The Vax carpet cleaners are a great item to borrow if you’re moving in or out of a house or just want to give your carpets a refresh from day to day wear!
The Rapid Deluxe machines are super easy and user friendly to use – you can borrow them from us for £12.20 a day, £18.30 for 2 days and £24.20 for a week (standard membership cost) and even add the Vax approved cleaning solution as well for £2 per 100ml.
Step 1 – Fill the tank
The carpet cleaner uses 40ml detergent per 1 litre of warm water. To fill the tank, push in the button on the water tank as shown to release it from the machine and unscrew the cap to fill.
Step 2 – Turn on the machine
To turn the machine on, press your foot down on the power button (right hand side). To angle the handle of the machine use the foot pedal on the left hand side and press the handle down and back (just like a normal vacuum cleaner).
Step 3 – Spray the water
Press the trigger at the top of the handle as you move the machine forwards – this sprays the carpet with the cleaning solution.
Step 4 – Clean those carpets!
Release the trigger and pull the machine back slowly to extract the dirt and solution from the carpet. Repeat across the area to be cleaned, maintain a consistent speed when spraying the solution and pulling the machine back. You will see the tray at the bottom of the machine start to collect the dirty solution.
Step 5 – Empty and Clean
Once finished, remove the tray at the bottom, empty and then rinse out to clean. Make sure to give it a really good clean, as there can be a build up of dirt that means future cleans are not as efficient!
Want to borrow the carpet cleaner? Reserve it now by following our tutorial for reserving!
Haven’t signed up yet? Head to our Memberships page!
We are very excited to have our POP-ular Popcorn Maker up and running again! Some of you may remember this retro machine and the fun it can add to a kids party or movie night! Here is a short guide to making fresh popcorn and also how to clean the machine when you are done.
Step one: Heat up
Start by heating the machine by plugging it in at the wall and making sure the pot is connected to the machine (see image). Then turn the heating switch on the right hand side of the machine. Wait for around 3-5 minutes for the pot to heat up, but DO NOT forget about it!
Step two: Add oil and popcorn
When the pot is heated, turn the heating switch off and measure out 1 tablespoon of oil (we love using olive oil, but you can use sunflower oil or even coconut oil!) and half a cup of popcorn kernels. Use the little handle of the pot to lift the lid and pour the oil in, then the popcorn. Make sure you have put the glass bowl into the machine and closed the door. Turn both the heating switch back on and the light switch, and let the popping begin!
Step three: Empty pot
Once the popping has finished, turn the heating switch off. Then turn the pot upside down by pushing the red handle to the right of the pot. Empty it completely into the bowl below and enjoy! You can then repeat this process by adding more oil and popcorn to the pot, turning the heat switch on and enjoying another batch!
Step four: Let it cool
Once you have finished making the popcorn, make sure to turn off the heating switch and let the pot cool. This can take around 10-15 minutes. Once it is cool enough to touch, remove the pot from the machine. To do this, pull the cog at the top forward so it unclips. Then pull the pot out from both sides of the 2 metal bars.
Step five: Clean
Using a paper towel, wipe down any oil inside the machine. Then wipe down the outside and inside of the pot. A paper towel works well because it soaks up the excess oil. You should not need to clean at all with soap if the oil has been wiped away, but you can use a damp cloth to clean further. Do not immerse the pot into water and try not to get the electric cable wet while wiping.
What to do if you burn the oil
Sometimes (we’ve all been there..) the oil may burn due to using too much oil or not enough, or simply leaving the popcorn in the pot for too long while it is turned on. Make sure to use the recommended oil and popcorn quantities to avoid this. If you do end up burning the oil, make sure to clean the pot thoroughly before returning the machine back to SHARE.
To do this, start by wiping away any excess oil using a paper towel. Then using 3 parts boiling water, and one part vinegar, carefully pour this mixture into the pot, making sure not to get the outside of the pot wet. Try to cover all burned areas with the liquid. Leave this to soak for around 5-10 minutes, before using an old toothbrush to scrub away the grime. A toothbrush is useful because it allows more access to the hard to reach corners. Make sure all burned oil has been lifted from the surface, then pour away the liquid without wetting the outside. Carefully rinse out with water and wipe dry using a paper towel. And there you have it, good as new!
Remember, if for any reason, you cannot clean the pot, or it is returned dirty, we will charge a cleaning fee of £5. This makes up for anyone who wanted to borrow it after you, as well as the time taken for one of our volunteers to clean it.
Want to borrow the popcorn maker?
Do you have a kids birthday party coming up? Or a retro themed event? Or even just a chilled movie night you want to make a little more special? Reserve this wonderful popcorn maker, or try our other smaller Disney one. If you aren’t a member yet, join now and follow our tutorial for reserving!
At this time of year, our pressure washers are in high demand! Whether you are cleaning your patio or washing your car, we have a range of pressure washers of different sizes and prices While they are mostly quite simple to use, sometimes they can be a little confusing when it comes to the right connections. Here is a simple how-to guide to show you how to use our trusty Pressure Washer #2, which may be small, but it’s got a lot of power! You can refer to this guide for any of our other pressure washers. You will also need hosepipe in order to use the pressure washer. Use your own or borrow our hosepipe!
Step 1 – Connections
To start with, make sure you have all the correct connections. Your hosepipe will need a female connection on both ends (see the image below). One of these will attach to your water outlet. The other will attach to the pressure washer.
You will then need a male connection on your water outlet or garden tap, and another on the pressure washer (see images below). Please double check that this connection is with your pressure washer when you collect from SHARE, or ask one of our volunteers to double check.
Next, attach the pressure hose to the pressure washer. For this particular model, simply insert the hose into the front of the pressure washer. To lock it in place, push the grey lever downwards.
Step 2 – Pressure Attachment
Next, find the right attachment for your job. This Pressure Washer #2 is a simple one, so only comes with 2 attachments, but some of our others comes with a variety of attachments for cleaning and scrubbing. To attach, simply push it into the pressure washer and rotate 90 degrees to lock it in place. To un-attach, push the attachment in slightly, then turn 90 degrees and pull out.
Step 3 – Water
Next, make sure you are in reaching distance of a plug socket. Try to keep the pressure washer as far from the socket as possible to avoid water getting near the socket. Once you have connected at the 2 water points, turn your tap on fully. Make sure you do not turn on the pressure washer while it is dry.
Step 4 – Power
After turning your tap on, plug into your power outlet (or turn on the outlet switch). You should now be able to trigger the pressure washer gun! Make sure that the gun is not being triggered when changing attachments.
To finish, unplug your pressure washer from the power outlet and then turn off your water supply. Make sure to let all the water drain from both the pressure hose and the hosepipe by disconnecting everything. And there you have it!
Need to scan some old photos? Into film photography and want to save money by printing them yourself? Perhaps you have some old analogue prints from when no-one had a digital camera! I had fun playing with the Film Scanner with my developed negatives and also an old printed photo. Learn how to scan your negatives and photos by following this tutorial!
Start by seeing which frame you would like to use for your film or photos. There are 2 different film frames, one for standard film negatives and one for slides. And there are 3 photo frames in sizes 3.5″ x 5″, 4″ x 6″ and 5″ x 7″.
Scanning Negatives
I will start with my colour film negatives. Open the film frame by pulling where it says ‘OPEN‘ from the back of the frame. It should make a click when opening and closing. Next, slot the first hole on the negative onto the first small rectangular ‘hook’. Once you have hooked the first, the others should fit along the frame. You will be able to see if the images are lined up correctly, as the borders will line up with the black frames. If they are not, simply move the ‘hook’ onto the next hole.
Then, on the scanner, make sure to move both the top switch and lower switch onto ‘FILM SCANNER‘. Press the on button to the left of the screen and you will be brought to the main menu, where is says ‘Capture’.
To move through the menu, simply press the left and right arrows. To move back to the menu, press ‘MODE‘. To select a mode, press ‘ENTER‘. To scan a film negative, press the right arrow until you reach ‘Film‘. Press enter and then select ‘Negatives Film‘.
Then, take your negative in the frame and insert it into the gap on the right hand side of the scanner. Make sure the side with the white arrow is facing towards you as you insert it. And you should see your images! They will be reversed so you can see what they will look like once saved. You can move the frames left and right to see the row of images. But, if you need to take the frame out, make sure you pull it out from the LEFT hand side!
To start saving your images, press the big ‘SCAN‘ button, and a few settings will appear. To scan, press ‘ENTER‘ to confirm, or use the arrows to cancel or go back to the menu.
Accessing your Scans via USB
Once scanned, the images will only be saved onto the scanner. To access the them, use the USB cable provided to connect the scanner to a laptop or computer. This connection is in the front of the scanner, to the left. You can also put an SD card into the scanner, to the right of the USB port.
Then go to the menu by pressing ‘MODE’ and go to the ‘USB MSDC‘ setting and press ‘ENTER’. This will then connect your your laptop/computer and you will be able to access the images. You will need to stay on this setting in order to keep access via USB. As soon as you leave this setting, the USB will be disconnected. Don’t worry though, you’re images will be safe still on the scanner, so simply go back to the USB setting when you are finished scanning. Once connected, open the folder ‘ION (D:)‘ (this may apear differently on your computer) and inside you will find a folder called ‘DCIM‘ and inside that, a folder called ‘100COACH‘. This is where you’re images will be saved and you can simpy copy and paste the images into a seperate folder on your computer.
Scanning Photos
Here’s how you can save those memories as digitial copies! Like before, you will need to make sure both the top switch and lower switch are set to ‘PHOTO SCANNER‘. Decide which print you would like to scan and see which frame it will fit. My photo fit into the 4 x 6 inch frame. It insert it, lift the ‘lip’ that has a smiley face on it. The print can be slipped into this gap and you can feed it into the frame. Then insert the frame with the image facing you, into the slot at the top of the scanner. Make sure the smiley face is pointing upwards.
Make sure you are on the main menu by pressing ‘MODE‘. Here you can either go straight to the ‘Capture‘ setting, which will allow you to scan without changing any settings. However, I found that this image was scanned as a 5 x 7 inch image, so some settings need to be changed. From the menu, go to ‘Crop‘. Press ‘ENTER’ and select the correct image size. I selected ‘4 X 6‘. You can then scan from here by pressing ‘SCAN’, or scanning from ‘Capture’ while the settings are saved in this size.
Unknown to me, the image suddenly mirrored itself horizontally! I was not worried too much becuase this can easily be edited once the image is saved to your computer. If this happens to you, simply use a mirroring tool when editing your images on your computer.
Scanning in Black and White or Colour
I also discovered that you can add effects to your scans. This is also good if you are scanning black and white images or negatives. From the menu, select ‘Effects‘ and then either select ‘Multi-colour‘ or ‘Black and White‘. If you start to use the scanner and find that everything is in black and white and you want to scan incolour, you probably need to change this.
And there you have it! When in doubt, refer to the manual that is provided with the scanner. This has more info on scanning slides, as well as rotating (unfortunately not mirroring!) and deleting images in ‘Playback’ and adjusting the resolution of scans in ‘Resolution’.
Here are my final images that I produced using our wonderful film scanner!
Reserving items can make borrowing much easier, as it ensures the item you want is available for you when you are ready to collect. Great for planning a holiday in advance or booking a carpet cleaner that’s in high demand! Here’s a guide to reserving on our website:
You can make a reservation online by signing in, (sign up here if you haven’t already) browsing the catalogue, and clicking ‘Reserve’ on the item that you want. You will then be prompted to select a date on a calendar. If you want to add more items to this reservation, simply keep pressing ‘Reserve’ on the items you want and they will be put in your Reservation Cart, a little image of a cart in the top right corder. To complete the process click ‘Complete Reservation’.
You will need to reserve any consumables as extra along with your item. See the item descriptions to see what is required. For example, the bubble machine requires bubble fluid. Simply add this to your reservation and we will have it ready for you. We will only charge you once for the consumables, not as a per-day price.
There is no maximum borrowing/reserving time. The likely loan length is factored in to the per-day price. Items such as reusable nappies, for example, are more likely to be borrowed for longer periods of time and so their per-day price is lower to account for that.
There is no limit to the number of items you wish to borrow! However, if you do not turn up to collect your reservation, you will still be charged a non-collection fee, the price for the loan. This is because by reserving the item you will have made it unavailable for any other member to reserve during that time. If for any reason you envisage that you will not be able to make your collection slot please let us know in good time in order that we can rearrange or release the item back to the catalogue for others. You can either call us during open hours on 07983639611 or email us outside of open hours on [email protected]
To cancel your reservation, log in to your account online, and click on your username in the top right corner. Click on ‘Reservations’. You can then find the reservation and click ‘Cancel’. If you are unsure, drop us an email or give us a call during our opening hours.
We have also put together a guide to reserving on your mobile phone here.
