How to Lay your own Carpets: A Fuss Free Method!

Laying your own carpets isn’t as difficult as you may imagine. Many people are put off by the fact that carpets are not only heavy to move but very expensive, one mistake and there’s no going back! But if you follow instructions very carefully then there’s no need to assume that carpet laying is only a job which professionals can tackle. Before you begin the task of laying your own carpet, take a look at the tools which you will need.

• Sharp knife such as a Stanley Knife
• Chalk
• Tape measure
• Knee pads

The first thing you will need to tackle is the removal of the old carpet. Many people do this by cutting it into strips before pulling it up. Take the door off the hinges first and then begin cutting your strips. Roll the strips up as you go along so that they are easier to dispose of. If your underlay is in good condition you can retain this, but in most cases if the carpet is worn out then the underlay will be too. Leave any existing tackstrips in place and ensure that the floor is clean and dry before moving on to the next stage.

Laying Underlay

Your underlay should be laid in strips right up to the tackstrips, and then trimmed with a sharp knife. Next you should use duct tape to seal the edges of the underlay and ensure a tight fit.

Laying Carpet

Installing your carpet will be the next stage and to begin, you should make sure that you have a piece which overlaps the edge of the floor by around 6 inches. To cut the carpet you should measure the room at the longest point and then add on the 6 inches. Mark the carpet on the reverse with the added measurement; do this on both edges and then join the marks with a chalk line. Be sure to get this line very straight, using a straight edge to help. Once you have marked the line, fold the carpet back on itself and cut along the line with a Stanley Knife, again making use of your straight edge to ensure that your cut is perfect. You can place some old board or thick card underneath your working area to protect your underlay.

As you continue to fit the carpet along the room, remember that any cuts you make are permanent and that as you cut along the skirting boards, your cuts should be slightly angled towards yourself and not away from yourself. This ensures a tidy finish with the “nap” of the carpet lying correctly and towards the wall or skirting boards.

Fitting carpet is a precise job which, although daunting at first, is actually not that complicated and only needs a steady hand and a little bravery! Prepare your carpet and your room well and you’re sure to make a success of the task. It’s a good idea to have an extra person around to help out and to provide a second pair of hands and eyes. Two people checking if a line is straight are far more reliable than one.

How To Get Tough Stains Out of Carpets

It’s every home-owners nightmare: a glass of red wine spilled across their beautiful cream carpet. Stains on carpets can be very hard to remove, and there is no end to old wives’ tales about salt, using water, not using water and so on.

Although there is no one way of treating every stain, it’s worthwhile learning how to deal with the most common stains so that if that glass of red wine is spilled, you’ll know what to do about it.

General Principles

Although there are no miracle solutions which will work on every single stain, there are some general principles to bear in mind.

Firstly, take action promptly. The longer you leave the stain, the harder it will be to treat. If the spill is liquid such as blood, coffee or red wine, use kitchen paper to soak up as much of the liquid as you can right away. Don’t scrub at the stain; just blot up as much of the excess as you can. It’s also a good idea to keep a stock of stain removing sprays or powder in the cupboard.

Red Wine

Wine is one of the hardest stains to deal with, and time is of the essence it dealing with it. Get to work with the kitchen paper blotting up as much as you can, and forget the story about pouring white wine on the top.

Sparkling water or soda water does the job far better, so treat the affected area with the water, blot again, and repeat the process until the stain is gone. Once you have got the majority of the stain out, treat the area with carpet shampoo to remove any last traces.

Failing that, try this:

Blood

If you have children, or are just particularly accident prone, drips of blood on the carpet are more common than you may think. Washing up liquid is good at getting blood out of your carpet, so mix one tablespoon of washing up liquid with two cups of cold water, and use an old toothbrush to work it into the stain. Keep blotting the carpet and repeating the process.

If there is still a stain once you have repeated the process several times, use a solution of ammonia. Ammonia is available in DIY and traditional ironmonger shops, but needs to be used with caution.

Just a note that it's best to put on gloves before you start dealing with blood stains, but you'd be safer to wear gloves when dealing with any stains on this list anyway.

Mud

The one exception to the “act quickly” rule is mud. If someone has trampled mud over your white carpets, then let the mud dry before trying to remove it. Once it has completely dried up, try to vacuum up as much as possible.

If there is still some mud left, mix up some washing up liquid or washing machine detergent with water, and sponge it onto the stain. Blot up the muddy liquid and repeat the process as often as you need to in order to remove the stain.

Nail Varnish

Again, start by blotting up as much of the spilled nail varnish as you can with some paper towels, kitchen paper or even loo roll. Then use tiny amounts of acetone nail varnish remover to blot onto the stain and remove the polish; the easiest way to do this is with a dropper or pipette. Acetone can react with some artificial fibres and cause them to melt, so take care if your carpet is not pure wool.

Apparently hair gel also works. Let us know if you successfully manage to give this one a try!

Nail varnish is one of the hardest stains to remove, and if you regularly have a problem with spilled nail varnish, have a specialist removal product on standby.

General Staining

If you have moved into a property where the carpets have more general old staining, it can be tempting to rip all of the carpets out and fit new ones. Before taking that step, getting the professionals in to clean your carpets can be well worth the expense. It will cost around £500 to get the carpets professionally cleaned in the average three bedroom house, and if you want to do the work yourself, carpet cleaning machine hire is about £40 for 24 hours.

Deep cleaning the carpets with detergent and steam can give them a whole new lease of life and may allow you to put the expense of replacing them off until later.

How to Get Rid of Gum in Your Carpet

It’s one of those things which make the heart of every house-proud homeowner sink; the sight of a big blob of sticky chewing gum ground into their beautiful carpet. Many people make the mistake of trying to tear the offending gum out with their fingers whilst it is still fresh and because of the nature of chewing gum this is one effort that will simply lead to frustration!

The gum will cling to each and every fibre whilst it is still soft and no amount of picking, pulling or poking will convince it to leave. There are many solutions to the problem of gum in your carpet and perhaps one of the most well known remedies is that of freezing the gum with a piece of ice and then chipping it away once it is frozen solid. This remedy can also work with clothing; the idea is that you place the clothing in a plastic bag and pop it into the freezer to become solid and then remove it manually.

The ice method is quite reliable but there are some even more effective methods out there; one of which includes quite bizarrely, peanut butter! Peanut butter contains an oil which will dissolve the chemicals in gum and make it more of a liquid consistency, which is excellent for stubborn remnants of gum which may remain after you have removed the main body of the gum.

Simply smear a little peanut butter on top of the gum and leave it for ten minutes to work its magic and then with a clean, damp cloth firmly lift the peanut butter and gum out of the carpet. If you do take this route you will also need to use a commercial carpet cleaner on the spot afterwards. Simply clean the area which has been covered in peanut butter according to the instructions on the carpet cleaner package.

Other versions of the peanut butter remedy are just as effective and they include peanut oil, olive oil and WD40. Dab a little of the substance on top of the gum and then remove with a clean, damp cloth. Once again it is important to use a commercial carpet cleaner on the spot afterwards.

The best remedy for gum on your carpet is of course to avoid the situation altogether as it is very awkward to get every last piece out, but if you have children or teenagers in your household then you will know that a blanket ban on chewing gum is not so easy to maintain!

Try to get to the chewing gum as quickly as possible because it is much easier to remove fresh chewing gum than it is to remove gum which has sat in place for any length of time. Always use a commercial carpet shampoo or spot cleaner after you are certain that you have removed all gum plus any residue that may have been left behind adhering to the fibres, if you find that one method does not work to your satisfaction then it will do no harm to try another.

From a personal opinion, I do chew gum but would never throw it on the street as some people do. Quite surprised really that the government haven't heavily taxed the makers yet..... because I would.

The Best Way To Clean Carpets Without Damage

Food, drink, dirt, dust, dead skin flakes, cigarette smoke, dust mites and animal dander are some of the most common forms of dirt residing in your carpet. The longer your carpet remains unclean the higher the chances are that it becomes dangerous to be around. This is along with the fact that the typical human body sheds a good 1.5 million flakes of skin every hour. These skin flakes are nourishing and encouraging food for dust mites which is all the more reason to clean your carpets daily.

Deep cleaning large and small carpets is very important

If you want to have and maintain clean carpets it is imperative that you invest some time and money in deep cleaning the dirt and microscopic allergens. Vacuuming your carpet helps to eliminate most of the dirt and contamination on the surface but it cannot remove everything. This is why depending on the age of your carpet and where you live you should decide to deep clean all carpets in your home once a month.

Carpet cleaning tips

Generally, all carpet cleaning should be done on a pleasant day. The last thing you will want is for family members and pets to track mud and dirt after you’ve done all that hard work on your carpet.  

• Start by always vacuuming your carpets twice. The more dirt you can extract via a vacuum cleaner the easier it will be to clean.
• Regardless of what carpet cleaning fluid you use it is important that you test the fluid and process on a small portion of the carpet, ideally in an inconspicuous area. This may help you avoid larger problems which is caused by your cleaning.
• Make sure to clear all the furniture and other furnishings on your carpet. This will make the cleaning job much easier.
• If you are using a wet carpet cleaning method you should avoid over saturating the padding and carpet. This is probably one of the biggest mistakes that newbie cleaners make. That said if your carpet sits around wet for over 24 hours then it’s too wet. You should then try to dry it using a dehumidifier and a few fans to speed up the process.
• You should either use a furniture tool or wand if you have a machine equipped with it in order to clean the edges of your carpet situated near the wall. This same tool works for area rugs and furniture.
• You should never use a cleaning product directly in your machine unless it is specified as being safe for it. Using the wrong product may not only damage the machine but will also harm the carpet.
• You should use shampoos which are specifically manufactured for cleaning carpets, which helps to prevent them being dirtier than when you had started.
• You shouldn’t use more product or shampoo than what is recommended.
• You should pre treat stains and spots prior to commencing deep cleaning.
• Make sure to rake the carpet after you have cleaned it to lift up all the fibers.
• Refrain from walking on your carpets until they are dry
• Use a protective product on your carpet which will help to keep it fresh for a longer period of time.

Hire an expert carpet cleaner

There are times when regardless of what products you may use and how hard you work your carpets may not look as good as new. This often signals that you need to hire an expert cleaning service that uses high tech equipment and specifically designed chemicals to clean carpets. You can decide to hire a service either once a month or once every two months depending on how much foot traffic your carpet receives.

Before you hire a cleaning company you should find out what cleaning process they use. You should ask the company questions as to what type of cleaner they use, machines, etc. if your carpet is made from a special fiber make sure to mention this to the cleaning company. There are some exotic fibers that require a totally different approach to cleaning and using chemicals. However, most comapnies should be able to identify your carpet’s fiber and then map out a cleaning procedure accordingly