How to give a hard floor surface the best cleaning treatment?

Image Courtesy: hardwooddistributors.org

Cleaning a hard floor surface can be a challenge but not if you’ve the right equipment. There’s a whole lot of standard to sophisticated cleaning machines available in market that save your valuable time and do the best job. From high-end residential tiles and grout to commercial grade concrete floors or a warehouse, these machines would work miracle on all surfaces. But even with the many machines at your disposal, they must be operated under supervision.

Automatic standard floor cleaner
Also known as a swing machine or floor buffer, the standard floor machine is identified as the most versatile contraption to floor cleaning. With the right combination and attachment, you can easily treat almost any type of hard floor. While cleaning vinyl tiles that are usually found in hospitals and supermarket corridors, user need to attach a white or red buffing pad.
To completely remove wax coating off the tile, attach a black stripping pad whereas variety of these pads are provided along with the machine but lest they aren’t, carefully read the technical specifications and get one from the market yourself. The pads allow honing marble and granite floors as well.

If you’ve wood flooring at your place, a standard machine with sanding screen is preferred or you might pull the drum sander that would scratch the finish. Tile and grout cleaning is also possible with these machines and all you need is to use a grit brush with bristles of multiple lengths. With a diamond grit scraping block, you can give concrete floors the best treatment ever.

These standard floor cleaning machines are commonly found in a janitor’s closet in the form of a broom or mop. The appliances are a wise investment if you crave professional cleaning service whereas their portable nature is also an added benefit. You can treat many different surfaces with just a single machine hence it’s also multifunctional.

Automatic scrubbers
Perhaps one of the best automatic cleaning machines is a self-contained auto scrubber that we usually see in commercial places such as airport and malls. User either walks behind or hops a ride while working on controllers as the machine strides around. With a simple push of a button, you can wash, scrub and dry the floor. The unit releases a concentrated cleansing solution which is then scrubbed all over the floor and work its way with a rotary pad or cylindrical brush.
A sponge, mop or squeegee is attached to a powerful vacuum that instantly takes in the dirt, debris and liquid solution from the floor. These all-inclusive units are operated from powerful electric motors or a battery to propane engine, packing lots of cleaning power. The machines are ideal for commercial places such as a school, warehouse and other areas due to their size and weight.

Turbo grout cleaning tool
The name “turbo tool” is given due to its lighting fast speed; this contraption is the first choice for professional grout and tile cleaners. It can be connected to a high power carpet cleaning machine like truck mounts, high power water pumps or portable with 1200 PSI. The machine has a round head that’s linked to a standard vacuum cleaner wand. A pair of spray nozzles and a spinning rod is located inside the head! Water comes out of the two spray jets with pressure that’s enough to blast away dirt and debris from floor including trapped soil within the spongy grout. The machine is entirely portable and works best on marble and concrete floors, synthetic and natural hard tiles as well.

Conclusion
For neat and clean surfaces, the above tools are preferred choice of pro cleaners! Always check your cleaning requisite and surfaces before purchasing such machines.

Read More

How to clean & maintain marble countertops?

Image Courtesy:bestgranitecleaner.com

Asides stone and other type of countertops such as granite, marble requires a little more attention being porous and more susceptible to scratches and stains. Gentle cleaners must be used to clean for acidic products are likely to damage the natural attributes of the stone. Marble is aesthetically appealing and adds functionality to your kitchen that’s one of the best features. If marble surface managed to accumulate stain that you leave unattended, they can sink deep down the pores that may slowly corrode marble. Therefore cleaning marble countertops and wiping off stains must be done regularly and with care to prevent scratch and damage.

Daily maintenance & cleaning

Liquid spills such as fruit juice, coffee, water and other must be absorbed quickly with a clean and dry cloth that mustn’t be abrasive at all. Remember, the longer the fluid sits over marble countertops, more likely they would result in deep and hard to clean stains. It’s better to blot the liquid rather than wiping or the mess is likely to spread. 

For larger spills, use a homemade cleaning solution created by few drops of mild dishwashing liquid to hot water. You can either allow it to sit for a few minutes or an hour for tough spots or simply wipe marble countertops with a neat and smooth cloth that must be pre-dipped with same solution. Rinse till the stone is completely clean and allow the area to air dry.

In-case soap mixture is leaving streaks on countertop, wipe with a moist towel dampened with warm water and let it air dry.
- Warning
Don’t ever clean marble surface with vinegar as the substance is highly acidic and can etch the stone from various spots. Since marble is a soft stone, you shouldn’t scrub the stain with pointy objects that ruins the stone; rather absorb the blots with kitchen cleaning foam or damp cloth.

Types of stains

• Oil-based
  Common oil stains are accumulated from cooking grease, certain cosmetics and dairy products that you can easily clean with mineral spirits or acetone application over a soft cloth.
• Vinegar, red-wine & water
  To clean surfaces off organic such as water rings, vinegar, tea/coffee or read wine; add a few drops of ammonia in a cup containing 12 percent hydrogen peroxide that’ll easily bleach out the marks. You can dunk a soft cloth with the liquid solution and dab at the soiled are till spots are completely removed. This is most recommended on light-shaded natural stones such as the white Carrara marble.
• Rust
  Rust stains are most annoying and often hard to get rid of. If your countertop managed to collect rust marks from metallic object, come up with a poultice by joining white absorbent material like kaolin or diatomaceous earth with excess dishwashing soap. It’ll form a paste with the same viscosity as of peanut butter. Spread the paste over the stain and wrap with the poultice; let it rest for a day or two. It’ll extract the stain out of marble like it wasn’t even there!

Polish the marble

Once you’re done with general cleaning, polish the marble surface with a soft chamois cloth. Buff the with industrial-standard car wax that’ll add a protected layer and brings back the original lustre! On the other hand, apply a penetrating sealer over stone countertop that’s an excellent stain repellent.


Never apply acidic cleaners to marble countertops. You may love lemon and lime fragrance but it’s detrimental to the porous material. Just plain, hot water with suggestions provided above would work miracles so do consider!

Read More

How to become a luxury watch collector?

Image Courtesy:ytimg.com/

You must have seen people, who love collecting anything from tickets, CDs, coins and timepieces. A true collector possesses an innate love for the thing he collects. If you fall in this category, you don’t need any inspirations from others to grow your collection, as you are self-motivated and empowered to find a way on their own. Product understanding is mandatory to choose and buy anything as a collector’s item. If you have a strong desire to have a collection of high-end chronometers, you will need to understand the difference between purchasing them for personal use and for a collection.

What makes watch collectors different from others is their passion and feel to buy a good piece. Here I am sharing a few tips that might help you to successfully start your own timepiece collection.

Spend some time to understand the difference in brands; it makes a lot of sense. A huge variety of brands are available in the market. You can choose the most suitable for you among basic, low-end luxury, luxury and high end luxury timers. What you need to do is to visit product website or an e-store to find the price difference. This will enable you to estimate your buying power, which is necessary to pick the most suitable brand to become a collector.

Decide budget logically, it helps avoid overspending and protect you from stress. Here deciding budget doesn’t mean making complex calculations. Rather, it involves identifying the maximum and minimum amount you can spend on purchasing chronometers to start and grow your collection. Whether you have setup a price range to buy a piece as collectible or you have reserved a fixed amount with an aim to spend on purchasing collectibles, overspending is strictly suggested to avoid. However, bargaining over prices makes it time consuming. Hunting the market for right pieces not only protect you from financial stress, but also doubles the fun.

Pick a corner to store your collection, as youare spending significant money on buying pieces that are worth to collect, make suitable arrangements to store them safely. You can’t leave them uncovered over the bookshelves, in the drawer or on the table. You need to arrange boxes with glass lids and partitions to keep wrist timers in standard and presentable conditions. Avoid stacking them one over the other. It’s more than good if you spend some money to buy cases that are purposefully made for this purpose. Initially you can even use an old jewelry box for this purpose. Primary motif behind keeping the pieces in covered boxes is to protect them from scratches and accidental exposure to water and moist.

Consider doing regular maintenance, asit is necessary to keep them functional. However, you are not going to wear every one of them on daily basis, it is suggested to check them regularly and take necessary actions to maintain their functionality. Follow the manufacturers directions to wind the piece. Automatic and mechanical movements require winding to maintain their precision, whereas quartz movement does not need any winding. 

I hope these simple tips will facilitate you to become a watch collector. If you are beginner, you can easily start your collection with Omega watches. The brand offers a wide select of collectible timepieces.

Read More