Garden Redecorating – Tips and Tricks

Garden is one of the most striking area of any house, as in todays, compact life owning a garden is not a privilege for everybody. Therefore it is extremely critical for the owner to take extreme care of the wooden garden decorative and accessories, especially wooden furniture. This write up gives away various maintenance tips and caring tricks that will not only keep your garden furniture good in looks but will also improve their longevity. Follow the below mentioned tips about the basic care of the wooden garden decorative especially furniture.

1.Climate is a very important consideration when planing to invest in an outdoor wooden furniture. Besides, the kind of wood that will best suit your need as well as climate is also an important tip to keep in mind.

2.Make sure that you keep your garden furniture stored and covered when not in use. You can keep them in the garage or under any overhanging wall as this will prevent them from climate disaster.

3.Reading the manufacturers instructions is also important. Don't become the ignorant masters of these furniture as they require a lot of maintenance. It is important that you are aware with all the nuances before you set up your garden furniture.

4.Sun and rain might be the ideal situation for spending some time in the garden, but they are surely not the best of agents for your furniture. To avoid losing the sheen of the furniture place them under an overhanging or garden shade can do the trick.

5.Before the commencement of a new season, one can use various kinds of protectants in order to save the furniture from climatic changes. Depending upon the type of furniture, you can use paints, tar, oil, wax or even preservatives. Wiping is a very common and convenient method that can be used by the owners. All you need is just a dry cloth to keep the furniture free of moisture.

6.To keep the legs of the furniture free of unwanted mud and dirt, place four cups beneath the chairs. This is a very helpful tip, especially when there is a lot of grass in the garden. Out some wood preservatives in the cups and allow them to absorb completely for good effect.

7.To keep your furniture clean, ensure that you wash them with soap and water at least once in a month. Just take a moist or soapy cloth and wipe them. But do not allow the water to stand. Make sure that it is completely dry and use a wood cleaner if required.

These were some of the basic tips that can hep you curb the multitudinous problems that can trouble you in case you are not sensitive towards your garden furniture.

Wooden Furniture Decoration Tips – Enameling the Furniture

Furniture is always a subject of utmost pride for anyone who owns them. But if they are wooden then taking excessive care of them becomes an important responsibility. This write up tries to highlight one such process involved in the wooden furniture, that can not only help in decorating newly finished furniture but also refurbish an old piece without causing it to strip - Enameling. Though there are many processes like enameling, antique wood glazing or flyspecking, wax gliding etc that can be used to add some sheen to your not so shiny furniture. In this write up we will try to focus on enameling process along with various nuances associated with it.

Enameling – What is It?

Enameling is that process which can be used for both new and old furniture and have the advantage of low maintenance. Enameling not only covers the flaws and bad quality of the furniture but also help in maintaining various other defect and is applicable to a vast variety of wooden surfaces. If one wants to create a striking piece, then enameling bare wood or an old furniture is the trick to do it.

Different Types of Enamelling

Although enameling is a unique process but often people substitute it for painting. While paints are composed of pigments in an application vehicle or any medium, enamels install pigments in a varnish, lacquer, or oil base.

Enameling Techniques and Applications

before beginning with the process of enameling, it is important that the whole furniture is sanded properly and a filler should be applied to ensure that the pores are filled and the surface is smooth. Make sure that you clean the surface with a tack cloth before starting with enameling.

Coating the furniture with the commercial enamel undercoater is a must. Is is white in color and ensure that the under coater is applied in a smooth manner. After applying the undercoat its important to leave it untouched for around 3 hours and then it should be cleaned again with a tack cloth. This is where the application of enamel begins. Begin with applying it in strips and then further level the surface ensuring that there are no thin and thick spots. Spread it evenly and the brush marks will disappear as soon as it dries.

While working on a vertical surface one needs to be a little cautious. Here one needs to brush the enamel in a tipped position and move form the dry surface to the wet part. Brush lengthwise along rungs, spindles, and other turnings. After you are though with application of the enamel, allow it to dry for several days.

These were some of the tips that come handy while enameling is being done to your furniture. The best way however, is to engage a professional for this purpose to make sure no stones are left unturned.

Wooden Toys – Rising Back to Glory

In this fast paced moving world, almost every person seems to be in a sense of nostalgia. They long for those ideal times of childhood when there was almost nothing to worry about. The television shows of today also are not the ones that were aired earlier. Nor can one relate to things that were their close to their soul, once. One such belonging that everyone cherishes even till they grow ripe are the toys! Earlier only wooden toys were available for playing. Made from wood every detail was taken care of. However, those days seems to have gone past. Look around and you will hardly find children indulged playing with wooden toys anymore!

But thanks to the recent trend of antiquity and environmental concerns that most of these art is being revived. As plastic was cheaper and easier to maintain, it was replacing wood but the realization of the advantages of wooden toys and finally changed the scenario. Today, people are aware that wooden toys are not only non toxic toys and environmental friendly but are pollution free and also help a lot in developing a child's growth much more as when compared to an ordinary plastic toy. They also have the advantage of being more durable and thus can be passed from one generation to the other. The presence of a large variety from toy trains, puzzle blocks, to rocking horses, also adds to the popularity of these wooden toys.

Today, the toys made from wood are making a comeback and for many good reasons. Their asset includes low cost and energy for maintenance. One only needs a wet cloth or tissue to clean them. As they are non toxic, the cost of paint can be checked. These toys can be used for both indoor and outdoor purposes without much hassle. Also toys like wooden furniture, houses for dolls and kitchen sets can increase the imagination and develop a child's mind to a great extent.

Another advantage of wooden toys over plastic toys is that most of the plastic toys use battery to work. Exposing a small child to the hazards of battery is not the most ideal thing to do. It not only bars their thinking capacity, but they are also subject to a major risk of leaking. Plastic toys are also easily breakable. Develop in your child the habit of collecting toy and trust me, they wont look forward to gather anything other than wooden toys.

B2b Marketplace for Handicrafts

This is one of the first B2B blog dedicated specifically to the various aspects of wooden handicrafts and wooden furniture. This is an online resource guide that contains information about the new product launch and various other events related to the industry of wooden handicrafts and leading furniture manufacturers and suppliers. Browse through these informative verticals to know more about these wood artifacts that reflect the true spirit of craftsmanship even while maintaining the traditional beauty and style. To know more about the handicraft items, wooden handicrafts and wrought iron crafts, read through.

Wrought Iron Crafts – This is the perfect online platform for all those who are looking for information related to the wrought iron crafts, that depict high imagination and immaculate craftsmanship. Various tips that can help you in perking up the interior design of your homes are also available on this website. The main product line discussed includes hand forged wrought iron products that are the perfect amalgamation of traditional designs and contemporary styles and elegant looks. Wrought iron hardware, wrought iron furniture and garden décor handicrafts have also been discussed. Go through this B2b directory to gain extensive information on the leading manufacturers, suppliers and exporters of wrought iron products.

Wood Furniture Manufacturers – Be it the need of redecorating your home furniture or just adding that extra glitz to your interiors with the timeless and classic wooden furniture, this is the place to get all the requisite information. Highlighting exclusive talent of Indian artisans, bulk trading zone along with the manufacturers, suppliers and exporters of finest quality wood furniture, this vertical showcases a variety of product catalogs for even the most finicky buyer. Various trade associations, manufacturing regions, trade leads and assortments of wood work has been detailed perfectly yet elaborately, even for the most avid furniture lover.

Wooden Handicrafts – Wood Handicrafts enjoy a special privilege in almost every house and it is their wide fame that has made them important enough to be discussed under a separate head. To gain comprehensive information about the various tips, latest product launches and much lore about the world wooden handicrafts, browse through this website. Focusing on an incredible array of artifacts chiseled out of wood, one can also get details about the various associations, industrial overview and publications that deal with these handicraft made from wide variety of wood. This B2B marketplace for Wooden Handicrafts also provides details on the wood furniture like kitchen accessories, garden decorative, wooden gifts for corporate purposes and antique wooden gifts and toys.

Valuable and Aesthetic Antique Crafts

The word antique by a very basic definition means a handiwork like furniture, coin, painting, map, jewelry, weapon, etc. which belongs to an ancient period (often 100 years past) and is valuable. These products are known for their exquisite and aesthetic appearance, and are admired the world over. Owing to the increasing demand of antique crafts in the global market, the manufacturers have nowadays started to reproduce these craft items. There is a multitude of art and craft products

covered under the range of these ancient products. The same are divided into several categories and mentioned below:

1) Antique Furniture: This category includes the antique furniture items like bed, chair, table, and so. There is also further categorization in this category like wooden furniture, marble furniture, wrought iron furniture, oak furniture, etc. All these furniture items are the perfect illustrations of the polished ancient art, irrespective of the material of which they are made.

2) Antique Jewelry: In this category comes the jewelry items which are 75 to 100 years old and, as we have earlier also stated, the reproduced jewelry which is a reconstructed form of the antique jewelry. These ornaments include rings, necklaces, bracelets, bangles, anklets, pendants, brooches, etc. The precious metals in which these adornments are usually available include gold, silver, and platinum.

3) Antique Collectibles: Collectibles refer to the items like stamps, coins, books, paintings, clocks, maps, musical instruments, beads, lighters, postcards, dresses, and so as. They are called collectibles because some people usually collect these items as their hobby. The items as old as 75 years generally constitute the antique collectibles.

4) Antique Lighting: Lighting comprises of items like chandelier, floor lamps, table lamps, wall lamps, and hanging lights. Being antique, these are not mere utility items, but also an elegant piece of art and interior decor. The different types of lighting items included in this category may date back to the 18^th century and reflect the craftsmanship of that time.

5) Antique Kitchenware: This category includes the ancient utensils, cutlery, and cookware which usually belongs to the 18^th century. They are both a utility and a decoration item. The common types of products of which this category is composed of are bonechina items, silverware, spoons, porcelain products, and knives.

6) Antique Weaponry: Any kind of weapon which is at least 100 years old is eligible to be included in this category. The ancient weapons reflects the effectiveness of the war policies of various historical empires, to which these weapons belong. Various types of antique weaponry include Armour, breast plates, daggers, helmets, swords, shields, mace, and many more.

7) Antique Hardware: This category includes items like door bolts, door hinges, keyhole covers, latches, locks, and railing among others. These items are in great demand allover the world, hence produced by many manufacturers. These hardware items are often made using materials like brass, wrought iron, and cast iron, in an antique finish.

In addition to the above-mentioned categories, there are few other categories as well. But, those mentioned above are the primary categories. If you really relish valuable and aesthetic ancient artifacts and seeking comprehensive information on various types of antique crafts, included in the above categories and even more, you should visit Antique Crafts Marketplace.

Yarns! Yarns! And Yarns!

Have you ever thought, why some of our clothing, say for example, scarves are sheer, soft and ornamental while others like shawls are thick, coarse and rough (though not all of them). This is because of the different yarns used for making them. Yarn formation is a fine skill and with variations in the spinning process, one can make various types of yarns. So what are the different types of yarns?

Single Yarns: To make these spun yarns, single strands of fibers are held together by twist. They are either given S-twist or Z-twist. Single yarns are used for making most of the fabrics.

Ply Yarns: Two or more strands or yarns are twisted together to make ply yarns. In two-ply yarns, two single strands are twisted together, and three-ply yarn is made up of three single strands and so on. The strands are generally twisted in one direction and then combined and twisted in opposite direction.

Cabled Yarns: Two or more plied yarns are twisted together, usually, around each other continually in the opposite direction of the previous twist. Thus, it may be twisted in an S/Z/S form or a Z/S/Z form These yarns are hard, rough and strong.

Doubled Yarns: In the weaving process, two or more strands are treated as one but they are not twisted together as when making ply yarns. Doubled yarns are used for giving ornamental effects due to their lustre and softness.
Novelty Yarns: For making novelty yarns, decorative effects are produced by giving different amounts of twists while spinning. Sometimes, yarns having different diameters are twisted together to make them. They are used for making ornamental fabrics having various textures and color combinations. There are many types of novelty yarn, each having difference in its making process. These novelty yarns include slub yarns, boucle yarns, spiral yarns, chenille yarns among others.

Ceramic Yarn- Clay's Journey From Pottery To Textile

You might have heard about ceramic art, ceramic pottery or bricks but have you heard about ceramic yarn? Yes, in fact, there is a yarn made of ceramic or clay which is used for making various textile products! These wonder ceramic fabrics are also used to protect NASA's space shuttles and satellites! They are incredibly strong, fireproof and excellent heat resistant fabrics.

Ceramic Yarn

Ceramic yarn is one of the man-made mineral fibers, popularly known as mineral wool. They are made from natural or synthetic minerals or metal oxides. Ceramic yarn is noted for its high temperature resistance above 1000°C. Textile made from ceramic fiber yarns have outstanding characteristics of lightweight, low thermal conductivity and chemical stability that can resist attack from most corrosive agents. The ceramic fiber yarns are used in high temperature sealing and in producing ceramic fiber tape, rope or fabrics. The ceramic fabrics are widely used in thermal insulation industry.

The Making of Ceramic Yarn
To make ceramic fibers, chemicals like silica are heated until they are molten, and then they are spun into hair-like strands. To make ceramic yarns, ceramic fibers are carded with a blend of organic fibers to make rovings. Rovings are soft strands of fiber that have been twisted, attenuated, and freed from foreign matters such as dust etc. before converting into yarn. Then a reinforcement of glass filament or steel wire is introduced to it. This combination is then spun to produce the ceramic yarns. In applications where tensile strength is significant, textiles manufactured from a glass filament reinforced yarn may be used up to 550ºC. Textiles manufactured from steel reinforced yarn may be used up to 1050°C. Where tensile strength is not so important, yarns and textiles may be used up to 1260ºC.


Industrial Applications of Ceramic Yarn Fabrics
Ceramic yarns and textiles are mainly applied to a wide range of high temperature sealing and insulating applications. It means that they are used in materials that come in contact of high temperatures so as to prevent or reduce the passage, transfer, or leakage of heat and electricity. A good example of this type of product is ceramic blankets. Ceramic fiber ropes are also used as heat insulation materials and a substitute for asbestos rope. NASA engineers had used ceramics for Shuttle tiles that could stand up to the heat of reentry. The fibers were used to fill gaps between orbiter tiles and were woven into insulation blankets, heat shields and other protective items.

General Uses of Ceramic Yarn Fabrics
Apart from being used in industries as insulating material, ceramic yarn is now also used for warm weather fashion clothing due to its cool nature. However, such fabrics have ceramic in very low percentage. For example, one of such ceramic fabrics is made up of 95% rayon & 5% ceramic. They keep the wearers cool and protect their skin from harmful UVA & UVB rays. They are, in fact, capable of dropping the surface skin temperature by at least 5 degrees. Due to their soft sheen, anti-static and washable qualities, they are gradually becoming a choice of fabric for babies & infant wear. Ceramic yarns are also fast becoming popular for knitting projects due to their same properties of being cool, soft and silky apart from UVA & UVB rays protective.

Drying Processes of Textile Industry

Textile drying is one of the finishing processes, which removes the water and moisture from the fabrics (accumulated while its manufacturing) through evaporative heating. As evaporative heating is very costly, initially mechanical methods are applied to remove as much as moisture from the fabric as possible. After that, heated dryers are used to evaporate the remaining water from the fabric. Mechanical methods include centrifugal extraction of water and continuous methods applying vacuum suction rolls. After mechanical extraction, various types of dryers are used to dry the textile which are categorized as thermal processes. The thermal processes transfer heat by convection; infrared radiation; direct contact; or radio-frequency.

Drying can be applied to loose fibers, yarns, or fabrics. When drying fibers, centrifugal extraction is done to reduce the water in loose fibers before evaporative drying is applied. The evaporation dryers consist of many chambers and fibers pass from the hottest to the cooler chambers. Fiber is carried through a conveyor belt or on the surface of a series of “suction drums”. Yarn packages are dried by two methods - rapid (forced) air drying and the radio frequency drying. In forced air dryers, hot air circulation is followed by conditioning. Radio frequency dryers operate on the conveyor principle. Fabrics are dried with various types of dryers like stenters, cylinder dryers, drying conveyors etc. The relaxed fabric is conveyed through a chamber while festooned in loops. The fabric travels through the chamber, passing over a series of hot cylinders. It is very important to dry textile without over drying otherwise the fabric may get a harsh hand.

Corduroy Fabric- Can it be Worn in Summers?

Sometimes it happens that we unknowingly put a fabric in certain category. For example, we say cotton, linen etc. are summer fabrics whereas wool, cashmere etc. are winter fabrics. Have you ever thought of the fabrics that are categorized as winter fabrics but are made from summer fabrics? Corduroy Fabric is one such fabric which is popularly called a winter fabric but is originally made from cotton- it is a cotton fabric with texture.

So, do you wear your corduroy skirt and pants in summers or pack all of them to be used in winters alone? Can you, in fact, wear corduroy in summers? To know this, first of all you'll have to know about the basic corduroy fabric.

What is Corduroy Fabric?

Fabric characteristically having parallel, lengthwise cords or ridges is the corduroy fabric. It looks much like twill fabric but there is a basic difference in appearance. Twill has diagonal rows while corduroy has parallel ridges. While weaving, its fibers are normally twisted resulting in long, parallel ridges. Initially, corduroy was made from cotton only. Now many other fibers, such as polyester, rayon and acrylic are also used to make corduroy fabric but essentially it remains a cotton texture fabric. Also, the modern versions of corduroy are composed of tufted cords, sometimes exhibiting a channel (bare to the base fabric) between the tufts. In essence, corduroy is a ridged form of velvet.

How is Corduroy Fabric Used?

Corduroy fabric is mostly used for making casual to business casual clothing usually for colder climates. They are widely used for trousers but not very uncommon to be seen as skirts, jackets, caps, bags and even upholstery for chairs and sofas. In fact, the application of corduroy fabric is decided by the width of cords appearing on it. The width of the cord is usually referred to as “wale”. The Corduroy fabrics having narrow wales are generally softer to touch, and are often used for shirts, skirts, jackets or caps. Corduroy with wide wales is commonly found on pants or furniture.


Can We Wear Corduroy in Summers?

Although considered to be a fall/winter fabric, corduroy can even be worn in summers, of course, if you do not go by strict fashion norms. However, the fabric for summer has to be chosen very cautiously. It should be narrow wale (thin width cord), lighter weight corduroy (if superlight, it's best) in a light color, something like white, beige, pink etc. For choosing such corduroy you must know how to count the wales? Corduroy fabric’s wale count per inch varies from 1.5 to 21. However, the traditional standard falls between 10 and 12. 11-wale corduroy, that is to say 11 wales per inch, is the corduroy with narrower wales. There are pincord, pinwale, and needlecord types of corduroy from among which pincord is the finest cord with a count above 16 and has a feel that is as soft as velvet and it is superlight. So, if you find this corduroy, wear it in summers without any other consideration!