Look what saturday afternoon revealed in our hall!

[yamin]

Usual problem, in house obsessed with 80s carpets....Having scrubbed with soap and water, the carpet marks still persist. So, straw poll, rather than advice, what would you do?

1. Leave well alone, its a hallway by the way

2. Risk patina loss but get rid of marks with something stronger

3. Cover again with carpet as too poor condition to be seen

4. Feel they are 'cleaned' enough and go down the linseed oil route? (They are very porous)

We have hard floors throughout ground floor including newly laid and oh so beautiful oak, and original stone flags. We are messy and pretty country dirty (!)

Thanks!


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[skier-hughes]

For a start I'd suggest forget hiring those youngsters and try cleaning yourself

I'd leave it, you'll find in a few months of walking over it it'll have worn off. Ours did. We same as you, dirty country folk, spend all day in wellies trapsing in and out.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Looks like it will be lovely yamin. Glad to see you have a similar approach to slave labour to us - presumably he is scrubbing before breakfast, through tear stained cheeks? It's the only way.

I cleaned our heather browns with a jet washer, water and fairy liquid. Beforer the patina police arrest me, we had by necessity to lift and move them, many were broken and so they would not have been relaid in the same pattern - cleaning before relaying in a lime screed and oiling has produced a fantastic floor.

Not sure how practical a jet washer is indoors though - they use a hell of a lot of water but are extremely effective on the sort of grub (grim?) you need to remove here.

 

[yamin]

Thanks, maybe thats the best plan - seems to be working a bit for the flagstones come to think of it.

But the child labour was free! Board and lodgings only! You'll be suggesting I clean out the chimney myself next!!!! :lol:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Thanks, maybe thats the best plan - seems to be working a bit for the flagstones come to think of it.

But the child labour was free! Board and lodgings only! You'll be suggesting I clean out the chimney myself next!!!! :lol:

I need a well dug!

 

[yamin]

I cleaned our heather browns with a jet washer, water and fairy liquid. Beforer the patina police arrest me, we had by necessity to lift and move them, many were broken and so they would not have been relaid in the same pattern - cleaning before relaying in a lime screed and oiling has produced a fantastic floor.

Funnily enough, I searched on 'quarry tiles' and found your posts about your floor - and though a lot of work, it sounds like it was the best plan and they came up really well. I would be tempted down that route if we wwere takin them up. And I kind of feel that carpet glue ridges doesn't really come under the same heading as 'acceptable patina' - well, not in my book anyway!!

Not sure how practical a jet washer is indoors though - they use a hell of a lot of water but are extremely effective on the sort of grub (grim?) you need to remove here.

Could I use this to wash the tear stained children down after doing the chimneys???

 

[yamin]

I need a well dug!

They'll do it, so long as they can keep the worms and bury you up to your neck in the soil......! :roll:

 

[Feltwell]

Not sure how practical a jet washer is indoors though - they use a hell of a lot of water but are extremely effective on the sort of grub (grim?) you need to remove here.

I wouldn't use one indoors, they are bad enough outdoors for distributing around the surrounding area the muck that you are trying to get off something. Strippers of Sudbury do an attachment for a pressure washer that encloses the nozzle with an attachment for a wet and dry vacuum - intended to use when stripping beams etc, but should also work well on a floor if you wanted to go down that route. It's a not cheap though I seem to remember.

Out hallway tiles are not dissimilar to yours, no carpet marks but they are quite grubby. I am currently in the retaining patina + 1 less job to do versus making them look cleaner debate. I suspect the 1 less job to do will win! :wink:

 

[Feltwell]

Actually, I've just remembered - you can get a patio cleaning pressure washer attachment from B&Q for about £15, I've got one - it's like an upturned plastic bowl with a brush around the bottom to provide a bit of a seal with the floor. Inside the upturned bowl is an arm with water jets that spins.

It works well on the patio - cleans it without spraying the muck everywhere else. If you choose a nice warm dry day and have someone following immediately behind with a mop or wet vacuum, this could work OK as a one-off method to get the floor clean. The patina police will be after you however, and I'd defintely try it on an inconspicous spot (beneath where a door mat will go?) first.

 

[yamin]

Whilst quite tempted by this idea, I am concerned it will 'soak' the ground below - the tiles are laid to earth - I know that means they can take damp, but not sure they could take the side effects of run off from blasting the tiles themselves.........?

 

[Pford75]

Personally, I would leave them uncovered for a while and see if the marks gradually disappear over a few weeks.

Ive had some success removing tile adhesive from floors by using a soft bristle attachment on my drill (don't be tempted to use anything abrasive)

 

[yamin]

Thanks all, I think that the leave well alone choice seems a good one for us at the moment, after all, its not like its an area that doesn't get a lot of traffic! Over next 12 weeks or so we will have builders traipsing in and out, so if I get them to wear chamois leather shoe covers, it will look perfect in a few weeks!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

If they don't come up as clean as you'd like and they are laid straight on the earth, you could always lift them to clean them outside with eg jetwash and relay and re-lime point them?

Just a thought.

 

[Penners]

I think I would regard an indoor pressure-washer as a very last resort - whether or not it has any kind of whizzy attachment. You'll still be saturating the floor with a large amount of water that could take a very long time to evaporate and disperse.

Have you tried any treatments other than soap/water/child? I think I would experiment with solvents such as white vinegar, white spirit or cellulose thinners. Make sure you ventilate extremely well while using any of these. And do try a small, insignificant corner first, because there's always a risk that a solvent could just dilute the carpet residue and soak it into the paviours.

I would also have a word with Strippers of Sudbury, to see whether they have a formulation that would work.

 

[AMc]

We've been pressure washing all our flooring - outside before relaying. I would NOT recommend doing that indoors.
If a few weeks wear and tear doesn't help then I would investigate hiring a steam cleaner.

 

[yamin]

Really helpful advice everyone. I think we'll live with it for a bit, then maybe in the autumn term, withn children safely in school, I'll think about using a slightly stronger cleaner if needs be. Lifting and relaying is not a job I feel ready to tackle, I have in mind a level floor, not some undulating, wobbly, trip hazard, which is probably what I'd produce!

Thanks!

 

[Penners]

I would investigate hiring a steam cleaner.

Could be a good plan - but do be sure to do the same test that I advocated for solvents, above. Steam might also make the residue melt and soak into the floor.

 

[robgil]

steam could also destroy your decor if you arnt careful. for instance when you steam wallpaper off a wall most times it will leave you with a mucky wet ceiling.

 

[yamin]

Hmm, decor not an issue here, so ok there. Do I understand that the steam won't damage the tiles, per se, - I understand the risk with soaking in the debris rather than lifting it....

 

[Penners]

Do I understand that the steam won't damage the tiles

I'd be surprised if it did. But test, test.....