Category: General

Floors are considered one of the dirtiest areas in your home. Since it is the most frequent touchpoint of people coming in and outside your house, there is a big chance that germs will grow and multiply on floors. If floors are not cleaned regularly, the chances of getting ill due to bacteria and germs are high. It is a must that the floors are cleaned regularly. Mopping the floor regularly should be part of your household routine but doing so entails more time and effort. Fortunately, the use of microfiber mops is getting popular nowadays.

A microfiber mop is considered an innovative tool in the cleaning industry because it is versatile and cost-effective. The best way to clean and make our floors safe from illness-causing bacteria is to use a microfiber mop. It gathers more dirt than the usual standard mops.

How does a microfiber mop work? Microfiber mops are made of microfibers that are 200 times thinner than human hairs. When these microfibers are tightly woven together, they are so closely knitted that they collect dirt and debris like no other cloth can. Microfibers can easily attract particles because of their static attributes. Microfiber mops can quickly sweep the floor and can even get to difficult areas to reach. With the pads attached to its body, this kind of mop can easily be turned and will not require the users to put so much effort.

Using microfiber mops doesnt require you to bring a bucket of water for cleaning. You can just bring a water spray bottle for the pads and it will already be enough to get the job done. It is lightweight which means that there is a low rate of injury when using these mops on the floor. Injuries brought by slipping and falling on nearly wet floors will also be avoided.

Microfiber mops vs. traditional mops
Unlike the traditional cotton mop, microfiber mops are more versatile because they can be used both on dry and wet floors. Dust particles can easily cling to microfibers and liquid can be absorbed using the pads. This shows that microfiber mops are all-around tools at home.
The rectangular pad in microfiber mops is wider compared to the traditional ones. The wider pad allows wider floor space to be covered. This can save your time in cleaning the floor.

What do studies show in using microfiber mops? A study was conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The study shows that microfibers can remove 98 percent of bacteria and viruses from a surface by just using water alone. This only proves that microfibers are effective in cleaning compared to the standard mops. Your health is your top priority. You must make sure that your home floor is cleaned. Thanks to the cleaning powers of microfiber mops like these found on amazon.com, you can now easily prevent the spread of germs.

Today we’re going to talk about the top three problems that we see with the outdoor unit. Most problems with AC systems are about 90% electrical and these are the top three. Look for a metal can with electrical connections on it, about the size of a small juice can. This is a capacitor . It stores extra electrical energy to help jump-start the compressor motor and a condenser fan motor. The capacitor has a certain range that it needs to be in to function properly. If You Notice Any of These 7 Signs in Your AC It Is a Cry for Repair

The range that it comes from the factory is 40 micro farad’s and 5 micro farad’s. The 40 micro farad’s is the terminal that helps jumpstart the compressor motor. The 5 micro farad is the one that helps jumpstart the condenser fan motor. Yours may vary. I’ve seen some that are 25 and 5 or as much as 60 and 5. Now to check these you need to have a special electric meter that will read that unit of measure. It also has a variance of plus or minus 6. So this could read down as low as 37.6 micro farad’s and still be considered within range. If it drops below that it is considered below factory specs and a failed unit.

So some typical signs to know that the capacitor is not working properly. The top of this can actually bulge out it actually looks like a mushroom. What happens is the inside expands, the contacts are released and you won’t have any readings on these top terminal. The other part is if the terminals are all completely rusted. If the spade connectors on them are arrested they’re not making good contact. That’s another sign that it’s seen better life. The third is just age itsel. These typically last 5 to 7 years of good reliable life. After that we find that they begin to fail. One way you can know you might have a problem with this as if you’re trying to run your AC and the condenser fan motor is not turning on, or the compressor is not turning on and you just have warm air blowing out of your duct. This can have something to do with that.

There is a typical contactor found in most AC system. Some of the higher-end systems have Control board’s that perform this function. This is probably in 85 percent of your outdoor units . Typical life of a unit like this is about five to seven year. When you turn on your thermostat for cooling it activates this switch. This closes and it allows power to come to the unit and power up the compressor and a condenser fan motor. Now this typically can fail in one of two way. When this switch closes it is constantly making contact at these points and there’s a little arc. It’ll actually burn up these points and make pits if it gets bad enough. When this closes it doesn’t actually make contact and thus power can’t get through the switch to power the unit. If that happens the fan and the compressor will not come on and you won’t have air. The other way that it can fail is it can actually weld itself closed. So if this stays closed it is going to constantly power your outdoor unit. It’ll run and run and run and not shut off. The only way to get it to shut off is either by tripping the circuit breaker at the panel or by pulling the outside disconnect. So the last thing that we see that typically goes wrong electrically with a unit is this.

There is a condenser fan motor. This motor when it’s inside your unit is orientated generally and you have fan blades coming off of this. This unit helps expel the heat that’s collected from the home and blows it up out of the unit. So one of the typical problems with this is we look for grease around the shaft on this surface. If we see grease here we know we have a problem. This is supposed to be a sealed unit so no grease should be getting out. If at that point that starts to happen it’s on its way out, it’s closer to the end of its life than it’s beginning. Another issue that we look for is if you have what looks like a big rust mark on the side of the unit. It’s not actually rust it’s actually heat damaged from the unit losing its grease and running too hot. It’s damaging the inside of the motor. The motor still may run but we cannot guarantee for how much longer. The typical reliable life for a unit like this is about 8 to 10 years, depending on usage. What can happen if this stops turning is that it has no way for the condenser to release the heat from your home. All the heat builds up inside your condenser . If left unchecked for too long it could potentially damage the compressor. The best way to check this is just take a peek at your unit to see if the fan blades are rotating. If they are not and you can hear the compressor running then turn off the unit and give us a call. Obviously this is a condensed version of some of the problems with an outside unit. It’s not supposed to be an intensive diagnostic by any means, just an education for you to understand a little bit better how your unit work.

Having a clean home is vital for plenty of house owners as their homes are undoubtedly a direct illustration of who they are. Even more important than matters of representation, enjoying an immaculate household directly influences the state of your overall health and that of other occupants. Build-up of filth, pathogens, dust, is linked to the development of diseases and allergies, which reduce the quality of life for families.

With the bustling life-styles of the modern-day era, cleaning every inch and corner of your property is a little bit challenging, if not hopeless. Working from 9 to five or even later means that when you are free, you would rather spend quality time together with your relatives and good friends rather than toiling to get your household spotless.

This is where cleaning services come in useful. They accord you ample opportunity to engage in pastimes and endeavor that are very important to you while simultaneously making certain that your residence is immaculate. There are avariety of cleaning services that are designed and specially crafted to reduce the amount of time you spend on cleaning. There are many cleaning companies that make it their mission to offer cleaning services that are beyond reproach as theyaim to please our clients.

Residential Cleaning

There are great companies out there who offer high-quality residential cleaning to clients. In doing so, they use the best cleaning methods and practices with that allows them to get the job done in the most time-efficient manner possible. Additionally, theyuse high-quality cleaning products that ensure your house is not only clean but also free pathogens and dirt, thus ensuring that you have a clean environment.

For this, you can opt for the recurring cleaning services where your house regularly cleaned and thoroughly cleaned. Your aspirations and needs, as well as the prevailing environment in your house, determine the cleaning schedule. However, this service is rendered on a weekly basis, bi-weekly, or a monthly service.

Alternatively, you can opt for the occasional cleaning service. This service is perfect for homeowners who regularly clean their house but require the assistance of a professional crew to get rid of the persistent dirt in the places they would normally overlook. This service ensures that your house is pristinely clean regardless of your cleaning abilities.

Move In/Move Out Cleaning Services

It is common for homeowners to give to thoroughly clean their houses when they are moving in and when they are moving out. This part of moving in or out is more often than not very hectic to get done in the right way and on time. With this in mind, you can always turn to a professional cleaning crew to ensure that you get the best result, whilst not being overburdened by the entire process.

Same Day Cleaning or Emergency Cleaning

Every now and again, we find ourselves with a lot of cleaning tasks to handle. Case in point, after party cleaning, can be overbearing and very tiresome. During such times, you can always turn to emergency cleaning services.

Other specialized cleaning services that you can receive from professional cleaning crew include window cleaning and carpet cleaning.

You heard the expression an English mans home is his castle, right? What then is an Americans? His sanctuary- his playpark? All of the above and more. Your home is probably the best investment you will ever make. As long as you keep it up to date and in good shape it should over time make you a descent earner for your retirement. Plus if you add on any exceptional features or update them it can also significantly increase the asking price.

For many enthusiastic property owners this means upgrading your existing pool or building one if you havent got one. If you think this is a worthy endeavour, you should tailor your new design according to your available cash flow or savings. The amount of money you have to spend will eliminate some of the many decisions you have to make like how big should the pool be, what features it will have. Waterfalls, slides and rock features naturally up the budget, as does building an add-on spa or spacious lounging area.

Space

One of the first things to look at is the amount of available space you have for the pool area. If you have a pool already that needs updating this will let you know if you can expand your pool area and include things like decking areas, or cooking areas good for socializing and parties and eating al fresco.

If you sit down with a designer you can feed your dimensions into a computer and visualize what you can do. You can change the shape of your pool, or build one from scratch that doesnt have to be the traditional square or oval shape. You can see some designs at www.bathpoolandspa.com. How about building a pool with separate nooks and crannies built into a L shape, or maybe a U shape, that has waterfalls built into rock features? Design software can show you possibilities and this can be an exciting experience in its own and help you with the creative design process.

If you have children, you can add a smaller pool or have one area of the pool designed for children that isnt too deep, so they will be much safer playing in it. You can design a little alcove or also a Jacuzzi area inside the main pool, or you can place it beside or above the main pool to create that complete spa experience.

Fitness Goals

Or if fitness is your thing you can get a pool designed with a current system that enables you to swim against a powerful wave, without actually going anywhere. That way you dont have to flip around each time you do a lap of the pool. If you have the space and the budget you can design a large pool and with do the current system, but sometimes big isnt always beautiful.

Your pool can be like the latest instalment of the Star Wars saga – it has a light side which really makes life living – and a dark side which can make your life a living hell.

Your pool in other words is like ‘the girl with the curl’ in the old nursery rhyme – when it’s good, it’s very, very good, but when it’s bad, it’s awful. On the good days you and your family can enjoy a fantastic time around the pool, enjoying sunshine and water activities in equal measure. But when that pool is green and murky it can provide an almost endless challenge.

In order to make sure that you pool is always a pleasure and not a pain follow some of these great tips from mypoolguide.com.

#1 Clean Your Filter.

Some people seem to view a pool filter as a magical components that will keep their pools in pristine condition with only the barest of attention. This is simply not true. Pool owners are advised to clean out their filter baskets at least once a week. This should be a weekly appointment as part of your pool care routine. If you’ve had a storm in your area then clean out your filter afterwards to make sure that debris is not clogging the system. You’ll also want to backwash at least once a month to make sure that the filter pipes are clean.

#2 Test And Test Again.

Make sure that you test the levels of chemicals in your pool at least once a week. There are some great handy kits to make testing so simple that a child could do it. You need to test chlorine levels, Cyanuric Acid levels and acidity to make sure that everything is in balance. Your neighborhood pool store will be able to sell you anything you might need to get your pool into balance again.

#3 What A Shock.

At some point in the lifetime of pool ownership you may be tempted to simply throw your hands up in the air and give in. Don’t panic and don’t be afraid to ‘shock’ green or murky pools. Just like an episode of E.R. sometimes the patient needs to have the chemical equivalent of paddles to the chest applied. To shock mix five times your dose of chlorine with water and add to the pool.

With some simply guidelines and approaches you can make sure that your pool is a great investment no matter what the season.

If you are thinking about installing window tinting, whether it be for a residential or commercial application, there are a number of points you should consider to ensure you choose right film for your requirements.

The first and undoubtedly the most crucial thing you need to grasp about window film is the difference between quality window film and bad film. Here’s why this is so important:

Good quality window film will last for the lifetime of your windows whereas bad window film will only last 2-3 years, depending on the rigours of your environment.

The only way for you to discriminate between good quality and low quality film is price and guarantee. When making enquirers with a supplier, be sure to ask how long the film is guaranteed for. If it’s not at least 12 years don’t buy it. And also beware of the unscrupulous operator who offers you a guarantee on low quality film and hikes the price, to make it appear like it’s good film, but will either not be around, or simply do nothing if you get back to them because your tint has failed.

Here’s the tip, (and incidentally I’ve found this to be true with most things), if your only consideration in getting quotes is looking for the cheapest possible price, then you will naturally gravitate towards the bad product and the real price you pay will be in around 3 years when your windows start to blister, fade and/or peel and look awful. Be warned, the cheapest price is usually just crap!

BENEFITS OF INSTALLING TINTING

There are a range of benefits you can get from window tinting, and each particular film you use will bring together some of these advantages, so the first thing you should be sure of is the most important reason for installing window tint. Lets look at each benefit so you can see the most suitable solution for your environment.The primary advantages of good quality window tinting are as follows.

Heat Rejection: Premium window film rejects heat by blocking as much as 73% of infra-red radiation through windows. That’s cool!

UV Rejection: Premium window film blocks up to 99% of infra red radiation from penetrating your windows. And as a bonus, it also blocks 93% of glare, which does wonders for your view and means things look really cool!

Privacy: The right film will also provide daytime privacy, enabling everyone inside to be cooler, enjoy the views, and at the same time have total privacy from prying eyes during the day.

Impact Safety and Security Films: These specially designed films stop glass from shattering on impact. Safety films are made to withstand the force of human impact, while security films can withstand a bomb blast without shattering. Since the collateral damage from accidents where windows are broken comes from shards of glass flying like shrapnel, or large sections of glass falling like a guillotine, the major risks associated with safety are avoided. It also stops your windows from being a soft and easy entry point for criminals, because both the force and noise required to force entry is so noticeable criminals, would rather simply move on in search of an easier, ‘softer’ target.

Finally of course there’s the matter of looking good. Good quality window film also makes windows look good; and for many people it’s the aesthetic charm that tinted windows add that is the driving force for installing them.

SPECIFIC ISSUES RELATED TO CARS AND VEHICLES
The next point I want to discuss is relevant to drivers and it concerns installing the darkest legal tint on your car or truck.

In all States and Territories of Australia, the darkest legal tint legally permitted on a vehicle is one with a VLT (visible light transmission) level of 35%, on all vehicle windows (excluding the front windscreen, which is not allowed to have any window tint with the exception of the visor strip across the top). The northern Territory and Western Australia are the only exceptions. In the Northern Territory you are allowed a minimum VLT of 15% for windows behind the driver; and in WA you are allowed 20% VLT on windows behind the driver.

So here’s the thing. Most cars already have a slight tint in the glass in their front windows, so this needs to be taken into consideration when adding tint to a vehicle. Here’s how the maths looks.

If the factory installed windows on your car already block 30% of light, when a film with the “darkest legal tint” of 35% is added to this glass, it will emit only 35% of light into a window that is already only emitting 70% of light, so the final VLT will be calculated by the addition of both tint ratings.

This needs to be considered because if a driver inadvertently fails to comply with tinting regulations, the result can be a fine. But worse still, if a vehicle is involved in an accident and its illegally dark windows are considered by the court to be a contributing factor, this could mean the nulling of your insurance policy, leaving you exposed to the full financial culpability of the accident. Furthermore a criminal charge could apply if property is damaged or people are hurt.

The final thing to remember is that by modifying a vehicle with darker than legal windows, the vehicle is deemed unroadworthy, which means you can’t drive the car again until it has been put through the pits, in which case the illegal tint will have to be stripped off the windows. That’s why the combined VLT of both the glass and film really should be considered when you’re selecting the appropriate tint for your car.

So what’s the moral of this story? When it comes to window tinting, make sure you use a good quality product and that your installer has the knowledge to be able to offer you the right solution for your circumstances. That way you’ll end up with a range of benefits, rather than a bunch of problems.

The only downside to owning all those cute pets is the mess they are prone to leaving behind; regardless, it is not reason enough to disown all those furry creatures so full of cuteness. The reason that cleaning their mess is not as much of a dilemma as it once also helped. Pet vacuums are cleaners that are fitted with a powerful suction mechanism and could reach out to all the dirt that a pet could possible leave in its wake, including their hair.

A pet vacuum is not the “all” in one cleaner per se, but refers to all those vacuum cleaners that could help deal with the pet mess. Their common features include the ability to reach the farthest and smallest corners of the house with easy maneuverability. A pet vacuum cleaner could be of any kind as long as they can clean up the pet disaster. Most common pet vacuums include robot vacuum or portable cleaners.

No matter how many times or how long you have been acquainted with your pet vacuum cleaner, there still might be some facts that you don’t know about them. Let’s take a look at some of the more interesting ones:

• A normal vacuum cleaner never works at picking up the pet hair; only a cleaner with whirlwind technology can do an effective job.
• The hose of a normal vacuum cleaner is most likely to spit a hair ball when it is used to vacuum for pet hair. Most pet owners don’t even realize this and only discover once they find that the hose is overheating.
• Ironically enough, the first power vacuum cleaner was drawn by a house. The chords and the hose were maneuvered inside the house through the windows.
• The vacuum cleaner, in its early years, was one of the most popular and sought out home appliance, second only to an electronic iron.
• It was not only the regular people that became large fans of the vacuum cleaner; in fact, when vacuum cleaners were used to clean the Westminster Abbey, Lord Chamberlain became so enamored with it that he bought two for the clean-up of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.
• Vacuum cleaners were also used as hair dryers in the earlier years by attaching them to a hot furnace.
• Vacuum cleaners used to be so heavy that it needed two people just to handle it. Today though, we have robot vacuum cleaners that operate on their own.
• Some of the pet vacuum cleaners nowadays are so advanced that one could probably tell if a surface had been recently cleaned with its sensors.
• It was James Murray Spangler’s observation of allergies and asthma attacks that led to the invention of vacuum cleaners.
• It is a fact that slow cleaning through vacuum cleaners could effectively clean up more allergens from the surfaces. Similarly, pet hairs cannot be removed easily and must be vacuumed in slow to and fro motions.

Owning pets is great, but keeping the house clean is equally important; therefore, make sure to use pet vacuum cleaners exclusively to keep your house devoid of harmful dirt and animal hair.