Pallet Heaven

Every once in a while, you find yourself flicking across the hundreds of channels on your ridiculously Smart TV. You stop on a home D.I.Y. program and your imagination is tweaked. 

You think, I can do that!

And you know what, it's entirely possible that you can.

Pallet design has been all the craze for a little while now and shows no signs of stopping, but when was the last time or even the first time you saw a pallet creation in a home, any home? You don't and that's why this weekend is your time to shine. 

Dust off the saw, take the hammer off the shelf, hunt out that jar of rusty nails and pop down your local Homebase or B&Q and ask if they have any spare pallets they no longer need. It doesn't hurt to ask.

Once you've strapped a bunch of them to the top of your estate car or managed to fit them half out the boot, it's time to take them home. Advise your other half that you will be spending the day creating a pallet marvel and if she likes, now might be the perfect time to see her mother.

Now that the back garden is all yours, it's time to get to work.

Below are just a few suggested ideas. 

Found on spaceshanty.hubpages.com

Found on etsy.com

Found on buzzfeed.com

Just imagine how surprised your other half will be when she gets home after a few hours of nattering with her mother to find that, yes, you have built her a new home or Castle, whichever suits her best.

Found on prakticideas.com

For further inspiration, go to www.1001pallets.com and hav a look at their how-to guides.

Don't forget to sand. If you can't be bothered, call the professionals. We'll be happy to do it for you....the sanding that is, building a castle was all your idea, buddy.

Art of Clean is a specialist cleaning firm in: 

Wood Floor Sanding,

Stone floor Cleaning,

Carpet Cleaning,

Rug Cleaning,

Upholstery Cleaning 

Leather Furniture Cleaning, 

Working for domestic or commercial clients throughout Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire.

For more information on our services contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or email us at info@artofclean.co.uk

How to maintain your newly sanded floors? How to make sure you don't damage your wood floor with water!

You have just had your wood floor sanded and it looks as good as new. Now how do you keep this lovely wood floor clean and looking as it does now?

Let’s face it – It will get dirty! Your cleaning regime is the only weapon you have.


Here are a few tips on keeping your wood floor clean:

Regular dry soil removal:
The big enemy of wood floors and the finish on them is dry soil and grit wearing the finish off the floor. To keep your floor free from dry soil you can use a good quality soft broom or you can use a vacuum cleaner with a special soft floor attachment.

Your furniture is yet another consideration. We strongly recommend Felt pad protectors under all your furniture. These are not just ordinary pads – They come with replacement pads that can easily be clipped out to be renewed. They also screw in thus last much longer and are much safer for your floor.

1-    MAINTENANCE ROUTINE
It is crucial your weekly cleaning of your wood floor is done correctly.

You will wood oil care Kit:

-    A 2 compartment mob bucket
-    Good quality mop (clean)
-    Cleaning solution –We recommend Pallmann Clean  (available in 0.75 litre or 10 litre)
-    Clean water

Fill one side of your mop bucket (the side you will wring your mop in) with clean water.

Make your cleaning solution mix as described on the bottle in the other mop bucket compartment.
The pump dispense on the 10 Litre Pallmann Cleaner dispense about 15 Ml per squirt. This is enough cleaner for 1 to 1.5 litres of cleaning water. One smaller containers manual measuring will be required. Consumption for 0.75 Liter: approx..100-200ml/10 liters of water.

Wet your mop in the clean water and wring it out. Dip the tips – (3 – 6 inches) into the cleaning solution and wring your mop. Now start mopping your floor. After cleaning about 3 – 5 sq meters rinse the mop in the clean water side of the bucket and dip the tips of the mop (3 – 6 inches) into the cleaning solution side – wring out and repeat as above.

Let the floor dry and return to normal use. If it is a large area replace the rinse water when dirty. You will get into a rhythm to get the ratio of cleaning water and rinse solution just right so when the rinse water is dirty your cleaning solution will be finished in the bucket.

Why do we advise the above method?
Simple – if you mop a floor with a single compartment mop bucket you will collect the dirt on the floor and contaminate your cleaning solution with this. You will then keep spreading this onto the floor every time you rinse your mop in the solution

PLEASE NOTE – DO NOT PLACE METAL FURNITURE IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH YOUR WOOD FLOOR AS THIS CAN CAUSE MARKS – FLOOR PROTECTORS AS DESCRIBED AS ABOVE IS STRONGLY ADVISED

2-    FINISH CARE STOP(available in 0.75 Litre ) – LACQUERED FLOORS ONLY
Apply in very thin layer – Undiluted

Over time the floor will tone down after use. To give the floor a fresh lift it is best to apply a coating of Finish Care Stop  to the floor after a clean (ad described above) Use the T bar applicator and apply a very thin layer of Finish care Stop evenly to the floor(Very thin even coat. This should be done when the floor appears a bit dry and dull every 3 – 6 months depending on use. DO NOT OVER APPLY as it can cause a build-up.


For product orders, visit www.artofcleanonline.co.uk and use discount code CG2013 to receive 10% off your first product order!
For more information call Art of Clean on 01223 863 632

Oiling wooden floor

See the difference on the picture. Before the sanding and after the oiling!

Black marks appeared on a newly oiled Oak floor

... So you’ve just had your oak floor fitted and you have sealed it with oil, and for some unknown reason there are now black marks on the boards. This occurs when the tannin in oak touches a wet or acidic environment and it causes a chemical reaction which leads to dark discolouration. The discolouration is caused by the following equation: Gallic acid + water + iron (III) iron (III) –gallate + acid

At Art of Clean we understand how a well finished floor can set off a whole room, giving your floorboards a new lease of life and increasing the lifespan of the timber.  Refinishing wood floors is one of our specialties, and we are trained and affiliated with the Ultimate Floor Sanding Company.  If you would like to talk to us about our services, please call our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk

Wood floor restoration

We've had some great floor sanding and oiling/polishing jobs lately in Cambridge, Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and beyond.

Take a look at the images below to see the amazing transformations our technicians have been working on lately……

Here are some images of a parquet floor restoration the team completed in Leicester.

Pre-sanding

Post-sanding

Post-oiling

And here is a lovely hard wood floor renovation in Cambridge we completed recently…

Pre-sanding

Post-sanding

Post-oiling

At Art of Clean we understand how a well finished floor can set off a whole room, giving your floorboards a new lease of life and increasing the lifespan of the timber.  Refinishing wood floors is one of our specialties, and we are trained and affiliated with the Ultimate Floor Sanding Company.  If you would like to talk to us about our services, please call our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk

Pine wood floor restoration in Saffron Walden

Here is a lovely hard wood floor renovation in Saffron Walden we completed recently…

Pre-sanding

At Art of Clean we understand how a well finished floor can set off a whole room, giving your floorboards a new lease of life and increasing the lifespan of the timber.  Refinishing wood floors is one of our specialties, and we are trained and affiliated with the Ultimate Floor Sanding Company.  If you would like to talk to us about our services, please call our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk

Beautiful oak wood floor restored!

Art of Clean is part of the Ultimate floor sanding and restored wood floor in Cambridgeshire.

See below the amazing results:

Commercial parquet wood floor restoration with Art of Clean

We've had some great floor sanding and oiling/polishing jobs lately in Cambridge, Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and beyond.

Take a look at the images below to see the amazing transformations our technicians have been working on lately……

Here are some images of a parquet floor restoration the team completed in Leicester.

Pre-sanding

Post-sanding

Post-oiling

At Art of Clean we understand how a well finished floor can set off a whole room, giving your floorboards a new lease of life and increasing the lifespan of the timber.  Refinishing wood floors is one of our specialties, and we are trained and affiliated with the Ultimate Floor Sanding Company.  If you would like to talk to us about our services, please call our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk

Watermarks on wooden floor - use suitable tray under pots

Protecting your wood floor from water staining from your pot plants:

Here is a real issue to wooden floors - water.  Wood is a porous material which will absorb water if

it is left sitting on the floor long enough.  Mopping is not such an issue as you will use only a small amount of hot water which will dry quickly.  The issue is when the water sits for some time and the worst place for this in most homes is under plant pots.

Here you can see the damage that is caused from moisture entering the wood...

To prevent this damage use plastic trays under your pots so they wont leak, and do not over water. 

If you have sustained this damage to your Wood Floors you will need the to be sanded and protected.  The sanding will take the wood back to an unaffected level and the protection applied will give an amount of water resistance to the wood to help prevent this occurring again. 

For further maintenance contact us about our wood floor services us on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk