Marble is a beautiful stone. It is also expensive and, being a soft stone, susceptible to damage. Marble can add glamour and sophistication to a home or office, but if it should not be maintained properly, its look will deteriorate and the end result will be the opposite of what was intended when the marble was installed. If you are in London and using the services of a commercial cleaner to keep your office or home looking at its best, they will look after the marble for you. However, it is still worthwhile to know what you can do to clean marble, should the situation ever arise, as well as the general principles of marble maintenance.
To clean marble you will need the following:
1. Soft cloths and sponges
2. Warm (not hot) water
3. Chamois cloth
4. Neutral non abrasive marble cleaners like acetone, hydrogen peroxide or ammonia
5. Marble polish
This is how to go about it.
* Wet a sponge or cloth with the warm water and wipe the stone surface thoroughly.
* Rinse out the sponge or cloth and wipe the water away from the stone surface. If a soapy residue appears, keep wiping and rinsing away at the stone until the residue has disappeared.
* If you find the marble surface is dull or has streaky marks on it, this usually means that a soapy residue is still left on the stone. This is often not easily visible. If this is so, keep on with the wiping and rinsing until all the streaks have gone and the stone surface has an even glossy finish.
* Wipe the surface dry with a clean soft cloth. It is important not to let the marble air dry and this may cause the streaks and other marks to appear on the surface.
* While the above is all you need to do for regular cleaning, there are some more steps you can take on a six monthly or annual basis to maintain the marble. After completing the steps given above, clean the marble with the neutral non abrasive house cleaner, being careful to look for stains camouflaged by the patterns on the stone surface.
* After using the cleaner, make sure all residues are removed using a clean damp cloth.
* Once again, dry the surface with a clean cloth. Do not allow it to air dry.
* Once the surface is completely dry, apply a marble polish to the stone. Since different polishes have different application methods, make sure that you follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully to get the best results.
Since marble is a porous stone that is easily stained, if you find any stains on the surface, it is best not to wait for the commercial cleaner to come, but to clean it yourself immediately.
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Cloth upholstered seats: Clean these the same way that you clean your carpet: use a vacuum cleaner. To clean a big padded chair of the lounge suite type, remove the cushions and get into the nooks and crannies. But do check first – you can often find pens, coins and other odds and ends down the backs of sofa and padded chair cushions. A spill or smear that won’t vacuum off can be spot cleaned by gently dampening the spot with water (don’t use too much) and scrubbing gently with soap and a soft bristle brush (e.g. a toothbrush). Use a damp (not wet) sponge to rinse off the soap.
Vinyl upholstered seats: Simply wipe these down with warm soapy water, or with dilute white vinegar. It couldn’t be easier!
Leather upholstered seats: To clean a leather upholstered lounge suite (or any other leather, as a matter of fact), wipe it gently with vinegar diluted in warm water and applied with a soft cloth (the cloth should not be dripping wet). Alternatively, use warm water and saddle soap (found in any good horsy shop). To care for leather furniture, apply a mixture of linseed oil and vinegar (mix in the proportion of 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil) sparingly with a soft cloth. This works for cleaning leather jackets, too.
Wicker seats: The best way to clean wicker, cane or bamboo seats is to vacuum it using the brush attachment. If a wicker seat gets really dirty, you should spray it lightly with plain water (take it outside and use the hose!) then scrub it all over with a soft bristled brush. Don’t use soap. Leave the wicker seat outside to dry. This should be done annually to stop the wicker drying out too much if the wicker is untreated. You can use soap on bamboo: mix up some warm soapy water with a dash of borax and scrub the bamboo all over. One trick for extending the life of a saggy cane seat is to turn it upside down and cover it with a towel that has been soaked in a mixture of boiling salty water (1 cup salt to 1 cup water or just use sea water!). Leave this for 30 minutes before removing the towel. Leave the seat inverted for another 24 hours to let the fibres shrink and dry into place. Obviously, don’t sit on it during this process and try to keep cats off.
Really dirty sofas: If you have just bought a second-hand sofa that is absolutely revolting, you can clean it yourself rather than calling in a professional upholstery cleaner. This writer did this with what she thought was a grey-green sofa that ponged of cats and cigarette smoke. Wait for a sunny day. Start by giving the sofa a thorough vacuuming all over, including under the cushions. Any coins and paper clips you discover are a bonus. Then scrub the sofa everywhere with warm soapy water. Work up a good lather to get the grub out. Leave it to dry in the sunshine (takes a couple of hours). When dry, sprinkle the sofa with baking soda to which you’ve added a few drops of essential oil of your choice (lavender is good). Leave this to sit and absorb smells before vacuuming again. Repeat if necessary. The sofa I did this on turned out to not be grey-green at all, but a delicate moss colour – the grey was caused by the old cigarette smoke. Alternatively, you could try hiring a steam cleaning machine of the sort used for cleaning carpets and try that on a grotty old sofa. It should work.
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One of Murphy’s little known laws is that the dirtier the hand, the more likely it is to turn on a switch. Little known, but very true. One of the biggest headaches of domestic cleaning is getting the dirt off electrical switches. Why should this concern you when you have a domestic cleaning service to look after all these small problems? Two reasons – one, the cleaners won’t be coming every day and there is nothing as unsightly as dirty switches and two, oil and chemical deposits from hands that are left on switches could damage the finish. Not all the switches in your house will be used to the same extent, so the problem of dirty switches should normally be limited to a few areas like the kitchen or garage. If you notice the switches showing signs of dirt, don’t let them stay dirty till the next round of house cleaning, do it as soon as possible to prevent the dirt from getting ingrained in the switches and damaging the finish.
Of course, when dealing with anything electrical there are a few precautions you need to take.
* First of all turn of the electricity to the room where you are cleaning the switches
* Never apply water directly on to the switches
* Never spray cleaning fluids directly on to the switches
* Start by using a paper towel to wipe the grease and oils off the switch surface. Repeat two or three times if necessary Ð you will probably have to do this in the kitchen
* Spray some gentle domestic cleanser onto a soft cloth and gently rub the switch. Repeat if needed until all signs of dirt and grime are gone.
* If thee are stubborn stains that will not go easily, apply a little of the cleaning solution to the stain using a piece of cloth and allow the area to remain damp for a minute or two before wiping it. If this still does not work, you will have to wait for the domestic cleaning service to come in and take care of it.
* Always make sure that the switch and surrounding areas are completely dry before turning on the power to the room.
Switches are going to be touched and there is no way of keeping dirt from getting on them, but regular cleaning, either as a stand alone effort or to supplement the work of a domestic cleaning service will keep your switches looking new for a long time.
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Remember the times when our parents used to absolutely detest cleaning the exhaust fan? However, cleaning an exhaust fan these days is no big deal, as the number of ways and techniques as well as products that can be used to clean an exhaust fan has increased by number. The thick coat of dust particles that accumulates on your exhaust fan is a bit tough to remove but not at all impossible. Well keeping ourselves apart from the debate of how tough it is to clean exhaust fans, let’s just go through the knowledge of a simple process on how to clean your exhaust fan.
The list of things that you would need to clean your exhaust fan is a couple of soft rags, liquid dish soap, paper towels, window cleaning solution, old toothbrushes, vacuum cleaners, crevice tool vacuum attachments. The very first step that you need to follow by going through the cleaning spree is to turn off the power of the fan from that of the fuse box. After that you can proceed to remove the cover and then soak the whole thing in warm water in which you have added a substantial amount of dishwashing liquid. It is at this time that you can take an old toothbrush and then scrub and clean the parts which would have been impossible for you to reach otherwise. Make sure that you scrub these parts a bit too hard as they are the most stubborn places where dirt seems to accumulate. Then unplug the whole of the unit of the fan and pull it out. Following that, set the whole thing out on some cardboard or an old newspaper.
After the cleaning process is over wipe the whole fan unit, with towels which are completely dry. When the entire dust gets cleared away you might need to spray some window or door cleaner on it and then slowly wipe it off with the soft rag. The window cleaner is the best possible product to clean the blades of the fan and you can get rid off the stubborn stains very easily with it. After that you need to vacuum out the whole of the enclosure with the help of a crevice tool and then slowly clean it with a dry cloth. Gradually then put the unit back together and put on its cover to prevent any further accumulation of dust particles.
While cleaning an exhaust fan you keep certain things in mind, which are extremely vital in the process. The units of some fans cannot be removed. If you are going through the same problem then you might have to follow another step and that is simply soaking the filters in warm water and then cleaning it off. You must never make use of any abrasive scouring powders while cleaning your exhaust fan. You must also keep in mind not to spray any kind of liquid whether it is home cleaner or plain water directly into the electric parts. Make sure that you follow all these tips well and you will see your exhaust fan in a brand new condition, in little to no time.
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Cleaning your TV is easy. And it’s something you should do once a week or so and not wait for your domestic cleaning agency to come and do it for you. Dust and dirt on a TV screen builds up gradually and you may not notice the progressive darkening of the picture until someone points it out to you. That’s when you probably wipe the screen with a damp cloth and are surprised, once again, at the difference a quick wipe makes to your viewing experience. Cleaning a TV is so easy there’s absolutely no reason why you should not be doing it yourself. What follows applies only to normal CRT TVs and not LCD or projection TVs.
Before beginning turn off and unplug the TV. First of all keep in mind that the glass screen is prone to static which attracts dust which may later slide off the screen and collect under the TV. It’s a good idea to have someone lift the TV once a month and wipe both the table area under the TV as well as the underside of the TV itself.
To clean the body, use a household cleaning spray. Spray the house cleaner on to a clean soft cloth and wipe all the external areas of the TV. Do not spray directly on to the body as some moisture may enter the TV through the ventilation openings. If there are any stubborn stains, dampen the cloth with the cleaner and rub the affected areas. Be careful not to rub so hard the TV becomes unstable. The areas near the controls are the most prone to staining from hands. Be careful not to press any of the buttons or other controls too hard when cleaning them – they could get damaged.
Before cleaning the screen check your TV manual to see if you have a plain screen or a coated one. If your manual does not say anything about it, play safe as treat it like a coated screen so the coating is not accidentally damaged.
If your TV screen is coated, clean it with soft cloth dampened with distilled water. This is important as ordinary water may lave mineral deposits on the glass surface. Wipe the screen gently in a top to down movement. Let the screen air dry and if there are any spots left over, repeat the process on the affected areas. If the spots do not go, use a special electronics cleaning spray – any good electronics shop should be able to guide you.
For regular screens, simply dampen a cloth with a glass cleaner and wipe the glass.
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Suede upholstery not only looks great, it is extremely soft and comfortable. This is why suede is such a popular upholstery material. However, it is more delicate than normal leather and requires special care to keep it looking good for years.
Even if you have a domestic cleaning agency coming in to clean your house and your upholstery regularly, keep in mind that suede absorbs liquids and other kinds of stains more the normal leather and if you get a stain on suede, its best to clean it up immediately before it gets ingrained in the material, rather than waiting for the domestic cleaning agency to come and clean it – it may be too late by them.
* Any spill should be blotted with a clean white cloth or paper towel. Never rub the stain as this will push it deeper into the fabric.
* Do not use any cleaning fluids or sprays that are not specifically designed for use on suede. They could damage the finish of the material.
* You can try removing small spots or stains by using a clean art gum eraser to rub the stain away. But never rub too hard and if the eraser does not seem to be having any effect, stop immediately.
* It is advisable not to try to remove major stains or spills from suede yourself, you could do more harm than good. It’s safer to call in your domestic cleaning agency for a special job or a profession leather cleaning expert to do the job.
* Never try and scrape away any coagulated dirt from suede. You could scrape off the nap along with the dirt.
Besides stain removal, regular brushing of the suede will increase its life. Here are 4 easy steps for doing this:
1. Use a soft napping brush and suede (or Nubuck) cleaning cloths that are available from furniture shops to brush away dirt. Do not over brush or rub any one area. A good brushing once a week should be fine.
2. Move the brush and cloth in different direction so as to clean all sides of the nap and ensure that dirt is not being forced into one side.
3. After brushing the suede, run a clean dry sponge over the surface to give the nap an even look.
4. Ask your house cleaning agency to recommend a good water proofing agent to keep the suede clean between the periodic cleanings.
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OK, you may have got the hang of using vinegar around your home as a natural house cleaner for things like unblocking drains, washing windows and the like, but what about in your car? Have you tried cleaning with vinegar in there?
Some auto buffs are going to throw up their hands in horror at this point. Acid? Near the paintwork of their dearly beloved vehicle? Won’t that wreak havoc, rust and general deterioration? No, vinegar won’t. And when you stop to think about it, vinegar is a much weaker acid than car battery acid, and you don’t have too many worries about that being around your car, now, do you?
The obvious place to use vinegar for cleaning your car is for cleaning the windows, just as you would around your house. Use the same drill as you would for cleaning any other bit of glass, and don’t forget the mirrors while you’re at it. Spray the vinegar on, then buff dry with a nice soft lint-free cloth. Do this inside and out. The vinegar is strong enough to soak off fly spots and even the dead insects plastered to the dirtiest windscreen. Use a soft-bristled brush to help remove the really stubborn little bits.
Vinegar will also help get rid of that awful bumper sticker promoting that political party that you no longer support – or the stupid joke the previous car owner thought fit to decorate their wheels with. Soak a cloth in vinegar and hold this very firmly over the unwanted sticker. Alternatively, spray vinegar liberally onto the sticker until the paper is soaked. Then go away and leave it for an hour or two. Don’t let it dry out. Then peel the sticker off. You may need a cloth and/or strong fingernails to help any leftover residue on its way.
Vinegar will not hurt the chrome trim, whether that chrome trim is inside or out. So dab a little onto a soft cloth and get polishing.
Vinegar is also very good for removing general gunge and old dead bees from wiper blades. Soak a cloth in vinegar and give the blades a good wipedown. It’s a good idea to use a soft brush (e.g. an old toothbrush) to remove any bits of bee so you don’t get stung – the poison keeps working even if the bee is dead. If you do get stung, don’t use the vinegar to treat the sting. Use a paste of baking soda instead.
I haven’t tried this one, but rumour has it that if you mix 3 parts of vinegar with one part of water and pour this over the windscreen of a car left outside on a clear winter’s night, you won’t have problems with a windscreen frosting up. No guarantees, but it might work.
Not many cars these days have vinyl upholstery (not a good mix with bare legs – haven’t we all got memories of this?). But if you do have an old classic with a vinyl interior, or even a bit of vinyl upholstery amidst the cloth trim, then wipe it down with diluted vinegar (1 part water to 1 part vinegar). Leather upholstery can be cleaned with a mix of vinegar and linseed oil. Dab it on with one cloth then buff up with another.
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Diamonds may be the hardest substances on earth but that does not mean they do not get dirty and require regular cleaning. Your diamond jewelry will never wear out, but to keep it looking at its best as the years pass, you will need to clean it properly. Cleaning diamonds at home is simple and does not require any special materials. There’s no need to spend money on getting them cleaned by a jeweler. And this is not something that domestic cleaners are usually asked to do.
* The first thing you need is a sink with a tight drain plug and a fine strainer. Never risk your diamonds literally going down the drain! If you’re not sure about the sink, you can use some plastic bowls in its place. Just vary the following steps accordingly.
* Fill the sink with really hot water. Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands.
* Mix in a small amount of normal detergent.
* Place the jewelry in the hot water and let it soak for about 15 minutes.
* Remove the jewelry from the hot water and place it in a bowl full of glass cleaner. Make sure that the piece of jewelry is completely immersed in the glass cleaner.
* Allow the item to soak in the glass cleaner for 15 minutes.
* Now comes the difficult and delicate part. Remove the jewelry from the glass cleaner and using a soft brush, brush over the complete surface. Pay special attention to the nooks and crevices.
* If you have a magnifying glass, use it to look for any spots of dirt the brush may have missed and if the brush cannot get in that area, use a wooden toothpick to pry out the dirt.
* Now take the jewelry back to the hot water and detergent solution and swish it around for a minute or two to remove any remaining dirt.
* Now remove the jewelry and drain out the water. Making sure the drain plug or fine strainer is in place, rinse off the item in hot water, making sure to remove all the soap residue.
* Place the jewelry on a soft towel and allow to air dry.
* Once it is completely dry, wipe it off with a clean soft lint free cloth and you are done.
It’s important that after cleaning you check to make sure that the diamonds are still secure in their settings. It often happens that the settings get loose and it is the dirt that keeps the stones tight. If you feel the diamonds are loose, go to a jeweler and have the adjustments done.
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The warmer weather of springtime often means that a lot of creepy-crawlies that have been hibernating or whatever they do over winter start to come out again. The bees are beginning to buzz outside, the butterflies are flittering around… and the flies are starting to buzz around your kitchen. How do you deter insect pests in your home without resorting to calling in one of those professionals that zaps your home with masses of long-lasting poison that kills flies and spiders, all right, but probably doesn’t do you any good?
1. Keep your kitchen clean. Flies and other vermin are attracted to old food, so if you’ve left the dishes out overnight or have left smears and crumbs all over the bench, they’ll come. Don’t forget your floor – all sorts of crumbs and smears get on the floor and these are just as attractive to flies and the like as gunk on the bench. Clean floors by sweeping (or even vacuuming with a brush fitting on the vacuum cleaner) and by mopping.
2. Keep food in your pantry in airtight containers and keep the lid shut. Weevils and their little friends the silverfish will creep in and feed. You may have a galley-style kitchen, keep everything shipshape and have a nautical theme in your bathroom, but biscuits and flour filled with weevils is taking the theme a bit too far. Keep bayleaves loose, however, all through your pantry. Weevils and silverfish hate the smell of bayleaves and will keep away.
3. Don’t kill spiders. They don’t do any harm or spread any diseases; nor do they eat your food. All they do is build webs to kill flies and other little creepy-crawlies. If you don’t like the look of cobwebs in your home, do what my professional domestic cleaner friend does: scoop the spider up in a duster or on a piece of paper and put it outside (or on a potplant – spider webs don’t look so bad there) before wrapping a broom in a soft cloth (an old towel or sheet or even a big old sock is ideal) and gently sweeping down the web.
4. Many people sing the praises of carnivorous plants such as Venus flytraps and pitcher plants. These don’t do much towards killing flies, but they do a little bit. Better plants for deterring insect pests, especially ants, include mint, pennyroyal, tansy and rue. Try putting them in pots near the door. Basil supposedly repels flies – it certainly repels whitefly in the garden and hothouse near tomatoes – and it is so delicious that it is certainly worth a try.
5. Regular thorough house cleaning helps to repel all sorts of nasties. Make sure you get into the dark, dusty corners, as these can be breeding grounds for pests. Incidentally, if you have had a problem with flies and it looks as if your walls and woodwork has freckles, you can clean fly spots off with a home-made cleaning spray of dilute vinegar or else just a bit of warm soapy water.
6. If you have to spray, use a pyrethrum-based product. This is derived from a type of daisy and is lethal to insects. It is also harmful to fish and frogs, so if you have an aquarium, cover it with something solid to stop the pyrethrum getting in the water.
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One of the reasons that many people are hesitant about switching to natural products, even if they have sensitive skin that flares up, dries, itches or flakes when they use proprietary cleaning products, is the issue of germs. Do natural cleaning products actually manage to kill germs adequately? How can you protect yourself against food poisoning, dysentery and all those other bacterial diseases.
This belief is understandable. In the past, when natural home-made cleaners were the only option available, the incidence of cholera and all that ilk was much higher. However, it wasn’t the cleaners that were at fault. The real problem was that germs were unknown to science at that stage (or practically unknown). As late as the mid-1860s when Mrs Isabella Beeton was writing her landmark tome on household management – which included recipes for cleaning products – “germ theory” was still hotly debated (Mrs Beeton, incidentally, did believe in germs and some of her theories reflect this, in spite of some carpet cleaning recipes calling for ox-gall as an ingredient). This was an era when doctors cheerfully wore the same apron for a week while doing surgeries, and they could go from performing a post-mortem to delivering a baby without washing hands in between.
Even earlier, people believed that bathing was unhealthy and that wearing linen underclothing would keep you healthy… as long as you changed it about once a week or so and used plenty of eau-de-cologne.
Much of the bacterial diseases that were rife in the past were cleaned up adequately with what was recommended by pioneers like Lister, Pasteur and Florence Nightingale: fresh air, sunshine, regular washing hands, etc. with soap, and sterilizing things that need it (e.g. surgical implements) with boiling water. Add in decent plumbing throughout cities so you’re not drinking water that somebody has emptied a chamber pot into, plus modern vaccination programmes and antibiotics, and you eliminate even more causes of bacterial disease.
The modern trend to have special anti-bacterial, disinfectant and germicidal ingredients in nearly every household cleaning product on the market comes, largely, from the efforts of the advertising world. While it does indeed make sense to have a higher standard of hygiene in a hospital setting, our homes do not need to be quite that germ-free. We are not trying to perform surgeries in our bathrooms, after all. But in the early 20th century as knowledge about germs and bacteria spread, marketers saw their opportunity and fed the general public (especially middle-class housewives who had their occupation limited to keeping house, had money to spend and had appearances to maintain) the idea that the tiniest germ lurking in the most obscure part of your house will bring down your children with some fearsome disease – and so you should spend money on Brand X to “protect” your family and fight “hidden dirt”.
However, most natural cleaning products are more than adequate at getting rid of germs. Soap and alcohol are fairly effective disinfectants, as is boiling water. Vinegar kills mould spores and also bacteria – the reason why it is used to pickle vegetables. Essential oils, especially oregano, lavender, tea tree and pine are even better disinfectants, when used in concentrated form, than hospital grade lab-created disinfectants.
In fact, all you really need to do to kill bacteria (aside from poisoning them with alcohol or soap, or denaturing their proteins with boiling water) is to remove one of the things they need to survive and reproduce. Bacteria are living creatures and require food, water and warmth. Remove the food (in the form of dirt – and we’re talking about ordinary visible dirt here, not mysterious “hidden dirt”) and/or the water (by thorough drying and by regular airing) and the germs will starve to death.
It is true that your environment will not be 100% germ-free. However, your body has more than adequate defences to fight off invading bacteria. If we stopped using commercial cleaners and stuck to good old natural cleaners like soap, water and the rest, and ate a diet rich in immune-boosting fruit and vegetables, we’d be better off than if we kept eating muck food, stressing out about germs and sloshing disinfectant all over the show.
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