Serving San Antonio, New Braunfels, & Surrounding Areas

210.978.0263
830.433.5587

Blog

Carpet or Wood Flooring: Three Reasons to Choose Carpeting

February 22, 2012 in Blog, Carpet by admin  |  No Comments

Carpeting or wood floors? It’s an age-old question for homeowners. But should it be? Below we’ve ranked our top 3 reasons why carpeting is often the better choice.

1. Less Noise – So it’s 8AM on a Saturday, you don’t have your alarm set, and you’re planning on staying in bed until at least 9 or 10. But then someone starts clapping around your wood-floored living room in boots or high-heels. Maybe they turn on the T.V. or put on the radio. Suddenly there’s so much noise that you’re wide-awake and irritable. While carpets tend to dampen household noises like TVs and walking, wood floors magnify sound. Carpeting in a living room or bedroom is a good way to turn down the volume in your household.

2. Warmth – Another unpleasant morning sensation is walking across a cold, hardwood floor in bare feet. Particularly in the winter months, hardwood floors can feel like sheets of ice. Carpets, on the other hand, always maintain a natural, comfortable warmth. They’re perfect for intimate living room settings and provide a nice warm landing for getting out of bed.

3. Color choices – Carpet can be matched to fit the color of your furniture and your home. Since carpeting comes in so many varieties it’s easy to find the perfect carpet for any given space. For rooms that feel dark or small, its best to get a light-colored carpet to open up the space. Meanwhile, large rooms can benefit from darker carpeting and a more intimate feel.

The Best Uses for Oriental Rugs

February 1, 2012 in Blog, Oriental Rugs by admin  |  No Comments

Oriental rugs have been important additions to households for the past fifty years. Before running out to buy one, however, you should consider whether an oriental rug is right for your space.

Oriental rugs are wonderful additions to heavily trafficked rooms and hallways. The dark colors of oriental rugs are great at hiding stains and spills that would ruin lighter colored rugs. Likewise, oriental rugs are often admired for their durability, making them a great choice for households with pets and children.

An oriental rug can also add excitement to an otherwise drab room. However, in a room already full of color it may be an unnecessary distraction. Consider using an oriental rug to give warmth to a tile floor or eloquence to a modern-styled setting. Often times, the straight lines and square features of modern furnishings can feel sterile or overbearing. An oriental rug is a great way to give crisp rooms a vibrant and lively aura.

Oriental rugs are a welcome sight outside the living room as well. More and more often, homeowners are using oriental rugs in kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms. In a monochrome bathroom, for instance, a small oriental rug can serve as a bath mat and enliven the surroundings.

Choosing a Carpet for the Living Room

January 26, 2012 in Blog, Carpet by admin  |  No Comments

The living room is one of the most frequented areas of the house. Whether you’re watching Monday night football, reading a book or entertaining guests, the living room is probably where you’re headed.

When choosing a carpet for your living room, you should keep the room’s uses in mind. Since the living room is one of the busier areas of the house, any carpet you put down needs to be able to withstand some wear-and-tear. For an extremely durable carpet that won’t empty your wallet, consider the popular Berber. For a plusher, more comfortable option try a Frieze.

Spills are also common occurrences in living rooms. When buying your carpet think about getting easy-to-clean or stain resistant material such as Nylon or Olefin.

In searching for the right carpet color, look first to your furniture. What sorts of couches do you own? Do they pair well with the carpet color? Also, remember that dark colored carpets tend to make a room feel more intimate, while light colors tend to open a room up. If you want to turn your living room into a cozy nook, a darker shade may be your best option. If you want to open your living room to guests perhaps a lighter shade would be better.

Precautions You Can Take To Prevent Carpet Stains

January 18, 2012 in Blog, Carpet by admin  |  No Comments

You may not ever be able to completely prevent accidents from occurring, but you sure can do a lot to help your chances. Accidents happen; it’s just the way life is. However, being prepared is often your best defense against the unforeseen. Below are a few tips that may help you prevent carpet stains in the future.

First, decreasing the opportunity for stains will decrease the number of disasters you experience. This may be a bit confusing, so consider it like this. Keeping your food on the dining room table, instead of on your lap in the living room will decrease your chances of an accident. Just be mindful of the places you eat, and the carpets you wish to keep clean.

Secondly, in a similar fashion, limiting foot – or paw – traffic in certain rooms will decrease the chances of an accident. As the leader of a home, lay down the rules regarding what rooms are off limits and at what times. The “White Room” for example is a fancy dining room in many homes that owners try to keep as clean as possible when not being used.

Finally, just accept that accidents will happen. Being prepared with various cleaners and other cleaning tools may be the difference between allowing a stain to set and nipping it in the bud. Always make sure your closet is stocked with enough supplies to clean an entire room, in the event of an accident.

Or, just make sure you have Steamers Carpet Care of speed dial. Let us do the dirty work for you.

Types Of Carpets

January 11, 2012 in Blog, Carpet by admin  |  No Comments

For the various rooms in a home, and as a way to appease the innumerable styles that people have, there exist a wide variety of carpet types to choose from. Below are three in particular that are relatively common in this country. Keep in mind these types have nothing to do with design or color, but instead only the construction and formation.

First we have Berber carpet. This carpet type is very durable and usually quite cheap to make. For these reasons it is common in many schools and office buildings. These carpets tend to be pattern-less and are distinguishable by their loop pile construction.

Next, we have Frieze or Shag carpeting. The fibers of a Shag carpet are lightly twisted giving it a light bouncy feel. Popularized in the 70’s, Shag carpeting – as the name suggests – has a shaggy appearance. It often quite soft though, providing comfort and support.

Lastly, we have Plush carpeting. Perhaps the most versatile on this list, Plush carpets are usually quite thick and soft. They provide much support and are generally considered among the most comfortable of all the carpet choices.

Cleaning these carpets can be a chore. Why not call Steamers Carpet Care, and let us do the dirty work for you.

Carpet Colors That Disguise Stains

December 14, 2011 in Blog, Carpet by admin  |  No Comments

Choosing a new carpet is a big decision.  A number of determining factors will come into play, as you sift through the endless options – eventually landing on the right one for you.  Aside from the aesthetic factors, you might consider a carpet’s “clean-ability” when making your decision.

“Clean-ability” simply pertains to a carpet’s ability to be cleaned.  How easy will it be for you to grab some supplies and clean a spill on that particular carpet?  This is obviously a very unique determinant and is itself based on a number of other factors like size of the spill, composition of the spill, etc.

Taking this discussion a step further though, perhaps “clean-ability” isn’t the most influential factor for everyone.  Maybe a carpet’s ability to hide a stain would be more appealing.  The fact of the matter is; stains will happen.  No matter how hard you try to prevent them, chances are they’ll still occur.  So instead of cleaning all the time, it might be nice if some stains were concealed by the carpet.

A bright white carpet may seem nice in theory, but ask anyone who owns one and they’ll tell you how difficult it is to maintain.  The tiniest spec will be instantly visible, as will any residue left behind after it is cleaned.

Instead, consider a darker colored carpet as a stain disguising tactic.  Now, this is not to suggest that cleaning your carpet regularly can be abandoned with a darker colored carpet, but at least this way the everyday wear and tear of a highly trafficked carpet won’t be as noticeable.

Better yet, you can consider multicolored carpets.  Dark colored carpets may be better than white colored carpets in this situation, but will still highlight a lighter colored stain.  Carpets with specs of various colors though may help to hide any stain, no matter its color.

So, consider these options the next time you’re looking to purchase a new carpet.  Depending on the traffic you assume this carpet will have to endure, you may lean one way or the other.

History of The White Room

December 7, 2011 in Blog, Homes, Rooms by admin  |  No Comments

It’s that room in many houses that no one is ever allowed in.  Not a hidden, secret room in the basement, but instead a perfectly useable room in the front of the house.  It’s kept in pristine order, and usually has amazingly bright write carpeting covering the floor.  What is this room used for?  Why have it in your house?  Well, let’s take a closer look at this “white room” phenomenon to find out more.

Now-a-days the “white room” is primarily just for show.  It’s an overly fancy dining room that could be used to entertain family or friends.  The idea is; if you can show off how nice your “white room” is, others might infer that you are wealthy or that you have great taste.  Essentially, the “white room” is a way to say “hey, look at me – I’m fancy.”

For this reason, the “white room” is loaded with luxurious items like expensive silverware, painstakingly crafted tables, and of course the white carpet.  This is the kind of carpet that might stain if you look at it too long, one of the reasons it’s kept empty most of the time.  When it isn’t being used the room is normally cut off from foot traffic, preventing unnecessary cleaning.

In some houses, this “white room” doubles as a prayer room.  In the same sense that a family dinner is nicer if it is eaten in a fancy, clean, gorgeous room, those who use the room for prayer also desire to keep it as clean and beautiful as possible.  Still this “white room” has become more and more deserted.

Much like video killed the radio star; television has killed the “white room.”  Before the invention of the television, family dinners were an everyday thing.  A family would come together to discuss the day’s happenings, sitting around a nice dining room table.  Though not always as immaculate as today’s “white rooms” the concept was the same.  However, once the television was invented, families moved away from these weekly dinners around the table, to dinner on the couch in front of the television.

Today, the “white room” is a shrine to a bygone era.  It’s still kept clean, but rarely ever used for its purpose to entertain.  In fact many houses actually have secondary dining rooms that they use to entertain, leaving the “white room” all but obsolete.

Top 5 Drinks That Stain Your Carpet

November 23, 2011 in Blog, Carpet, Stains by admin  |  No Comments

Nothing will set your day back, quite like spilling a drink on the carpet. A nasty carpet stain can be frustrating and ugly, leaving you wondering what to do. Well, don’t get too down on yourself, it happens to everyone. Most spills aren’t actually as bad as they look, and if cleaned right away will leave little or no remnants behind. Being smart about what you drink however, may be the first step in preventing these stains from happening. Consider this list of the top 5 drinks to stain your carpet.

1) Fruit Juice
This refreshing, anti-oxidant filled beverage may seem harmless enough, but ask anyone who has ever spilled it on their carpets and they’ll tell you how annoying it can be. Fruit juices are usually rich in natural or artificial dyes. From your carpet’s perspective, these fruit juices are only a few degrees removed from paint, and can deliver a potential knock-out blow if not addressed immediately.

2) Wine
A common culprit in the carpet staining world, red wine especially has led many to give up and just buy new, instead of laboring through the clean-up process. As with Fruit Juice, if the stain is caught and cleaned early enough, results can be favorable. So think twice before pouring that next class to the top.

3) Soda
The acidic component of cola can be enough, but combine that with the brown coloring and you’ve got yourself a formidable carpet staining foe. Include various brands of orange or grape soda into the mix, and you’ve got yourself a proverbial powder keg of stains just waiting to explode.

4) Milk
Though not one of the most likely suspects, milk can actually be one of the worst drinks in this group. Not so much for its potential for staining, though it will if left untreated, but more so for its stink. If left alone, milk stains have a nasty habit of emitting a rotten, off-putting smell. Make sure to take care of these spills right away, else risk this odoriferous foe’s wrath.

5) Coffee
Last, but certainly not least. The dark color of coffee is all you need to see. Much like how coffee or tea will stain your teeth, these drinks can also leave nasty brown marks on your carpet. Milk in your coffee will help to soften this blow, but only by a few shades.

Don’t get too down though. After all, spills are a common occurrence. Just be prepared, and you should be fine. Have a mess you can’t tackle? Well, that’s why we’re here. Give Steamers Carpet Care a call today!

When Should I Clean A Stain?

October 24, 2011 in Blog by admin  |  No Comments

The best time to clean a carpet spill is immediately after it happens.  The longer a spill is left not cleaned, the more likely it will become permanent.  Also, the further along a stain is in its progression, the harder it will be to clean.

Let’s use a red wine spill as an example.  At the initial time of the accident, some of the fluid will either be resting on top of the carpet fibers or between them.  Quick action can remove this wine before it has a chance to soak in.  For the wine that has already been absorbed, again quick action is required.  If left alone, the liquid will eventually dry, leaving behind a nasty red or pink stain that will be difficult to remove.

Depending on various factors, you may decide that cleaning the carpet is your best bet.  If that is the case, and you’re looking for a good deal for this service, then your next call should be to Steamer’s Carpet Care.  We can help you with even the most stubborn stains, bringing the glory back to your carpet.

Chihuahua Drives a Roomba

October 3, 2011 in Blog by admin  |  No Comments

Does your dog leave hair everywhere? Let them clean up after themselves on a Roomba.