Best Advice For Marble Floor Care

Marble Refinishing Restoration & Cleaning

If you own a marble floor in your business or home, then you don’t need us to tell you that marble can be easily scratched and stained. It's a very sensitive material that requires the right methods of care and cleaning, but when treated properly, marble can look amazing! Here’s some advice on how to keep your marble looking that way.

What Not To Do With Marble Floors.

• Be sure to avoid using acidic chemical cleaners on marble surfaces, or common DIY 

• methods like lemon, vinegar or ammonia, since anything acidic could cause irreversible damage to your floors. Even small amounts of acidity might eat through marble over time.

• Avoid using a soaked mop to clean up spills. While spills can certainly do damage to the marble’s surface, a soaked mop may do even more damage. Instead, try to only use a slightly damp mop when cleaning spills.

• Try to avoid dragging heavy furniture or sharp objects across a marble floor, since they can easily cause scratches and other damage in the marble. Marble floors are beautiful, but not so much if they’re covered with scratch marks and chipped pieces.

Professional Polishing

Now that you know what to avoid, it's time to talk about the right way to clean and polish your marble floor when it's time to re-seal the flooring. If you want to go through with the polishing process on your own, you’ll need to get a polishing compound specifically designed for type of marble, a low-speed polisher and a marble sealant. Then you’ll have to work through the cleaning process. But if you don’t have the equipment and don’t know the process, there’s an easier way. The Steam Team offers a professional marble polishing service that will make your marble shine brighter than when you first got it! For more information, visit The Steam Team website.

Don't Forget To Clean These Commonly Overlooked Areas

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When you’re trying to clean your whole home all by yourself, it's no easy task. For many homeowners, they clean obvious and important parts of the home like the floors, walls, appliances etc., but quite often people will overlook areas of the home that are in desperate need of cleaning. Here at The Steam Team we have tons of experience in home cleaning, and here are the areas most homeowners overlook;

Air Vents

Cleaning certain areas of your home where dust builds up is important, it keeps the air you breathe clean. But are you making sure to also clean the source of that air? Dirty air vents can affect your everyday health, and unfortunately most people don’t clean them as often as they should. Next time you wonder why your cabinets are so dusty, check the vents.

Under Appliances

You most likely clean your appliances from time to time, but what about underneath those appliances? Dirt, dust, grime and food can build up in these areas, and you can’t avoid cleaning them forever! If you don’t want to pull out that refrigerator or washing machine and clean all around it, call The Steam Team and let us do it!

Drapes

Dust, dirt, pollen and even mold can accumulate on drapes left unchecked. Many drapes can’t be cleaned in the washing machine, and require special attention. So be sure you know what kind of clean your drapes need.

Baseboards

Cleaning baseboards is actually quite easy, but they’re commonly overlooked. They can easily collect dust and dirt over time. Cleaning them can be done with just a damp cloth or a wipe.

The Steam Team

If these areas are too difficult or too inconvenient for you to clean, keep in mind that The Steam Team technicians can do it all! So stop letting these areas of your home get dirtier by the day, give us a call. Visit The Steam Team website for more information for carpet cleaners and restoration .

Everything You Need To Know About Leather Cleaning And Conditioning

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Leather furniture is highly sought-after, but far too many homeowners buy leather items without realizing how to properly care for them, and sometimes end up overwhelmed by what’s required. To make things easier for you, here’s our expert advice on proper leather treatment.

Know Your Leather

Many people think all leather requires the same treatment, but that’s not true! It's very important to know what kind of leather you have before attempting to clean it.

Protected Leather- This makes up the majority of leather upholstery. Protected leather may also be labeled finished, semi-aniline, or pigmented leather. Protected leather, as the name suggests, is topped with a protective coating and is more durable than other leathers.

Unprotected Leather- Also called aniline, pure aniline, or unfinished leather, this leather has a more soft and luxurious feel. This type of leather is more sensitive to staining and is also more expensive than protected leather.

Cleaning and Conditioning

When cleaning unprotected leather, you may use a slightly dampened cloth with distilled water, a dry cloth and vacuum (make sure you’re using the small brush attachment), or an approved leather cleaner. The specific manufacturer may have their own instructions, so be sure to check that out. But no matter what the method is, clean very gently with unprotected leather, as it is much more susceptible to staining.

Protected leather can handle a lot more, but you should still be careful to not use certain products. Clean with a vacuum and damp cloth, but only use approved leather cleaners.

An approved leather conditioner should be applied every six to twelve months. To properly condition, add a small dollop of conditioner onto a small cloth and gently rub the conditioner all over the leather. This will keep your leather looking shiny and moisturized.

The Steam Team Method

You might be thinking all these steps are too much to deal with yourself, but that’s what we’re here for! The Steam Team can completely clean and condition your leather furniture for you. Feel free to call any time!

How To Deal With Plumbing Overflow: The Steam Team

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One of the most damaging things in homes and businesses today is plumbing overflow and the flooding it can cause. Here at The Steam Team, we want to help you fully understand the dangers of plumbing overflow, what steps you should take, and how we can help.

The Risks of Plumbing Overflow

Whether you have tile, carpet, or wood floors, you probably already know that water will damage your floors. But water can also damage the subfloor underneath your flooring if it isn’t cleaned up soon enough. With spills this is easy to do, but in the case of plumbing overflow you won’t be able to prevent the water damage, and the floor and subfloor may need to be removed. In cases where the plumbing overflow occurred on a second or third story, the water may leak through the floor and drip from the ceiling of the lower floor, causing further damage to whatever surface it lands on.

Having your home damaged is awful enough, but unchecked plumbing overflow can also cause serious health risks. If the floors are wet, keep that in mind and take all precautions so that you can try not to slip if you must walk on the wet floor. Also, be sure to stay away from any electrical outlets that may have gotten wet, as they might electrocute you.

Mold Growth

Unchecked plumbing overflow can also cause mold to grow in certain places. It can happen anywhere dark with just a little bit of moisture, and it can quickly become a health hazard for anyone in the home.

When it comes to mold growth, but also floor damage and the other jobs required when you have plumbing overflow in your home, The Steam Team can help you! Our professional technicians are trained to use high-powered technology and expert methods to fix all of your plumbing overflow problems. For more information on how we can help, please visit The Steam Team cleaning website.

The Versatility of Carpet Cleaning

Whether you own a carpet cleaner or have had professionals steam clean your home before, you probably already know all about the versatility and benefits it offers. Here at The Steam Team, we’ve put together our favorite things about carpet cleaning, its versatility, and how it can improve your home (and your lives). Remember; a carpet cleaner is not just for carpet!

Steam Cleaning Ceramic Floors

As a matter of fact, if you are only using your carpet cleaner for your carpet then you’re not using this helpful machine to its full potential. Steam cleaners are actually one of the best things to use for cleaning a ceramic floor. The high pressure steam strips the floor of residue and chemicals left over by other household cleaning products. If you have any pets or children that spend a lot of time on the floor, it’s very important to keep these harmful chemicals off of your tile. To use a steam cleaner on ceramic floor, first do a thorough sweep of the floor to pick up all the larger pieces of dirt and debris. Then just add the water, place the microfiber cleaning cloth on the unit’s cleaner head, plug the machine in, and you’re ready to go!

Steam Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Using a carpet cleaner on a hardwood floor isn't quite as simple as it is with a ceramic floor. It depends very much on what kind of steam cleaner you get, as well as the condition of your floor. If you are going to steam clean your hardwood, make sure to only purchase a steam cleaner that is advertised to be used on hardwood or call in the professionals.

For more information on carpet cleaning and professional steam cleaning services, be sure to contact us, here at The Steam Team.

Do You Need to Rent Steam Cleaning or Drying Equipment?

The efficiency and high-powered cleaning capabilities of steam cleaners are becoming increasingly popular, and for good reason. When it comes to any deep cleaning process, (especially in the case of fire or water damage restoration) high-powered steam cleaners and dryers are a necessity. They can, however, be a costly purchase. But with the help of The Steam Team, renting the right equipment can be a breeze.

The Benefits

Here are some of the known benefits of using steam cleaners versus other cleaning methods:

The process of steam cleaning kills 99.99% of bacteria without the use of the toxic chemicals found in common cleaners (bleach, ammonia, etc.). The only ingredients are heat and water.

Steam cleaning poses no threat to children or pets that may be in the home, due to it’s non-toxic nature.

Steam cleaning only uses water and heat, meaning it won’t aggravate anyone’s allergies or asthma.

When mold grows anywhere in the home, particularly the bathroom, it can contaminate the air and cause several health problems. Steam cleaning, unlike bleach, actually kills the mold. Bleach only makes the mold blend in with the white surfaces.

Rental Advice

Given the benefits listed above, you’re likely considering a steam cleaner for your next big job. But what’s the best way to go about renting this equipment? Here’s our advice:

Rent from a company that is known throughout your local area for having great customer service and some of the best deals around. If fire or water damage restoration is the reason for your equipment rental, find the company with the real experts on those topics. For customers with the capabilities to execute such jobs, The Steam Team offers a full line of high-powered steam cleaning and drying equipment for rental purposes. For a comprehensive list of the equipment and services offered, visit The Steam Team website, and don’t be afraid to call to speak to an expert!

Why The Steam Team Is The Best Carpet Cleaning Service Around

Rugs and Carpets require regular care to maintain and keep clean and pristine. The carpet cleaning service offered by The Steam Team is designed to remove all soils, odors and allergens from your carpet. This cleaning process will also extend the life of your carpet and improve the air quality of your home or business.

The Best Technology For The Job

One thing that sets The Steam Team carpet cleaning apart from other companies is that we work with only the latest and best technology for the job. Our method cleans deep and removes even the toughest stains using hot water extraction technology.

We also use high powered professional truck mounted equipment for a powerful, yet gentle clean of all carpets and rugs. Only the cleaning wand and hoses are brought into your home or business. All dirt is removed and stored in the waste tank of our modern trucks.

Restoration Cleaning

The Steam Team also offers restoration carpet cleaning, meaning even carpets or rugs that are heavily soiled and damaged can be cleaned. The restoration cleaning process adds several additional steps to ensure the best clean for your carpets. The extra steps involve a powerful floor machine used to loosen soil and dirt before the standard hot water extraction method.

Professional Drying Process

Cleaning your carpets yourself, or relying on other companies, may require you to wait long periods of time for your floors to dry. The Steam Team doesn’t think you should have to wait. For your convenience, you can ask for our professional drying process where high powered drying fans are used to change your carpets or rugs from soaked to damp to dry in no time.

With your carpets and rugs efficiently cleaned and quickly dried, you’ll be able to get things back to normal quite quickly. For more information on the other services that we have to offer, visit The Steam Team website.

Does Carpet Padding Help Your Carpet?

In short, the answer is yes, carpet padding can tremendously help and even protect your carpet at times. Many homeowners don’t realize how important its impact may be, as it’s usually the first to go when building a home or installing new flooring and trying to cut costs. However, with ineffective carpet padding, your carpeting doesn’t have enough support. The better the support, the longer the flooring lasts!

So, let’s talk carpet padding for a minute to help you understand the best decision to make when installing your new carpet flooring. There are many variables to consider when it comes to flooring; the area of the home, the amount of traffic it’s going to endure, and the amount of messes you expect. The padding beneath the carpeting needs to be chosen with these factors in mind so you choose the right padding for your home and family.

The Benefits of Carpet Padding

Besides offering additional support for carpet and carpet fibers, the padding beneath carpet serves to protect the subfloor, cushion the flooring to offer more comfort, and absorb spills or messes (and keep them from damaging the subfloor).

Having a high-quality padding beneath your carpet, allows the carpet fibers to absorb less of the shock from the force of when people (or animals) walk and move around. Without enduring additional force, the fibers are protected from extensive damage, allowing them to last longer.

Replacing the carpeting or other flooring typically only occurs a few times throughout the lifetime of a home (of course this depends on a variety of factors, but generally speaking). But, even so, if you’re faced with picking out new carpet and looking at installing new floors, we always recommend not skimping on the padding and ensuring that it’s going to be the best option for you.

If you need a professional company to come in a clean your carpet, look at your flooring, or even refinish your hardwoods- we’re here for you! Give us a call anytime, here at The Steam Team.