Handling the floor care needs of your home or business can be a challenge. It’s just that there are so many rules and things to do or not do. And if you do the wrong thing, you could easily ruin your floors. You’ve got to know the materials and how to best take care of them.
While some of this will require you to become familiar with your floors, there are some basic things that you can do to keep your floors looking great. Check out these floor care tips!
1. Regular Sweeping or Vacuuming
Whether you have hard floors or carpeted floors, one thing is the same: you’ve got to keep up with basic cleaning. Ideally, you should sweep or vacuum your floors every single day. Nowadays, there are so many convenient tools that make this less of a hassle.
But let’s face it. Life is busy, and some days we are barely even home to think about grabbing the broom or the vacuum. Try to shoot for a minimum of once a week, particularly in high-traffic areas of the home.
2. Avoid Oversaturation with Floor Care
This one is really geared toward any type of hard floor, but it could also apply to carpets if you try to shampoo on your own. Using too much water or moisture can be hard on your floors, and it actually is more likely to cause mold or other gross things. Even when you are mopping, you need to be very careful to use minimal water and not leave any floors soaking wet.
If there is a lot of water when you finish, it’s a good idea to follow up and dry the floors with clean towels or something along those lines. Leaving puddles or soaking areas on the floors will do more harm than good.
3. Familiarize Yourself with Your Materials
Next, you need to work on familiarizing yourself with the materials of your floors. If you didn’t install the floors, you can still get to know them. And if you did put in your own flooring, you should already know the basic details. Every type of flooring has different rules and guidelines to follow.
If you want to keep your floors looking their best, it’s a good idea to get to know the basics in terms of proper care and things to avoid.
4. Professional Cleaning Could Be Needed
Even when you are cleaning daily, it doesn’t get you off the hook for professional cleaning from time to time. You don’t have to bring in the professionals weekly or even monthly. Once or twice a year will make a huge difference in the look and longevity of your floors.
Professional cleaners can help you get a deeper clean that will ultimately keep your floors looking better for longer.
Semper Fi Can Help with Your Floor Care Needs!
Don’t let worrying about floor care get you down. Instead, give us a call. Semper Fi Floor Care & Restoration can help you out with anything from carpet to tile & grout. Our teams are trained and skilled to keep your floors looking great. It might just be the refresh that you need!
Having your carpets cleaned has a lot of different variables. It can be hard to choose between professional carpet cleaning or just doing it yourself. Have you ever wondered what the difference is, or which is the better solution? Check out the details below to better understand the differences.
Equipment Details
When you compare DIY carpet cleaning to professionals, one of the biggest differences is the equipment. While you can buy home carpet cleaners, they are not as powerful as professional equipment cleaners. Even the carpet cleaners you can rent are typically not as powerful as those the pros use.
The professionals have access to much stronger equipment that will likely be able to get a deeper clean as well. You pay a bit more, but the results are well worth it. Of course, you also have to schedule and work on their timeline. This can be a bit of an inconvenience at times.
Carpet Drying Times
When you clean carpets on your own, they can take forever to dry. It doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong, it’s just that the carpets get wetter this way. The carpet can even feel soaked and take hours to fully dry.
Professionals have the training and expertise to do the job without leaving soaking carpets. Some professionals also provide courtesy drying to help dry up the wet carpet much faster. You have to be very careful not to oversaturate your carpets when doing DIY.
Work Quality
You are quite capable of doing a DIY process. However, in comparison to a professional, there will be a difference in the results. Professionals are highly trained and skilled to be able to get a deeper clean. They know what to look for, and how to be consistent with high-quality work.
Think of a professional carpet cleaning as offering a deeper clean one or two times a year.
Frequency of Cleaning
DIY cleaning should be happening frequently. From vacuuming to cleaning stains and spills, you are responsible for everyday cleaning needs. Let the professionals be the ones who come in on occasion when you need a deeper clean.
Home DIY cleaning will take place daily, weekly, monthly, or whatever works for you. Professional deeper cleans will be annual, semi-annual, or possibly even quarterly in some cases.
Cost
Finally, the last difference we want to note is the cost. Hiring professional cleaners can be quite a bit more expensive. But the good news is that you only hire them occasionally. Your DIY solutions will be more affordable, and they fill in the gaps between professional services.
Plan ahead for the cost, and know that it will likely save you money over time by preserving your carpets for longer.
Semper Fi Professional Carpet Cleaning Services
Semper Fi floor care & restoration is here for your carpet cleaning needs. Our teams are trained and certified to clean your carpets and make them look like new again. Plan to have carpets cleaned about every 6 months to keep them looking great. Contact us today to get scheduled.
Mold can really grow just about anywhere, and when you see it, you need to get mold removal services ASAP. Mold in your home can quickly grow and lead to health problems, especially if it’s toxic mold. You can also try to be proactive by understanding what could cause mold and take steps to prevent it.
Take a look at these 4 common causes of mold damage.
1. High Humidity Levels
Ideally, a home’s humidity levels should be somewhere around 40%. If you have a basement or crawlspace, this can be quite the challenge. You definitely want to keep the humidity levels below 60%, as anything above that is favorable for mold growth. You can control your humidity with things like dehumidifiers and moisture control systems.
If you have a basement or your home tends to feel humid, it’s a good idea to check into these options. While it may be an up-front expense, you will be grateful for the benefits it offers. Your home will be more comfortable and you can avoid mold removal.
2. Improper Ventilation
Another issue that could cause moldy problems is improper ventilation. This is most common with things like the dryer or rooms like the bathroom and kitchen. Your dryer needs to be properly vented and the vent kept clean. In your bathroom or kitchen, adding vent fans can help a lot in preventing mold, thanks to better ventilation in the space.
Without ventilation, these spaces are prone to high levels of moisture.
3. Standing Water Left Untreated Leads to Mold Removal
When you experience water damage, or perhaps even have a leak that you’re just ignoring, you’re likely going to face mold. You see, mold only take about 24 hours to start growing when the conditions are favorable. This is why it’s so important to move quickly when you do have a leak or water damage. If you just ignore it, the problem only escalates. Before you know it, you have not only water damage but also mold growing – and it’s that much more challenging to restore.
4. Leaky Foundations or Damp Basements
Finally, if you have a lot of water in the basement all the time or your foundation is experiencing leaks, this can cause mold. Any area of your home that is routinely damp or humid is going to be an environment for mold to thrive and grow. A foundation with water problems or a damp basement welcome mold with open arms, and that’s the last thing you want to deal with!
Count on Semper Fi for Your Mold Removal Needs
When mold gives you problems, we’re here to help. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you still need mold removal at some point. Perhaps you didn’t even realize there was an issue until you found the mold. Whatever the case may be, Semper Fi Floor Care & Restoration has expert teams that are trained and prepared to handle the mold safely and efficiently. Give us a call today.
All too often, we forget just how important upholstery cleaning really is. Think about it: when was the last time you vacuumed the couch? What about the last time you had the couch professionally cleaned?
The truth is that your upholstery can host dirt and debris far down in the depths. All that junk beneath the surface could be affecting your health, which is why cleaning is so important.
How Often Do You Need Upholstery Cleaning?
You can vacuum your upholstery and do some cleaning on your own. Those small things will make a big difference. But you also need to consider professional cleaning on occasion. Not only can the professionals help you get a deeper clean, but they might be able to refresh your upholstery in ways you didn’t know were possible.
The industry recommendation is to have your upholstery cleaned at least once a year. If you have pets or you suffer from allergies and asthma, you might consider 2-4 times a year for the best results.
Allergy Triggers
Even if you aren’t prone to severe allergies, the dust and debris within your upholstery have the ability to trigger allergies and cause problems. And if you are susceptible to allergies or sensitive in any way, this could make your allergies far worse.
Things like pet dander, dust, dust mites, and even dead skin find their way beneath that top layer of material and they set up residence within. They just pile up and accumulate. The only way to stop them is a deep cleaning.
Asthma or Breathing Issues
Just like with allergies, all of that stuff building up inside the upholstery could cause asthma or other breathing problems. When you plop down on the couch, do you see dust jumping up or floating in the air? Take note of when you struggle to breathe or need an inhaler. Are these events associated with sitting on the furniture?
The dust within does come up when you sit down or move. That could easily lead to you having issues breathing if you aren’t careful.
Spreading Illness
Where do you hang out when you’re sick? Do you lounge on the couch, napping and binging your favorite shows? That’s pretty common. But that also means that your germs are finding their way into the upholstery.
Your furniture could quite literally be storing nasty germs that spread bacteria and illness. There are plenty of ways that illnesses could be spread within the home, all thanks to dirty upholstery.
Get Professional Upholstery Cleaning for Your Home
You shouldn’t have to worry about your furniture making you ill. Protect your health and your home with upholstery cleaning instead. Be proactive and vacuum your furniture on occasion. However, be sure to schedule your routine cleaning as well to really get down into the depths and keep it clean!
Semper Fi Floor Care & Restoration can help! Our teams have the proper equipment and training to refresh your upholstery and help keep your home happy and healthy. Give us a call today to learn more about your options and get your cleaning process scheduled.
Using a commercial cleaning company isn’t always just about cleaning up the toughest messes. While you certainly don’t have to bring in commercial companies for everyday cleaning, they do have a lot of benefits with regular use.
Commercial cleaners can spruce up your home. They can get you that deeper clean that you just can’t seem to accomplish on your own. You will notice a transformation every time you hire them. Here are some great ways that commercial cleaning professionals can help improve your home.
Deeper Clean When You Need It
One of the top advantages of using commercial companies is the deeper clean. They can clean challenging things like mattresses or upholstery. They can also typically do carpet cleaning and can really refresh tile and grout as well.
These companies have specialized industrial-strength equipment used to get far beneath the surface. You would be surprised at how much junk can hide under a surface and how much the visual appeal improves when that gets cleaned up.
Again, this deep clean can be done just a couple of times a year but can make a huge difference.
Increased Longevity of Home Interiors
Did you know that commercial cleaning solutions could potentially increase the longevity of your surfaces by several years? This relates to the deeper clean they can give you. Think about this: your carpet has the ability to gather several pounds of dirt and debris every year. Your daily vacuuming helps to get some of that up, but it can’t capture all of it.
Eventually, the buildup leads to your carpets and other surfaces looking drab, dirty, and worn. But in truth, they might just need a better cleaning solution. Your surfaces could go from looking like they need replacement to looking like a million bucks. Before you run out and replace the couch or the carpets, think about having them commercially cleaned first. It might just save you some money.
Eco-Friendly Approach
Many of the home cleaners that you purchase are loaded with chemicals and unknown ingredients. Things like bleach are really bad for you to be around or inhale. And it always seems like when you use the “green” cleaning products, they just don’t cut it.
One of the cool things about commercial cleaning companies is that they have access to things you simply don’t have. They can use environmentally-friendly solutions paired with their industrial equipment. The results are an eco-friendly approach and a much deeper clean for your home. It’s a win-win.
In addition, you might find yourself reusing or using certain things for longer before replacing them. This is a great way of being more eco-friendly as well.
Call in the Commercial Cleaning Cavalry!
When you need that deeper, stronger clean, we’re here for you. Semper Fi Floor Care & Restoration can help refresh your home when you need it. Plan to do deep cleaning of certain surfaces once or twice a year. Give us a call to get a quote and get on the schedule. Your home will thank you.
