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November 9, 2017 by Greg Underwood

Hacks To Keep Your Wood Floor Looking Brand New!

If you’re lucky enough to have wood flooring in your home then you’ll know what a wonderful addition it can be. But what about when life starts to take its toll and those stunning boards of timber start looking worn and scuffed. Not to mention the hammer they take if you run a busy family home, which is why we’ve researched some of the best hacks to keep your wood floors looking super-sleek and as fresh as the day they were installed.

These methods are super easy and best of all, they cost very little, if anything at all! From things that are really simple to concoctions that you wish you’d have thought of, here’s our favourite home remedies for wood floors:

Lets start with a common problem in wood flooring, dents. Although they don’t pose a major threat to your decor they can be quite irritating, so just how do you combat this? Well, your trusty household iron is the key to this one. That’s right, the cure for all things creased can now help to remedy against dents in your wood floor, mental eh?! Now, this technique is advised for floors without a finish but it can be applied to some finished woods, it just depends on the type. Of course if it does effect the finish but gets rid of the dent then the area can always be sanded and refinished. This is a really easy process to complete and can be done by even the most amateur DIY fans. All you have to do is wet a piece of kitchen roll or a cloth, then set your iron to a medium-high setting, place the cloth on top of the dent then put the iron on top. Hold the iron on top of the wet cloth and make small movement in an up and down motion, this should allow the wood to absorb the water and result in the fibres in the wood to expand to where they originally were. Try to do this for a minute, or until the cloth is dry and check the wood at the end, hopefully it should return to its original state.

As mentioned earlier, kids can pose a bit of a problem when we have nice things. This next tip goes out to all the parents who have had to suffer at the hands of a permanent marker. In fact it is every parents nightmare, looking down at your lovely wood floor and see a giant squiggle of permanent marker.. for some it may feel like all hope is lost, but fear not! The solution is closer than you may think, in the form of your good friend; toothpaste. The toothpaste should be regular white paste, not the gel stuff that’s super expensive, simply apply the paste directly onto the mark and then rub using a damp cloth. We would advise rubbing the area for a good few minutes or until you feel that the cloth can easily slide along the wood, then rinse the cloth that you have been using with water and wipe the surface until the toothpaste is no longer visible. The marker stain should now have disappeared, if it hasn’t then repeat the steps until it does.

The next home-remedy cleaning method comes in the form of a favourite British drink; tea. You may think this is a bit of a strange one, and we did too when we first encountered it. But using tea as a DIY cleaner for your wood makes a lot more sense than using something acidic such as vinegar, which is what tends to get recommended by most cleaning and life hack blogs. So just how do you use tea bags to clean your wood floor? Well, lets start by boiling 2 to 4 tea bags in just over a litre of water, the longer that you leave the tea to brew, the darker and more effective the cleaner will be. This probably goes without saying but if you have a lighter coloured wood then you may not want to let the tea brew for as long, in contrast to this if you have a really dark wood then let the tea brew for longer. Once the tea is boiled transfer the liquid into a small bucket or even washing up bowl, then soak a soft cloth in the liquid before removing it and wringing it. Please note that the cloth should be damp as oppose to wet, this just speeds up the drying process. Once damp, wipe the floor in the direction of the grain on the wood, then sit back and wait for the results!

Last but not least there are also some measures that you can put in place to prevent your floors from any further damage. Aside from the regular “place a rug” or “ensure shoes are removed” advice, we also have a few little tricks to help protect your floor from everyday scuffs and scratches. If you have any furniture on your floor, lets say a dining table and chairs for example, then why not consider putting socks on the legs if you’re entertaining for the evening. That way when the furniture is being pulled and moved around it shouldn’t scratch the floor, plus it will make for a great talking point. If you would like something a little more subtle there are other measures you can take. One of them being wine corks, which you may throw away instantly.. but you shouldn’t! You can cut the old corks down and place them on the end of your chair and table legs, which not only protects the floor but also stabilises any wobbliness too!

So there you have it, just a few easy and cheap ideas to help you protect your wood floor.

October 15, 2017 by Greg Underwood

A Guide To Choosing The Right Flooring For Your Home

Don’t look at your house as a whole; consider each room individually based on its function and this will make it much easier to select the right type of flooring. Your hallway, for example, is a high traffic area, people are in and out all the time, wearing their shoes, if you have dogs, or a pushchair, you’re going to need something hard-wearing and washable. It comes down to more than simply looks. Below are the most popular types of flooring, their pros and cons, leaving you to decide on a personal level, which rooms they’re best suited to.

Hardwood.

There’s no denying the beauty of a real wood floor, the different grains and shades, imperfections adding to its natural beauty and unlikely to ever go out of fashion, it’s a classic. It’s sturdy and long-lasting, is warmer under foot and looks great. However, in an area with moisture, solid wood boards can move, if you live in a flat I would avoid as it is a noisy floor and it can scratch and stain. In the busy areas such as in front of the sink, or oven it will show wear and tear. Yes, you can re-sand and stain it, but, it is a pretty messy process.

Tiles.

There are a few types of flooring tile, the main two being ceramic or porcelain.

Porcelain tiles are pretty maintenance free, extremely hard-wearing, it’s very difficult to chip or scratch and is extremely hygienic as it can be cleaned with anything. That being said, porcelain is cold to stand on for any period, can be extremely slippery when wet, and if a chip or crack was to occur they’re unrepairable on an individual basis.

Ceramic tiles work out cheaper than porcelain, they come in a range of designs and, like their more expensive relative, are hygienic and easy to clean too. However, they aren’t quite as durable as porcelain and so need to be laid on a completely flat, solid floor or they will crack. Again, they are cold under foot and chips will be more obvious as the colour is only on the surface.

Vinyl.

This is a great budget-friendly option and comes in a vast choice of finishes, replicating woods, stones, mosaics. It is easy to clean and water resistant. The thin, hard vinyl is very robust but if you opt for the thicker, spongier type be wary that it can dent. It is comfortable to walk on and can even be laid on top of an existing floor. But, vinyl does have a relatively short life-span, it will fade when exposed to strong sunlight and, if damaged, it is unrepairable, so you must be careful.

Carpet.

Carpet can be as inexpensive or extravagant as you want it to be. In many different colours and patterns, it’s a go to option for most rooms in the house. Comfortable and warm under foot, a lot of carpets are now durable and can be cleaned or even stain resistant. Not a good idea in the bathroom where it will absorb moisture and become damp and mouldy in time, or the kitchen due to food spillages and oil.

There are, of course, more flooring choices to consider, these are simply a selection of the more commonly used options. Remember to consider the logistics but don’t choose something you don’t like just because you’ve read it serves a better function. You have to live with it after all.

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A Million Lives

Travelling in all its glory is fun and exhilarating but sometimes you might want to find some information on where to go, what to see and how to go about it from someone other than the go-to websites, especially when it comes to travel hacking and the coolest, most useful ways to get the most out of your next adventure.

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