How not to have a carpet Horror Show!!!

an image of carpet cleaning with text overlay

This time of year there tends to be a huge spike in carpet cleaning. This is for a variety of reasons; So what’s the best way to get common stains out of your carpet? Many carpets these days come ‘family-ready’, which means they are bleach cleanable! They come in all colours and textures and we have a huge amount of these types of carpet on display in our Worthing and Storrington showrooms. These flooring wonders can take a hammering from young children and muddy pets, so if you know that you have bleach-cleanable carpets then you can use most domestic cleaning products to get the stain out. However, we always recommend reading the product label and following the instructions before using them. If, however, you’re not sure, whether your carpet is bleach cleanable then you will need the following three things: some warm soapy water, a clean dishcloth or scrubbing brush and some kitchen roll Of course some  stains are more stubborn and in these cases it might be best to either hire in a professional carpet cleaning machine or a reputable carpet cleaning company. These can be especially effective if you have large or high traffic areas of carpet that needs cleaning such as the hall, stairs and landing or a through lounge-dining room.  In our experience, most stains do come out of carpets with a little elbow grease most of the time. Halloween buffets can be very colourful, so do take care with those and also with the mulled wine and the berry cheesecake at the big family Christmas dinner too! (the information in this blog has been updated from a previous blog, first posted in 2021)

New year, new flooring? 3 Signs It’s Time For New Carpet

New Year, New Flooring? 3 Signs It's Time For New Carpet

The new year is all about new beginnings and making changes in our lives to make the new year a better one. While we have a lot of blog posts about the benefits of carpet, what to look for when you’re buying a new one etc, we haven’t really spoken about how you know when it’s time to replace it. So we’re going to change that today – think of it as our new year’s resolution! How often should I replace my carpet? To be completely honest, there’s no set answer to that as all carpet is different and will last for different lengths of time depending on a variety of factors. These include, but are not limited to: Generally, carpet has a lifespan of between 5-15 years so it really is up to you to decide whether you think you need new carpet. Which is why it’s best to look out for tell tale signs that your carpet may be on its way out.  3 Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Carpet We’ve compiled a list of the top three signs it’s time for a new carpet. Remember that if you’re not sure, you’re always welcome to speak to our experts in Worthing or Storrington who will be able to give you their honest and non-obligatory advice.  Here’s our top three signs to look for: 1. You can see the route people have taken on it One of the easiest things to spot in carpet is the track marks that form when people have walked on the same part of the carpet for many years. These could simply be trails of flattened carpet or even slightly dirty tracks. Clearly indicating the route people have taken on it. For example; from the living room door to the sofa.  Of course, you can get your carpet professionally cleaned, but if you can see the carpet is visibly worn, it’s most likely time to get a new one. If you decide to get a new one because of the signs of wear, it might be worth looking at more heavy-wear options. It could be that the current carpet just isn’t up for coping with the high traffic it gets. 2. Your allergies are playing up We know this seems unrelated, but you’ll be surprised to learn that your carpet could be the reason your allergies are worse than they usually are. At this time of year especially, it may be noticeable that your allergies are worse than they should be.  You could keep your carpet absolutely spotless, but, over time, allergens can build up in the fibres of the carpet. The older the carpet is, the more difficult it is to remove them. Think of it like a mop – even though you clean the mop after every use, over time, it becomes dirty and you need to replace it. It’s the same for your carpet.  The good news is that wool carpets are naturally hypoallergenic so, if you or your family suffer from allergies, it might be worth considering a carpet made from wool.  3. The house feels colder As carpets get older, they can lose their thickness and this can have an affect on how warm your home is. Newer carpet offers more warmth in the form of thicker piles and so if you’ve noticed your home is colder, or it takes longer to warm up, it could be a sign that a new carpet is needed. Depending on how long ago you bought carpet, you might be surprised by just how far the carpet industry has come in recent years. Now, there are plenty of style options available and types of carpet that come with their own benefits. That being said, we don’t want you to feel overwhelmed and invite you to our Worthing or Storrington showroom to see different types of carpet for yourself. You’ll also be able to speak to our friendly flooring experts and ask them any questions you may have. Find out more about the benefits of coming to one of our showrooms here. You may even find that replacing your old carpet with more carpet isn’t the best option and our experts are here to help you find out what is.

What Flooring Is Most Popular At This Time Of Year?

Or – How to keep those toesies cosy with the right flooring! Believe it or not, Winter has only just officially started! While it may seem as though we’ve had the worst of the cold weather, the coldest months (January and February) are yet to come.  Many of us are trying to prepare for those colder spells and look at what we can do within our homes to stop heat from leaking out of them and make sure it’s that bit warmer.  Luckily, there are other ways besides central heating to keep our homes warm and one of the most effective is having good flooring. So what types of flooring are trending this Winter? Well, we’ve put together this short guide to give you some flooring inspiration! Carpet, of course! It’s no surprise that carpet continues to be the most popular flooring type all year round, but it’s particularly popular in these colder months. There are lots of different types of carpet, but by far the warmest are ones made from 100% wool.  A wool carpet used to be perceived as being ‘hard to clean’ but many now come with stain guard coatings as standard and all wool flooring is extremely hard-wearing. The carpet industry has come a long way since its humble beginnings and now there are thousands of different colour shades and patterns to choose from. We expect patterned carpet to continue to be popular, just as it was in Autumn.  While patterned carpet is a fantastic choice, it can be a daunting decision when it comes to which combination of colours or even what pattern would look best. That’s where our flooring experts come in. Pop along to our Worthing or Storrington showroom with a photo of the room you’re buying the carpet for or a sample of the soft furnishings that you wish to match the flooring to. Our experts will be happy to advise on which carpet will be the best match for both the furnishings and the room use. Don’t shy away from wood flooring As we’ve said in a previous blog post, wood flooring can actually do a really good job at keeping your home that bit warmer over Winter. Looking at The 2022 Winter Edition of Design at Home, we can see wood flooring being used a lot as a way to tie lots of different elements together.  Not only can wood flooring be a good option for warmth over winter, but it can also look great too. Giving your home a modern and stylish feel. What’s more, wood flooring comes in a huge variety of colours and styles so there’s bound to be something that goes with your home decor.  Why not pop into our Worthing or Storrington showroom? There, you can have a look at all of our wood flooring ranges for yourself and speak to our flooring experts. There are other versatile hard flooring options If you’re keen on having a wood flooring look within your home, but need a little more durability or even a less hefty price tag, there are other options.  We often advise young families who are after a wood look in their homes to opt for Luxury Vinyl Tiles, or LVT. Mainly because of the durability that this type of flooring offers and how low maintenance it is – perfect for busy parents and small children who may be prone to spills. What’s more, LVT imitates a huge range of hard flooring so there are lots of style options when it comes to choosing the right one for you.  If you love the look of wood flooring but are not sure about how well it will stand the test of pets and children, laminate flooring is another fantastic option. This type of flooring is not only easy to maintain but it also doesn’t scratch or scuff easily. Making it a perfect option for houses with furry friends. In a similar way to LVT, laminate flooring comes in a huge range of colours and styles too and we’re happy to show you all of the options. Don’t skimp on the underlay Whatever flooring you choose, spending a fraction more on the best quality underlay will increase your comfort underfoot, increase the lifetime of your flooring and also potentially save you money on fuel bills! Believe us, going ‘better’ on the underlay will be one of the best flooring decisions you can make. Whether it’s carpet, LVT, laminate or vinyl, we have thousands of flooring samples on display for you to see and feel in our Worthing and Storrington stores, so make sure you pop in and see us. We’re open most days and our award-winning team of flooring experts is on hand to advise you on what flooring is going to be best for you.  For more flooring advice and inspiration, follow us on social media. We’re on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

4 Things To Think About When Choosing Your Carpet Colour

Summer is almost over and you may be looking to get a new carpet in anticipation of the colder months to come. Here at Wall Bros Carpets we, more than most, understand that the number of colours from which to choose can be overwhelming. Which is why we thought it’d be a good idea to write a blog post on how you can choose the right carpet colour for your home. Furnishings first Although we would argue that the carpet is going to be the most important thing in your home, it shouldn’t be the first thing you choose. In fact, we recommend starting with the colour of your furnishings.  The reason being that fabric colours are often more limited than carpet colours, so it’s best to start with choosing the colour of furniture and then finding a carpet to match. Rather than choosing a beautiful carpet that can’t be matched to any furniture. Once you’ve chosen your furniture, we can colour match the carpet so you can achieve a seamless look. As is shown with the natural colour palette used in the picture. Or, if you prefer, we can advise you on which carpet colours are going to provide a stunning contrast if you want to make a statement with your floor. Don’t limit yourself to one colour One of the most popular choices people make when choosing their new carpet is only going for one colour. Whether that be choosing one colour throughout their home or deciding on a carpet that is just one colour.  Having different coloured carpets in different rooms can really help to separate spaces; making them feel different to the rest of your home which can be really refreshing. Another thing to bear in mind is not all carpet is one colour, we’re not just talking about striped or patterned carpet. There’s also flecked carpet (or Berber as it was originally called) which is carpet that is mostly one colour but has ‘flecks’ of another colour. Many natural shades are actually made up of subtly chosen groups of fibres that are blended throughout the carpet. Not only can this be a very stylish option, it can also be an incredibly practical one too. A patterned carpet is also much more forgiving in a high-use room. Think about lighting No, we’re not talking about taking the perfect selfie! Thinking about the lighting when it comes to choosing the right carpet colour is important as the natural shadows created on the floor will bring texture and interest to the room. If the room you’re planning to put the carpet in doesn’t have a lot of natural light, a dark-coloured carpet is going to make the room feel even darker.  Whereas light colours brighten up a room and can even make it feel bigger. Which is one of the reasons why light cream or light grey carpet is so popular. If you’d like to opt for a neutral-coloured carpet, but you’re worried about it looking too ‘boring’, have you considered a textured carpet? Textured carpet is a popular trend at the moment and it can be great for adding an extra dimension to an otherwise normal carpet, plus it’s also lovely to walk on! Lifestyle before carpet Before getting too ahead of yourself, think about where the carpet that you’re choosing is going and what it will be exposed to. Is it going to be in a busy household with children and a dog? If that’s the case then we would recommend looking at mid-tones. Nothing too light to show any stains and nothing too dark to show lint or dog hairs. Saying that however, a huge percentage of the carpets we sell here at Wall Bros are bleach cleanable and extremely hard-wearing. So we’re confident we will have something that suits your budget, your needs and colour palette. Although we do accept that some children and pets are a real challenge for any flooring! We have thousands of different carpet samples in every colour and texture to choose from at both our Worthing and Storrington showrooms. Plus our friendly team of flooring experts will also be on hand to understand your needs and advise you on what will be best for you. Find out where to find us here.

Top 3 Flooring Mistakes To Avoid

Whether you’ve just moved into your new home and looking to get it done up, or you’re simply looking for new flooring to give your home a refresh, a great deal of care needs to be taken with your decisions. With over 60 years of experience, we’ve picked up a few things and wanted to share our top three flooring mistakes that you’ll want to avoid. Carpet weight isn’t everything! A lot of people tend to get caught up in believing that a heavier carpet is a better quality carpet.. Contrary to popular belief, the weight of a carpet isn’t the most crucial indicator of quality, as new fibre and backing technology has introduced some fantastic new innovations to the industry in recent years. In fact, there are lots of other factors to consider when choosing which carpet is going to be the best quality.  These can include the fibre type, the fibre twist and the carpet style. Luckily for Wall Bros customers, our award-winning team of flooring experts are on hand to assist you with every step of choosing the right carpet. Neglecting the underlay Understandably, customers tend to spend most of their decision-making time choosing the floor covering. It’s the visible part of the flooring and therefore seemingly the most important part. However, did you know that a good underlay can improve the life of the floor covering? It can also make your home warmer and can be a fantastic sound attenuator too, significantly reducing noise and saving energy at the same time..  A lot of people don’t realise that these are the benefits having a good underlay can bring. A few extra pounds spent on the right underlay could save much more on your fuel bill, so taking time to consider which underlay to have will have a positive impact on more than just your floor covering. Our team of flooring experts are more than happy to advise on which underlay to pair with the floor covering of your choice. Not using samples We truly believe that purchasing flooring is a tangible experience. You need to be able to see the flooring for yourself and feel it. Which is why we always recommend coming into our Worthing or Storrington showroom to see our ranges and speak to our friendly team. Once the flooring ranges have been seen though, it’s also important to see what they look like in situ. You are welcome to bring in soft furnishings to see how they will match with different flooring types and colours. We can also provide samples for all of the flooring that is on display in our showrooms and customers can take them to see what they look like in their homes.  If you’re looking for new flooring for your home, visit our Worthing or Storrington showroom to see all of our ranges and speak to our team of flooring experts. We’re always happy to give advice and suggest flooring solutions. Simply pop into our Worthing or Storrington showroom or give us a call on 01903 503638.

Don’t Be Floored When It Comes To Hygiene

Don’t Be Floored When It Comes To Hygiene

There has been a lot in the news recently about hygiene. So we thought we would give our advice in relation to flooring. What flooring is best when it comes to hygiene and how can we keep it clean? Different rooms in a house will require different types of flooring simply because of the different activities that take place in them. For example; in a bathroom and kitchen, it’s usually best to have hard flooring as typically kitchens and bathrooms are moist environments. Whether it’s from the shower or a boiling saucepan on the stove, there is going to be steam in those rooms at some point and so hard flooring is the best option. Hard flooring does not readily absorb water and so it is easily dried should it get wet. If you’re looking for comfort under-foot, hard flooring does not need to be throughout the entire house. Why not have a bleach cleanable carpet in the living room? Carpets with shorter fibres are a good option where hygiene is concerned as they do not attract as much dust. Whatever flooring you choose; they will all need cleaning and among the usual vacuuming and dusting of the flooring. There are other, more particular ways of cleaning different types of flooring. How to clean hard flooring Although a vacuum cleaner is very effective when cleaning a hard floor, if your hard flooring has detailing you may want to consider using a broom. The individual bristles on the broom would allow you to get into the small indents in the panelling of the floor; ensuring harder to reach areas are cleaned. For a deeper clean a damp mop is a good option. Using a mop allows you to add extra cleaning agents into the water you are mopping the floor with; offering an even deeper clean. We would also recommend purchasing a micro-fibre mop as the fibre would attract the dirt and not hold onto too much moisture – meaning you can clean the hard floor without saturating it in water and allowing it to dry quicker. How to clean carpet Just like hard flooring, carpet can be cleaned with a vacuum. Although this is efficient and one of the most popular ways of cleaning carpet, it will not take out stains. If you’ve got a bleach cleanable carpet, you can use bleach on it without ruining the colour. We always recommend checking the manufacturer’s guidelines to find out how much to dilute the bleach by, if at all. If your carpet isn’t bleach cleanable there are a variety of carpet cleaners on the market. Most cleaners will state they can be used ‘generally’, but – again – we recommend looking at the manufacturer’s website – or asking your friendly, local flooring experts for their advice to determine what type of stains and carpet the product can be used on. Contact us by either coming into our Worthing or Storrington store. Or call us on 01903 503638 to speak to our expert team.

Thinking of redecorating your home? Don’t forget the Carpet!

Manhattan Mai Tai Wall bros

Here’s how to be on trend this summer with the latest carpet collections If you’re looking to redecorate your home this summer, you’ll need to start planning from the ground up. Flooring forms the frame of your room and will enable you to select the contrasting and clashing colours which will make up the colour pallete of your space. Cream carpets have some serious competition in 2019 due to the growth of colour confidence over the past few years which has resulted in the arrival of a new approach to neutral palettes and beautifully bold feature flooring. The demand for soft hues and pale tones has evolved to create a whole new range of neutrals. To be on trend this summer, look no further than the new Manhattan collection by renowned luxury British carpet brand, Elements London. Manufactured in three different weight and pile heights, the Manhattan collection is presented in a palette of seven muted colours inspired by the New York districts’ iconic cocktails, from cool blue shades of Mojito and Mai Tai to the sumptuous earthy tones of Whiskey Sour and Margarita. This stunning, premium selection of cut pile, velour carpets promises an indulgent and super soft underfoot surface suitable for any room and will bring your home right up to date. If you fancy fully embracing your colour confidence, make a bold statement and opt for Elements London’s Serenade and Symphony collections. The dark and dramatic carpets are made up of rich tones from the forest greens of Vienna and Boston, to the inky hues of Seoul, Titanium and Sapphire. These sultry colours bring a sense of elegance and definition to the home space, providing a vibrant textile canvas for the rest of the room’s décor. All Elements London carpets are expertly manufactured from the latest innovation in carpet fibres, TEKSILK. This unique yarn system is engineered to feel as soft as silk but wear as tough as Teflon underfoot for a hard-wearing yet super luxurious surface, which is easily maintainable and a delight to the eye. And for the environmentally conscious: Elements London is manufactured with Ceneva® – the world’s first carpet backing containing no styrene-butadiene is 100% SBR free for a better living environment. To see the full range Elements London’s carpets, head over to their website here. Thanks to Elements London for sending us this blog about their new Manhattan Collection carpets!

Top 3 Things You Need To Know Before Choosing Your New Flooring

Living room carpet Wall bros

With Spring comes longer, brighter days which, while very welcome, can often highlight aspects of our home that need improving. Although it can be easy to replace cushions, curtains or other accessories, your flooring can have the biggest impact of all. Whether it’s choosing the right type for a particular room (not got round to replacing the last owner’s carpet in the bathroom yet?!), or simply refreshing your carpets, vinyl or wood, there’s a few decisions to make first: In some cases, the answer may be ‘yes’, but you might like to look at updating the style, perhaps upgrading the quality or maybe changing the shade slightly to make the room look lighter. We can advise on similar alternatives that you can feel comfortable about whilst improving the general appearance of the room. There’s a wealth of ideas on the internet and this is a great place to start gathering examples of flooring you like. But, of course, there’s nothing like the personal advice of an expert. With over 60 years of expertise – and awards for our outstanding customer service! – our expert team is well placed to help you make the right decisions. We’ll suggest ideas that work for you and your home, look great and stay within budget. Give us a call to make an appointment. We’ll ask you some basic questions about your home, your lifestyle, your favourite colours for interiors and what sort of look you’d like to achieve, and then make suggestions based on your answers. How about colour matching your flooring to either your wall colour or your soft furnishings? We can take any colour you like and make sure your carpet will fully complement your colour scheme. Matching colours across different areas of a room will pull it together and make it look like an interior designer has been at work! Alternatively you might decide you want to ditch the carpet and replace it with vinyl, or vice versa. Again, we can discuss the benefits of different options such as wood flooring, carpet, tiles, vinyl and laminates to establish what works best for you. Whatever approach you decide to take to revamping your flooring this Spring, pop in to our Worthing or Storrington shops for a chat with our experts about the choices available to you.