All kids love to help out. When I was very young I used to wake up Saturday morning to watch the cartoons and I would sometimes clean the whole house before my parents got up (they liked to sleep in on Saturday) to surprise my mother. I remember how good it made me feel to be able to contribute. To my mother’s credit, she never let on what a lousy job I did.

The following is my daughter’s attempt to help me with my advertising. It was written, unsolicited, in 1994 when she was ten. I’ve reprinted it exactly as she wrote it, misspellings and all, except I put it in paragraphs. Obviously, the prices don’t apply any more. Sorry!!!!! Read Full Article

We’re all aware of the toll in lives, the anxiety, the fear the walking dead can evoke. I’m not just talking about zombies, though we’ll get to those later. There is more than one way to be dead.

How about uncle Jack who flails his beer around as he describes his last round of golf. He has no awareness of the spotted question mark he just left on your carpet. Or those annoying people who carry dogs in their handbags and let them run loose on your carpet doing who knows what in hidden places your olfactory discovers later on a hot day — blind to your tense expression and exploring eyes. Read Full Article

The old adage, “It can’t hurt to try!” applies in many ways, but not in spot cleaning. Failed spot cleaning often leads to permanent stains.

On the other hand, time is your enemy as well. The sooner you can remove the spot from your carpet or furniture, the less likely it is to stain the fabric. Thus you have a classic, damned if you do — damned if you don’t scenario.

The following is a link to an excellent spot cleaning chart from the Carpet and Rug Institute. However, I would highly recommend reading the rest of this article before attempting to remove a spot yourself. Read Full Article

So I started spot cleaning to save myself some money so I wouldn’t have to pay someone to clean my carpets. I figured I changed my garbage disposal, so I’m a plumber! I installed a new lighting system with motion detector activation, I’m an electrician! I fixed the electric garage door then I called a professional to fix what I fixed. What a $400 disaster! Well 2 out of 3 is pretty good.

I bought the best spot cleaner for carpets, sprayed it on and the spot was gone. The spot came back a little bigger and uglier a few weeks later. I went to Home Depot and spoke to the specialist in the overhead lights isle and he recommended I use the spot cleaner the professionals use. This spotter worked so good it removed everything from grease, food, soda and even took some of the color out of my carpet as a bonus. And the spots still came back bigger and uglier. I was tempted to leave the spot to cover up the loss of color. Read Full Article

What are dust mites?

House dust mites are microscopic bugs that primarily live on dead skin cells shed from people and their pets. Skin cells, commonly called dander, are often concentrated in mattresses, frequently used furniture and associated carpeted areas. Since mites prefer warm, moist surroundings such as the inside of a mattress when someone is on it, beds are the primary habitat. Also, bedroom carpeting and household upholstery support high mite populations.

Are Dust Mites Harmful?

Dust mites are harmless to most people. They don’t carry diseases but they can cause allergic reactions in asthmatics and others who are allergic to their feces. Their microscopic shed skins and feces are a major constituent of house dust that induces allergic reactions in some individuals. There is a genetic predisposition to dust mite allergies, but like many allergies it can also develop over time. Read Full Article