Author Archive
and now for a little humor..
Posted by: | Comments(ps: don’t try this at home!)
Our latest addition to the family…
Posted by: | CommentsMeet “Hula” our female Olde English Bulldogge puppy.
Hula Girl
8 weeks old and loaded with personality and heart breaking charm and good looks.
Our five year old boy Diesel hasn’t quite grasped what it all means..
Diesel and Hula
Seeing how he is “intact” it wont take long for him to show us his gratitude..
Paula and her new baby
Baby blue!
Some advice for picking out new wall to wall carpet.
Posted by: | CommentsI am asked almost weekly to help with the bewilderment of picking out a new carpet. So many choices in fiber types leave the average home owner very confused..
Hope this helps.
Nylon on balance, has the most strengths & the least weaknesses. It will burn, it will fade, (unless solution dyed) can be stained, can become matted & crushed but not as easily as most other fibers, especially if vacuumed regularly and professionally maintained on an annual basis. Dupont’s solution-dyed Nylon is the best Nylon fiber.
Polyester & Olefin (Berbers) are the least expensive & will last, the least amount of time. They’re OIL LOVING Fibers so they absorb no moisture but plenty of oil/grease/soot. Don’t use near kitchen or garage or homes with pets with oily coats.
They do not easily fade from sunlight, bleach or pool/hot tub chemicals.
Great for damp basements, water-based spills from little kids & young pets but terrible for oil based stains. They burn easily, not for smokers/ fireplaces. They crush down quickly – not good for stairs or wheelchairs. In a few years they will look dull & grey in traffic paths. This look cannot be cleaned away as the fibers will become “scratched” or abraded – frieze style will hide that the best.
Wool, the most expensive, will last for decades if cared for on a regular basis. It does not burn easily. It cleans up well but stains more easily.
It does not crush easily. It absorbs a lot of moisture & so is bad for damp basements.
It fades easily & is dissolved by bleach, & other harsh (like pool/ jacuzzi) chemicals .
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Lay carpet samples over Pad, on a hard surface & select carpet by testing with your feet NOT your hands. A Pad that is too thick or soft will shorten the life of your carpet and should be avoided especially in homes with heavy furniture (indents easily formed). They should also be avoided in homes occupied by seniors or drunks as they become even more unsteady.
“Trackless” carpet does not exist ! REPEAT AFTER ME – it does not exist !!
To reduce footprints, brush carpet samples in every direction, stand back to observe & pick samples that exhibit the least amount of shade change when viewed from all angles. We recommend a BCF yarn as opposed to a Staple yarn, carpet especially for pet owners. Staple yarns behave like Velcro in gripping pet & human hair that won’t vacuum away. A high twist count will also help on this issue.
By insisting on an installer who uses a power-stretcher as required by the CRI 104 code, you will get the best installer – See http://www.carpet-rug.com. Knee kickers result in carpet that is more likely to ripple and lose it’s stretch over time. Loose or poorly installed carpet will ripple when wet but in most cases settle back down as it dries.
We like to refer San Lorenzo Floors in Scotts Valley, Mission Floors on the west side, Rainbow Carpet on the East/Live oak area and Floors Etc in Soquel for you new carpeting needs.
Tired of dealing with Soap Scum in your shower stall?
Posted by: | CommentsThen its time to switch over to Glycerin Bar Soap!
Regular white bar soap is the number one offender and contributor to soap scum build up in tile and natural stone shower stalls and tub enclosures. The animal fats used in manufacturing white bar soap also contributes to mold growth in the cracks and cervices in your shower.
Glycerin soap has become very popular these days.
Benefits
Glycerin soap is gentler on skin than most soaps, making it a good choice for people who have particularly dry or sensitive skin. According to Vermont Soap Organics, glycerin soap also has a lower pH than other soaps, which helps the skin retain its natural moisture. Since glycerin is hygroscopic, it may also help moisturize the skin by attracting water from the air.
Types
Glycerin soap comes in both bar and liquid formulas. Some people find commercially prepared glycerin soap that comes in a pump bottle more convenient and easier to use, while others prefer traditional bar soap or handmade decorative glycerin soap. Some products use glycerin derived from animal fat, while others only use glycerin derived from vegetable oils. Soaps made from vegetable oil glycerin have the benefit of being vegetarian or vegan, for those who object to using animal products.
Are you or any freinds looking for loving, quality Child Care In Santa Cruz?
Posted by: | CommentsMy Wife Paula runs the best little Day Care in all of Aptos…
Santa Cruz County/Good Times readers have spoken!
Posted by: | Comments270+ voters have spoken!
For Carpet Cleaning in Santa Cruz County you just can’t go wrong with Connoisseur!
They got the Bio Fuel percentage wrong though..
We use the B5 fuel available at USA Gas at the corner of 7th and Soquel
Two great choices in upright Vacuum cleaners.
Posted by: | CommentsAround our home we love the Sebo X4 upright. It’s a beautifully German engineered piece of equipment.
Built to last forever, extremely well filtered (S class), very easy to use and goes from hard floor to carpet with no manual adjustments. An active on board computer assure that the brush roll is always at the right height for what ever flooring is being cleaned. A real nice feature is that it lays completely flat for getting underneath beds and furniture. A joy to use.
Watch the video!
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Our vacuum of choice at work (these days, check back later) is the Shark Navigator.
We need to be able to see the amount of dry soil we are removing from our customer’s carpets so we can better gauge just how thorough a cleaning will be needed. A clear cup style vacuum tells us volumes about the life a carpeted floor lives. If we fill up the dirt cup 3 times in (which is quite often) one room we know we’ll have to spend extra time and measures making sure we clean as deep and effective as possible. If we remove just a few strands of loose fiber and one pop corn kernel we’ll know not to “over clean” that area. Seeing what we remove also helps us recommenced better vacuuming techniques or possibly just a better vacuum to the home owner.
We love the Shark Navigator for it’s ease of use, only 15 pounds!, it’s build quality and it’s amazing performance.
We’ve tested all the available Dirt Cup (bag-less) vacuums and and not even the mighty Dyson can match all the Navigator has to offer. While it looks tiny on the shelf compared to all the other vacuums you’ll see in the store we find that it out cleans the vacuums weighing twice as much. Thanks to a very efficient and unique air flow design it never looses suction as the cup fills up and filter maintenance is a breeze. Standard accessories include an extra set of filters, a great upholstery and stair tool, an extra long crevice tool and more.
We have been torturing ours at work for a couple months now and it hasn’t missed a beat. With metal in all the high stress areas rather than plastic, a very easy to clean and empty (although a bit too small) Dirt Cup and it’s ease of use around furniture, the Shark is a real deal.
Currently $159.00 at Costco!
Watch the video
(edit) At four months will manage to kill the brush roll motor on this NON Commercial vacuum. Keep in mind that we used it about 230 times before it gave out.
If you vacuum your home once a week, that’s 4 plus year of service. That vacuum has a two year warranty and both Bed Bath and Beyond and Costco will take it back if it fails prematurely. We brought ours back to BBB and they swapped it for a new one no questions asked.
Yelpers Love Us!
Posted by: | Comments
Yelp is the hottest national business review site on the web today. Umpteen thousands of home owners are searching out service companies, restaurants, night clubs, hair saloons and everything else under the sun that get positive comments left from users like you and me.
Yelp's front page
Some of our reviews..
We promise you can trust your neighbors to steer you in the right directi0on when it comes to a quality carpet, tile & upholstery cleaning service
Microfiber / Ultra Suede upholstery cleaning.
Posted by: | CommentsCombining the aesthetics of the finest suede with advanced performance specifications, Ultrasuede® is the world’s most exclusive ultra-microfiber fabric. It is engineered to provide ultimate luxury over a wide range of applications.
From fashion to furnishings, aircraft cabins to yacht interiors, casual footwear to industrial hardware, the most demanding designers insist on Ultrasuede® for their most challenging and creative applications.
That’s because no other fabric offers Ultrasuede’s unparalleled combination of luxury, appeal, performance and ease of care.
Ultrasuede® comes in a range of weights, thicknesses and finishes to meet the unique demands of literally hundreds of products.
Well that is what the salesmen will tell you anyways..
Ask any experienced professional Upholstery Cleaner and you most likely will hear a different tune.
While most Micro Fibers do clean up nice they can be a bear to spot clean by end users with out leaving water rings once the piece is soiled over the whole panel. Ultra Suedes and the like also tend to tear and scratch easily and the thinner weight fabrics are easily damaged by pet’s toenails. Don’t believe the claims that these new “miracle” fabrics are un-stainable either. Synthetic dyes can easily become part of the permanent landscape if not cleaned up quickly.
Generally, microfiber is a mixture of polyester and polyamide (a nylon by-product) available in a mixture of 80/20, 75/25, or 70/30 etc polyester and polyamide ratios. Microfibers can be available alone or mixed with usual denier man-made fibers as well as with natural fibers such as cotton, wool, silk even rayon too. Micro-fibers are made from polyester, nylon, rayon and most recently acrylic. They also can be blended with other fibers including Lycra spandex. These mixtures improve the look; adorn and the performance of the fabric. Micro-fibers can be woven or knitted into a wide range of fabrics such as satin, faille, crepe, twill, taffeta and broadcloth. A variety of microfibers and its finishes improves the appearance and experience like silks, sand washed, or a leather and feather look. Generally the blends the contain a natural fiber will not clean up as well as a purely synthetic composition.
Be very careful not to use any sort of solvent based cleaning agents on these fabrics that have a backing involved in their construction. Open the zipper on a cushion and inspect the back, if you don’t know what to look for, stop and use only water based spotting agents as the solvent products will cause delamination of the backing material and leave bubbles on the fabric surface
Here is a well used piece that lives it’s life in front of a television set (which is a death sentence for any upholstered furniture when kids or husbands are around)
heavily soiled arm, before.. (notice the cat scratches down low)
and after..
Enjoy your new and improved “Micro” furniture but don’t expect it to last generations like your Grandmother’s Davenport did..
Thanks for looking at our site, here is your reward!!
Posted by: | CommentsI still have to wonder if anyone actually reads carpet cleaning blogs..
I posted this last year and only a few found the coupon..
Lets try again, $25 off any of our on location services. Minimum charge for your area applies.
Not to be combined with other discounts.
Simply print out this:
And then call 831 476 9721 to book an appointment.