How to Disinfect the Carpet

Carpet is often one of the most used surfaces in a home, and it can quickly become stained and matted. In addition, carpets can be a breeding ground for bacteria and other germs. To keep your carpet looking its best and to help protect your family’s health, it’s important to disinfect it regularly. Here are some tips for disinfecting your carpet:

What to do first before cleaning the carpet?

There is a difference between sanitizing, disinfecting, and cleaning. The terms ​disinfecting​ and ​sanitizing​ are commonly used interchangeably, but they are not the same. It is actually impossible to disinfect soft materials such as carpet as this requires killing all the microorganisms found within the carpet, which can’t be done. So the best method for renewing your carpet is to clean first and then sanitize.

Cleaning the carpet first removes dirt and debris from your carpet, which will allow you to move ahead with proper sanitizing. Sanitizing is simply bringing the carpet back to a safe state that is suitable for people to be around. To clean your carpet, use either a vacuum or a stiff-bristle broom depending on the density and composition of your carpet fibers. If vacuuming, use the appropriate attachment to get as much dirt as possible out of the fibers. Source: Hunker

What are the steps to disinfect your carpet?

1. Mix a solution of vinegar and water. If no ratios are given for the machine, you can use one part vinegar to one part water. For severe cases, use full strength vinegar. If soap-to-water ratios are given, replace the portion of soap with vinegar.
2. Fill the detergent vessel of the steam cleaner with the solution. Do not overfill.
3. Run the steam cleaner over the carpets, following directions for the machine.
4. Allow the carpet to dry before use and traffic resumes. It works well to clean the carpets in the evening before going to bed so they can dry through the night. The vinegar smell will dissipate once the carpet dries. Source: HowToCleanStuff

How often should you clean your carpet?

Disinfecting a carpet is a bit variable. You should be vacuuming the carpet several times a week to remove loose dirt and pathogens. It’s also important to deep clean carpets every three to six months to get rid of bacteria build-up. You would typically sanitize during this time. Most importantly, however, you want to sanitize your carpet every time someone in your home is ill with an infectious disease, such as the flu or COVID-19. Source: Cleaning.LoveToKnow

Do you need help on keeping your carpet clean? Give us a call, and we’ll take care of it!

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How to Get Carpet Wrinkles Out Without a Stretcher

Is your carpet looking a little less inviting lately? There might be some wrinkles in it! In this article, you’ll discover a quick fix to this pesky problem.

What causes the wrinkles

Wall to wall carpeting may develop wrinkles early on because of poor installation practices. The carpet may have not been stretched properly in the first place or attached correctly to the perimeter tack strips.

As time goes on, even well-installed carpeting can develop wrinkles. Carpeting often comes loose from the tack strips or the tack strips can detach from the flooring. Also, carpeting will stretch out due to repeated foot traffic over the years or from pushing heavy objects, such as sofas, across it. Source: TheSpruce

How to get wrinkles out without stretcher

If you do not have a carpet kicker, you can use your own feet to stretch the carpet. It is not difficult and can actually be somewhat entertaining.

1. First, get all of the furniture out of the room.
2. Pull up the carpet with pliers, starting in one corner of the room.
3. Remove the carpet from the tack strips working from wall to wall.
4. Replace damaged tack strips as you work if they are bent.
5. Start at one end of the room, stand about a foot from the wall, and jump forward with both your feet, letting the carpet slide into the wall.
6. The carpet should move at least 3″. Try again if it did not move until it does.
7. Tack the carpet in place where it moved.
8. Repeat these steps until you the carpet is stretched to your liking.
9. Trim the excess carpet from the edges and tuck the carpet between the floor and the wall. Source: UpgradedHome

How to tell if carpet has been stretched enough

Wrinkles and creases in the surface of the carpet are a big indicator of the carpet needing to be stretched. If no wrinkles are present, a simple way to test would be to try and lift the carpet from the center of the room.

Using your fingers, grab the pile, and try to lift the carpet. If it won’t lift very far, that’s a good indication that it is adequately stretched. When you let go of the carpet, observe how quickly the carpet goes back into place. If it snaps back down, it is nice and tight and doesn’t need stretching. If it floats slowly back down, this indicates a need for stretching. Source: HomeDecorBliss

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Benefits of Using Large Format Tiles

When it comes to flooring, there are a lot of options to choose from. If you’re looking for something that’s durable and low-maintenance, large format tiles may be the way to go.

What are large-format tiles?

Large-format tiles offer a clean, sleek, modern aesthetic, but they can also work well with traditional decor. They are available in a variety of materials, including natural stone, glass and porcelain. Thanks to advances in digital printing, porcelain tiles can be made to look like natural stone, concrete, metal, wood and even fabric.

sign Life Better

Large-format tiles can be installed on both walls and floors. When used on a wall, they can be a durable alternative to paint or wallpaper. There’s no repainting or worrying about staining the wallpaper in your future. Since it’s tile, you can just wipe it clean.

Tiles are considered large format when one edge is greater than 15 inches. In the past, 12-by-24-inch rectangular tiles were the most popular large-format size. Today, 18 by 36 inches is common, though, thanks to new technology, tiles are being manufactured as large as 5 by 10 feet. Source: Houzz

Benefits

Visual appeal

Larger tiles have fewer grout lines, thereby offering a smooth and visually appealing surface. Almost any room will look more open and expansive with large-format floor tiles.

Longer rectangular tiles will draw the eye toward the more distant parts of a room and create the illusion of more space. While it is only an illusion, the psychological effect can be profound.

The benefits of a large-format tile layout are particularly palpable in small spaces like bathrooms or efficiency apartments that often make people feel claustrophobic. Having large-format tiles in showers also helps in this regard.

Large-format tiles can enhance a larger room or open floor plan. But smaller tiles, with their many grout lines, sometimes crowd the area — even if it’s otherwise uncluttered. Source: Rubi

Minimal grout

Naturally, large tiles require fewer grout lines because the tile itself provides more coverage.

Easy maintenance

Fewer grout lines can result in a lower-maintenance wall or floor installation. Grout has a tendency to chip away or crack over time and minimizing those grout lines make it easier to maintain. Source: BuildDirect

Want to install large format tiles at home? Call us!

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3 Reasons Why Tiles Break

Tile is a popular flooring option for kitchens and bathrooms because it’s durable and easy to clean. However, even the most durable materials can break over time. Let’s look at three common reasons why tiles break.

Concrete substrate has cracked

It is not unusual for concrete basement floors, driveways, or patios to have a long crack or two running through them, especially if the concrete is several years old.

Even though concrete seems like the perfect substrate for tile, it carries its own, unique set of problems. When the concrete substrate cracks, this movement is transmitted to the tile above in the form of a reflective crack. If the tile cracks are long, continuous, and extending across multiple tiles, the concrete below has likely cracked.

The only wholesale cure is to strip the tile and then install a crack isolation membrane before installing tile again. These membranes are designed to uncouple the tile from the concrete substrate, allowing the tile to move separately from the concrete. Source: TheSpruce

Inadequate mortar

Ceramic floor tiles, especially larger tiles, need an even distribution of mortar underneath them. Voids in the mortar under the tile allow the tile to flex and crack. As a general rule, tiles larger than 12×12 inches should have mortar applied to the back of the tile as well as the floor to help ensure adequate coverage. Source: HomeSteady

Concrete didn’t cure long enough

When you lay concrete, it’s a good idea to leave it for a good while and let it cure, or harden. And when we say a good while, we mean a month or so. Otherwise, the water in the concrete will evaporate, causing the concrete to shrink. If the tile has been laid on top of concrete that’s shrinking, you’ll start seeing a lot of cracks as they try to keep up. Source: HomeDecorBliss

Are there any broken tiles in your home? No problem! Give us a call to get them fixed in no time.

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