In the old days – those mythical days before ‘our time’, the housewife would be up at dawn to make family breakfasts get hubbie off to work and the children out to school. The the household chores would begin. One of the major tasks would be to keep the floors clean, and this would have been achieved with the broom and a dustpan and brush. There would have been a large rug in the main room but generally parquet or wooden floor boards would have been mainly bare. the rugs used to be taken outside and hung over the washing line to be beaten with an implement designed for the task – a carpet beater. These were like large fly swatters, and one thrashed the rug on one side then around to the other, to remove dust and crumbs etc. this was essential in the pre vacuum days otherwise insects and nasty creatures could inbed themselves. the hard floors were swept again after the rugs were returned to their place. Not until the 1960s onwards did families start enjoying the benefits of fitted carpets. These were a great improvement as they stopped the chill from the floor making the rest of the room seem cold. However, a carpet needed more than a dustpan and brush. This is where a vacuum cleaner came into its own. They became more and more powerful, with incredible suction availability. sometimes you had to be careful not to lose smaller off cuts. However, things got a bit silly and eventually the industry regulated itself because it was one way to help reduce power usage if they had smaller, more efficient motors. We have the convenience of ‘stick cleaners’ now. These being literally lightweight utensils that plug in to charge the battery and are used cordless. Although they do not offer the tremendous cleaning power of a conventional vacuum cleaner, the ease of movement without trailing a plugged in cable does help offset these points.
Carpets these days come in various materials and we are moving away from the man made ones that have created problems in the climate protection sector. It was only after decades of using man made chemically originated products that it was fond they leach harmful matter into the air etc. So natural wool and cottons are used very much in the carpet and flooring cover industry. They are naturally warm and long lasting. However they do mark easily so the use of a good carpet shampoo machine helps to maintain their fibres. It is important to use the proper shampoo that has conditioners in, rather than cheaper makes which do not offer these. also, ensuring that the maximum moisture is sucked up after the rinsing procedure. Otherwise mould will creep in.
For hard flooring, which is convenient, there are some amazing robotic vacuuming devices now. I know of one household where their robot cleaner is programmed to start off at 6am every morning, it moves around each item, and they bought furniture that can withstand the odd bump. It not only sweeps up but also does a mild barely damp mopping process. The floors are always really clean and shiny when the family come down in the morning. It makes an amazing noise as it goes back to its docking station to empty the dust or refill the water cycle. It is very effective in open plan houses and of course, the doors have to be left open for it to move around freely. It is incredible to watch.
