INSTRUCTIONS FOR KNOCKING THROUGH THE TAP HOLE

You will need:

A 10mm Pin or Centre Punch

A Claw Hammer

Safety Goggles & Gloves

It is highly recommended that safety goggles and gloves are worn when knocking through the tap hole.

Position the pin punch on the surface of the sink over the centre of the part-drilled hole (please note that the red dot labels are for guidance only and do not give the exact centre of the tap hole).

Gently tap the punch with a claw hammer until a hole is punched through, and then continue tapping out the excess from around the hole, ensuring any rough or sharp edges are removed.

Next time you buy someone a gift, why not kill two birds with one stone by buying your loved ones a gift they will enjoy that can also be used to improve your home’s appearance?

Those who enjoy DIY will appreciate DIY gifts because their present will last longer than their birthday, anniversary or Christmas Day and will give them something to look forward to. There are so many DIY projects that can be done around your home, from the big to the small, and they all help in the maintenance and appearance of your home. These projects can also be very simple with all the DIY kits available today, but there is no lack of more complicated DIY projects for those looking for a challenge! This wide choice and range of DIY projects make DIY gifts suitable for people of all ages.

DIY gifts to decorate the house

The arty, crafty and creative may love getting a DIY gift to decorate their home. Here are a few ideas of what to buy for a DIY gift:

Some pretty material that can be used to make curtains in various rooms around the house, as well as all the necessary instructions and tools that are needed to make them. Choosing this kind of gift can be tricky, so you might want to find out exactly what kind of tastes the gift receiver has and maybe even drop some hints to find out what they would like to see in their home.

Paint, paint brushes and all the other necessary equipment for the gift receiver to give their home a fresh, new coat of paint wherever it is needed. Again, try to find out what colours, patterns etc. they like.

Seeds or colourful pot plants for house plants. Even better, buy plain pot plants that can be decorated and throw in some paint and other decorative items.

Equipment to make hanging accessories for the kitchen, bathroom or elsewhere in the home. For example, bathroom racks for toothbrushes and toothpaste or kitchen racks for spices or utensils.

Plain boxes that can be decoupaged or painted and used for items around the home, e.g. coffee and tea containers.

Something for the kids – plain curtain material or tiles around the house that can be painted on. This way, your kids can feel proud to be a part of your home’s interior decorating and your memories of them will be a part of the home for a long time.

If you’re a bit nervous to leave your decorating scheme in the hands of your children, you could give them something a little smaller to work on, such as plain fridge magnets.

DIY gifts to fix up and improve the home

If you know someone who loves getting their hands dirty around the house and is constantly finding something that they think needs fixing, then help them to cheerfully improve and fix up their home with a DIY gift, such as:

New taps that can be installed in the kitchen or bathroom, such as a pull out kitchen tap, a kitchen mixer tap or a bathroom basin mixer tap. Other options include shower heads and bath taps.

Supply them with all the necessary instructions and equipment to make built-in cupboards. You can even do the measurements yourself and get the right sizes yourself.

Use those colourful tiles your kids proudly made and lay them down yourself on your kitchen floor, shower floor or elsewhere around your home.

Equipment to sand down and shine wooden surface of chairs and tables and perhaps paint for a fresh, new look.

Give them whatever they need to make their very own kitchen island and even provide them with various add-ons to improve the beauty and functionality of the island.

Equipment to make a cabinet for their television or stereo, or shelves for a CD and DVD rack or wine bottle rack (and throw in a bottle of wine to get them started!)

DIY gifts for the chefs of the house

If your loved one enjoys spending time in the kitchen, then give them something that will help make their cooking and baking experiences more enjoyable.

For example, a splashback they can install, a rack that can be hung up and used to hold their recipe book open or cutlery and crockery that they can decorate themselves with beads or paint etc.

DIY gifts are useful for a number of reasons – they last longer than a birthday or Christmas Day, they occupy a person’s time for longer, they can have sentimental value and they maintain and improve homes. Finally, they are suitable for anyone of any age who enjoys a bit of DIY, so if you’re struggling to think of the perfect gift for your mother, wife, sister, father, husband or brother, a DIY gift could be your answer.

The United Kingdom is currently experiencing bitterly cold weather conditions. This can cause a lot of discomfort and the last thing you want is to wake up one day to find your water pipes are frozen or even worse, that they have caused flooding and major damage to your home.

New homeowners can take precautions

If you are fortunate enough to oversee the building of your home, make sure that the plumber does not run any supply lines in the outside walls of your home. Simply insulating outdoor water pipes does not guarantee they won’t freeze.

For the rest of us…

For the general public who were not around when their house was built, always remove the water hose from your outdoor spigot in the winter.

Rule number one is the most important

Know all about your main water supply – where it is and how to shut it off. In water emergency situations, shutting off the water quickly will minimize the damage. If you can’t locate the shutoff valve, use the valve inside your water meter pit.

Find the source

The source of the problem is typically found in the water pipes located in outside walls or in floors over unheated spaces, such as bathrooms over garages. In this case, keep your garage door closed.

After closing the main water supply valve to your home, locate the frozen pipe and run your hand along its length to find the coldest spot, i.e. the frozen area. Open the tap at the end of the damaged pipe to release water pressure.

Examine the entire length of the pipe for damage such as cracks, breaks and holes. These can cause flooding when the pipe is being thawed so in this case, it is best to call a plumber.

Thawing water pipes

After testing for water leaks, use a small desk lamp with its adjustable neck approximately one inch away from touching the surface of the pipe. You can also use an electric space heater on a low setting, a small propane torch, a hairdryer or a soldering iron which you can strap to the pipe with the hot tip in contact with the pipe, allowing heat to be conducted along the pipe in both directions. As a torch or soldering iron can cause the pipe to burst, use them only on the tap side of the ice block. You can pour warm water on the frozen area but as the water supply will be cut off, this is a messy option. Never use hot or boiling water as this can cause the pipe to burst! Once the ice has melted, water will drip from the tap. Close the tap and inspect the pipe for leaks.

Insulating water pipes

Insulate by using heater tapes or thermal blanket to wrap around water pipes or use a heated reflector lamp in a dry, enclosed space. Heater tapes must be wrapped between the pipe and the insulation to work. Wrap the heat tape in a spiral pattern around water lines (without covering the pipe solid), leaving one to two inches between the next spiral. Wrap the pipes loosely and secure the insulation in place with electrical tape.

If using a thermal blanket, measure the length of each water supply line and cut the thermal blanket twice this length. Soak the blanket in hot water and wrap it, two layers thick, around the length of the pipe so that it fits securely, but not tightly. You can use an old shoestring or duct tape to secure the blanket in place on the top or bottom.

Another option is to build a box or small cover over outdoor pipes and insulate the interior of the box for extra protection.

Frozen radiator

For a frozen radiator, apply heat by using hot towels, a heating pad, a hair dryer, a soldering iron or any other similar source of heat. If the room is warm, the ice will melt on its own, but very slowly.

When there is no power

Having no power makes it more likely that your pipes will freeze. Shut off the main water supply valve and open all taps so that water runs at a slow, constant drip, leaving no pressure in the system.

Handy products

Hot water optimisers have sensors that detect a temperature below a user-chosen set point. They then intermittently circulate tepid-warm water throughout your hot and cold waterlines.

A water heat rod will keep the water line from freezing above the frost line. More effective than heat tape, a heating rod will get around 90 degrees Farenheit and stay there as long as it’s plugged into an electrical socket.

Safety first

Using electrical equipment and open flames carries extreme potential for fires. Never use an open flame to thaw frozen pipes. Also never use boiling water as it may cause the pipe to burst.

Extra tips

Unplug heat tape and rods during warmer months to save on electricity

If you’re on a holiday, don’t turn your heating system off or set the thermostat below 55 degrees Farenheit because the pipes can freeze if the room temperature drops low enough. Have someone check on your home frequently.

If the same pipe freezes every year, try installing a louvered grill or create some source of air flow between the room that the freezing occurs in and a heated room. Look for small holes to the outside when insulating pipes and use expanding foam on these to seal out the breeze.

Prepare an emergency bottle for frozen water pipes on very cold mornings and heat the bottle in the microwave or in a pot on the stove to about 60 degrees Farenheit. Gently pour the water on the frozen pipe then slowly turn on the water and allow it to thaw for a few minutes.

Focus on areas most susceptible to freezing pipes, e.g. cold, isolated basements, garages, rooms over garages, outside walls, crawl spaces etc. Remember to insulate and heat drain lines here.

According to the UN, water use has been growing at more than the rate twice of population increase in the last century. By 2025, 1 800 million people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under stress conditions.

These are just a few water facts, and they are alarming. If we continue to waste water as we do, in what state will our children find our planet?

Although some may find it difficult to believe, change starts with the individual. The little changes you make in the way you use water can have a far-reaching impact. If everyone does their part in conserving water, we can start to fix the problems we are experiencing and set an example for future generations to follow.

There’s something in it for you too. You can cut down costs on your water and electricity bills and save money!

There are many ways you can conserve water wherever and whenever you use it. Here are some tips for the kitchen and bathroom.

Appliances

• When you buy new refrigerators, air conditioners, ice-makers, dishwashers, clothes washers and toilets etc, look out for features that save water, such as air-cooling and cycle or load size adjustments. For taps, use water-saving aerators and instant water heaters. Another way to get instant hot water is by insulating hot water pipes. Maybe you weren’t considering renovations or upgrades, but newer toilets, for example, are usually more water-efficient than older ones and newer dishwashers clean more thoroughly than older ones, therefore using less time to rinse dishes.

Being green while getting clean

• Test your showerhead by placing a one-gallon (3.78 litre) bucket in your shower and timing how long it takes to fill. If it takes less than 20 seconds, replace the showerhead with a water-efficient model. Water-efficient showerheads are inexpensive, easy to install and can save up to 750 gallons (2 839, 06 litres) a week.
• Cutting back on one or two minutes in the shower can save up to 150 gallons (567, 81 litres) a month.
• When running a bath, plug the tub before turning the water and adjust the temperature as the tub fills up.
• Turn off the water while brushing your teeth, washing your hair and shaving. This can save up to 25 (94, 64 litres), 150 (567, 81 litres) and 300 gallons (1 135, 62 litres) a month respectively.
• Keep a bucket in the shower to catch water as it warms up and use this water to flush toilets or water plants.
• Bathe young children together.

Drip…. drip….. drip…… drip

• Listen for dripping taps and running toilets, then grab a wrench and fix the problem. Fixing a leak can save 300 gallons (1 135, 62 litres) or more a month. Fixing it is simple and it also frees you from listening to that annoying dripping sound. Not sure if your toilet has a leak? Put food colouring in your toilet tank. If it seeps into the toilet bowl without flushing, you have a leak and fixing it can save up to 1, 000 gallons (3 785, 41 litres) a month.

Getting your hands dirty… or clean

• When washing dishes, don’t let water run while rinsing – fill one sink with wash water and the other sink with rinse water. If you don’t have two sinks, use a large container.
• Leave pots and pans for last and let them soak in water instead of letting the water run while you scrape them clean.
• When washing your hands, don’t let the water run while you lather.

Do I have to compromise being hydrated for the environment??!

• No, but keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap every time you want a glass of water. This way, less water is lost to the drain.
• Designate one glass for your drinking water each day or refill a water bottle to cut down on the number of glasses to wash.
• Get your eight glasses of water a day by eating delicious and nutritious soup. Simply re-use the water left over from cooked or steamed foods

Try to make these small and helpful changes in your home and notice how good it feels to know that you’re helping to improve the environment in your own way while saving money! Then pass your knowledge on to your friends and teach them to your kids so that individuals can team up in a bid to save the planet.

Once upon a time, a sink’s only function was to offer human hands a place to wash themselves. Nowadays, designers are coming up with some innovative sink designs in keeping up with a world that is constantly changing and moving forward. While this often results in sinks that are more attractive than they are functional, one thing is certain; they sure are interesting!

These sinks have a natural, water-weathered look and very shallow surfaces.

On the flip side, maybe shallow surfaces like this will send the message that we need to use less water.

More shallow surfaces – don’t turn on the taps too hard!

Lift a stone and the source gushes out and winds its way down to the plughole capped by another stone.

Sinks can amuse hand washers for hours these days!

Gravity sends the water vertically from the ceiling, but how long does one stare at this contraption before understanding its purpose?!

A fish tank turned sink.

Where does the water go to? It drains horizontally into the wall!

The height of luxury! The Meltdown sink (left) plays soothing music and its body lights up, projecting images onto the underneath of its recycable Polyethylene surface when the water runs. A luxury that also benefits the environment, the iSave Faucet Counter (right) monitors and displays the amount of water running away.

The sinks here double up as a bath (left) and toilet (right).

If you thought those designs were strange, it gets even weirder! Just take a look at these toilets and bathroom accessories:

Many people look to celebrities for trends, as the general perception is that the rich and famous know what’s hot and what’s not. Take a look inside some celebrity homes and see how they designed their kitchens. If your kitchen is ready for a new look, the following kitchens may inspire you.

Actor John Goodman’s well-lit kitchen has two kitchen sinks. One by the window offers pleasant views, making the often boring task of washing up dishes a more pleasant one, while the other sits on the island, creating a space for entertainment and meal preparation.

Oprah’s Hawaiian home also makes use of an island with kitchen sink. The kitchen tap’s dual handles gives the sink a symmetrical look.

This kitchen’s lighting and decor is stylish 70s. This is because its Elvis Presley’s Graceland Kitchen.

Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, uses an attractive colour palette in her East Hampton home’s kitchen. Olive green wallpaper forms a contrast against crisp white cabinets topped with a black granite countertop and black and white floor tiles.

World-class cyclist, Lance Armstrong’s kitchen appears sophisticated with a masculine touch. Browns, greens and gold encourage warmth while exposed beams, granite countertops and stainless steel pendant lights complete a stylish look. This design appears luxurious while being family-friendly at the same time. A comfy dining area and casual bar stools provide cosy nooks for family meals.

Kristie Alley’s kitchen features a clean look with painted white cabinets against a black and white tiled floor. The walls feature a beautiful glazed diagonal tiled design with chocolate brown trim.

Actress Kristen Bell’s clean white kitchen is spattered with touches of green, seen in the mossy carpet and fabric-covered stools with an orange floral pattern.  Yellow accessories complement the colour scheme.Charlie Sheen owns a spacious kitchen, made attractive with a cool colour palette. Large windows reveal scenes of nature, blending with the crisp green colour of his cabinets inside. A cowhide rug adds character and masculinity to the overall appearance.

No bathroom design is complete without the right accessories. Although bathroom accessories are usually the smaller items in a bathroom, they are still important. They provide the bathroom with functionality, make it more user-friendly and give it its finishing touch. When bathroom accessories work together, they can bring all the decor together, making its general appearance more attractive.

There are many kinds of bathroom accessories which means that no matter what type of bathroom you have, whether it’s traditional or contemporary, there will be something not only suitable for your bathroom, but beautiful too.

Toilet accessories

These include toilet paper holders, toilet seats, toilet seat warmers, toilet brush holders etc. These accessories, like most bathroom accessories, come in many different sizes, shapes and styles.

Take the toilet paper holder for example. You can get one with an old fashioned roller design, or an open hook design for quick and easy changes of paper, two point support rollerless designs, recessed models, mounted models, freestanding models etc.

Shower accessories

There are all kinds of shower heads and shower valves to choose from. Like all other bathroom accessories, homeowners can choose from the more traditional to more modern and innovative accessories.

Towel accessories

There are various ways you can hang up your towel in your bathroom. You can install bars, rings, hooks, stands or shelves. Once again, the variety of designs are endless. Towel bars, for example, can be single or double. You can also get heated towel rails, which makes your bathroom even more functional in chilly winter seasons.

An accessory that provides a place to put your towel is an integral part of your bathroom but they can also be beautiful. This kind of accessory can also be used to store other items. Your bathroom robe, for example, can be hung up on a hook or folded up onto a shelf. Glass shelves can make your bathroom look more elegant.

Cabinets

Even your cabinets can have their own accessories, such as drawer pulls. All the small details count! Drawer pulls can complement your cabinets and make a decorative statement in your bathroom.

Lighting and mirrors

Don’t forget about using lighting and mirrors to make your bathroom more attractive. Both of these can make rooms appear bigger than they really are. Lights can come in various shapes and forms as well as number. You can have one main light, or rather many different lights all over your bathroom, including in your shower and on mirrors.

The little, yet important, accessories

Then there are the other, smaller accessories that are just as important as the rest. These include a soap dish or soap dispenser, baskets and other holders for various objects such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, a hair dryer holder, pot plants or other items that serve to beautify your bathroom etc.

When all the equipment and accessories in your bathroom match or suit one particular theme or look, your bathroom can be transformed into a completely different room. What’s great about bathroom accessories is that they suit many budgets, so you don’t have to pay a lot of money to easily improve your bathroom’s overall look, but if you want a space that is truly luxurious, the list of stylish accessories that you can add to your bathroom is endless!

Old World kitchen styles have an antique and authentic feel to them and reflect kitchens built in the 1800s.

Features include hearth-like cooking centres, unfitted cabinets, raised panel cabinetry, countertops of stone, rustic tile or wood, stone walls and/or floors, loose furniture pieces and tables used as islands with plenty of space for storage. Old World kitchens are heavily decorated, consist of deep rich colours and most commonly use cherry and oak.

Contemporary kitchens are modern, simple, minimalist, geometric, functional, versatile and open. Cabinetry is frameless with little or no decoration and slab or horizontal lift-up doors. Glass in overhead cabinets is common, as well as curved cabinets and counters. Other features of contemporary kitchens include horizontal lines, asymmetry, man-made materials such as stainless steel, laminate, chrome, concrete and lacquer. Lighting plays a major role, especially in and around cabinets. Popular colours include blues, reds and bright colours, which is often found in the decoration and accessories.

Traditional kitchen styles are reminiscent of English and American designs from the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Materials seen are wood, stone or other natural materials. Traditional kitchens feature perfect symmetry and balance. Cabinetry has cherry, walnut or mahogany stain finishes with trim, such as fluted panels or corbels, corner blocks with rosettas, beaded, crown and rope molding. Cabinet doors are usually raised or have slightly arched panels. Other features include marble or granite countertops, polished brass fitting details, antique fixtures and appliances and formal curtains such as those with floral patterns or stripes.

Country kitchens create a comfortable, welcoming environment. One can mix and match finishes and furniture pieces and be influenced by country styles from different parts of the world. Cabinets can be painted and glazed and have distressed elements, and doors can be left open, displaying colour and adding to the decor. Chicken wire or metal cabinet inserts that are handmade add to the homely feel of the kitchen. Floors are in wood or natural tiles and have throw rugs for warmth and comfort. Commonly seen designs have floral, checked, plaid and striped patterns or animal designs. Country kitchens are decorated with charming items, such as antiques, flea market finds, woven baskets, potted herbs in windows, butcher blocks, hand painted tiles, fruits and vegetables.

Many luxury homes have rustic kitchens. Rustic style is simple yet beautiful. Natural wood is used, such as knotty pine, hickory and alder woods, as well as traditional pottery and hand-knotted carpets. Rustic kitchens are decorated in earth tones and reds, yellows and greens.

Businesses are turning to social media networks to enhance their online marketing campaigns. In June this year, the Nielsen Company, published an article stating that three of the world’s most popular brands online are social-media related, that social networks or blog sites are visited by three quarters of global consumers who go online and that the numbers of people visiting these sites increased by 24% over last year. Businesses have seen the value in using social media networks, which encourage consumer participation with a brand.

The popular HGTV.com (website of the American TV programme, Home and Garden Television) has been using social media networks for a few years now and their TV show often promotes their designers’ Facebook and Twitter accounts. HGTV’s Facebook page is “liked” by over 1 million people and their Twitter page is followed by nearly 33 000 (they are following just under 8 000), which clearly points to their authority in the home and garden improvement industry online.

One of the website’s interactive features is known as “Rate my Space”. It was launched in February 2007 so that users could post images of their rooms and allow others to discuss and rate them and help solve design problems. Quickly gaining popularity, the television programme, “Rate my Space” came into existence. Homeowners whose rooms receive low ratings can pick three rooms that inspire them from the website, identify objects or finishes they would like to have as their own and their own rooms are made over by an HGTV designer. Once remodelled, other users can rate the makeover online.

Leading furniture and homewares website, MyDeco, is one of the first eCommerce companies in Europe to integrate the newly launched Facebook Social Plugins. The UK-based home decor intermediary aggregates hundreds of retailers into their site which offers over a million products. Users can create their own profile on the site and build 3D models of their rooms, adding their preferred decor and furniture they can buy. The rooms form the content of a user’s profile and creates a social community around the rooms, which are shareable on social networks. By clicking the “like” button, users can broadcast their taste in home decor to all their friends on Facebook.

A user’s profile on MyDeco is much like any social media network. One can follow other users and have followers, send and receive messages, view other profiles, receive comments and ratings on their rooms etc. MyDeco has a Facebook page and a Facebook application, which is linked to the main website. This enables users to log in to the MyDeco main site with their Facebook details, which captures their interactivity on the main site and this is broadcasted to their friends on Facebook. MyDeco’s Facebook page is “liked” by nearly 7 000 people and their Twitter page has nearly 4 000 followers.

But for other small or new businesses, consumer participation via social networks can be slow or non-existent. Fans or followers may number only a handful. So how can a home improvement business pick up fans or followers? One way is to hold a contest that only those following the business’s social media site can participate in.

A web community revolving around DIY design, Curbly, also allows users to create profile pages and interact with one another. Other than the usual About Me section and network of friends, Curbly lets users write a blog focusing on interior design tips and “clip” interesting items from around the web using a bookmarklet. They can tag articles, add images, insert videos from YouTube, comment on and rank other articles.

A celebrate its launch, Curbly staged a competition where users posted a picture of their favourite “happy” place in their home. The website has since run other competitions. For example, by signing up for the monthly newsletter, users could enter to win a Ray and Charles Eames chair. Another competition asked users to post pictures of their $20 or less DIY project to stand a chance to win gift certificates. Over 700 people “like” Curbly’s Facebook page and they have over 300 followers on Twitter.

Earlier this year, Home-Designing, a website offering design ideas, ran a contest on Facebook. The rules were simple. Facebook users had to “like” Home-Designing’s Facebook page and suggest the page to five of their friends. They then had to post the message “just participated in this cool contest! http://www.facebook.com/homedesigning?v=app_6009294086” as their status on Facebook. Lastly, participators had to add the comment “I have participated” on their page. Three winners were randomly chosen from this list of commenters and received cash prizes and books, and everyone who took part received the Home-Designing PDF with pictures of rooms visualised and designed by professionals. Currently, nearly 31 000 people “like” Home-Designing’s Facebook page.

@home Homewares Store, selling high quality home products and furniture in South Africa, is currently running a monthly competition on their Facebook page known as “Bride of the month”. Participants can select up to five photos and upload them to their album. They then get their friends to vote on their album and/or upload their album to Facebook. Winners receive R4 000. Their Facebook page has over 500 fans.

The above businesses are using social media networks to create brand awareness and encourage interaction with potential customers. These customers are, in turn, spreading the word to their friends by suggesting their pages. Word of mouth marketing has always been a highly valuable form of marketing and home improvement websites can use the trust that friends on Facebook and other social media networks have, as a modern day form of word of mouth marketing.

However, through my research I have noticed that, while many home improvement websites have Facebook pages, they have not used them effectively or even realised their potential as a form of online marketing. Therefore, social media networks present businesses with a wide open market that is ready to be tapped into and it is in a business’s best interest to do so.

Chrome taps have been around for nearly 100 years and are very popular in today’s modern world for a number of reasons. The popularity of chrome has spread to other uses, such as appliance handles like those found in refrigerators, lighting fixtures, expensive toys etc.

One of the hardest metals in the world, chrome is not useful as a solid, pure substance. Instead, a thin layer or plating of chrome is applied to other solid objects which are usually made of steel, aluminium, brass, copper, plastic or stainless steel. Chrome plating is number one in the metal plating industry.

Chrome bathroom and kitchen taps have become popular because they are, depending on their quality, scratch resistant, corrosion resistant, easy to clean and maintain and less difficult to assemble.

Not only is chrome the most durable finish, but it is also an excellent design choice. Their glossy nature makes the bathroom or kitchen appear cleaner and adds a sense of class to the atmosphere, yet at the same time, chrome taps are a simple and common choice. Chrome plating can create several different styles and designs.

Chrome taps can fit in with any design. They can blend in with earthy browns or amber tones, create layers of colour in dark blue or black colour schemes and they can simply add brightness to a room and give it a shiny, modern look. The simple touch of chrome taps can instantly make a kitchen or bathroom look more attractive.

The best way to clean chrome taps is to simply use soap. One needs to be aware that applying chemicals or abrasive materials might do more harm than good as these chemicals may expunge the chrome plating.