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Professional carpet cleaning – Southern Counties Cleaning

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We have very few carpets in our home because both my husband and I have allergies to dust and mites. So you can imagine how important it is for the two of us that the carpets that we do have, and that the rest of the house remain as clean as possible in order to keep our allergy symptoms at bay.

That’s one of the main reasons why I decide to write this for Southern counties cleaning.co.uk. SCC specializes in carpet cleaning. They provide their carpet cleaning services to the following areas within the UK – London, Surrey, Kent and west Sussex.

You may be thinking “I vacuum regularly and we don’t have allergies, I don’t need a carpet cleaning service.” but did you know that having your carpets professionally cleaned regularly will help keep them looking good longer, and perhaps extend the life of your carpet? Carpeting a room or a whole house is an expensive undertaking. Isn’t it wise to protect your investment?

What about spots and stains? I’m sure that most people with carpeting in their homes have had a spill on the carpet that’s left a mark. Oh sure, you’ve tried to remove it with products you’ve purchased in the market, but they don’t always work well do they? That’s just one more reason to have your carpets professionally cleaned. Professionally carpet cleaners are often able to remove the spots and stains that we can’t – no matter how hard we’ve tried.

Sand, soil and grit will eventually take a toll on your carpet by damaging the fibers as they are repeatedly walked upon. Bacteria within the carpet can cause odours, and dust mites can cause or exacerbate allergies. Having your carpets professionally cleaned regularly will help control these problems, and as I said earlier extend the life of your carpet.

Have I convinced you yet as to why you should get your carpets professionally cleaned every now and then? I hope I have. In my husband and I’s case it’s a matter of maintaining our health. That’s a good enough reason for us.

SSC carpet cleaners service private homes and all types of premises. If you live in the Southern Counties of the UK consider hiring them to clean your carpets.






How much is your home worth?

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Do you ever wonder what the value of your home really is? Do you think it’s increased or decreased over time? If you’re curious you should visit Valuesinfo.com for an online house appraisal to find out how much homes in your area are worth.

If you’re thinking of selling it’s good to know what kind of price you might get for your home.

We were quite lucky when we bought our house five years ago. The people selling this house were moving to a retirement home on a specific date so they wanted to sell their home quickly. It turned out that not only did we manage to get this house at a lower price than many others that were for sale in this area, but it also happened to be the most solidly constructed and in the best condition of the 40 to 50 houses that I’d looked at with my real estate agent over a two month house hunting period.

The value of homes in our area has steadily increased in the last five years. Our house is now worth more than twice the amount we paid for it, perhaps even slightly more since we’ve done a lot of upgrading, renovations and landscaping.

We aren’t planning on selling our home any time soon, but it’s nice to check what the value of homes in our area is every now and then. It certainly makes me feel good knowing we made a sound investment when we purchased our home.

Did you check to see if the prices of homes in your area went up?

Controlling house plant pests

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In many parts of North America and other areas of the world gardeners have traded their backyard gardening for indoor houseplant gardening. Bringing some plants in from outdoors, and tending to others that are indoors all year round.

Every home owner who keeps houseplants will encounter, at one time or another the dreaded house plant pests. Little bugs that you can often barely see that start to suck on the leaves or burrow into the stems and cause parts of the plant or the leaves to die. If measures aren’t taken to eradicate these pests quickly a whole plant could die.

There are only five major groups of insect and mite pests on house plants, they are very difficult to control and highly persistent, once established. Not only that- but many types of house plants re sensitive to pesticides when they are used on them, plus pesticides used indoors can be quite dangerous to the home owner, small children and household pets.

The three steps to controlling pests are:

Step 1 . Know how to recognize at least the major insect and mite pests that attack foliage plants: aphids, mealybugs, scale insects, whiteflies, and spider mites.

Step 2. Prevent the introduction of pests into the home or existing plant specimen arrangements:
a) buy or propagate only pest-free plants;
b) keep new plants separated from other plants for 4 to 6 weeks to see if any pest problems develop;
c) carefully inspect all plants at least weekly for signs of insects and mites.

Step 3. If a plant is found to be infested with insects or mites:
a) isolate the plant from other plants;
b) correctly identify the pest;
c) determine and apply appropriate control measures;
d) keep the plant separate from others until all evidence of infestation is eliminated, which may be several weeks or more.

Take Control

There are three popular general methods for treating house plants infestations: physically removing the pests and or washing the plant, general purpose ready to use sprays, and chemical concentrates for preparing spray mixtures.

Physical removal is easy enough for large pests- slugs, caterpillars etc.. Pests can also be swabbed with a small brush or cotton tipped applicator moistened with rubbing alcohol.

You may also opt to rinse or wash plants with a diluted mix of dish detergent soap or an insecticidal soap. Sometimes just placing a plant in your shower stall and gently spraying them with lukewarm water on the tops and undersides of the leaves is enough to rid the plant of an infestation, plus give it a good drink and flush it’s substrate at the same time.

Often the soap sprays or rinses need to be repeated over a period of time to totally rid the plant of pests. I also try to isolate plants that I find are infested – I’ll move them several feet away from uninfected plants at the very least, and often into a totally different room if it’s possible. There’s nothing worse than having several plants infested with pests at the same time.

In your garden centres you’ll find ready to use sprays, but if you go searching for one of these types of sprays make sure it’s labeled that it’s safe for use on house plants. Always read the labels and precautions on any of the ready made sprays that you are planning on using as some sprays are effective only for certain types of insects, while others are only effective when the pests are in certain stages of life.

Whiteflies are very difficult to control with standard sprays, but easily controlled with other sprays that are made specifically for whiteflies. Be sure to follow directions. There are many individual products on the market; be sure to read the label to determine which one to use.

Chemical concentrations are available to mix with water for application with a hand sprayer or mister. Insecticides and/or miticides are available separately or in mixtures. Generally insecticides will not control mites, and miticides will not control insects. Only the appropriate pesticide is needed. The wrong one will not be effective.

Another way to prevent infestations in the first place is to care for the plant properly. Many people end up having white fly and mite infestations on their plants in the winter time. The air is dry in the house and the plants are not kept moist enough. Misting the plants with water sprays a couple times of day or keeping the room they are in adequately humidified should help lower the chance of pest infestations in some plants.

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