carpet cleaning articles

You may be wondering why it is necessary to have your carpets cleaned regularly. Your carpets act as a filter for the air and since it is generally the largest horizontal surface of your home it is necessary to clean this "filter" regularly. Clean carpet is not only appealing to the eye but is also much healthier for your family and pets. Carpet steam cleaning is not only recommended by the IICRC, but also by most carpet manufacturers. The IICRC and major carpet manufacturers recommend professional steam cleaning every 6 to 12 months. This not only ensures that the environment that you live in is healthy, but also protects your carpet investment. Carpet that is not cleaned will last an average of two years at medium traffic levels. The most important reason to clean carpet is for the health of your family and to reduce wear of the carpet fibers. For More Info Carpet cleaning Denver

Carpet Cleaning Routine Cleaning Schedule

Below is the recommended schedule for having carpets cleaned for a variety of different variables. Use this table to establish a routine cleaning schedule. This table is used only as a guide. We can establish a cleaning frequency guide based on your specific needs and budget.

Soil Rating Carpet Owner Professional Carpet Cleaner

Vacuuming Spot Cleaning Heavy-Use Area Cleaning Restoration Cleaning

Light Soil 1x per week Daily or as soon as spots are noticed Traffic areas every 12 to 18 months Every 2 years or per manufacturer warranty

Normal Soil (families with children, elderly) 1 to 2 x per week Daily or as soon as spots are noticed Traffic areas every 6 to 12 months Annually

Heavy Soil (families with pets, smoking) 2 to 4 x per week Daily or as soon as spots are notice Traffic areas every 3 to 6 months Semi-annually

(2x annually)

Extreme Conditions

(large families, multiple pets) Daily Daily or as soon as spots are noticed Traffic Lanes every 2 to 3 months Quarterly

(4x annually)

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CONTAMINANTS IN CARPET

Here are a few of the common contaminants in carpets:

Dust mites: Microscopic insects that live in household dust and are common allergens. Dust mites live on dead skin cells and can be found in large numbers in mattresses, pillows, carpets, curtains and furniture.

Mold: Parasitic, microscopic fungi that float in the air like pollen. Mold is a common trigger for allergies which can be in carpets that have been wet for a long period of time.

Allergen: A substance that your body perceives as dangerous and causes an allergic reaction. These are numerous and many people are affected by these every year. Pollen, dander, ragweed, and others are considered to be allergens.

OUR PROCESS

uses top of the line steam cleaning extractors. We incorporate a five step process.

Step 1: Inspection

The carpet is thoroughly examined for stains and problem areas. Identifying problem areas first allows us to build a step by step system tailored for optimum soil removal.

Please review our Common Problems with carpet section.

Step 2: Vacuuming

A carpet must be vacuumed thoroughly before any moisture is introduced to the fibers. This is an extremely important step in the process and is mandatory. If the carpets are steam cleaned without proper removal of loose soil it will cause these contaminants to be driven deep in to the carpet fiber. We ask you to vacuum before we arrive. We will also vacuum before the cleaning process is began. The IICRC states that 78% of soil in carpet is dry soil. Performing a dual vacuum process will remove nearly all of the dry soils from your carpet.

Step 3: Spot Treatment

It is necessary to pretreat any stains that need special attention. This allows the specialized chemicals to do their job before steam cleaning is performed. You can take a look here for DIY Spot Removal. We utilize specialized spotting chemicals and are able to remove nearly 90% of spots that are commonly found on carpet. It is important to differentiate between a spot and a stain. A spot is a soiled area of the carpet that can be removed 100% of the time. A stain is a soiled area of the carpet in which the fibers were affected by a dye. These spots require advanced techniques to remove and are best handled by professionals.

Step 4: Pre-Spray

Prespray is applied to the entire carpet surface. It is then allowed to dwell for five to ten minutes before cleaning. This allows the detergent solution to penetrate in to the carpet fibers, dissolve the contaminants, and raise them to the surface for extraction. We use only the finest non toxic chemicals.

Step 5: Cleaning

The water is allowed to heat up to 200 degrees and is then injected in to the carpet fibers at high pressure. Agitation with the wand is applied to break up any contaminants that were not dissolved by the pre-spray. With the next stroke of the wand the moisture is extracted by a high pressure vacuum, removing nearly 90% of moisture. The carpet is instantly cleaned and results are usually dramatic. We use a neutralizing rinse to bring your carpet to a pH of around 7. If the carpet is not neutralized (pH 7-8) it will attract soils. Most carpet cleaning companies do not use a rinse. This is unfortunate as it will cause the carpet to resoil much sooner.

Step 6: Carpet Protectant (Optional)

We use only MAXIM Advanced Carpet Protector. The Protector essentially forms a shield over your carpets, preventing resoiling and allowing for easy cleanup of spills. It is highly recommended by ACC, the IICRC, and all major carpet manufacturers that a cleaner apply carpet protector after any cleaning.

We use only the finest MAXIM carpet protectors. We have performed side by side comparison tests with Teflon and Scotchgard. The reason MAXIM is superior is that it contains acid dye resistors. These resistors are applied to most new quality carpet that is manufactured, but they wear off over time. An example would be StainMaster carpet. An acid dye is anything that is acidic, such as Mustard, urine, and soda. These are extremely common spills and Scotchgard and Teflon simply do not protect against these. For superior protection of carpet always ask for MAXIM Protector.

OUR GUARANTEE AND WARRANTY

We personally guarantee all of the work that we perform. If you are not satisfied we will do everything in our power to make it right. If you are still not satisfied we will offer you a complete refund, no questions asked. Your satisfaction is our number one priority.

MAXIM LIMITED ONE YEAR WARRANTY

When you purchase the Platinum Package with the one year warranty option you will receive a bottle of premium spot remover. You will also receive FREE refills of our premium spot remover for one full year.

From the time we apply MAXIM to your carpet, your one year warranty begins. This warranty covers any spills that you are not able to remove with our spot remover. We will come to your home and remove the spot for FREE OF CHARGE. If we are still not able to remove the spot we will refund the price you paid for the MAXIM Protector.

WARRANTY EXCLUSIONS

We can not offer MAXIM warranties on commercial locations, rentals, or where significant animal issues are involved. There are issues that can void your warrant. Failure to vacuum or not using our spot remover will void your warranty. We have never had to void any persons warranty and hopefully we never will.

COMMON PROBLEMS WITH CARPET

There are many problems that carpet can experience. Below are a few that are the most common.

Soil Filtration - Black lines around baseboards and under doorways.

If you have light colored carpet, you may have experienced dark around baseboards, under doors, and especially near the HVAC return. This soiling comes from air passing through the carpet as it is attempting to go through the edge of the carpet pile, microscopic particles of soil are deposited there (hence the term filtration soiling). This occurs over a significant period of time and is not noticed until a build up has occurred.

This type of soiling is difficult to remove because the soil particles are so fine that they penetrate deep into the carpet pile, sometimes into the backing of the carpet. Can it be removed? Sometimes. With special products, time and effort, reasonable results can be achieved, although not in all cases. It is often found in home with gas heating systems. These type of systems, when not maintained, will deposit soot in to the air and cause soil filtration.

To help prevent filtration soiling in the future, vacuum the edges of the carpeting on a regular basis, then wipe with a damp, white terry towel. Be careful around the tack strip.

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