FINE FLOORS,

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19637, 25 July 1935, Page 12

FINE FLOORS,

MAKE FINE HOMES. Our home is now three years old. Many visitors have mounted the stairs, scattered powder over the guest room floor, and then descended to scatter -cigarette ash over the lounge. . ' Plumbers and electricians ha\e Iramped in and out and forgotten to wipe their boots. A baby’s pram now stands in the hall and little hands spill milk and drop buttery crumbs. The result of -three years’ wear on our floors is interesting. In the lounge we have a short pile carpet of modern design. It has a plain centre of tGrra 'cotta and the pati' -tern is carried out in shades of fawn, mole and brown. The part in front of the fireplace began to get very dirty, so we put down a cosy hearthrug in darker colours and it does not show the dirt. For the surround in this room W 8 chose a brown felt. This faded terribly. in a few months and the assurance of -the supplier that all felts fade did not comfort us much. Halrcord for the Dining Room. To make matters worse, the felt was laid straight on to the bare boards, with the result that dust has worked through the felt from underneath in dirty parallel lines. Brown paper under the felt would have saved us this. A patterned hair ’cord carpet set off our dining room.. This type of pileless carpet is very durable and keeps remarkably clean. It is certainly the best choice for a room in constant daily use, We stained the surrounding floor hoards with a walnut water stain and after three years of weekly polishing they shine like glass. Ordinary varnish stain wears off quickly, especially near the door, but our boards show no signs of wear. My kitchen is essentially a place to work in, as it contains the gas stove, 1 anthracite stove, sink, and gas copper. I left the original red-tiled floor as it was and bought two yards of 36-inch wide green and natural coloured matting, bound the cut edges and put this down in the centre to take away the bare appearance. Cork Carpet a Bad Choice. A green rubber mat lies by the sink, as one’s feet get very cold standing on tiles. On wash-days, the mats are rolled up, and it doesn’t matter how wet the floor becomes. Something nice and warm' for bare feet to tread on was the thought in our minds when we decided on a dark green cork for our own bedroom, the upstairs landing, and the bathroom; but we regretted our choice as soon as the stuff was down. The men who brought the furniture walked all over its beautiful mat surface, leaving muddy footprints. “They will soon clean off," I told myself—but ■ they didn’t. Every dirty mark on cork carpet stays on for good, for the dirt goes immediately into the open grain of the cork and nothing will remove it. Scrubbing with soap and water makes things worse. If it is cleaned with floor polish, the wax simply enters the grain and will not rub off. Oak Entranoe Hall. In desperation we treated all the cork carpeted floors with two coats of boiled linseed oil, allowing the first coat to dry hard before applying the second. This had the effect of turning the carpet into linoleum—the best vray out of a bad job. The nursery floor is covered with a plain, dark-blue linoleum. It is easily washed, not scrubbed, weekly and polishes up very well. Rubber flooring might be less slippery for unsteady little feet, if you can run to the expense. Our stair carpet is a plain, unbordered jade green Axminister. Under each stair is a felt pad. Every spring the carpet is reversed so that it wears evenly. The entrance hall floor is oak. A pram with muddy wheels can be pushed across it and left to stand in. a comer without fear of spoiling its high polish, for the dirt soon’ dries and sweeps off. When visitors are expected, a rug is put down, otherwise the floor is left' bare.—An English magazine.