Why You Should Always Keep Your Carpets Clean

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Your home’s carpets are always getting walked on, stepped on, spilled on and more. Because they’re some of the dirtiest and most used floor surfaces in your home, it’s important that you keep them clean so that they look their best. This is especially true if you own pets or have kids! Dirty carpets make clean rooms look dirty no matter how much you try to get the space squeaky clean. Neglected carpets can also pose various health risks since bacteria and germs like to thrive in dirty carpets, causing harm to you and your family’s immune systems. Still not convinced your carpets should always been clean? Here are some more reasons why you should care about clean your carpets are and invest in quality carpet cleaning products!

The Importance Of Keeping Your Carpet Cleaner Than Ever
Dirty carpets can really ruin the life of your home’s carpeting, making you have to replace them a lot sooner than expected. This means shelling out more money to have the room re-carpeted or having to spend extra money on new rugs. If you’d like to save your money for other home improvements, keep your carpets and rugs clean using the right carpet cleaning products. This way you’ll be able to prolong the life of your carpet just by adding the right carpet cleaner to your cleaning products arsenal.

Another reason to invest in the right carpet cleaner is to improve your home’s indoor air quality. Carpets have a tendency to trap airborne pollutants that can pollute the air that you and your family breathe, which can cause allergies to act up or other breathing problems to occur. These pollutants must be removed in order to both protect your carpeted surfaces and maintain air quality indoors. Carpet cleaning products will help solve this troublesome problem.

Clean carpets also mean easier maintenance, which translates to shorter carpet cleaning sessions. When you let your carpet go, trying to get it back to its like-new condition will be harder and take longer to do than if you kept up with regular carpet cleaning duties.

But the biggest reason to always keep your carpets clean is so that they enhance the appearance of any room. Well-maintained, clean carpets can speak volumes about the cleanliness of a home and room. Spots, stains and other spoils on carpets are eye sores, which is why it’s imperative that you have effective carpet cleaning products on hand so when your carpets do get stains or spots. This way you can immediately clean them so that your carpet looks as if it were still new!

Carpet Cleaners That Double As An Upholstery Cleaner
Not only should you keep your carpets clean, but the same is true for your upholstery items like your couches, chairs and other furniture pieces made from fabrics. A dirty couch and carpet will make your room look sloppy and messy, so make sure you look for a carpet cleaner that doubles as an upholstery cleaner, too! This way you can kill two birds with one stone and clean both your carpets and upholstered items at the same time. Your space will look cleaner than ever with a spotless couch and carpet!

What To Look For In Carpet Cleaning Products
Not all carpet cleaning products are created equal, which is why you need to be careful when searching for the right one. A non-toxic carpet cleaner is best so that it’s safe for your family and pets. Also, look for one that is fast acting and can be used for a multitude of surfaces, including couches, carpets, fabrics, upholstery and even car seats, so that you get more for your money. More importantly, you want to get a carpet cleaner that is easy to use, so that you’re not on your hands and knees scrubbing for minutes at a time. But make sure that the carpet cleaner also works on various stains, like food and wine, pet stains, grass and dirt stains and other common stains you might find on your carpets and upholstered items.

Household Cleaning Products That Won’t Break The Bank
Although you want to buy an effective carpet household cleaning product, you don’t want to spend a lot of money on it either. Powerful formulas can also mean higher price tags, which means you’re paying more than you should for your carpet household cleaning products. Just because you want something that works doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot! There are plenty of effective carpet cleaners on the market today that not only provide amazing results, but won’t break the bank, so do your research before you go out and buy the first cleaning product you see.

Storage, Organization and Surfaces in Small Bathroom Design

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Whether you are adding a small bathroom or remodeling one, storage and organization in small bathroom design are very important. Careful planning and design for storage and organizing the storage spaces you have will allow you to keep your addition small and save money when you remodel your small bath or plan a bathroom addition. The way you handle surfaces in your small bathroom will also be important in how large the room looks and feels. It will also be a factor in how easy it is to keep the room clean.

The design of any small bathroom remodel or addition should place great attention on storage – not only providing storage areas, but providing appropriate secure storage areas and keeping things organized. Nothing makes a small bathroom look smaller than clutter on all surfaces. There are several traditional options for storage. The most common storage areas are in a

  1. Vanity, where you might have cabinet space or a combination of drawers and cabinets;
  2. Medicine Cabinet;
  3. Closet, which can be very difficult in a small bathroom; and
  4. Shelves.

In a small bathroom, less is always more. If you include a vanity, you will probably need to choose a very small unit. Depending on your needs, you can choose the style (cabinet or drawers or a combination) that is most suited to your needs. Recessed medicine cabinets (set into the wall, with an unframed mirror) are ideal in small bathrooms.

Most remodelers tend to think of a single medicine cabinet over the sink. But with a little creativity, you can use additional medicine cabinets in other places in the small bathroom to provide both space and the light-reflecting property of the mirror to make the room look larger. For example, a larger medicine cabinet placed in a wall at one end of or behind a tub is a great place to store soaps, lotions, bubble bath, wash cloths and even towels. All the items needed for the bath can be in close proximity yet out of sight.

Some people like the idea of dividing even a small vanity with cabinet on one side and drawers on the other. Larger items can be stored in the cabinet and small items can be organized in the drawers. If you have small children, you can also place locks on the drawers used to store potentially dangerous items and cleaning substances.

If you are planning shelves for storage in your new bathroom, consider building shelves that are recessed into the wall. These shelves can be either framed with trim or left unframed. Or you can add doors to keep things on the shelves dust free. In a small bathroom, doors with glass or frosted glass doors will make the room appear more spacious than solid wood doors (and frosting creates enough blurring that you don’t need to be quite as neat). You can use the shelves strictly for storage or you can mix storage and display of decorative items. If you cannot or do not want to build recessed shelves, you might consider installing glass shelves. Because they are clear and reflect light, they do not make the room look smaller, as wood shelves might do.

Organization is very important in a small bathroom. Creative use of nooks and crannies and recessing shelves and cabinets can conserve space, make the most of available space, and keep items close to where they will be used. There are many kinds of organizing units for drawers and for cabinets. If you are planning a custom vanity or shelves, you can insert whatever you wish in terms of dividers and such.

Walls, floors, tub and shower surrounds, light fixtures and ceiling treatment are all important in designing a small bathroom that is easy to clean and does not feel cramped. Here are a few things to consider about walls, floors, surrounds and ceilings:

  • Tile is very easy to clean and it can be used on floors, walls, and surrounds.
  • The time to install radiant floor or wall heating is before floor covering is installed. This can be a wonderful addition to any bathroom and an unexpected luxury in a small bath.
  • Mirrors and glass will reflect light and make the room look and feel larger
  • Installing sound board behind drywall, under floor covering and in ceilings is a nice addition to any bathroom.
  • If you are a do-it-yourselfer, be sure to use cement backer board around tubs and showers and either green board or blue board for your bathroom drywall (it doesn’t absorb moisture and is less likely to mold).
  • Wallpaper can be a great idea in any bathroom. You might want to try to use a vinyl paper because it will be easier to clean and will not absorb moisture and mold or mildew; using fabric can be an invitation to trouble in any full-function bathroom.
  • Vertical stripes in wallpaper or paint will tend to make the room look larger.
  • Keeping color choices to no more than two different colors will also make the room look both larger and more peaceful
  • Many remodelers prefer using a semi-gloss or gloss enamel paint in bathrooms because it is less likely to be affected by moisture, steam or frequent cleaning.
  • Choosing recessed medicine cabinets and shelving will make the room look larger

With a little creativity and imagination, you can create the perfect place for everything you want in your small bathroom without creating clutter. As you plan, just remember the importance of storage, organization and surfaces in small bathroom design. Keep in mind also that the choices you make about walls, ceilings and floors can help you make the room seem larger than it actually is. These choices can also make your small bathroom easier to clean.

Copyright 2010 by Dan Fritschen

Selecting Gardening Seeds

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Selecting the right gardening seeds can make the difference in how your garden produces. Choose good seeds and your garden will flourish. Make a wrong decision and your results will be less than spectacular.

Gardening seeds that are not fresh, left over from a previous planting season many times will not produce as beautiful and healthy plants as those which are harvested for the current planting season. The best way to know if they are fresh is to ask your retailer when they are harvested and do they have a guarantee. You always want to purchase the freshest and healthiest seeds for your garden.

If you are looking to plant a flower garden then you should have an idea of how you want your garden to look. You can draw your plan an then using colored pencils, shade in the color you want in each area. This will help you choose the right gardening seeds according to the look you want. Many gardeners will clump specific selections in an area for a bold splash of color while others may scatter the various seeds for a what I call a “free form” garden. Either style will always begin with selecting the right gardening seeds.

Flower gardens are the most common type of garden. For every type of flower there is of course a seed and when planted in the proper soil and conditions you can expect a beautiful garden. There are various seasons when each seed is to be planted but it is the spring garden that I like best as many do. You don’t have to wait until spring to select your seeds since there are many online outlets for huge selections at great savings.

I hope that you will choose your gardening seeds wisely and that your garden is the envy of all your neighbors.

Successful Skills For Life Programs in the Construction Industry

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10 years ago the construction industry introduced CSCS as a form of self regulation principally aimed at reducing accidents on site. All workers are required to hold a CSCS card commensurate with their level of skills which needs to be renewed on a regular basis. A requirement of the CSCS cards is the touch screen Health & Safety Test, which must be passed in English, using the computer to satisfy contractor’s health and safety policies. Today, the CSCS card is mandatory on most constructions sites run by the major contractors and has become the ‘passport to work’ for many construction workers.

By embedding the CSCS test into the Skills for Life learning, Learning and Skills Solutions (LaSS) have seen extremely positive results. Adrian Bouckley, Director of Training for LaSS explains; “The CSCS test can be a frustrating bridge to cross for thousands of construction workers, as well as costing the worker money, poor literacy, language and computer skills can make it difficult to pass the test. Our skills for life program quickly bridges this gap, and provides the learner with a nationally recognized qualification. We also fund the CSCS card and test, which takes a bit more pressure off the learner”.

In fact, the skills for life benefits reach much further than just aiding CSCS carding. In so many cases by improving basic literacy and numeracy skills LaSS sees improved motivation from the learner. Often people
complete the courses and see the benefits of developing their skills and look for other ways to become more qualified. Skills for life can create

the initial motivator to do so. LaSS is accredited to deliver construction NVQ’s and refers many of its learners onto these courses after Skills for life.

Donna Hamblion, Tutor Manager comments “In one instance I heard back from one of our first learners who said that the Skills for Life course opened up so many doors to him that he continued learning and is now studying for a degree”.

Historically it has been very difficult to deliver Skills for Life training with construction workers despite there being a real need to raise the standards of literacy/numeracy and language. As migrant labour has become more and more prevalent within the industry Health and Safety issues have been raised to a critical level.

Attendance at college for evening classes has until recently been the only avenue available to construction workers and this environment is normally unattractive to a typical construction worker.

Recognizing the need to raise basic skills and also the importance of Health and Safety in the workplace LaSS have adopted the model of embedding the training as part of the preparation for the CSCS Health and Safety Test. This training is normally delivered on site, to ensure minimal disruption to the working day.