Art of Clean was recently awarded the work of sanding and sealing the floor of the beautiful Norwich Cathedral. The historical Cathedral has been beautifully designed inside and out, since the start of its construction in 1096.
Cleaning Wood floors at Norwich Cathedral
Inside the building the wood floor is made by the manufacturer Junkers who make top quality hardwood floors. The floor inside the Cathedral had started to show signs of wear and tear, especially in their refectory, so the customer knew that it was time to clean the floor by sanding and sealing, before it got so bad that it needed a complete restoration. They asked us to clean two floors within the Cathedral.
Before sanding and sealing the large floor
Throughout this project we worked closely with Junkers, to make sure that our customers warranty stayed in tact. We followed the following process when cleaning the first floor:
• Stage 1 – First of all we applied Junkers wood cleaner
• Stage 2 – We then screened the floor back with a light sand to ensure that the fresh coating of polyurethane lacquer adhesive to the floor.
• Stage 3 – We then applied two new coats of Junkers Lacquer onto the wood floor.
Sanding the main floor in Norwich Cathedral
Sealing a wood floor
To treat the refectory floor we followed a slightly different process, rather than sealing the floor with lacquer we sealed it with Pallmann oil. There is a lot of traffic in certain areas of the canteen, such as near the till and where the food is ordered, so by doing this process it enables those specific areas of the floor to have localised sanding and re-sealing when required. This is one of the reasons why applying oil as a finish is really practical.
The refectory wood floor was badly stained from through traffic
Stage 1 – We sanded the entire floor
Stage 2 – We applied Pallmann Magic Oil, which gives a great finish for commercial applications.
After cleaning and sealing with Pallmann oil
If a standard lacquer had been applied, then if certain areas wear more than others the whole floor would need to be sanded. This can be a problem between two rooms if there is not a door break dividing them. One of our other customers had this problem previously, so we advised them to have a brass strip installed between the two rooms. If you require this here are the details of a company we recommend.
The devide between the two wood floors
We were recently called back to re-clean The Sacred Heart Church wood floors in St Ives, we sanded and sealed this floor with oil, to see our team in action please go to this wood sanding video.
Readers might also be interested in these posts:
Original sanding and floor cleaning in The Sacred Heart Church
Re-clean and sanding of the floors in The Sacred Heart Church
This type of mysterious staining is something we have seen at Art of Clean. In most cases this will be due to residue being left inside the pile of the carpet. If you find you have this in your carpet, you will first need to test to see whether it is an oily stain, or a soapy stain.
Staining on a carpet can be caused by either oil or soap in most cases
To test you will need to do this:
• Oily stains – when you touch it the marks will feel greasy, use a paper towel and apply some pressure, if it is an oily stain you will see dirt and oil on the paper.
An oil stain on a carpet
If you do the following and it foams you know that it is a soapy stain
• Soapy stains – for this you will need the following:
A Cup – A Teaspoon – 100 and 150ml of clean tap water
Step 1:
Take about 2 – 3 spoons full of water and moisten the darkest stain on the carpet.
Step 2:
Turn the spoon around and use the smooth handle of the spoon and massage the wet patch carefully – so not to ruin the pile of the carpet.
Step 3:
Observe … Is it foamy? If so you have found what caused the stain. A soapy residue in a carpet is normally caused by home owners removing stains with a cleaning product not suitable for a carpet, such as a strong washing up liquid, or perhaps by a cleaning company who have used a cleaner which has been to strong.
To deal with both types of staining, we would suggest that you contact a professional cleaning company, to avoid any further staining problems. However if the staining has been caused by soap, here is how you could tackle it yourself:
*You will need:
Cup of water – (250 ml approx) 50 – 100 ml white vinegar spoon a few clean absorbent cotton towels
The vinegar acts as a neutralizer to the soapy residue
Step 1
Mix the water and vinegar
Step 2
Pour amounts of the solution you made on to the stain and blot with the cotton towel.
Ensure you remove as much moisture as you can. Careful not to rub! You will distort the pile and this is irreversible
Pour the solution in moderate amounts on the stain and drop the towel on it and stand on it.
Repeat this process until you see no more foam coming out.
Use this method with care and test in an inconspicuous area first.
If you feel unsure – Call me on 01223 863632 and we can advise you on the best way to treat the stains in your carpet.
*Art of Clean cannot take any responsibility for any damage caused to your carpet following these stages, we would highly recommend you call in a professional cleaning company such as Art of Clean to deal with any staining issues, to avoid any further stains or long-term damage to your carpet.
Last week Art of Clean were called back to reseal a pine, herring bone wood floor we renovated a few years ago in The Sacred Heart Church, in St. Ives
Sanding the wood floor
We sanded and re-oiled the floor, with two applications of hard wax oil, this will enhance the natural beauty of the wood, and it will be both moisture and dirt resistant. Please watch this wood floor cleaning video, if you would like to see our team working.
Applying the first coat of hard wax oil to the wood floor
After cleaning and oiling the wood floor looked like new
If you’ve recently had your floor cleaned and are finding it difficult to maintain, then why not contact Art of Clean, we offer a maintenance plan which will give you peace of mind, whilst keeping your floor looking good all year, year after year. Why not give our wood floor cleaning experts a call today, to find out how you can benefit from the plan on 01223 863632.
Every week our technicians at Art of Clean meet up to discuss the latest floor cleaning products and methods in the market place. They share their experiences throughout the week, and also it’s a great bonding experience.
One of our customers contacted us last week about how to clean the spots off their patio. The spots you can see on this patio are called Lichen. Lichen is a form of algae or bacteria, which can appears flat on paving.
Lichen spots on a patio
If you would like to tackle the removal of Lichen yourself, then it would be best to follow these instructions:
• *Cover the surface of the tiles with Chlorine Bleach with a 10:1 mix with water.
• Spray it onto the surface and leave for 10 minutes, but do NOT allow to dry.
• Test in a small area at first, as it can make the colour of the tiles go lighter.
• Then wash off with a commercial pressure washer, and repeat if required.
• It is also possible to buy patio brick acid from a builders, but again, this should be used with the utmost caution.
• Another option would be to use a hot commercial power pressure washer
*However we would highly recommend that you ask a professional cleaning company, to clean any Lichen from your patio, to avoid any bleaching.
Readers might also be interested in these related blogs:
How to clean your patio with a pressure washer
Art of Clean are flooring specialists in Cambridge, and one of our specialist areas is in the removal of red paint and wax which has been painted over old ceramic tiles. It’s hard to believe, but it was once fashionable to cover up patterned ceramic floors.
It is normally very difficult to remove layers of paint or wax from a tiled floor, so we usually treat the area the day before we actually start the cleaning process. This is called blanket cleaning.
This photo shows a stone floor that was painted long time ago and with the time, some of the paint has come off the surface of the tiles.
We start the paint removal by covering the tiled floor with a cleaning solution, and a very thick plastic sheet, which enables the client to still use the treated area until the following day.
If you have a tiled floor which has been coated with layers of paint, why not give our specialist team a call, and we will be able to provide you with all the information you need concerning the removal of wax or paint from your floor, on 01223 863632.
At Art of Clean we are always looking for innovative ways to clean. For the past few decades there hasn’t really many leaps in cleaning technology, and it still takes about the same amount of time to clean our homes, as it did a few years ago.
Source: Designbuzz.com
However thanks to a student designer, Nicholas Fair, who has created a personal cleaning robot, it might make all the difference to the speed of cleaning our homes. It is predicted that by 2050, household cleaning brands like Electrolux will be able to use traditional techniques combined with state-of-the-art robotics to clean any surface, taking care of all the cleaning on its own.
The personal cleaning robot has a thermal lift, which enables it to float using air streams and it cleans in three dimensions, reaching hard to clean corners of future architecture. It has a light-weight body, and it can be used as a hand-held cleaner or as an autonomous cleaning machine. The front of each side circle in the PCR features an arrangement of visual input censors that give it both a forward and bottom view. The arms, the handle and the back feature additional nodes.
Once installed in the home, the unit will do an initial scan, using its on board computers, to asses which areas of the house, and how to clean them most effectively, saving both time and energy. Once these basic settings have been made it will then clean daily, even if one day you decide to replace the carpet with hardwood for example, it will be able to immediately adapt to the change.
However it looks as though this technology is quite far off, so we will all need to continue to clean our own homes for now.
One of our customers recently contacted us about how to get off biro from a leather sofa.
We would strongly recommend that you contact a professional cleaning company to remove the stain, but if you do want to have a go at tackling it yourself, then you could try this:
You will need to buy some surgical alcohol, don’t apply directly to the stain to begin with, as you might ruin your leather sofa. Apply to an inconspicuous part of the sofa with a clean white cloth (this is to ensure none of the colouring from your cloth transfers onto the leather).
If it becomes tacky, stop! Continuing cleaning with the surgical alcohol will leave the leather on your sofa feeling tacky. However if it doesn’t, then leave it to dry for a few hours, before trying to clean off the stain.
When cleaning the stain, try a tiny area at first, and leave it to dry, if it removes the stain and hasn’t made the leather tacky, then continue to clean off the entire stain with surgical alcohol.
If you do tackle the stain yourself then be careful, as you could ruin your expensive leather sofa, and end up having to have it stripped back by a specialist leather company, such as Art of Clean, which would cost much more than calling them in the first place.
If you have a stain you would like to get rid of then why not post it on our Facebook page, and we will be able to give you advice on how to remove it, or perhaps you have your own tips you can share with our followers.
Finally it feels as though spring is here, and it feels time for that all important spring clean.
Your rugs have probably also suffered from a long hard winter, and if they are precious you might be considering getting them cleaned professionally. Art of Clean are the only rug cleaning plant in Cambridge, so if you are looking for a professional company to take care of your rugs, then look no further.
Most companies offer compound rug cleaning, this is when a cleaner is applied to the surface of a rug, and it is then cleaned with a detergent, this is one way to clean the surface of a rug, but quite often it is not enough if your rug has ingrained dirt.
Quite often if our customers have pets, we find that they need to be cleaned due to urine contamination. We do this by fully immersing a rug into our cleaning pool and using Purified water to rinse the contamination out of the rug. This process can take several hours.
We immerse the rugs to make sure they have a deep clean
If you are having considering having your rugs cleaned, then why not call our team on 01223 863632.
Finally we seem to experiencing double figure weather in Cambridge, and what a long, cold winter it has been. It has been lovely to get out in the garden after so many months, however like many people you might have noticed the bad effect the weather has had on your patios and paths.
Before cleaning the drive looked black and dirty
At Art of Clean we have already been out and about restoring patios in and around Cambridge to their original glory, helping customers to get ready for spring, and the anticipation of having a glass of wine and family BBQ’s.
After cleaning the driveway it was possible to see the red brick tiles
We are all looking forward to the promise that spring and summer bring, so don’t let your dirty patio let you down, get them cleaned and sealed by Cambridge’s patio cleaning company, Art of Clean.
The same with the patio before cleaning, it was hard to see the tiles
We hope you agree that the patio looks like new after cleaning
If your patio looks like the before shots then why not ask us to give you a free, no obligation quotation, just call us on 01223863632
