. For the above reasons it would be advised to call in the help of a professional brick cleaning company in Cambridge. Art of Clean have cleaned many brick floors in Cambridge and surrounding villages like Ely, Newmarket and we have also done Brick floor cleaning in Saffron Walden.
Few pictures of brick floors we have cleaned before.
Before cleaning and after sealing the bricks:
Once a Brick floor is clean and dry the floor will have a very natural toned down look. To protect brick floors it is advised to use a high quality sealer or impregnator depending on the finish required. Many brick floors can display lovely colours if sealed with the right sealers for brick floors.
For more info call us on 01223 863632 or see our website on www.artofclean.co.uk
Dear Pierre,
Christmas drinks party: mulled wine spilt on beige sofa, splashing unfortunately onto expensive newly-laid wool carpet … help! Do I pour salt on the stain, like my Granny used to suggest, do I tip white wine on it, like my Mum is always saying? Do I just call you immediately? What happens during the week after Christmas, are you open in case of disasters, or do I just throw a rug over the problem and contact you in the New Year?
In the meantime Seasons Greetings!
A Customer
(Happy, but just trying to cross bridges before I get to them!)
Oh Dear!
Firstly please never put salt on a red wine spill, Salt will only help to set the stain; this is why we put salt in the washing machine when trying to dye fabric. Follow this process for the best results:
* You must blot as much of the spillage as possible, making sure you do not rub as this will push the stain further into the fabric or fibres of your carpet.
* It is true when red wine is spilled on your upholstery or carpet, white wine can be your true companion. It will help neutralize red wine and make it far easier to remove the colour but, why waste your expensive wine? A much cheaper and equally effective alternative is white wine vinegar; a 50/50 mix with lukewarm water will do the job! Simply pour the mix over the spillage then very gently blot it up from the outer edges, to prevent the stain from spreading, with a thick towel.
*Before attempting any stain removal always test in an inconspicuous area if possible i.e. back of the sofa or area of carpet that is usually hidden
If possible it is always best to call in the experts to guarantee your best chance of removing the stain, we are always happy to advise you so please don’t hesitate to contact us!
We will be taking calls over the Christmas period but cleaning starts again on the 3rd January 2012.
Here is a wine stain we recently removed:
Here are 3 reasons to clean your carpet other than the obvious, which is that you just want it to look nicer.
1 To remove dust mites from your carpet. We are licenced users of PROmite, which is the newest and most effective dust mite eliminator on the market. Regular cleaning will reduce the number of dust mites, the excretion from which can cause allergies particularly irritation to the sinuses.
2 Freshen up your living space! Your carpet acts like a giant air filter which traps contaminants and obviously all filters must be cleaned at some point. Even if your carpet doesn’t look that bad, cleaning it will make your home smell a lot fresher.
3 Did you know that your carpet can hold its weight in soil which you can’t necessarily see? This will eventually wear down the fibres of your carpet and shorten its life. Regular carpet cleaning from Art of Clean will make your carpets last longer as well as look their best.
Book a New Year overhaul from Art of Clean. We are giving a £10 Voucher off our cleaning and spot removal if you ‘like’ us on Facebook!
We’re sure that everyone had a brilliant time and in this economic climate it’s good for people to let their hair down a bit. But there might be things you and your team don’t want to have to be reminded of next day. Give us a call and we can come and put your carpets right at least! and if you Like our Facebook page you will receive a £10 voucher code off your next floor clean.
Our thorough and professional carpet cleaning process is used in both residential and commercial settings. Don’t worry, we will move larger furnishings ourselves and we won’t saturate your offices either as we use a hot water extraction machine mounted in the van so no machinery need enter the building. Our special dryers will rapidly dry your carpets so you can use them much quicker than normal. What you will be left with is an unbeatable sense of freshness and order, what could be more morale boosting than that?
In fact you might want to look at one of our 3 carpet cleaning packages. If you go for our maintenance plan you can keep your carpets looking and smelling great all year round and your first visit, initial carpet cleaning and protector treatment will be half price. Check our website for more details or call us on 01223 863632.
Wooden floors have a service life expectancy of 25 years (in the case of engineered wood floors) and 50 years (in the case of solid wood floors). In spit of their service life potential, very few property owners maximise this potential. There are two measures that could help you reach the wood’s full potential and make your investment work for longer. The first is correct maintenance and the second is a process called sanding that basically rejuvenates the floor.
In this blog post we aim to explain the correct manner to maintain wood floors and how sanding can help increase the service life of the floor.
Maintenance:
When we come to talk about maintenance, we refer to pre-emptive measures that can reduce common wear and tear and cleaning the floor without causing accidental damage.
Pre-emptive measures – Wood flooring is covered in a top layer that acts to seal the floor and reduce damage. With time, this layer will eventually deteriorate in quality, becoming less and less effective. How quickly deterioration happens can be reduced by fitting doormats at the entrance (and exit while you are at it) to various rooms, so dirt and tiny stones do not come into contact with the top layer of the floor. Alternatively, shoes could be removed before people enter the room. Another pre-emptive measure is using furniture pads. These are small pads that resemble castor cups and fit under the contact points of furniture. They help eliminate accidental damage when the furniture is moved around. Lastly, if the finish of the floor (the top layer) requires repair, do not wait too long until damage to the actual wood happens. While the finish could be topped up, wood will require replacing which will prove far more expensive to repair.
Cleaning:
From time to time, wood flooring will benefit from professional cleaning service using dedicated materials and techniques. However, in the mean time it is important to clean the wood often to remove the built up of dirt, to prevent flooring slip and fall type accidents and to reduce hygienic risks. Here is the safest way to clean wood floors without causing damage:
Sweep Or Hoover The Wood – To remove dust and dirt, wood reacts well to sweeping. If you are using a hoover, fit a soft hair extension rather than a plastic extension and be very careful not to drag the hoover on the surface.
Never Wet The Floor – Wood does not require water in order to remove dirt. A damp microfiber mop that has been slightly saturated in water together with a cleaning chemical is all that is required.
Use Wax With Care – It is common for wood flooring owners to wax the floor from time to time. Although it will improve the look of the floor, it will also attract dirt so using wax is fine provided it’s not applied every other week.
Sanding:
The process of sanding, staining and re-coating the floor could greatly improve the service life of the floor. Using specialised machinery, the old surface is removed and eventually the floor is coated with a protective sealant. While it is possible to do it yourself by hiring specialised equipment, you are better of hiring a professional company to sand the floor. The work requires safety equipment, high quality abrasive materials and adjusted sanding machinery. All are very easy to get wrong if you decide to do it yourself.
If you have any questions about wood flooring care, leave your comments below.
Blog post written for Art Of Clean by hardwood flooring company, Wood and Beyond.
At Art of Clean, we clean any type of handmade rug. Each rug that comes in to our Rug cleaning plant in Cambridge would receive special treatment. Not every rug gets cleaned in the same way. We recently received 2 beautiful large true silk rugs in that needed special cleaning. What made the rugs so special was the fact that they were modern silk rugs and therefore the dye used where really unstable. To ensure our client’s investment is protected we had to clean them to help with prolonging the life of the rugs as dirt that remains in the rugs will wear them out much sooner. It is our passion at Art of Clean to do what is best for every rug that we clean. This method of cleaning silk rugs is only used in cases where no other option is available. Saturation cleaning of silk rugs is the preferred method but only if the dye can be set or is 100% stable.
Drying silk rugs after cleaning is something that can only be carried our correctly by a rug cleaning plant with a specialist drying room like we have here at Art of Clean with our Rug cleaning plant in Cambridge.
Silk rugs in our drying room to make sure that they dried as quickly as possible!!
At Art of Clean we are really excited that Cambridgeshire’s carpet and flooring superstore Roll out the Red is recommending the services of Art of Clean. Roll out the Red is a well established and independent business which offers a wide selection of manufacturers. The staff know what they are doing and can give you expert advice on the sort of carpet or floorcovering which will best suit your home and your lifestyle. With Roll out the Red we have come up with the following fantastic offers for our valued customers:
Gold
If you buy standard carpet with or without carpet protector you will qualify for a Gold Voucher which will give you £35 off carpet cleaning and the re-application cost of carpet protector. Our standard minimum charge of £120 would still apply.
Platinum
If you buy a carpet from Aaron and have carpet protector applied you will qualify for a Platinum Voucher. This gives you one FREE stain removal visit and £50 off carpet cleaning and the re-application cost of carpet protector. Your voucher will be valid for 18 months. We do recommend that the protector is re-applied every 18 months depending on the usage and traffic in the room. Our standard minimum charge of £120 would still apply.
This week has seen a massive rise in the number of public houses and restaurants turning their attention last minute pre-Xmas carpet and soft furnishings cleaning in their establishments, to give them a nice clean backdrop against which to display their festive decorations because now is the start of the Xmas dinners season for both corporate clients and the many family and friend get togethers that tend to start early in the run up to the holiday season due to so many people jetting away for a Sunny Xmas abroad.
As smoking is still likely to be a big part of the party season in pubs the outside flagstones and paving slabs on patios are all getting the cleaning treatment now too as many more people congregate in the outside areas in order to have a cigarette or cigar with their drinks and most owners and landlords agree that there is nothing worse than a sticky outside area where spilled beer and wine can attract and retain the burnt ash and stubbed out cigarette butts which in turn conspire to create that unpleasant stale old ashtray smell day after day.
So please do remember to comment to landlords and managers on how nice and clean the pub or restaurant carpets or outside areas look and smell if you feel they have been recently cleaned because believe us, it will mean a great deal to the owner or manager of the establishment to know that their efforts have not been in vain.
One of the simplest and most cost effective ways of helping to create a nice atmosphere in the home in the run up to Christmas is to get rid of those built up subtle background odours that you hardly notice along with those small minor stains that have accumulated in rugs and carpets and soft furnishings over the year.
This will create the effect not unlike producing a blank canvas in your home for all those lovely festive new smells and colours that you want to bring to your home for your Christmas celebrations.
It is amazing how many people tend to learn to live with the little smells and stains that can soon slip unnoticed by them into the background and yet be glaringly obvious to other visitors to the home.
Christmas really should be the time of year that we all take that little bit more care and put that little bit more effort into the cleaning of our homes because it will pay dividends in the end when friends and family come to call in over the holidays.
The main thing is to make sure that you have our number handy and near a phone just in case you have a major spillage or accident before your festivities get a chance to get off the ground. There would be nothing worse than having your family Xmas ruined just because you did not have access to people who had the skills to undo or at least minimize the effect of anything that needed cleaning up on your carpets or rugs.
We all know that some people who celebrate are sometimes a little clumsy with or without drink inside them so why not just enjoy yourself over Xmas and rest easy in the knowledge that we can take care of your carpets and rugs and upholstery for you when it is all over.
