Removing rust from metal door frames

We have a steel door frame in our garage that developed a nasty rust problem. Hubby, wanting to stop the rust, purchased a small bottle of rust inhibitor from the local hardware store and painted over all the areas where the rust had come through.

I, like hubby thought that was the best thing to do and was quite proud when we had the painter in to paint the frame. I showed him the bottle and what hubby had done.

Imagine my surprise when I was told that the product would have done nothing for the rust. The reason; the inhibitor would work well on rust if it had developed from the outside of the metal frame but does not work when rust comes from behind the frame. The rust works its way out from inside.

Unfortunately because our block of apartments are built on a slope the garages are cut into the garden therefore the door jamb is against a brick supporting wall set into the edge of a deep garden. This means the dampness held by the soil soaks into the bricks and of course is the cause of the metal door frame going rusty. Accordingly all the units have been affected the same way.

If the wall had been waterproofed when the building was originally built, there would never have been a problem, but you know builders of large complexes, to them it wouldn’t have been cost effective, so no waterproofing was ever placed between the brickwork and the soil. Over time the dampness has crept through and caused the rust.

To solve the problem we will have to remove about two meters of soil to gain access to the wall so it can be waterproofed. Not only difficult. but there is a fully grown tree in that section which would make it some what expensive.

The area has been covered with a fresh coat of paint, but it won’t be long before the rust will come through again, and could after a period of time cause the door frame to disintegrate completely. No, the metal door frame will have to be replaced. And somehow we will have to stop the dampness coming through the brickwork.

So the moral of the story is: don’t always believe when you see rust that the problem can be solved by painting an inhibitor over the affected area. Wouldn’t it be lovely if people did a job properly in the first place?

Making a sofa look great and inviting

It is amazing how tired a sofa can look, especially as it gets older. But there are several things you can do to give it a lift and make it look inviting to sit on. A good vacuum over the whole sofa, in and around the sides and seats is the first answer.

Of course it does depend on the kind of sofa you have as to how it can be cleaned, and obviously a leather sofa needs to be gently washed and if the sofa has a removable cover this should be given a dry clean or wash and ironed before replacing.

Setting up the vacuum with the nozzle and running that down, inside and along all the crevices between and behind the cushions is the easiest way to start. With the upholstery attachment, vacuum over and around the rest of the sofa: especially across the seat section. Some sofa materials stretch but can be smoothed out by running the vacuum across the seat.

If the seat cushion can be lifted and turned over, turn them regularly and smooth out the material before placing them into position. Doing this on a regular basis helps the foam in the cushion to last many years longer. If the seat cushions are sewn in, you will need an upholsterer to remove and turn the foam every few years.

If the back cushions are removable or lift up, vacuum over all sides and thump them with the heel of your hands to return their shape and make them fluffy and large. When put back into their usual position they should sit straight and high. Cushions at the back of a sofa are pushed out of alignment every time the sofa is used. Thumping them back into shape on a weekly basis will not only help the cushions, but it will help your posture.

The final trick to keeping a sofa looking fresh and inviting is to swap, every three or four months, the covers of the loose cushion sitting on the sofa. Keep a clean and varied selection of cushion covers in your linen press and change them regularly. This way the cushion covers will always be fresh and clean and the image of the room and the sofa will regularly change and give it a whole new look.

Cleaning an electrostatic duster-on-a-pole

When ever I finish using my electrostatic duster-on-a-pole I always take it outside and remove the dust by shaking and hitting it against the verandah railing. I know it gets rid of the collected dust because I can see it flying into the air.

But of late my lovely silver duster has started looking grey. It was time to give the duster-on-a-pole a wash. As it is electrostatic I had to be sure the electrostatic attribute didn’t get ruined. This meant washing with a light product and not using overly hot water.

Because the duster is on a pole it makes it difficult to fit in a laundry tub. So the only way I could ensure all the duster got washed was to half fill the tub with water so at least the head of the duster would be submerged and then splash handfuls of water over the other end of the fibres.

The water was tepid, in other words, equal parts of hot and cold. I used soap flakes, but only a rounded teaspoon. I did froth the flakes and when I placed the duster in the water agitated the fibres with my hand generating a lather. I managed to lather up the whole of the duster and noticed the dirt that the froth was removing. When I placed the duster in the water to rinse out the soap I was quite pleased with the dirty colour of the water. The agitation of the fibres was working.

It required several handfuls of water over the handle end of the duster to remove most of the froth, but it still needed a good rinse. I emptied out the water in the tub and instead of replacing it, turned on the taps and held the duster under the running water. Now I do have a mixer of the hot and cold taps in my laundry, but if I hadn’t I would have found a large jug and filled that with tepid water and poured it over the duster several times until I was sure all the soap residue had been rinsed away.

The next step is the important one. Once the duster was clean it had to be dried. Firstly I held the duster by the pole between both hands and rubbed the hands backwards and forwards making the duster spin. As it spun water sprayed out of the fibres making them stand up and out and removed the excess water.

I did dry the duster outside. I was able to hang the pole from the metal wire of the washing line, allowing the duster to dry in the sun.

When the duster was dry I did a further spin between the hands just to get the air and the fibres into position. Once that was done the electrostatic duster-on-a-pole was ready to be used again.