Posts Tagged ‘household appliances’

How A Carpet Washer Can Help To Get Your Carpets Really Clean

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

In order to keep your carpets looking fresh and clean, it’s important to vacuum them on a regular basis. However, even with regular vacuuming, your carpets will start to look dull and worn over time. The reason for this is that vacuuming will only remove loose dirt from the upper layers of the carpet. Ground in dirt which is trapped deep in the carpet will not normally be removed even by the most efficient vacuum cleaner. Spills, if not quickly attended to, can often become slightly sticky when they dry and act as a trap for dirt and dust.

Regular and frequent vacuuming is one of the best ways to avoid dirt becoming trapped deep in your carpet in the first place. Vacuuming heavily used areas such as halls and the area near doors twice a week – possibly three time a week if you have pets and young children – should be effective in preventing dust and dirt being trapped in the carpet.

Even with regular vacuuming, some ingress of dirt and dust into the deeper layers of your carpet is unavoidable.Accidental spills, heavy traffic, wet and muddy shoes will grind dirt and dust into the carpet and it will start to look shabby and worn out. Given that it’s not possible to remove this ingrained dirt by using a vacuum cleaner, some alternative cleaning method is necessary.

Far and away the most effective way to remove this trapped dirt is the use of a carpet washer. These look very much like standard vacuums and loosen the dirt using detergent and water prior to removing it in a similar way that a vacuum would. Deep cleaning once every six months – or possibly more depending upon your circumstances – will help to not only keep your carpet looking clean and fresh, but will also extend the carpet’s lifetime.

Carpet washers, much like standard vacuum cleaners, come in a variety of different forms with the most common being cylinder and upright. They are available to hire in most large supermarkets – but the cost of buying these has come down quite a bit, so that may make sense for you. If you have your own carpet washer it can also be used for cleaning up any accidental spills immediately – before there is an opportunity for a stain to become established.

It doesn’t matter if you decide to rent or buy, regular deep cleaning of your carpets will prolong their life and cover the cost of hire or purchase. Not only will your carpets look better but lingering odours will be reduced. The overall environment will be more hygienic – an important consideration if you have young children.

Find out how to extend the life of your carpet using carpet washer – your carpets will look cleaner and so will your house. Also learn how you can reduce the amount of time you spend on housework with a Tefal steam generator iron – you’ll wonder how you ever got by without one.

Selecting An Ironing Board – What To Look For

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

An ironing board is, without doubt, a mundane item of household equipment to which the majority of people give very little thought. However, it is an essential item for any household and, if you choose the wrong one, then you might end up with badly pressed garments, take more time than you need to when ironing and even put unnecessary strain on your back.

Most people use steam irons these days – or possibly even steam generator irons, which are becoming popular due to the fact that they can reduce the amount of time spent ironing by 50%. For either of these types of irons, an ironing board with an open mesh surface construction is a good choice. This allows the steam to pass through the garment being pressed, through the cover of the ironing board and through the mesh surface of the board itself. When a lot of items are being ironed in one session, this helps to avoid any build up of condensation which might otherwise cause both the garments and the cover of the board to become soggy.

The cover of the ironing board should present a smooth surface to facilitate ironing. It should be secure and not prone to slipping. An elasticated cover, possibly with one or two cross-ties at the centre, is generally a good design which won’t move about as you iron. A metalised cover will reflect some of the heat and this will help to smooth the underside of the garment whilst the top surface is being ironed.

The type of items that you intend to iron will play an important role in determining the size and shape of the board for you. A small board will be easier to store – but will typically require you to position the garment that you’re pressing more often. Picking a large board is usually the best choice – but make sure it has a good taper on the pointed end. This will make it easier to get into corners – the corners of blouses and shirts, collars etc.

Scissor action legs which allow you to adjust the height of the board are pretty much standard these days. Make sure that you set the board height at a level that’s comfortable for you and doesn’t strain your back. If you’re the only one who irons (I bet you are) then a position marker is always useful. If you like to sit down whilst ironing then choose a board which has curved legs so that your knees don’t bang against the legs when you’re sitting down. Whatever type of legs you go for, they should provide good support and give you a stable platform to iron upon. A broad T-piece foot or splayed feet joined by a connecting bar usually works well.

The support for the iron should be strong enough to support the iron’s weight. For a traditional steam iron a wire frame type of arrangement is generally sufficient. Due to their large base units, steam generator irons can be quite a bit heavier than normal steam irons. A slightly longer board which just uses a heat resistant plate on its surface may be better for this type of iron. Alternatively, the base unit could be placed on the floor – as long as the connecting hose between the base unit and the iron is long enough to allow this.

Ironing is a thankless task at best. Cut it down to size with a Tefal steam generator iron – you’ll be delighted at just how much time you can save.

How To Choose The Right Steam Generator Iron

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

At first glance, a steam generator iron looks very similar to a conventional steam iron – especially the iron itself. However, it has a significantly different construction and mode of operation. Steam generator irons have a separate base unit which acts as both a water reservoir and boiler. There is no water in the body of the iron itself. The steam is passed from the water reservoir to the iron along a hollow connecting tube.

Steam generator irons do tend to cost a little more than traditional steam irons – but they offer several advantages to the user. It’s worthwhile taking a little time to consider the important points before you decide which one to buy. The key things to look at when comparing steam generator irons are steam pressure, the capacity of the water reservoir, the soleplate, how easy it is to clean and the overall ease of use.

STEAM PRESSURE: The steam causes moisture and heat to penetrate the fabric of the garment being pressed. This makes it flexible and makes it easier to remove wrinkles and creases. The higher the pressure of the steam, the further it penetrates into the garment being ironed and the better the final results will be.

Steam generator irons usually have their output quoted in grams of steam per minute. The higher the number, the more steam is produced and the easier it is to iron. Typical values range from 70 to 140 grams per minute (g/min).

Sometimes you may see the steam pressure expressed in bar. Once again, the higher the number is, the more steam that will be produced, the deeper it will penetrate the fabric and the better the results will be.

WATER RESERVOIR SIZE: Steam generator irons normally have a generously sized water tank. This means that you will be able to do a fair bit of ironing before you need to top up the water. The exact duration will vary based upon the type of fabric being ironed – but you should get a couple of hours of ironing out of a 1.4 litre tank.

If you do a good deal of ironing then you may wish to consider getting one of the larger tanks available. If you have an ironing board which is relatively small, then you might want to make sure that the tube which connects the reservoir to the iron is long enough for you to work with the base unit positioned on the floor rather than on the ironing board itself.

It’s worthwhile considering the ease of filling the reservoir. Some of the better steam generator irons are supplied with detachable reservoirs which make filling easier. Others include the option of filling the iron whilst it is being used – which avoids the need to switch it off and the requirement to wait whilst it heats up again after being topped up.

THE SOLEPLATE: The iron’s soleplate should be of a design and material which allows it to pass smoothly and easily over the fabric being pressed. It should be scratch resistant, durable, and easy to clean.

EASE OF CLEANING: The majority of modern irons, whether steam generator irons or conventional steam irons, use ordinary tap water. Depending upon where you live, this will typically contain a variety of different minerals – including both calcium and magnesium. This can result in scale deposits as the water is heated and evaporates.

If your house is in a hard water area, then you will definitely want to go for an iron which has some type of anti-scale system. Some iron use a special detachable anti-scale cartridge – others use water to loosen the scale and then flush it out.

EASE OF USE: As previously discussed, you may find it best if your steam generator iron has a long enough hose connection so that you can position this on the floor rather than at the end of the board.

The majority of people will appreciate the added convenience of a removable water reservoir.

Other features, which you may or may not find appealing, include automatically rewinding power cords, fast heat up systems, easy clean soleplates etc.

SUMMARY: Be certain to pick an iron with a high enough steam pressure for your needs. Choose a water tank that is big enough for you to complete your ironing without having to stop to top it up. Make sure that the soleplate is well designed and uses a suitable material in its construction. Make sure that some form of anti-scale system is included.

Find out how you can cut your ironing time in half by using a Tefal steam generator iron – it’s a lot faster and the end result is better as well