The desire for stylish beauty in the arrangement of offices, ballrooms, restaurant rooms and other public places has given rise to such an innovation in the decoration of rooms as a stretch ceiling. Moreover, this type of ceiling is becoming more and more popular among ordinary people as well - apartment renovation in recent years no longer includes wallpaper on the ceiling, and even its whitewashing.
Stretch ceilings - beauty, practicality and reliability
The rapid and ubiquitous development of technology provides more and more new opportunities to bring a person's home in accordance with his ideas about beauty and style, which also do not stand still. Materials made from polyvinyl chloride have long been used for the production of household elements used in the repair of any kind of premises. Therefore, the fact that there were stretch ceilings made of PVC is not surprising.
The ceiling made of PVC is practical, beautiful and able to satisfy even the increased requirements of the buyer, to create a unique and individual style in the room. It is worth noting its fire safety - it is made of non-combustible material and is completely harmless to humans in chemical composition. During its operation, there are no special problems, unless, of course, you know how to wash the stretch ceiling.
What are stretch ceilings
At its core, a stretch ceiling made of PVC is a polymer film having a special internal molecular structure, providing it with the ability to stretch when heated and re-compress when cooled, which provides this material with the possibility of strong tension.
The ceilings from this film are even, do not sag and make it possible to decorate straight ceiling areas and to fit various kinds of voluminous ceiling figures. The film is not susceptible to sunlight and does not allow condensation to settle on its surface. The stretch ceiling is mirror, glossy and matte.
Such a canvas is fastened with special guides. For tension, or rather, for stretching the blade, a heat gun or building hair dryers are used. And the variety of colors, the design of the paintings, the ability to choose the best stretch ceilings makes them very attractive.
Types of Stretch Ceilings
Stretch ceilings are made of two types. The first and most widespread in terms of affordability include ceilings made of heat-shrink film. The second group consists of canvases made from heat-shrink fabric. Both the first and second groups possess, regardless of the material of manufacture, the above-mentioned positive qualities, and the rules regarding how to wash a stretch ceiling are the same for them. But the fabric ceiling has several advantages over vinyl.
With the similarity of the process of fixing these ceilings, the fabric can be stretched at any temperature. A polyurethane-impregnated fabric ceiling can withstand much higher loads than vinyl, and can cope with such damage as punctures. The ability to create your own composition on a ceiling basis exists only when using fabric paintings. Fabric white stretch ceilings allow you to independently apply the desired color or pattern on them. And the fabric ceiling with an insert of more than two meters has no seams.
Features of operation of suspended ceilings
The constantly increasing popularity of suspended ceilings among the population is due to the simplicity of their installation, unpretentiousness in operation and a long warranty period - up to 12 years. But there are a few points that you need to pay attention to before deciding whether to install a stretch ceiling.
The first is the temperature regime. When using a vinyl ceiling in a room, the temperature should not fall below 5 ° C and be above 50 ° C. At low temperatures, vinyl can crack, and at high temperatures it can “float”. Both that and another will cause strong damage to the canvas and deform it. It is worth noting that such a threat does not exist for fabric ceilings. They can withstand temperatures up to –40 ° C.
The second - coating features that have different types of vinyl (glossy and matte) require a different approach while maintaining them in good condition. How to wash a stretch glossy ceiling, or rather, the difference in the care of glossy ceilings and matte, will be described below.
Proper care of stretch ceilings
Care for stretch ceilings is divided into two types - dry and wet. The dry method uses a lint-free cloth or vacuum cleaner. With the antistatic properties that stretch ceilings have, there is no particular dust on the surface of the paintings, and such maintenance is enough to be done once a month. But with more severe pollution, wet cleaning is also necessary.
How to wash a stretch ceiling opaque? This procedure is very simple. Using a lint-free cloth (preferably microfiber) moistened with soap and water, the contaminated areas are wiped with movements along the seams - parallel to the walls. Circular movements leave stains, although invisible on a dull surface. Non-greasy stains can be removed with an eraser.
How to wash a glossy stretch ceiling? For this type of ceiling, wet cleaning is similar to that described above. But there is one caveat - after any wet cleaning of the ceiling, its gloss fades. To restore the luster of the ceiling, you need to wipe it with a cloth dampened in a 10 percent solution of ammonia. After any wet treatment of the ceiling, wipe it with a dry, lint-free cloth.
What should not be done
When caring for suspended ceilings, the following must be avoided:
- use soda, powders and any other abrasive detergent for wet processing;
- when washing the ceiling cloth, use hard brushes and coarse fabrics;
- use various chemical mixtures, in the composition of which organic solvents are present.
That, in fact, is all you need to know about how to wash a stretch ceiling.