Carpet And Rugs Pedia asked:


The piercing truth is- if everything is done in a right manner, the result will be good. It is important to know your carpets, their type and the fibres used so that you can apply the best cleaning methods that can make your carpet look brand new! The only question that comes to mind is what method is needed where.

When it comes to cleaning, some people do it on their own while some find professional approach for that. If your house is heavily soiled and has not been cleaned in many years then steam cleaning will get you that deep clean you need and remove much of the heavy soils in the carpet. The only one restraint that we can analyze here is that steam cleaning can be used once in a year only and it requires an experienced technician to handle the mess. Care should also be taken that boiling hot water is not used as it affects the carpet glue.

On the other hand, when you use a buffer system, you do get a deep clean because the brush works its way into the carpet. When someone uses this type of cleaning they vacuum and rake the carpet first. Then use enzymes to eat the oil in the carpet. The shampoo they use is non-residue so it does not attract dirt. After the cleaning is done you should vacuum your carpet at least after 24-hours to remove the loose dirt. With this method, you can use it every 3 months and have your carpets always looking great.

Some manufacturers recommend cleaning the carpets or rugs yourself. By doing so, you can extend your carpet’s life duration. They will last long and will look cleaner for a long time. The cleaning process starts with an awareness to prevent all those nasty things that can cause harm to your carpet. It is advisable to use house slippers or walking socked while stepping on your rugs or carpets. Wearing shoes on expensive rugs are sure to bring stains, dirt and sand particles.

David Buster asked:


Bathroom tile ideas for bathroom floor tile can help you know what options to consider for your bathroom. Bathroom tile comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, patterns and textures and they are the basis for any bathroom design. Bathroom tile ideas can help you have the very best bathroom possible.

Ceramic bathroom floor tile is often used because of its durability, resistance to dampness, its safety to walk on when wet and its ease of cleaning. If you select ceramic tiles for your bathroom, consider using a tile that has a slip-resistant surface for bathroom safety, which is one of the best bathroom tile ideas.

If you buy and install unglazed tiles, they will need to be washed frequently because they absorb stains quite easily. Bathroom floor tile shapes can be squares, rectangles, hexagons and octagons while accent tiles can be narrow and small diamond-shaped pieces.

Here are bathroom tile ideas for bathroom floor tile:

1 – If you use solid color ceramic bathroom floor tile in your bathroom, you can add tile borders of a different color to the tile floor, or you can create a border by alternating different colors. This kind of visual treatment can create a more interesting bathroom floor.

2 – When using the same color ceramic tile for the floors and walls, choose a different tile size for the walls or lay the wall tiles diagonally to create a more interesting visual effect.

3 – Another of the bathroom tile ideas is to choose a grout color that contrasts with the ceramic tile color. For example, if you are using white tiles, you could use blue, red or yellow grout for contrast. Be sure and apply sealers to grout lines in areas of heavy wear since sealers will protect and preserve grout colors.

4 – If your favorite color for a bathroom is pink, for example, add a few pink decorative tiles for the walls or use shapes, textures and borders to give it some visual interest. Select some rows of the walls where you can also use some of the pink tiles placed diagonally.

5 – To give your bathroom a contemporary style and look, consider using bright and bold colors with shapes or graphics against plain backgrounds. Contemporary style accessories and fixtures will further provide a modern-looking bathroom appearance.

6 – If you are trying to have a romantic or Victorian look in your bathroom, use floral tiles in soft colors like pink, light green or light blue plus handpainted ceramic sinks and perhaps a wooden floor. For a Mediterranean bathroom look, mix terra-cotta tiles with Mexican or other hand-painted tiles for the floors. For the countertop, perhaps mix the hand-painted tiles with another plain color tile.

7 – Bathroom tile ideas and tile color are important since color can greatly affect your mood, making you feel calm or energizing you. Warm colors like peach and yellow are fun, they make the bathroom feel cozier and they go well with a more country looking bathroom decor. If you use neutral colors like beiges and whites, they will make the room look larger, they will reflect light and they are always in style.

Colors like blue, green and violet are viewed as serene or cool colors. Brighter colors like black or red add drama to the decor, absorb light and will make the room appear smaller. In rooms with plenty of windows and natural lighting, consider using darker tiles to offset the ambient lighting. You can also work in colors you want through the use of accent tiles and accessories.

Have fun as you select the styles, colors, patterns and sizes of bathroom floor tile and related accessories for your bathroom. You’ll want your bathroom to be a fun, cozy room to spend time in and the bathroom floor tile used can help create that kind of atmosphere. Use bathroom tile ideas to help you have that special bathroom that you can enjoy every day.

Copyright 2006 InfoSearch Publishing

Simon Lawrence asked:


The array of symbols that accompanies most carpet tiles is intended to help the buyer make an informed choice.  It’s a well-intentioned aim, but unless they’re fully understood they can mislead rather than guide.  Is a tile fire-resistant?  The presence of a fire-resistance symbol would suggest so, but in fact it simply shows that the carpet tile has been tested  it’s the text below the symbol that actually tells you how it would behave in a fire.

In this article I’ll try to clarify the most important symbols, and so help a buyer to choose wisely.  There’s also more information on the tests themselves in my article on .  

Wear Resistance

For carpet tiles for commercial premises, this is where the story usually starts.  Tiles in these areas are subject to far harder service than those in the home.  Castor chairs, coffee spills, copier toner and indifferently wiped feet all take a huge toll.  For this reason you should be looking for contract or, ideally, heavy contract tiles.  The symbol for project-suitable tiles shows a stylised office block on the left, with a varying number of human figures on the right  the more figures, the tougher the carpet.  Put simply, if you see a house on the left, it won’t do the job – however many figures you see on the right.

Castor Chairs

Castor chairs are a fact of office life.  But they dig their way through floor coverings faster than Charles Bronson leaving Stalag Luft III (though admittedly they rarely dispose of the debris on the football field  no simile is perfect).  There’s a standard castor test to classify a carpet tile’s resistance to this sort of wear, the symbol for which is, unsurprisingly, a castor.

But domestic tiles can be tested for castor resistance and be passed as suitable for occasional use.  Confusingly, the commercial symbol doesn’t carry an office image, so the absence of a house symbol is the visual check to make sure you’re not misled.

It’s worth noting here that polypropylene carpet tiles can pass the castor chair test in terms of wear-through, but may still be unsatisfactory in use.  This is because polypropylene pile tends to flatten permanently under compression, giving a whitish effect in heavy wear areas.  Nylon pile tends to be more resistant to this flattening.

Fire Resistance

Health and safety requirements put this factor right at the top of the list, alongside wear resistance.  This is a tricky, specialised area, needing an understanding of the various ISO specifications.  Essentially though it’s important to understand that the presence of a fire resistance symbol isn’t a guarantee of non-combustibility.

Making it all as simple as possible, the fire classification falls into groups from A to F, with A being the most fire-resistant.  In fact the highest rating achievable by a carpet tile is “B”.

The main classifications are subdivided  A1, A2 etc, and there’s also an “s”suffix to identify a product’s smoke emission properties:

For the sake of completeness I’ll also mention the cigarette-resistant symbol.  Now that smoking is prohibited in public areas, this is far less important than used to be the case, and is rarely seen.

Fire resistance is a complex subject and so has to be an area for expert advice, particularly in escape routes.

Electrical Behaviour

Those tiny electric shocks when you touch the radiator or the photocopier might not be dangerous, but they’re pretty damned irritating.  And leaping in the air, flapping your hand and screaming obscenities almost never enhances your presentation of this year’s sales forecasts.

But while the staff spill coffee and endure the non-sympathy of their co-workers, computers quietly eat all your data and expire to their silicon afterlife.  Static electricity isn’t welcome in the office.

For most applications all you need to look for is the anti-static symbol.  This tells you that the carpet tile has permanent anti-static characteristics, so you shouldn’t feel electric shocks.  This level of protection meets IBM’s and ICL’s standards, so it’s quite adequate for most offices.

Where particularly delicate electronic equipment is in use, a more conductive carpet tile is required.  Static electricity builds up because the charge created by friction can’t earth itself through the carpet.  By making a carpet tile more conductive it’s possible to discharge this build-up.  At first glance, the following two symbols are identical:

The Devil’s in the detail here -  109 or 106 Ohms.  In the former case, the tile dissipates the static build-up, while in the latter it actually conducts it through to the floor below.

Sound Absorption

Open plan offices can be very noisy places.  This can make using the phone, conversing or just concentrating a real challenge.  We can reduce the noise burden with acoustic screens, but choosing a sound-deadening carpet tile will help tackle the problem, literally, at base.

There are two types of acoustical symbol: one that guides you on how much ambient noise is absorbed by the tile, and one that shows how much noise is passed through to the floor below.  In modern offices with concrete floors the latter of these is rarely a major problem.  It’s only in older buildings with wooden floors you usually need to worry too much about noise transmission.

The symbol above tells you that the floor covering has good sound absorption characteristics, making it suitable for open-plan offices.

This symbol indicates that the carpet tile provides good sound insulation through the floor.

Comfort Class

This measurement is less relevant to commercial carpet tiles than to domestic.  It’s based on pile weight, and gives an idea of the “luxury level” of the carpet.  Very heavy pile isn’t usually desirable in offices, shops or other such premises as it can be prone to flattening.  But too thin a pile gives a cheap, unyielding impression.  In general, carpet tiles are designed with medium pile weight in order to give a good balance of wear and luxury.  three to four “tufts” on the symbol indicate an excellent quality tile.

Laying Instructions

In addition to wear and suitability indicators, some carpet tiles also carry laying guidance.  Most commonly, tiles are laid at right-angles to one another, giving a pleasing chequerboard effect.  This has the benefit of disguising any variation in colour between tiles.  Some tiles , usually more expensive, can also be laid parallel.  This is often called “broadloom laying” as it hides the joins between tiles, giving a luxurious broadloom effect.  It’s thus possible to achieve a wall-to-wall carpet effect without losing the benefits of flexibility and hard wear associated with carpet tiles.

This doesn’t pretend to be an exhaustive explanation of carpet symbols; there are many, many more.  What should be clear is that the symbols give you only a broad guide to a carpet tile’s suitability.  I’d recommend using them to make a preliminary selection, and then talk to a trustworthy, knowledgeable supplier to make sure you make the right ultimate choice.

Jem Jamey asked:


If you are tired of using vacuum cleaners that claim to do everything yet cannot even pick up dust properly, then it is about time you got yourself a better vacuum cleaner that you deserve. One that actually picks up all the dirt and grime you point it to and not slosh it around like a big hair dryer. It is true that there are so many vacuum brands out there; it can be overwhelming just to decide which one you should go for. Some brands claim that they can **** all of those dirt and grime away, but if you look closely, all that dust and dirt are still firmly clinging to your carpet and rugs. Luckily, there is a brand that has been proven and tested throughout time-and that is Dirt Devil Vacuum Cleaners.

Through the Memory Lane

Dirt Devil started out during 1905 when it was first founded in city of Cleveland, Ohio. They were the first ones to build a household vacuum that had a trademark Cyclone system. Today, almost 25 million of these household Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners have been sold. They were formerly called Royal Manufacturing; however, as time went by, the name was changed into Dirt Devil. They have now become one of the most respected vacuum cleaner brands. A Dirt Devil Vacuum Cleaner is one of the most trusted vacuum cleaners in the United States today. Throughout time, they have proven their worth when it comes to keeping your spaces clean, whether it be your home or your office.

Dirt Devil at a Glance

Dirt Devil has a wide range of vacuum cleaners and products that suit every person’s needs and wants. They have hand vacuums, upright vacuums, bagless cleaners, and even carpet extractors. Apart from that, they also have products like hand surface vacuums, canister cleaners, and even stick vacuums. You can be assured that Dirt Devil Vacuum Cleaners will be available to assist your vacuum cleaning needs.

Dirt Devil M120000 Spinnergy Upright Vacuum Cleaner

This is a vacuum cleaner that anybody would love to have. This Dirt Devil Vacuum cleaner is perfect if you want a cleaner that actually ***** up all the dirt you have in your home. The Dirt Devil m120000 Spinnergy makes use of the Multi-stage Cyclone technology similar to that of Dyson, without paying the same price. This Dirt Devil Vacuum Cleaner is considered to be among the most affordable cleaners out there. This machine is bagless and contains a HEPA filter, which helps take out allergens as well as other harmful microorganisms that are in the air. It also comes with several tools and attachments that you can use to vacuum off those special hard-to-reach areas. This vacuum is a true marvel that you should have in your home. Other vacuum cleaners have the same performance; however, they would bust your wallet just purchasing them. With Dirt Devil Vacuum Cleaners, you don’t have to worry about spending a fortune. These machines are made to perform like all those expensive machines but only for a fraction of the cost.

Get overwhelming choices of vacuum cleaners at Bank’s Vacuum Superstores. Dirt Devil, Dyson, Beam, etc., you just name it, they sure have it.

Lauren Tyler asked:


Before you buy a floor lamp there are certain things that you might want to keep in mind. First of all you need to know that floor lamps were considered to be more dangerous than other lamps until the last decade or so when technology and good design helped fix some of the problems that made this style of lamp flawed in the first place.

For instance, historically, floor lamps have always been known to tip over. Nowadays there is a standard that contemporary floor lamps must meet call the UL “tipability” standard. This means that the floor lamp you are buying has a much heavier base and there is less danger of it falling over and landing, say, on a sofa cushion and setting it on fire.

Yet another feature of floor lamps that made them dangerous for years was the cords. The cords were made of cloth and easily caught fire with the slightest of power surges. Nowadays floor lamps are made with a plastic zip cord rather than the old cloth cords. The old cloth cords also used to fray and it was much easier for an animal or child to chew through them or get accidentally shocked just by touching it.

The fact that most antique lamps do not have a standardized non-tippable base or a safe electrical cord is why you are probably better off to buy a new floor lamp then one from an antique store. It is just safer.

Yet another reason is that the very old floor lamps attached their lampshades through a wire clamp that was attached to the shade itself. This style of clamp for attaching light bulbs is also obsolete.

However if you do find the floor lamp of your dreams there is no reason why you can’t take it to an electrician or antique dealer to see what can be done to refurbish it. This is done all of the time to recycle old floor lamps. It is probably a good idea not to try and rewire an old lamp yourself unless you

are an experienced electrician.

Although rewiring an old floor lamp is easy, making sure the base is stable is not. All it takes is one wild child or unruly dog to tip it over and you could have a fire on your hands.

Floor lamps come in an incredible number of styles nowadays including all of the retro looks that you would find in an antique store and all of the more contemporary styles. As you browse online to shop for floor lamps it is quite common to find them in every style imaginable including Mission, Seventies Retro, Tiffany, Art Deco, Arts and Crafts, Country, Late Victorian and Gas. You can also find modern Swedish

styles that include shades shaped like upside down frying pans and large metallic mixing bowls.

Nowadays floor lamps come in every type of finish and shade including glass, porcelain and brushed metal and there are some very unique, beautiful and interesting contemporary floor lamps, as well as the more traditional styles, around.

Niv Orlian asked:


The glue down method of laying hardwood floors is one of the original methods of installing hardwood flooring. If you want to learn the basics of how to install hardwood flooring using the glue down method, you’ve come to the right place.

Among do it yourself hardwood floors, those done with the glue down method can be the most stable and enduring. When you are installing hardwood flooring using the glue down method, you can rest assured that you are using a technique that has been time-tested.

- Tools Needed When Installing Hardwood Flooring

Square Notched Trowel – This trowel should have one quarter inch sides for the application of the glue.

Broom and Dust Pan – You’ll want to constantly be cleaning up any saw dust that could get stuck under your floor panels or get stuck in your connecting joints. The last thing you need is a lumpy hardwood floor when you’re done installing hardwood flooring.

Carpenter’s Crayon – This is what you use to mark where you’ll make your cuts on your panels. You’ll also use this to mark up the surface where you’ll be laying your panels. You’ll want to keep this handy at all times because it is particularly important with the glue down method that everything be done very precisely.

Circular Saw – You’ll use your circular saw to cut up panels as necessary. Additionally, you’ll use your circular saw to score your substrate sheets every eight inches. This is important for the prevention of curling panels.

Glue – Many hardwood panel kits come with their own glue. If you need to buy glue for your hardwood panels, I highly recommend Bostik’s Best Adhesive.

Lace Nails – You’ll use these nails when connecting the panels to walls and wall strips.

Plywood Substrate Sheets – These are placed on top of the concrete and go underneath your hardwood floor.

Soft Cloths – You’ll need these to clean up excess glue throughout the process of installing hardwood flooring. If the glue is allowed to set, it’ll take extra measure to remove it. In some cases, it requires special chemicals and glue to remove glue once it has set. You’ll also need your soft cloths to clean up after you’ve installed your hardwood floors.

Rubber Gloves – It’s much better to glue the fingers of your gloves together than your own fingers together! Besides, many people don’t like having dried glue on their hands for weeks after they finish installing hardwood flooring.

- Final Preparation for Installing Hardwood Flooring

When using the glue down method for installing hardwood flooring, it is absolutely essential that the surface where you will be placing your flooring panels is properly prepared.

You’ll be attaching your flooring panels to this surface, so the floor must be smooth, dry, and as clean as possible to give your hardwood floor a solid support base. Be particularly careful to clean up anything that looks like it may be grease or oil, as your glue may not properly bond.

It’s also very important that your sub floor be completely level and flat. If you notice any unevenness, get some patching cement from the hardware store to even the sub floor.

You also need to choose between one of the two methods of laying hardwood panels down with the glue down method. Your choices for installing hardwood flooring are the Walk On method or the Wet Lay method.

If you choose the Wet Lay method for installing hardwood flooring, you’ll be putting glue across the substrate followed by placing the hardwood panel on top of the glue. After the glue starts to become tacky, you proceed to the next panel.

However, sometimes it is recommended for first time installers using the glue down method to place the next panels before the glue becomes tacky so that you can adjust your panels a few minutes later if they are not lined up properly.

The Walk On method of installing hardwood flooring requires precise panel laying. This process of installing hardwood flooring waits until the glue is very tacky and then lays the panel in the glue. This keeps you from getting glue smudges all over your panels as you go.

Experienced hardwood installers typically use the Walk On method because of the better finished results it can provide. Since you are reading instructions about how to install hardwood floors, we’ll assume you’re using the Wet Lay method.

- Instructions for Installing Hardwood Flooring

1. Place your substrate sheets, stretched across the foundation. Make sure that the surface is level, clean, and free of debris.

2. Get your glue warm. It should be slightly above room temperature or it will be very difficult to work with. If it’s below room temperature, you’ll find it impossible to work with your glue.

3. Use your square notched trowel to put glue in the starting corner of the room. Put enough to securely fasten the board, but ration your glue so that it’ll be able to complete the entire hardwood flooring process.

If you had any doubt about whether you have enough glue, it would have been a good idea to buy more before you started gluing. You’ll typically find that it takes an extra day to do the flooring when you run out of glue before you’ve finished.

4. Try to place your first wood panel straight down on the glue, secured into the corner. Since you are working with wet glue, place the panel as best you can at first so that you’ll not be smearing the glue around as you adjust the panel’s placement. If you had used the Walk On method, you wouldn’t be able to move the panel at all only a few seconds after placement.

5. You can continue on as in the above steps with adding more panels until you reach the last panel, which shouldn’t completely fit. Use your crayon to mark where to cut the board and your saw to make the cut.

6. Get your first row wedged in really tight so that it will provide a solid basis for your entire floor.

7. Before any of the glue dries, use a soft cloth to clean up any glue that may be sitting on the surface of your first row. The longer you wait to clean up the glue, the more difficult it will get to clean up the glue.

8. Hopefully you didn’t mutilate the excess piece of panel you cut off to end the first row. That’s going to be the panel you use to start the next row. This helps make sure your hardwood floor looks nice by having all of the panels offset.

9. If you’re seeing any bubbles, hills, or slopes on the panels you’ve been laying, put a heavy, flat object on top of these sections to hold them down until the glue attaches them to the substrate.

10. Clean up again. Get all of that sawdust and glue out of there. A soft cloth with mineral spirits on it can be used to get glue you’ve missed that may be hardening. Clean the mineral spirits off quickly to avoid having them damage the floor. You should have a nice, new hardwood floor.

Hindsight Tips for Installing Hardwood Flooring:

- For best results, use plywood sheets to form your substrate.

- The thicker your substrate sheets are, the easier it is to compensate for leveling differences at the surface. But you should still try to get the surface as level as possible before laying your substrate sheets.

- If you have enough flat, heavy objects, place them on each new panel as you place the panel on the floor to help it get the best possible attachment to the substrate. Don’t use anything that can damage the surface of your panels. If you have nothing else, you can always lay on the panels. Be careful not to get glue on top of them though.

Rest Assured That You Made a Good Choice Installing Hardwood Flooring

When you have your hardwood floor glued down, you are ready to experience a great sen
se of accomplishment. If you did a really good job of installing your hardwood flooring using the glue down method, you will not experience nearly as much creaky floor syndrome as you would with other methods of installation.

And for your sake, I really hope you followed the instructions carefully and picking out high quality flooring. This is because replacing a glued down hardwood floor is no task for amateurs. That is unless you’ve got destructive pleasure tendencies. You’ll need some serious sledgehammer, crow bar, and circular saw work if you ever want to replace that glued down hardwood floor.