Vacuum Cleaner Buying Guide

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A Vacuum Cleaner, in plain words, is something that keeps people happy by removing dust from their feet. The vacuum cleaner works on a suction mechanism that sucks up surrounding dust particles in the area of the vacuum cleaner. Manual cleaning every time somebody treads on your favorite carpet with their dirty shoes can be burdensome. Not to mention the wear your carpet goes through after every bit of manual cleaning. Here is where vacuum cleaners come into the picture. Vacuum cleaners have come a long way from sucking up animals whole (we saw that on cartoons). Now they are used to clean dirt, nails, screws, pieces of wood, and a whole range of other things, off your floor or carpet area.  If you have pets, then getting rid of animal hair from your couch or carpet becomes necessary, even more so when you have kids. The commercial vacuum cleaner generates more power than the domestic vacuum cleaner and is usually employed on multiple floored office buildings or on large carpet areas in hotels. But what is the right vacuum cleaner for you? Should you go for power consuming commercial vacuum cleaners, or household vacuum cleaners? This buying guide will help you find answers to your questions.

Before buying a vacuum cleaner you must ask yourselves the following questions

1.How intensive is your job?

Choosing the right vacuum cleaner for your job needs this question answered. If your job is cleaning the carpeted area of your house and its surroundings then you might want to go for the household vacuum cleaner. Furthermore, upright vacuum cleaners provide better cleaning than canister or hand-held vacuum cleaners.

2.How many times do you vacuum in a given week?

If you are punctual and vacuum your house daily then choosing a light weight stick model would suffice, provided your house isn’t too big. If you vacuum weekly, then a model with a more power output and one with a canister would do great.

3.What kind of foreign particles do you need removed?

If your vacuum cleaner needs to be powerful enough than just to remove dust particles, you would be choosing a model with a bigger motor size.  If you are employing the cleaner to suck up nails and screws, you would have to invest in a commercial cleaner.

4.Can you maintain a vacuum cleaner properly?

The vacuum cleaner should be easy to maintain. Calling an expert for servicing the cleaner will only give rise to frustrated brows. Choose a vacuum cleaner does not use a hose mechanism to suck up particles, as bigger particles can easily be lodged up and restrict air flow.

When you have such questions answered, now is the time to go shopping!

Things you must keep in mind while shopping for a vacuum cleaner

1- Proper Filtration:

A filter can be removable or non removable. Removable filters are usually cheaper, and non removable filters require professional hands. A vacuum cleaner must always have a good filtration. However, against general ideas, over filtration will reduce the efficiency of a vacuum cleaner by reducing the air flow. If dust does not give you an allergic reaction, then you would like to check the bagless variation of a vacuum cleaner. These provide very good filtration but come with filters that cost you dearly and needs to be replaced from time to time.

2- Selecting the type of dust storage:

Going for bagless vacuum cleaners may give rise to health related problems. If you have a dust allergy, then going for bagless vacuum cleaners may not be the best idea for you. These type of vacuum cleaners let dust particles to escape. Moreover, this kind of vacuum cleaner comes with expensive filters that needs to be changed from time to time. However, the bagless vacuum cleaners shine in the area of having cheap operational costs, though the initial cost of operating a bagless vacuum cleaner may be high.

3- Power Rating:

How much power your vacuum cleaner consumes is given by its power rating. Usually measured in Amps or Watts, power rating enables you to assess how much power your vacuum cleaner might need or how much electricity it will consume to work at maximum efficiency. Efficiency rating is a bit different from the power rating. It is the measure of the amount of air moved by the vacuum cleaner, usually expressed in CFM (Cubic Feet of air per Minute).  The average household vacuum cleaner delivers an efficiency output of 40 CFM. However this only does half the work. Should you need a vacuum cleaner to get wet sand from your carpet, go for a cleaner having an efficiency rating of over 100 CFM, which is usually furnished by upright vacuum cleaners.

4- After Market Service:

You don’t want to buy a vacuum cleaner whose spare parts are not available in the market. Make sure your vacuum cleaner gets enough technical support after sales.

5- Buy Quality Products Only:

Buying quality products does not mean buying overpriced goods. When buying a vacuum cleaner quality products must always be sought after. A vacuum cleaner that reduces operational costs while at the same time works efficiently is a symbol of quality. Buying good quality vacuum cleaners would ensure its long lasting. While economical machines promise similar cleaning to quality products, generally fail to do so. They do not clean very well, and even if they do, aftermarket parts are not always available for such cleaners. 

  • The warranty period provided:  Checking the warranty that comes with the purchase of the vacuum cleaner is vital. Always go for products that provide a warranty that extends for a year and free service during the warranty period. Managing brands may be difficult but never go for products that claim a price for an extended warranty period and service.
  • Special Features:  Many vacuum cleaners come with an extra set of tools to make cleaning easier. Decide what you need for that extra good feeling when you are cleaning around. In order to do that, check the vacuum cleaner’s head, or suction area. Each kind of head comes with a set of features. For example a cleaning brush that comes with the vacuum cleaner can be a rotation type. A brush that rotates will be able to clean more efficiently. Now getting rid of those coarser particles and fibers from your carpet would need no extra attention. Amidst all these extra features there are a couple of things that can do you no good. True, they look attractive, but a tool that enables you to spray paint your fence with your vacuum cleaner? Really? Purchasing the appropriate add-ons for your vacuum cleaner needs to be given proper thought.
  • False Advertisements:  Beware of false advertisements! A product cannot be more powered than it actually is. The minimum lifespan of the average household vacuum cleaner is 2 to 3 years, if you go for a cheap uncertified vacuum cleaner. These machines provide less power than it actually promises, and gives rise to a variety of problems during its service. If you are a home owner, ask for details of the vacuum cleaner and always go for quality products.

After this, buying a vacuum cleaner would be easy for you. Go vacuuming!

How To Decorate Your Home

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When you think about your home, you are charged with emotions. The concept of home is very special to us, and each of us thinks differently about our homes. Undertaking a home decoration task can be very challenging, but at the same time, is not without its rewards. But exactly how to decorate your house? New paint job? Done. Buying show-pieces? Done that too. But is this going to work? No, because proceeding without a plan can be disastrous.

8 Tips to start decorating your house:

1- Decide your budget:

We all like money. And we all wish we had an unlimited amount of money at our disposal. But no, we don’t. Calculating a budget is necessary before embarking on the task of decorating the house. This budget will allow you to select the best kind of design plan for your house. Once this is done, you won’t be looking at a 50 dollar product you bought and be feeling guilty.

2- Priorities, priorities, priorities:

After you fix your budget, start thinking about your next step. Once you have lived in your house you will know which portion of the house needs what kind of makeover treatment. For example, renovating the bathroom and the balcony comes later. First you must think about your kitchen and dining space. Then come the living room and after that, your bedroom. Save the best for last.

3- Color! Color everywhere!

Color gets a high priority. After you have made a list of rooms to be ornamented, the first thing you should do is think about a splendid color to go with your room. Two things you have to keep in mind while selecting the color for a particular room: 1. The kind of room (e.g. bedroom, living room) 2. What purpose does this color serve. Keeping these steps in mind is necessary. Go with light colors to give an airy, serene feel, or go with deep, dark, moody colors that add drama to your room. The choice is yours!

4- Go with your feelings:

Decorating a house is all about feelings. Give the house what the house needs, rather than what you need for the house. How you want to live in your house and how you end up living in your house can be two different things. Plan accordingly.

5- Take up your shopping list:

Shopping the right things for your home can be a daunting task. You can’t always find the right goods that you had in mind, but can that stop you from decorating your house? No, it won’t, as long as you have a theme in mind and follow it accordingly.

Buying furniture, pictures, wall hangings and other things require thorough inspection. Try out different approaches of decorating your house. You don’t have to follow suit and buy a vase for flowers. You can easily put flowers in a big coffee mug and it would still look classy. Go out of your way of buying standard things and start to experiment.

6- Insertion of the items:

Once you have cleaned your room, now it is time for the fun to begin. Placing things needs planning. Random item placement would only make you unsatisfied at the end. Nothing is more frustrating than finding yourself placing a kitchen drawer by the sink, just to change its location after sometime. Keeping items organized and out of the walking path is necessary.

Again, you must follow three things before placing items:

  1. Always visualize your room from an outsider’s point-of-view. This makes decision making easier and faster.
  2. Plan your approach.
  3. Make sure after placement, you have enough space to move.

7- Add drama to your house:

You can keep things interesting by adding theme lighting, or finding inexpensive ideas to decorate your room. Adding cloth to your windows and doors will certainly spice up things. Heavy and bold curtains can be expensive. If you are on a tight budget, you can still find satisfaction after selecting lighter and more cheerful colors to use on your curtains.

8- The finishing touches: Make your own designs

You can add texture to your decoration by just sewing design patterns over your curtains, mattresses, or even pillows. Old pieces of furniture can be reused too. What more you can do, is add rugs to your room. Give a color makeover to your old furniture to go with your theme.

Decorating a home is not an easy job to do, but then again, it does not mean you have to hire an interior designer to work on your home. You can do it by yourself and you are left with something that you can take pride on. Go ahead. Start experimenting.

Types of Kitchen Knives and Their Uses

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Kitchen knife! The single most promising one slash killing machine ever built. Holding one makes you feel nothing short of the Jackie Chan of your kitchen. Seeing one in your hands will definitely make the vegetables scream. A kitchen is far from complete without its collection of equipments that make the job of chefs and housewives easier. A kitchen knife is one of the most important parts of the kitchen. It makes cutting jobs simpler. For chefs, different kitchen knives have different utilities, but for the inexperienced user, things are a bit different.

Below is a list of different types of knives that one may hope to find in their kitchen drawers.

The Paring KnifeThe Paring Knife

Every good kitchen needs a paring knife. Basically used for skinning onions and tailing vegetables, these come in a number of types.

  1. Wavy edge: These knives are ideal for removing or skinning fruits and vegetables with a soft inside. Example-Skinning tomatoes.
  2. Clip point: Peeling tasks become easier with this knife. It can also be used for removing eyes from potatoes.
  3. Sheep’s Foot: A knife with a straight cutting edge. Used for peeling.
  4. Bird’s beak: This type of paring knife is a popular carving knife. It can also be used as a peeler for oranges.

 The Boning Knife The Boning Knife

This knife is primarily used for removing meat off bones and slicing fish. The boning knife is equipped with a strong and unbending shorter blade that is pointed at the end, making removing meat easier.

The Filleting KnifeThe Filleting Knife

This knife has a medium length flexible blade capable of bending while skirting along the bony framework of fishes.

The Chef’s Knife

The Chef’s KnifeThe chef’s knife is the most popular knife known to man. Why? Because it is an all-rounder. The types of works that can be done using this knife range from chopping to slicing. This knife comes to fashion with a broad blade curving upwards to the tip. The backbone of this knife is thick to add weight and firmness while using. The blade comes in lengths of 6, 8, 10 and 12 inches. Longer blades allow for faster cuts.

The Bread knifeThe Bread knife:

This knife has a thick blade with serrated edges. Commonly coming with an 8 inch edge, these knives are used in slicing through the hard enamel of bread.

The Santoku Knife

The Santoku KnifeThe Japanese have their own way of doing things, and the Santoku knife is the example of just that. This knife is another variation of the chef’s knife. This knife makes slicing through vegetables very smooth. The thin spine of this blade enables the user to make thin cuts, while making scooping food off a chopping board easier. The Santoku knife is suitable for most fruits and vegetables and also meat.

The Tomato Knife

The Tomato knife is the smaller brother of the bread knife. It is smaller and has fine serrations. Sometimes this kind of knife comes with a forked tip that enables the user to pick up pieces of food after cutting.

The Cleaver KnifeThe Cleaver Knife

This type of knife features a thick spine that is used to chop up meat or poultry bones. Chopping through hard food is made easy while using this knife.

The Chinese Cleaver KnifeThe Chinese Cleaver

Like the cleaver, the Chinese cleaver is also used for chopping meat and vegetables.

The Utility Knife

The Utility KnifeThese kinds of knives can be used for a variety of tasks. Although this trait is in common with the chef’s knife, a utility knife is usually shorter than the average chef’s knife. This knife is smooth is cutting large vegetables and slicing through sandwiches. For this reason they are popularly called “sandwich knives”.

Having broadened your knowledge about the types of knives available in the market, it is also essential to know why you must exercise caution while you handle these sharp tools. Sloppy using of knives can get you scratched badly. You don’t want that. No you’re not a serial killer. No you’re not Jackie Chan. No you don’t have the permission to juggle knives when around kids, or even alone. Exercising caution is necessary while handling knives.

 

Click Here To Discover The Best Kitchen Knives

 

A Couple of Healthy Reminders for You While You Are Working With Knives

  • When you are about to pass your knife to another person, stop. Don’t even think about doing that. Always put the knife down by your side so that the person can pick it up by himself.
  • Holding up knives in the air can get dangerous. Never do that.
  • Always be alert when using a knife. Do not leave knives unattended.
  • When you can’t find a can opener to open a can and you are glancing on your knife that looks like it can do the can-opening job for you, discard the thought altogether. Never use your knife as a can opener or a screw driver.
  • While talking to someone, don’t point a knife to them and don’t wave it around.
  • Balancing food on the broad side of your blade may look entertaining, but is a very dangerous thing to do. Never try to carry food on your knife.
  • Never leave knives under a plate in the sink, or under dirty water in a pan. When not visible, blades can be a nuisance.
  • Always keep knives and other sharp tools out of the reach of children.
  • Keep knives properly stored and packed.

How To Choose Best Toaster Oven

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Do you love cooking? Are you fascinated about cooking new dish for your family and want them to enjoy every meal you cook. Whenever you are cooking something for a bar-be-queue party, roasting and baking is really a big task and headache for everyone. If you are trying to bake turkey or chicken, if it is not cooked properly then people might not like it. This also happens when you are trying to make cookies. If the cookies are not properly baked, then you won’t like it, so to get the best experience in baking and cooking, you have to choose the right baking oven that can serve you the best experience of baking. People have a question in mind How to Pick the Best Toaster Oven when they plan to buy a toaster oven. There are two kinds of toaster available in the market; first one is the normal toaster that is best for baking bread in the morning during breakfast which have limited space for doing the things. Second one is the toaster oven which has more features that you can use for cooking and baking. We are here to help you with some of the points that can help you to know How to Pick the Best Toaster Oven:

toaster oven

  • Dimension: Whenever you are thinking of buying a toaster oven, the dimension of the toaster oven is very important that you should look for. Let’s understand what a dimension is? A dimension is a height and width of the product. The product that consumes less amount of the space is considered good. The space is very important because if the appliances take more space than the kitchen might look messed up. It’s very important to choose the toaster Oven that takes less space in the kitchen and make the kitchen look more elegant. So, when you are planning to buy a toaster oven, you should look for the sleekest model that is available in the market with all the features of the toaster oven. If you are choosing the smaller toaster oven, it will be more lightweight as well and it would be very easy for you to move it any time. If you go for the bulky toaster oven, then it might be possible that if you want to change the space of the oven, you have to apply more force to do so; on the other hand if you go for the light weight then you would be able to move it easily.
  • After Sales Service: Whenever we are choosing any of the products, after sales service is the most important thing that we seek. If the after sales service is good then the product will be automatically be good. This same goes with the toaster oven, while choosing for the toaster oven, it is very important to choose the company which provides best in class after sales service. Any problems can occur with your toaster and anytime, and in such cases you don’t have to take it to the vendor place to get it repaired. You must choose the company that provides door service in which the engineer will visit your place and correct it if anything goes wrong with the toaster oven.
  • Capacity: Whenever you think to buy a toaster oven, you would be thinking for more than baking bread, so it is very important for you to look for the capacity and the space when you think of buying a toaster oven. Also remember, if you have less space in the oven, you might not able to cook or bake large amount of the food in the toaster oven, at the time of the party when you are required to bake large amount of food. You won’t be able to do it if you have less space in the toaster oven, so you should look for the capacity of the oven as well when you go to buy a toaster oven.
  • Consumption: When we are planning to buy any of the electrical appliances, the first thing we look for is the electricity consumption of the appliance. If the appliance is consuming lots of energy then at the end of the month, you might end up with paying huge electricity bills. So it is most important for you to choose the toaster oven that consumes less energy and provides you with the best service.
  • Purpose: Whenever you are planning to buy a toaster oven, it is important to understand the purpose you are buying the toaster for? If you have high usage of the toaster then you should buy a toaster with higher dimension and if you have less usage then you should choose the small toaster oven as most of toaster ovens are available in different models that you can choose from.
  • Cleaning: Cleaning is really a difficult task when it comes to the toaster oven, so before purchasing the toaster oven, you should make sure to choose the product that is very easy to clean. If you choose the toaster oven that is not easily cleanable then you might get frustrated and give less attention while cleaning; and if you are baking or cooking in a dirty toaster oven, then the food would not be hygienic and you might get sick. Further, if you get sick, you have to spend a lot of money for the medicine or you have to pay for the doctor. So, instead of paying for medicine or doctor, why don’t choose a product that you can clean easily and make the healthy dishes every time.

So, if your children are demanding you to make something new for them every time, you don’t have to worry at all now as there are many of the toaster ovens that are available in the market using which you can cook some new and innovative dishes every time. Now when you go to buy a new toaster oven just keep in mind a few of the above things. If you keep in mind all the above things mentioned, you will not face any difficulty to select a perfect toaster through which you can cook and bake for your dear ones to make them happy which in turn makes you happy. Choose the right toaster oven and happy cooking.

Thing To Remember While Buying The Gas Grills

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Are you planning to have a barbeque party at your place and looking for the gas grill that can serve your purpose for the barbeque party? When you are thinking of buying the gas grill, there are many things that you have to keep in mind. As there are numerous gas grills that are available in the market, choosing one of them is really a difficult task. Before choosing any of the gas grill, you have to make sure that for what purpose you need the gas grill. We have listed a few of the points that can help you to know How to Choose the Best Gas Grill:

gas grill

1. Purpose: When you are planning for a family get together or a barbeque party at your place and looking to buy a best gas grill, the first thing that you have to consider is the purpose you would be using it for, if you have ongoing parties at your place and you love to invite people to your place so that you can cook new dishes for them, then you should choose the gas grill that can make food for more people. While choosing the grill you have to consider the number of burners that can help you make a good amount of food at one time only. If you have more burners then you can use it for the different purposes at one time, by doing this you will definitely save lots of time.

2. Price: If you’ve decided to buy a gas grill, the first and the most important thing that we consider is the money. We cannot spend ample of money on the product that cannot serve our purpose, so it is very important to find out the grill that can serve the best at fewer prices. Many of the grills are available in the market that is the best and available at much cheaper prices. So when you are planning to buy a gas grill, you must look for the option that is best product in the market and can suit your pocket as well.

3. Reviews: It is important to know what people think about the gas grill at first before buying this. Every company claims that they are best in the industry and they can provide you with the grill that can serve your purpose. But, only one person can tell you that the grill is worth buying or not and that person is the one who has already used the product before. You should look for the review of the gas grill before buying the gas grill, through the reviews you can find the satisfaction level of the people who are using the product, if the satisfaction level of the people is high, and then the product is really good. The money is going from your pocket and it is really important that you should get the best. So reviews can really help you with finding out that you are choosing the right product or not.
4. Listing: It ibest gas grills very important to check the listing of the product before buying it. There are many websites that provide you with the listing of the product as per their market research, by doing the proper analysis they rate the different products that can really help you to find the best product for you. For every company their product is the best in the market and solve your purpose, so you should not go with the companies, as many companies can be misleading. You must do your proper research before you purchase any of the gas grills.

5. Service: Whenever we buy a product and if the service is not good then we might end up spending extra money to buy the product again, why to spend the money again if you can get the desired product first time itself. Now day’s companies are focusing on the customer satisfaction and after sales, service is one of the important thing that helps companies to build a good rapport in the minds of people. So when you are spending the money you should look for the gas grill that provides you home service. Home service means that if anything goes wrong with the product, the company sends the representative at your place to correct the problem and if the problem cannot be corrected he will help you with the replacement of the product.
So, when you are spending your money, it is important that you should get the best. So whenever you go to buy a gas grill, please consider the points mentioned above so that you would not be cheated or misled by any company. You are a customer and you have to decide what is best for you.