Tips for Cleaning Every Room at Home

Spring Cleaning season is here! From organizing the closet to scrubbing down tile, getting every inch of your home clean will make you feel refreshed and reenergized. Before you get started, make yourself a checklist like this one:

Kitchen

• Clean around and inside appliances using an all-natural cleaner
• Empty out the fridge and get rid of expired or rotten food
• Get rid of pet hair and dust from behind the refrigerator and off your tile floors
• Scrub down your backsplash and wipe up any tomato sauce or gravy stains

Bathroom

• Clean your countertops
• Empty cabinets and remove any expired medications or shampoos you no longer use
• Scrub your tile floors and grout
• Place incense in the bathroom for a fresh, clean aroma
• Throw out old makeup, gels, and hairsprays

Bedroom

• Go through your closet and create piles (one for garbage, another for donations, the next for winter storage, and the last for keeps)
• Vacuum your carpet in those hard-to-reach spots like behind the bed
• Swap out your warm, flannel sheets for finer linens instead

Living Room

• Wash your window treatments
• Toss your throws and pillow covers in the laundry
• Clean your carpets

At Triple S, we can help you narrow down this list so you have more time enjoying the beautiful spring weather! We offer several professional cleaning services, including carpet cleaning, drapery and valance cleaning, as well as tile and grout cleaning. Triple S is a family owned business with over 50 years of experience.

We have three main plant locations:

Stamford Plant | 400 West Main Street
Norwalk Plant | 337 Westport Avenue
Stratford Plant | 1800 Stratford Avenue

Hanging Curtains for Spring

Are you hanging your curtain rods all wrong? Turns out, many of us are. Although hanging curtains is an art, there are a few methods you should avoid at all costs:

Hanging your curtain rod too low
While there aren’t any set rules to hanging your curtain rod, placing them only slightly above your window frame can give off the appearance that your ceilings are lower than they are. A more effective solution is to instead hang them a few inches above the window frame. That is why window treatments should be bought after rods are installed, as buying ones too short can cause you to hang your curtain rod too low.

Buying curtains too short 
Buying short curtains is like buying short pants - if it doesn’t fit, it looks awkward. If your curtains hang just below your window sill, you’ve still got plenty of room to play with! For example, try puddling your curtains or have them just grazing the ground. If you prefer “floating” curtains, have them hanging no more than an inch off the floor.  

Drilling a small curtain rod 
Another common mistake many of us have made at least once before is buying a curtain rod that isn’t long enough. Buying a curtain rod shorter than or the same width as your window can be a problem because it blocks lighting and makes your window look smaller than it actually is. Rule of thumb: extend the rod at least 5 to 10 inches on each side of the window frame and then drill.

Now that you’ll be swapping out your heavy winter drapes for sheer curtains, reconsider the setup of your curtain rod and window treatments. Once you’ve got that out of the way and need to freshen up your curtains in time for warmer weather, call the textile experts at Triple S! We are a family owned business with over 50 years of experience and offer a wide variety of services to help keep your window treatments looking Clean, Fresh, & Bright!

Triple S has three main plant locations:

Stamford Plant | 400 West Main Street

Norwalk Plant | 337 Westport Avenue

Stratford Plant | 1800 Stratford Avenue

How To Match Your Drapes With Your Flooring

So you’re designing a newly remodeled room and everything is almost finished. You’ve laid down flooring, picked out the furniture, and brought it all together with accent pieces. But one thing thing is missing - your drapes of course! Matching these with the style of your room can be a task in itself. Here are a few stylistic tips to complimenting your drapes with your flooring.

Staying Neutral

Colors are very important when it comes to constructing a good image for your room. After all, you wouldn’t pair green with bright purple, right? In this example, remaining neutral is critical to creating a comfy environment for not only you, but your guests as well. Black. brown, beige and white are great neutral colors that not only pair well with most flooring colors, but can help greatly by blocking natural sunlight if needed!

Color Families

Unless you play for the Lakers, pairing highlighter yellow and bright purple probably isn’t the best combination. When it comes to keeping your room aligned with one style, stay with the same color in different shades. For example, dark blue drapes would pair very well with sky blue accents such as an area rug. Keeping this in mind can also assist in finding things to add as a tasteful decoration!

Patterns Are Key

It may not seem like a big deal, but a diamond quilted pattern probably won’t match too well with a floral print. Instead, shoot for things that are in the same family as the other. For example, if you can find striped drapes, pairing them with striped throw pillows can completely change the appearance of the room. It’s exciting to think about how much more inviting your room can be with subtle changes like this!

Triple S is a family owned business with over 50 years of experience in the carpet cleaning industry and are here to help you keep your home looking and feeling Clean, Fresh, & Bright this season!

We have three main plant locations:

Stamford Plant | 400 West Main Street

Norwalk Plant | 337 Westport Avenue

Stratford Plant | 1800 Stratford Avenue

How to Choose the Perfect Window Treatments

Need an easy way to redecorate your home in time for summer? Just add new curtains! Window treatments are an easy way to spruce up your living space and highlight your interior designing style. Choosing a perfect length and fabric for your drapes can be tricky, but don’t worry - we’ve got you covered! Here are four popular types of window treatments:

Brushing. One of the most current trends? Two long columns that frame your window. This style is all about adding height to your walls, so the longer your curtains are, the higher your curtain rod should sit! If you’re not sure which fabric to choose, take a look around the room and determine how formal or casual it feels. Cotton, for example, gives more of a casual vibe as opposed to velvet. However, this is really a matter of preference.

Puddling. If you’re not much into the tailored style, try puddling your window treatments - perfect for an elegant appeal! Depending on the height of your ceilings, mount the curtain rod somewhere between 84 and 90 inches high. Placing the rods at this height will give you extra fabric to play with along the floor!

Pleated. Pleated drapes are a clean look for any home! These window treatments gather together to create such a beautiful wavy effect that it’s no wonder so many hotels and restaurants use them too! And because these curtains are clipped onto rings that wrap around the rod, they’re so convenient to swing open when you want a little extra sunlight!

Hemmed. Who ever said drapes need to be long? Hem them up instead! Shorter window treatments tend to give off a more casual feel, especially if you use lightweight fabric, like cotton or muslin. To give you a rough idea of how short these curtains should hang, think about 63 inches long.

Which window treatments are your favorite? Tell us on our Facebook page.

If your curtains are in need of a deep cleaning, contact the textile specialists at Triple S! Professional cleaning methods include dry cleaning, wet cleaning, and washing. Draperies are then pressed, sized, and returned to you with new pins, exact length and perfect hemlines.

Triple S has three main plant locations:

Stamford Plant | 400 West Main Street
Norwalk Plant | 337 Westport Avenue
Stratford Plant | 1800 Stratford Avenue

How to Remove Paint from Drapes

Looking to repaint your home? Before you pull out the paint brush, make sure you’re prepared to keep your fabrics clean! It’s important to remove drapes before painting your walls to prevent stains, but just incase you’ve already got a headstart without removing them, here’s how you can get them looking fresh again:

Step 1. Scrape off wet paint. Before any paint gets absorbed into the fabric of your drapes, scrape it off using a knife. Careful not to push the excess paint into deeper layers of the fabric as this will be very difficult to remove!

Step 2. Wash with detergent. Mix liquid dishwashing detergent with cold water. Dip a clean white cloth into the solution and work it into stains. The best technique is to press and twist your drapes firmly into the paint spot so it saturates.

Step 3. Rinse. Next step is to dip another cloth into clean water and blot to rinse out the detergent. Are all the paint spots gone? If not, apply some more detergent and rinse it out once more. Repeat this process until you are free of stains.

Step 4. Blot remaining stains. You’re almost done! For drapes that are non-washable, blot any remaining spots with acetone. For washable fabric, apply a pretreating stain remover to the remaining stains.

Step 5. Have a professional cleaning. Some paint is too tough to remove without professional cleaning. If stains dry before you get a chance to wash them or detergent isn’t having an effect, take your drapes to your local cleaner.

Call the specialists at Triple S for a professional cleaning today! Our Take-Down and Re-Installation Service can help you protect your fabric while you repaint your home! Our trained professionals will remove your draperies and make sure they are thoroughly cleaned and then pressed, sized, and returned to you with new pins, exact length and perfect hemlines. Call our experts before your next paint job and leave the work to us!

Triple S has three main plant locations:

                                                Stamford Plant | 400 West Main Street
                                                 Norwalk Plant | 337 Westport Avenue
                                                Stratford Plant | 1800 Stratford Avenue