With Chinese New Year just around the corner, we'll be receiving many more visits from relatives and friends than usual. Before welcoming our guests, we need to give our homes a thorough cleaning. During this process, stubborn stains will inevitably appear, such as large black spots on white floor tiles that are impossible to remove, juice spills on the sofa, or floors that aren't as shiny as they used to be… If this is the case, give your beloved home a thorough maintenance treatment before the Spring Festival!

      Revitalizing old floorboards

      Many people find their floors lose their initial shine after a few years of use due to neglect in daily maintenance. Actions like using a wet mop, opening windows immediately after mopping, using diluted laundry detergent to wet the mop, and sweeping with a hard broom all shorten the floor's lifespan. Whether it's engineered wood or solid wood flooring, regular cleaning and maintenance are essential. Avoid using a wet mop directly; instead, add a suitable amount of floor cleaner to the mop water. Don't immediately open windows to dry the floor after mopping, as this can cause excessive moisture loss, widening gaps between floorboards or leading to cracking. Regular waxing also enhances the floor's shine and forms a protective film, extending its lifespan.

      For aging floors, you can use floor wax to give them a simple "renovation" by cleaning and polishing. Floor waxes on the market come in white, light yellow, and brownish-yellow, etc. You can choose the type that best suits the color of your floor. Before waxing, carefully dust the floor, clean away any dirt, and then wipe it with a damp cloth before waxing to achieve the best results.

      Sofa cleaning tips

      Sofas are essential furniture in the living room. Whether leather or fabric, their high usage inevitably leads to surface stains, requiring some cleaning tips. Fabric sofas can be cleaned in two ways: dry foam cleaning and wet cleaning. For sofas without obvious stains, you can use a vacuum cleaner to remove dust from the backrests and crevices, then spray cleaning agent onto the sofa and wipe it with a clean towel. However, for a thorough cleaning, a wet cleaning is necessary. Use a water extractor to remove the dirty water from the sofa. For fabric sofas requiring wet cleaning, it's best to hire a professional cleaner.

      For high-end leather sofas, daily maintenance is especially important. Without careful routine care, simple cleaning will hardly achieve satisfactory results. After purchasing the sofa, apply leather conditioner to prevent dust from penetrating the leather. Clean it with a specialized leather sofa conditioner every one to two months. If your skin frequently comes into direct contact with the leather sofa, increase the frequency of maintenance. Never wipe leather sofas directly with water or use cleaning agents, as this can cause the leather to age and harden prematurely. To remove stains from a genuine leather sofa, use a clean, soft cloth dampened with egg white; this will not only remove the stains but also restore its shine.

      Make wooden furniture shine like new

      Wooden furniture is indispensable in every home, such as dining tables, TV cabinets, wardrobes, and bookshelves. However, we often neglect their daily maintenance, and by the time we notice, their original beauty has faded considerably. Wooden furniture needs regular dusting; accumulated dust can cause cracks on the surface and damage the wood. When dusting, avoid using multi-purpose cleaners to minimize corrosion of the wood. If scratches are found on wooden furniture, they can be repaired: purchase wax strips that closely match the wood color and apply them to the scratches. If you have expired cod liver oil, you can also apply it to the scratches and wipe it clean with a solid wood rubbery after a day. Additionally, wiping solid wood furniture with concentrated salt water can prevent wood rot and effectively extend its lifespan.

      If there are stubborn stains on the surface of wooden furniture, you can soak a cloth in expired milk and wipe the surface, then wipe it again with clean water for a good cleaning effect. To dust painted furniture, you can wrap tea leaves in a damp cloth or dampen a cloth with cooled tea water, which will give the wooden furniture an unexpected shine.