April 3, 2013

Carpet Spot Cleaning: Why You Should Use A Professional

The first pic below demonstrates the carpet damage that can be caused when an untrained individual tries to clean up carpet stains.

Problem – Wrong cleaning agents used, PH levels boosted using wrong products causing discoloration, burning of carpet fibres and/or colour loss.

Solution – Bring in a professional, like ServiceMaster Clean Residential’s trained technicians. We will identify the spot, determine the PH level, and use the appropriate cleaning agents and methods to get the stain out without causing damage.

pic1
We found this at a strata; damage that cannot be
repaired, the carpet must be replaced. This could have been avoided if a
professional cleaner was brought in.

The next two pics are the before and after cleaning of a spot on site by one of our carpet cleaning technicians.

pic3

pic4

Spot removed – no damage done to carpet fibers. The work of a professional.

Quick points to remember:

-There is no one product that can clean all spots and stains from carpet.

-Some cleaning agents contain chemicals that if used incorrectly can boost the PH level of the spill, causing damage to the carpet fibres, strip the color, or dissolve the materials.

-When a spill happens, blot to absorb as much as possible and seek guidance before attempting a do-it-yourself fix, or call in a professional to avoid costly damage.

June 7, 2010

Carpet Abrasion – Real Soil vs. Apparent Soil

Abrasion of carpet fibers negatively affects the carpets appearance – it causes permanent damage and gives the illusion of  “Apparent Soil”.

Abrasion: “Dull, dark areas caused by scratching of the fibers from particulate soils.  This will appear to improve when the carpet is wet.”

There are two types of soil according to the ESTEAM Cleaning Schools Carpet Cleaner’s Handbook – Real Soil, and Apparent Soil.

Real Soil is defined as “…any matter that is foreign to the construction of the carpet and which can actually be removed from the carpet.  Remember, carpet acts as a filter in the indoor environment by trapping soil, such as animal and human dander, gases, and soils such as sand, grit, food, hair, and ashes, etc.”

Apparent Soil:  “Appears as soil but cannot be removed because it is not really soil.”

During the snowy winter conditions in Vancouver, sand and salt are used outside building entrances to prevent slipping.  This soil is tracked into the building and trapped in the carpet fibers.   This ‘Real Soil’ should be removed as much as possible with frequent vacuuming.  A beater bar vacuum cleaner will give best performance.   This will reduce abrasion of the carpet fibers.

The longer the soil is allowed to sit on the carpet, the more it will become distributed throughout the building due to the mechanics of soiling.

“Most soil that accumulates in carpets is from the soles of shoes, specifically in the main entrance of the home.  Soil is transferred to the carpet from the shoe sole until the carpet is as soiled as the sole of the shoe.  At this point, some soil will transfer to the shoe sole and be re-deposited on a less soiled area of the carpet.  This is how traffic areas develop and spread… It is estimated that 74% to 79% of the soil in most carpet is dry particulate matter.”

That percentage will be much higher after the type of winter we’ve just had – thanks to the sand and grit from outside the building.

The Solution: Deep extraction carpet cleaning.  Get the abrasive particles out of the carpet, especially before they become redistributed, spreading the problem.  Waiting to clean carpets that are heavily soiled will result in larger areas of the carpet becoming permanently damaged with wear patterns.  Scratched and cut carpet fibers cannot be repaired through cleaning.

How else can this be reduced?  Use of entrance mats, removal of shoes, and frequent vacuuming.