Sanding mania

One year at Taize my group of 2 German, 3 Swedish, 1 French and 2 Dutch people and I played the "national stereotypes" game.

Germans? Organised and efficient.

Swedes? Likewise. Plus Swedish houses are cool.

French? Stylish and nonchalant.

Dutch? Speak better English than the English, also organised.

English?

"You love tea"

Guilty.

"I never feel you get to know English people properly, even if you've known them for years"

You know what, yes, there's some truth in that.

"You're obsessed with carpets"

Sur- wait, what?

But yes, we totally are.

Rarely do I go to a house that isn't carpeted - it's the norm in this country. But why? When I've told this story, most people say it's because it's cold in the UK and we need our insulation. But the Nordic countries don't rely on carpet, and it's waaay colder up there.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how rubbish carpet is. Aside from its dust-harbouring properties, you need an electrically powered device to clean it. It's generally made from non-degradable fibres, and made in a factory in China.

It's inherently unsustainable.

I will grant you that it does need cleaning more often as carpet does tend to 'soak up' the dust, but I can get the dust up much quicker from a hardwood floor with a much wider range of implements.

Dogs, muddy boots, spilled drinks and children also hold no fear for me as I can also mop it.

When I moved home after uni I hired a sander and did my mum's floors. The guy at the rental place thought I was mental as it cost a couple of hundred pounds to hire the sander, and he reckoned I should just buy a new carpet. Good salesman, that one.

"But ha ha" I thought "in 10 years' time your carpets will be looking manky, and my floor will still be shiny. Besides I will save a fortune in electricity bills in that time, not to mention hours and hours of vacuuming."

There was much evil laughter inside my head.

Anyhoo, this has all been a ruse to show you some 'before' and 'after' pictures, so without further ado, here is my parent's dining room before...

Photo clearly taken after I'd begun sanding... note dust motes and nicely sanded edge in top left corner :-P

And after...

LOOK HOW SHINY!!

I'm a convert! All together now... CARPETS ARE RUBBISH!