How often should you do it?

Sorry but this post is not going to be anywhere near as exciting as it may appear from the title.

One of the most basic requirement of a well-run home is cleanliness and most people devote at least some time during each day doing something towards that end. It might be wiping down kitchen surfaces or it might be cleaning the bathroom.

Whether it be wiping down work surfaces or cleaning out a fridge shelf, we all usually want to try to counter the effects our daily lives have on our domestic and work environments.

Quite often people will have a quick run around with the vacuum cleaner in the lounge or in the hallway if they have carpets there.

I am often asked to recommend a vacuum cleaner and people ask what machine it is that we use in our company.

We, like most professional cleaning companies in Europe, use a twin motor Sebo machine which is probably the most highly recommended professional machine bar none - they produce this commercial machine in two widths - a BS36 and a BS46.

The important point is they have two motors - one to drive the brush bar (the sweeper that beats the carpet and vibrates the dust particles to the face of the fibre) and one motor to drive the vacuum which sucks up this dry soil.

In terms of a domestic machine the one I recommend most often for carpet maintenance is the Miele S7210 - this is a very good machine and most importantly it is one of the very few (if not the only one) that has two motors just like the best commercial machines.

 I know I can recommend it because it is the one we use in our own house. It has won at least one Which? consumer test as best vacuum cleaner for domestic use. They are not cheap but show me a really good tool that is!

So here are the two machines side by side - the commercial machine is a dull grey colour (left) and the domestic machine is available in a yellow and several other colours.

So the inevitable question is how often do you do it? Well once a day is not too often but may be seen as a bit OCD so lets say three times a week is good and once a week is not enough. At the end of the day you decide - but first of all get a good vacuum cleaner.

Oh yes and I should add we never recommend Dyson machines - sorry Sir James but you will find most commercial cleaners would not be seen dead with one in their van. And since they stopped manufacturing them in the UK it is much easier to be able to get this off our chests.

We name the guilty...

Just another normal upholstery cleaning job today. Typical in many ways because the homeowners i.e. my clients have done what many, many other carpet and furniture owners have done - they have self-medicated!

It sounds a bit dramatic but I can't think of any other way of describing this obsession people have with cleaning their own carpets and upholstery. Many are called to this job but few are chosen to do it -- properly.

As with today's victim who has fallen for the beautifully labelled bottle of soapy gunk that purports to be the one shot solution to dirty, grubby carpets and upholstery.

The problem is that even if it provides a brief holiday from the grubby appearance of the carpets and soiled furniture, this holiday will last for a very short time indeed.

As soon as the carpet or furniture dries and goes back into normal circulation it will start to 'grub-up' much quicker than normal because the soapy residue left behind by the amateur textile technician is now actually attracting dirt!

Soon the furniture is looking worse than ever and needs cleaning again - so the instant supermarket-bought remedies come out from under the sink and the cycle begins again - except this time there is more gunk on the furniture and carpets than before and hence the problem just gets worse.

I am not saying there is anything inherently wrong with these products - but then I would not say that outright as I do not want to be sued by these multi-national behemoths - it is just that the products have the capacity firstly to be overused and secondly to be wrongly applied and thirdly to not be rinsed out after they have done their job.

I do feel that 'doing their job' does not really cover the effect they have on carpet and upholstery. Undoubtedly the greatest problem is the residual product left in the carpet or on the upholstery and this can only be solved by the rinsing action - this rinsing action almost never happens to the degree required to flush all the product out of the fibres being cleaned - hence the problem.

This is not an exhaustive list but the products include:  Vanish, 1001, Rug Doctor Pro, Vax AAA, Tesco Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, Sainsbury Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, Essential Waitrose Carpet Cleaner

See the difference - no really!

We clean a lot of end-of-tenancy properties - especially when the seasons start to turn in our part of the world (the New Forest, UK) and winter 'long' lets give way to shorter holiday lets and vice versa in the autumn.

Usually the holiday visitors treat their temporary home with respect and care - but we do get called on to clean carpets and hard floors at some stage during the 'season' to keep the properties looking pristine for the next guests.

The winter 'long' lets present a different sort of challenge as often the longer-term temporary residents are less than careful with the furnishings which may not have been in the greatest condition when they moved in. Memories are short with such things.

Sometimes people do forget how clean the property was when they moved in. One thing is for sure we don't often find a black-top* in a residential property - but the following video shows they do happen.

*A black-top is the humourous name the industry reserves for sticky (black) restaurant and pub carpets