Apr
14
Posted under
vinegar for house cleaning
There is nothing worse than seeing your prized possesion with a spot or a mark on it and you do not know how it got there or what to do. This article will help you by giving you tips, suggestions and good ideas to take care of this beloved object.
To start with, your hand made Oriental rug or your kilim can survive for decades depending on a number of factors. One determining factor is the quality of the rug you have, if it is a good quality one and you treat it with care, it will surely last a lot more than if your rug or kilim is of an inferior quality. Moreover, there is large number of damages which typically affect rugs, by learning about them and taking the necessary measures to prevent them from happening you will ensure a long lasting life for your treasured rug.
The most common damages are the following ones:
Water damage: It is one of the most frequent. People usually place potted plants over rugs. Once the plant is watered the pot leaks and the rug under the pot remains constantly wet. In a few weeks the foundation of the rug weakens in such a way that it can be easily broken into pieces. So, if you are going to place a potted plant avoid putting it directly over the rug, you can use a stool or some kind of support so as to keep the humidity of the plant away from the rug. Just in case the advice comes too late and you notice that the rug is already wet you should remove it as soon as possible, clean it and allow it to dry completely to avoid damages in the foundation. Another problem related to water is triggered by damp floors (often if the floor is made of cement). Maybe the floor seems to be dry, but just a bit of moisture can produce the proliferation of micro-organisms which can spoil the foundation of the rug.
Moth damage: These insects do not eat rugs, but their larvae consume the fibers and even the knots of the rugs. They prefer to live in areas under furniture, where it is not always vacuumed or in areas with little traffic. In order to avert this, vacuum the surface once a week and several times a year vacuum the back side, the pad and the floor. For areas which are difficult to reach with the vacuum cleaner spray a proper household insecticide for moths. Besides, do not rely on moth crystals, balls or flakes since they are not effective to kill moths, they just repel them.
Dogs and cats damage: Puppies usually chew rugs. To avoid this sprinkle some moth flakes under the rug. Likewise, cats love sharpening their claws on rugs. Though it sounds a bit absurd, the best prevention is to try to control the cats’ activities.
Sun damage: The light of the sun can affect and diminish the colors of the rug. If this is your case, try to avoid direct exposure to sunlight or rotate the rug so as to make the color equal in its entire surface.
Vacuum cleaner damage: Cleaning your rug using a vacuum cleaner is a positive practice but be cautious if your cleaner is equipped with a power brush since a raking effect can be caused on the surface. It is better to use just the plain vacuum nozzle.
Chemical damage: Sometimes rug cleaners bleach the fringe before delivering it. Although the fringe looks nice after that, the process and the substance used weakens the fibers destroying them little by little. If you still want to have white fringes you could dilute the solution used for bleaching.
Storage: If you are about to store your rug, make sure you clean it, spray it with some insecticide and wrap it in plastic before doing it. Most kinds of damages are not difficult to repair, but prevention is better (cheaper and easier) than restoration. If you follow these hints as well as inspecting your rug often and cleaning it only when it is needed your rug will be part of your house for ages.
If you do get a spot or an area that is spilled upon here is what you can do:
Blot, never scrub spots on a rug. Scrubbing can damage the nap on a carpet. Test all spotting products in an inconspicuous area first and look for color change. If the color bleeds or you are unsure how to proceed consult a professional. Remove as much of the spill as possible before adding spotting products. Work from the outer edges of a spot to the center. Never saturate a spotting area with a liquid. Only spot with small amounts of cleaning products. Drying small areas can be accomplished with a hair dryer with the heat setting off.
Spotting Guide
Beer – Use mild detergent followed by rinsing with vinegar solution, rinse with water
Blood – Blot with ammonia solution followed by vinegar solution, rinse with water
Candle wax – scrape excess off, cover are with paper and iron on low setting, then spot with dry solvent.
Chocolate – spot with dry cleaning solvent and let dry, apply mild detergent, rise with water.
Coffee – Blot with mild detergent and rinse with water.
Egg – Spot with mild detergent, rinse with water
Fingernail polish – Blot with dry cleaning solvent
Fruit juices, jam & jelly – Blot with mild detergent, rinse with water
Grease – Spot with dry cleaning solvent, spot with mild detergent, rinse with water
Gum – Scrape off excess and apply dry cleaning solvent, apply mild detergent if needed and rinse with water.
Ink – Spot with dry cleaning solvent, spot with mild detergent, rinse with water
Milk – Spot with mild detergent rinse with vinegar solution, rinse with water, spot with dry cleaning solvent if needed
Paint – Apply dry cleaning solvent followed by mild detergent, rinse with water
Soft drinks – Spot with mild detergent, rinse with water
Soot – Spot with mild detergent, rinse with water, if not removed, spot with dry cleaning fluid
Tea – Spot with mild detergent, rinse with water
Urine – Spot with mild detergent, rinse with vinegar solution, and rinse with water, repeat process if needed
Vomit – Spot with mild detergent, vinegar solution, rinse with water
Wine – Fresh wine spills use white wine to spot followed by mild detergent and rinse with water.
If in doubt,consult your local rug professional.they can clean it for you.
Take care of you rug!
Bill Kernodle
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/kilims-and-rugshow-to-care-for-and-prevent-damage-66636.html
Apr
14
Posted under
clean house fast
When we have only one cat and she misses the litterbox, it can be hard to fix. When we have more than one cat in the house, it can be even harder.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help stop litter box problems in a multi-cat home. first of all, act fast. A litter box problem that continues for a long time can become harder and harder to solve. Litter box mistakes can lead to territorial responses, and disturb the routines and hierarchies of your entire household.
Will Muffin still want to take her daily afternoon snooze on the couch if Tiger urinated there? She may find some other area, displacing more and more of your cats, and creating fighting and other dominance displays. If you put off solving the problem, hoping it will go away on its own, you may find it multiplying in your home.
Find the culprit. Before you even try to determine the “why,” figure out the “who.” If you catch it early enough, you can hopefully nail it down to one cat. Many people like to isolate each cat to determine which cat is causing the problem, but displacing one cat, even overnight, can sometimes lead to dominance displays in the others, as they claim undefended territory.
If you have new cats, or kittens reaching adulthood, you may want to visit the vet for help. Your veterinarian can prescribe fluoresce in for your cats, helping you to determine which urine stain(s) glow under an ultraviolet light.
Rule out a Veterinary Problem. Veterinary causes underlie many litter box problems, particularly in household with older cats or those with access to the outdoors. Urinary tract infections are one of many common causes, where the cat develops an aversion to the box as a painful place to be. Other health problems can also cause litterbox mistakes.
Worse, without visiting the veterinarian, your other cats may be at risk, which could cause the problem to multiply. No behavior techniques in the world will help a cat with a veterinary problem, so don’t skip the trip to the vet.
Observe the Behavior. If the vet rules out a health problem, I next recommend a brief observation period. It’s always very frustrating to the owner to let the cat continue his litter box mistakes, but it gives you the knowledge to attack the specific problem.
During the observation period, try to concentrate on the things in the environment that may be important to your cat, like litter boxes, food bowls, favorite places, the routines of the other cats and people in the home, etc. Start a journal where you record as much information as you can about every litterbox mistake, then look for links.
Does the cat always use the same room? Is it always on carpeting? Does it happen after meals, or at some other time of day? Are the other cats nearby? Did you have guests over? When you isolate the specific stimuli involved, it allows you greater control without making major changes in the environment that may upset the rest of the cats.
Break the Habit. Elimination sites are matters of preference, and when the cat gets into the routine of going to a certain location, you’ll need to prevent the behavior from recurring. Since the smell of declining urine is a signal for the cat to “reapply,” clean the accident site with a pet odor remover - perhaps multiple times to get past the cat’s sensitive nose.
Block off the area while the product does its work. Remote deterrents, that work whether you are around or not, will keep the cat from returning to the area whenever you aren’t standing guard. Double-sided tape or an upside-down plastic carpet runner, pointy feet up, can keep your cat from standing in the same area.
Cats also hate to be startled, so anything that can safely surprise the cat when he visits that area can help make the area less “cat-friendly.”
Make the current litter box more appealing. While you are preventing bad habits, make good habits more appealing. The litter box should be clean, have privacy, and in multi-cat homes, escapability is also important.
This simply means that the cat can see off a distance, so he won’t be ambushed in the box, or on his way there. Most cats prefer clumping, non-perfumed litter, but work with your individual cat to determine whether a box of a different size, shape, or litter would help.
Retrain the cats. If it doesn’t seem to help to address the individual factors in your journal, or your cat has never regularly used the litterbox, you may want to retrain the cat by himself.
Use this as a last resort, since removing the cat from the hierarchy may upset the routines of all the cats in the home. Keep the cat in a small, uncarpeted room, with a clean litterbox, food bowl, and toys in opposite corners. Pick up all rugs from the floor, so the only soft place to choose to eliminate will be the litterbox.
Visit the cat often, and clean the box regularly. I also recommend recording the times that the cat uses the box.
Many cats stick to a regular routine, so once you’ve determined when the cat is likely to use the box, you can let the cat out during low-risk times to maintain the hierarchy, and put him back in the room with the litter box during high risk periods. Repetition of successful use will increase the cat’s preference to the box.
General stress reduction. In some situations, it’s difficult to determine specific environmental triggers for a problem behavior. However, sometimes general stress reduction techniques will prove helpful, particularly in multi-cat homes.
For litter box problems that have arisen from territorial disputes, additional resources may reduce competition for resources.
Extra litter boxes and food bowls are always helpful, but remember that YOU are also an important resource, so give each cat as much attention as they could possibly want. Exercise can also help redirect cats energies. It can also help desensitize cats to each other, while they are praised for attacking a toy while the other cat watches.
Routines are also very important in multi-cat homes, particularly when older cats are involved. Scheduled feeding, petting and exercise periods at the same time and location every day can further reduce stress that may be contributing to the litter box problem.
Litter box problems in multi-cat homes can be difficult. However, caring responsible owners can have an advantage solving the problem with they use quick, decisive actions and apply solid behavioral techniques.
Keith Londrie
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/how-to-solve-litterbox-problems-in-multicat-homes-130584.html
