Contents:
- General advice on choosing rag
- Material selection
- Cotton
- Viscose
- Acrylic
- Polyamide
- Microfiber
For a good housewife, a rag for washing the floor is an extremely important thing. From the purity of the sex depends not only the type of your home, but also the health of the family. Wet cleaning is responsible for the cleanliness of the air we breathe. To facilitate this process, you need to choose the right items for cleaning. An old terry towel or a piece of grandmother's gown does not meet modern requirements. On the glossy tile or the smooth surface of the laminate, hateful divorce can remain.
General advice on choosing rag
In the specialized stores of household goods, the shelves are bursting with the widest range. The texture of any material has certain properties, so the operating conditions of rags differ.
A cleaning cloth should combine two qualities: How to choose a cloth for washing the floor?
- quickly absorb water;
- be soft.
Rags are made of various materials( natural and synthetic)."Homemade" of old things do not meet the requirements for cleaning modern facilities. Today, there is a whole industry that produces various products for the house that meet individual requirements. The choice depends on the material that the floor is covered with. It can be parquet, laminate, linoleum or tile.
After washing floors with a special rag at least once, you will not return to using the old towel. Modern materials have a number of indisputable advantages:
- is easily squeezed;
- do not smear dirt, but absorb it;
- collects dust well;
- do not leave stains on the glossy floor;
- do not crumble, do not leave villi on the washed floor surface;
- long serve.
The price of such goods is not too high, so it's worth at least once to try to get a comfortable and durable "assistant" for au pair.
Material selection
A wide range of products is created to facilitate the selection of goods, but in some cases, this leads the buyer into confusion. It is not so easy to choose the right fabric for washing floors. Rags are made of natural or synthetic material. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages. We will talk about the following fabrics:
- cotton;
- viscose;
- polyamide;
- acrylic;
- microfiber.
The last material can be considered innovative. Appearing on the market of household goods relatively recently, he managed to win the hearts of many mistresses.
Cotton
Cotton is a good helper for general cleaning in the house. The natural fabric shows an excellent absorption of moisture and air permeability. In addition, it is pleasant to the touch. However, the advantages do not end there.
Of all natural fabrics, cotton is distinguished by comparative strength. Threads along the edges do not crumble even without further processing. Such rags do not stretch and easily experience repeated washing.
Despite the list of advantages, cotton rags have a number of drawbacks:
- is quickly wiped;
- shrink after heat treatment;
- lose shape during harvesting;
- can leave a stain.
Cotton rags with polyester additives are distinguished by their durability and leave less stains on the parquet.
Viscose
Viscose is a representative of a group of synthetic fabrics. For washing floors, not a cloth resembling silk is used, but a porous matter made of viscose fiber. The main quality is increased strength, which significantly extends the service life. Viscose is sold not only in individual packages, but also in rolls. In this case, the price will be indicated per running meter.
The material is produced by processing cellulose. The process is environmentally safe. Unlike cotton, viscose rag has a number of features:
- higher hygroscopicity( better absorbs moisture);
- does not leave villi and threads on the floor due to a smooth surface;
- does not lose shape after washing;
- does not fade, does not lose its appearance.
Among the cons of the mistress note the instability to high temperature. When using such a product, the water in the rinse bucket should be cold. The second drawback is the remaining stains when trying to wash the excessively dirty floor. This can be avoided by selecting a rag, in which the viscose is diluted with polyester.
Acrylic
The production of this material is based on natural gas. Acrylic differs form stability. To the touch it looks like a wool. The material is hypoallergenic, preserves color, does not deform upon interaction with acids and alkalis.
Advice
Do not use acrylic for wet cleaning.
A significant disadvantage is the low hygroscopicity. The fabric is practically airtight and very poorly absorbs water. Because of this, acrylic rags are used for rubbing floors with a shiny surface( parquet or laminate), and not for wet cleaning.
Polyamide
Another type of synthetic fabric for cleaning. Polyamide is very elastic, it dries quickly and is resistant to mechanical stress. Even after repeated cleaning, its shape and color remain unchanged. The fabric is pleasant to the touch, light and airy. An essential plus is the resistance to fungal growth and decay.
Among the minuses of this material can be noted only a fairly high price. However, as the responses of satisfied housewives show, the price is very justified.
Microfiber
Microfiber is a Japanese discovery of the late 20th century. This "favorite" is not only among women, but also men( they use such cloths when washing and cleaning cars).Microfiber differs absolutely unique structure. Because of ultrafine fibers, the fabric instantly absorbs water, dirt, dust and other possible contaminants.
Advice
Do not use microfibre for washing floors in the kitchen.
Read more about the benefits of
- Hygroscopicity. Fibers are woven in such a way that there is a lot of space between them. Under the microscope, the structure of the microfiber resembles the structure of the sponge. It is able to absorb 4 times more liquid than any other matter. However, after squeezing, water does not stay in the fibers, which makes the rag practically dry to the touch.
- Bright, persistent colors. To clean up does not seem burdensome occupation, housewives like to give this process aesthetics. Microfiber has bright colors that do not fade during interaction even with warm water.
- Does not leave pile. Any of the materials described above can leave a small amount of hardly noticeable villi. Microfiber eliminates this possibility.
There are also disadvantages.
- The material does not tolerate heat treatment. A cloth made of microfiber is contraindicated to dry on hot batteries or to wash at high temperature.
- It is capable of storing static electricity, which is a magnet for dust. Because of this, the microfiber needs to be washed a little more often than other materials.
- All the vaunted properties are blocked when interacting with fat. Because of this, it is better to wash the floors in the kitchen with another rag.
All listed materials have certain advantages and disadvantages. Each hostess should make an individual choice, focusing on the properties of the fabric and its price category. All rags should be periodically disinfected, washed at a temperature of water no higher than 40 degrees and use them strictly for the purpose.
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