Try as you might, it can feel impossible to keep the house clean and tidy while the kids are on school holidays. Even after vacuuming the living room, most parents are left with a sinking feeling when they walk into another part of the house and see more mud, dirt, and crumbs to clear up.
As it is hard to maintain a well-kept home during the long summer break, many mums and dads get to a point where they give up chasing their kids around with a vacuum and mop, and wait until schools reopen before they tackle the problem and reclaim their house.
With the end of the summer holidays approaching, now is the time for parents to consider how to sort out their flooring – whether it can be dealt with using carpet cleaner and a hoover, or if it needs to be replaced completely.
Stubborn debris
While you can vacuum most particles, there are just some things that are incredibly difficult to lift from carpet fibres. These include make-up powders, tiny toys such as hamma beads, ash, shards of glass, coffee grounds, scrambled egg, really fine dust and bits of plant.
Therefore, whether you have a baby who is weaning, a toddler who likes to spread their crafts and toys everywhere, or a teenager who leaves a trail of destruction behind them, it is likely there will be stubborn things you cannot vacuum up after the holidays.
You could try picking up the tiny particles with your hands, such as plant debris, but if the job feels insurmountable and the mess has spread out, it could be worth simply ripping the carpet up and replacing it with a more child-friendly option, such as click or interlocking vinyl or click laminate flooringflooring.
Hard-to-remove stains
We’re lucky these days, as there are many advanced stain removers that can get rid of blemishes. Most people have chemical carpet cleaners in their cupboard or they might prefer to use old fashioned, traditional carpet cleaning solutions, such as white vinegar, water and dishwashing liquid.
These can get rid of the majority of stains, such as dirt or mud, though there are some culprits that are difficult to shift, even with the most effective cleaner.
For instance, cooking oil, coffee, tea, urine, coloured drinks, nail polish, green tea, and yellow mustard. Blood, ink, gum, wax, red wine and vomit are also really tough to remove, and if you have had no luck trying to get rid of them using various chemical or natural cleaners, you may need to consider replacing the flooring entirely.
Tears and holes
Although you might be able to vacuum up dirt and clean up spillages, there’s little you can do to remove the evidence of tears and holes in your carpet.
These could be caused by wear and tear, if you have had the floor for a number of years or if it is in an area of high traffic, such as the stairs or hallway.
It could also be caused if the carpet has been incorrectly installed, if there have been burn marks on the floor, or if you have tried to get rid of a stain by bleaching it, as this can create holes in the flooring.
While it is not worth getting a new flooring during the middle of the summer break when there are lots of people moving around the house, it is a good idea to arrange for a new floor to be fitted when the children are back at school and it is easier to install.
You also don’t need to worry the new floor will become damaged with the kids being around all day, every day.
A good solution if this part of the house does see a lot of people walking through it regularly is to swap the carpet with something more durable, such as vinyl or laminate. If you opt for click tiles, you also have the option of replacing a damaged tile without having to get an entirely new floor.
Vinyl and laminate flooring are much easier to maintain than carpet, as debris can easily be swept up and stains wiped clean. Therefore, they are likely to last much longer than carpets in high traffic areas of the house.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to get in touch with the CVT Direct team via our Contact Us page or give us a ring on 0345 121 1234.
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