Karndean Flooring news| Floor information|Carpet tips| News
In need of some inspiration?
09th February 2016
09th February 2016
As well as a home sampling service and advice from ourselves we would recommend Karndean's 'Floorstyle floor designer' as a great way to see different styles in different room settings.
Launch it now and mix and match to your hearts content! Start here - http://designflooring-residential.esignserver1.com/karndean/gallery.do?locale=en_GB
Launch it now and mix and match to your hearts content! Start here - http://designflooring-residential.esignserver1.com/karndean/gallery.do?locale=en_GB
Why is Karndean better than real wood?
03rd March 2014
03rd March 2014
Some of my new clients are not familiar with the advantages of a design floor over a hardwood or Laminate floor. This is some of the information I would share with them.
Karndean gives you all the visual qualities of natural wood, but without some of the issues and difficulties. Natural timber can come in greatly varying quality and can expand, warp and shrink. Design flooring however maintains its shape throughout its lifetime. Hardwood is susceptible to temperature changes, and if it gets wet this can cause serious problems, whereas Karndean can handle changes in temperature and spills of water.
Karndean just isn’t in the same league as laminates and vinyls. Quite simply the quality, colour, finish, effects and guarantee are significantly better. Many man-made materials, including laminate, can curl or shrink, whereas design flooring maintains its shape throughout its lifetime. Have you ever seen a Laminate floor that is chipped and breaking away at the corners or worn away? I have and it makes me cringe! Karndean is hard wearing and quite simply much better quality than any Laminated MDF floor that's been made.
I have visited homes in which we installed Karndean over 10 years ago and the floor still looks amazing. As long as the floor is looked after it can last for years, and even then, maintenance of Karndean is very easy. Dogs, cats, and kids are not an issue especially when they are young and not house trained yet! For busy households like these I would usually recommend the hard wearing Van Gogh range.
As always, a home visit for advice and a quote is simple to arrange, and with no obligation and expert advice, why not give us a call?
Karndean gives you all the visual qualities of natural wood, but without some of the issues and difficulties. Natural timber can come in greatly varying quality and can expand, warp and shrink. Design flooring however maintains its shape throughout its lifetime. Hardwood is susceptible to temperature changes, and if it gets wet this can cause serious problems, whereas Karndean can handle changes in temperature and spills of water.
Karndean just isn’t in the same league as laminates and vinyls. Quite simply the quality, colour, finish, effects and guarantee are significantly better. Many man-made materials, including laminate, can curl or shrink, whereas design flooring maintains its shape throughout its lifetime. Have you ever seen a Laminate floor that is chipped and breaking away at the corners or worn away? I have and it makes me cringe! Karndean is hard wearing and quite simply much better quality than any Laminated MDF floor that's been made.
I have visited homes in which we installed Karndean over 10 years ago and the floor still looks amazing. As long as the floor is looked after it can last for years, and even then, maintenance of Karndean is very easy. Dogs, cats, and kids are not an issue especially when they are young and not house trained yet! For busy households like these I would usually recommend the hard wearing Van Gogh range.
As always, a home visit for advice and a quote is simple to arrange, and with no obligation and expert advice, why not give us a call?
Some tips on cleaning spills from your carpet
12th April 2013
12th April 2013
Whoever uttered the phrase "don't cry over spilt milk" may not have recently spent there hard earned on a lovely carpet, so I have put together some tips on how to best avoid those tears!
1. As my old dad says ( who has sold carpets for over thirty years) NO MOISTURE NO STAIN! Having this being drummed into myself and my siblings I can definitely vouch for this as the best plan. DAB! DON'T RUB! Kitchen paper should always be a must have at any dinner party and dabbing from the outside of the spill inwards and replacing with fresh paper frequently until there is no moisture should sort out most spills.
2. Once you have finished dabbing the moisture out your carpet and it looks like it may still stain, try applying some luke warm water onto it mixed with a dash of dishwashing detergent or laundry powder. Gently rub the mixture onto the carpet with a sponge, Get it slightly soapy and then rinse with clean water, leave a dry cloth or dish towel on top for a while until dry, don't be afraid to step on it with your foot to soak it into the cloth.
3. VINEGAR!
The cleaning properties of vinegar are well known and can be very effective repeating step 2 with vinegar(white not malt) is definitely worth a try.
4. Pet mess.
Puppies and kittens may be cute but can cause havoc with your floors. Repeat the steps above and sprinkle some bicarbonate of soda over the stain, leave for a while then hoover up the excess.
5.Wine stains.
When red wine is spilled onto your carpet, white wine can actually help. White wine will help neutralize the red and will make it easier to lift the color off of your carpet. Pour a little white wine over the stained area and very gently blot the liquid up with a tea towel . If the stain is still visible, you can add salt or bicarbonate of soda to continue lifting out the pigment. There are products you can buy online to remove wine stains one of them is - 'Wine away' it seems to have alot of good reviews and can be used on wet and dried in stains.
6. Chewing gum.
Put some ice cubes in a plastic bag (or even a bag of frozen peas etc) place on to the chewing gum until it goes hard then gently scrape of with a spoon or blunt knife being careful not to pull out the carpets fibres thus avoiding a bald patch.
Alternatively you could heat the chewing gum gently with a hairdryer and gently pull the softened gum off the carpet, try to avoid burning or melting the carpets fibres.
7.Candle wax
Fill a plastic bag with ice (or the frozen peas again) and lay it on top of the wax stain. Allow the wax to freeze. Make sure the wax stain is not getting wet from leaks or condensation, as moisture will make the stain harder to get out.
Scrape off as much of the wax as you can with a blunt knife or similar,
Place brown paper (e.g. a paper bag) over the wax stain.
Run a warm iron over the paper or cloth to heat the wax. The paper should absorb the wax as it melts. Don't let the iron get too hot or it could melt the carpet or burn the paper!
Repeat with fresh brown paper or a dishcloth until the wax is all gone.
Go over the stained area with a soapy sponge to get rid of the last bits of wax and any stuck on dirt.
Irn-bru stains.
Getting this soaked up as quick as possible and attempting some of the steps above are my only tips im afraid! Insurance company's will not even attempt to send out a cleaning company a lot of the time because it is pretty much THE number one worse stain to try and get out. It usually means a new carpet!
So rounding up. DABBING is usually the key to avoiding a stain. Or alternatively going for a Luxury vinyl floor like Karndean or Amtico which is very easy to look after and has low maintenance, as well as adding a bit of class to a room.
1. As my old dad says ( who has sold carpets for over thirty years) NO MOISTURE NO STAIN! Having this being drummed into myself and my siblings I can definitely vouch for this as the best plan. DAB! DON'T RUB! Kitchen paper should always be a must have at any dinner party and dabbing from the outside of the spill inwards and replacing with fresh paper frequently until there is no moisture should sort out most spills.
2. Once you have finished dabbing the moisture out your carpet and it looks like it may still stain, try applying some luke warm water onto it mixed with a dash of dishwashing detergent or laundry powder. Gently rub the mixture onto the carpet with a sponge, Get it slightly soapy and then rinse with clean water, leave a dry cloth or dish towel on top for a while until dry, don't be afraid to step on it with your foot to soak it into the cloth.
3. VINEGAR!
The cleaning properties of vinegar are well known and can be very effective repeating step 2 with vinegar(white not malt) is definitely worth a try.
4. Pet mess.
Puppies and kittens may be cute but can cause havoc with your floors. Repeat the steps above and sprinkle some bicarbonate of soda over the stain, leave for a while then hoover up the excess.
5.Wine stains.
When red wine is spilled onto your carpet, white wine can actually help. White wine will help neutralize the red and will make it easier to lift the color off of your carpet. Pour a little white wine over the stained area and very gently blot the liquid up with a tea towel . If the stain is still visible, you can add salt or bicarbonate of soda to continue lifting out the pigment. There are products you can buy online to remove wine stains one of them is - 'Wine away' it seems to have alot of good reviews and can be used on wet and dried in stains.
6. Chewing gum.
Put some ice cubes in a plastic bag (or even a bag of frozen peas etc) place on to the chewing gum until it goes hard then gently scrape of with a spoon or blunt knife being careful not to pull out the carpets fibres thus avoiding a bald patch.
Alternatively you could heat the chewing gum gently with a hairdryer and gently pull the softened gum off the carpet, try to avoid burning or melting the carpets fibres.
7.Candle wax
Fill a plastic bag with ice (or the frozen peas again) and lay it on top of the wax stain. Allow the wax to freeze. Make sure the wax stain is not getting wet from leaks or condensation, as moisture will make the stain harder to get out.
Scrape off as much of the wax as you can with a blunt knife or similar,
Place brown paper (e.g. a paper bag) over the wax stain.
Run a warm iron over the paper or cloth to heat the wax. The paper should absorb the wax as it melts. Don't let the iron get too hot or it could melt the carpet or burn the paper!
Repeat with fresh brown paper or a dishcloth until the wax is all gone.
Go over the stained area with a soapy sponge to get rid of the last bits of wax and any stuck on dirt.
Irn-bru stains.
Getting this soaked up as quick as possible and attempting some of the steps above are my only tips im afraid! Insurance company's will not even attempt to send out a cleaning company a lot of the time because it is pretty much THE number one worse stain to try and get out. It usually means a new carpet!
So rounding up. DABBING is usually the key to avoiding a stain. Or alternatively going for a Luxury vinyl floor like Karndean or Amtico which is very easy to look after and has low maintenance, as well as adding a bit of class to a room.