CARPET CLEANING:  PROTECT YOUR HEALTH, AND YOUR FLOORING INVESTMENT

This article was written by Chris Weiler, owner of Longshore Services LLC.  Longshore Services is a Connecticut-based specialty cleaning service.  The company has been serving Connecticut since 1982.  Longshore specializes in cleaning carpets and oriental rugs, tile and grout, stone surfaces, upholstery, and window treatments.  For more information, please visit www.longshoreservices.com.

Customers ask me all the time, “Do these carpets really need cleaning?  I had them done three years ago and there are only a few spots.”

The primary reason to clean your carpets is for health.  Carpet is a very effective air filter.  Allergens and air pollutants like dust mites, pollen, pet dander, and smog continually invade your indoor environment, regardless of your floor surface (carpet, hardwood, tile…).    

Carpet (unlike hard surfaces) traps these particles and keeps them from becoming airborne.  When you step on a hard surface like tile or hardwood, everything that has settled on that floor (dust, pollen, etc.) becomes airborne again with each step.  The airborne particles are inhaled and contribute to poor air quality.  This leads to asthma, allergies, and other airborne illnesses.  By trapping these particles and keeping them from becoming airborne, carpet and rugs actually contribute to improved air quality.  However, like all flooring surfaces, carpet must be properly maintained and professionally cleaned on a regular basis in order to maintain a healthy living environment.    

Another excellent reason to establish a regular carpet cleaning schedule is because it will save you money.  Proper maintenance will extend the life of your carpets and will save you money in the long run.  It’s like getting regular oil changes in your car.  Even though the oil change costs money, and feels like an inconvenient waste of time, you do it so that your car will run longer.

The same thing is true for carpet maintenance.   Here’s why:  Every day, soil and air pollutants either get tracked into, or settle into your carpet.  These might include sand, dirt, rock salt, fertilizer, dust mites, pet tracks, and who knows what other solid matter. It all eventually settles to the bottom of the carpet.  Regular vacuuming will remove most (about 70%) of these soils, but even the best vacuums cannot extract everything.   Every time someone steps on the carpet, the fibers are being ground against these solid particles.  This grinding will break down the fibers.  Most carpet fibers are polypropylene or nylon, and even the finest carpet is no match for sand, salt, pebbles, etc.  The fibers become weaker, and become matted down.  Your carpet will begin to show wear patterns in heavily trafficked areas.  Regular, professional cleaning with the proper equipment and proper chemicals will flush this matter out of your carpet and extend its life.  Again, it’s like an oil change for your car.       

Eventually all carpets, like cars, wear out.  When a carpet actually wears out you begin to see tears, buckling, loose fibers, and permanent stains.  However, most carpets just “ugly out” before they actually wear out.  It is usually the matting and pile crush near the entry area and in the high traffic hallways that force a property owner to replace the carpet.    Carpets are usually replaced because pile crush and wear patterns have “uglied” them out, not because they have worn out.

Proper maintenance and regular cleaning will extend the life of your carpets.  How often should your carpets be cleaned?  Here are some simple guidelines for carpet maintenance: 

Vacuum regularly.  Vacuuming with the proper equipment will remove up to 70% of the dry soils in your carpet.

Place walk off mats near the main entry areas.   This will greatly reduce the soils tracked onto the carpet, and minimize the related wear patterns. 

Most importantly, have your carpets cleaned on a regular basis by an IICRC Certified Professional truck-mounted steam cleaning service.  The largest carpet manufacturers in the world (Shaw, and Mohawk) recommend the truck mounted steam cleaning method every 12 to 18 months.  Certain high traffic areas may require cleaning even more frequently.  Do your homework, and then choose an IICRC Certified Firm with truck mounted cleaning capabilities.     

For more information, contact:

Longshore Services LLC

http://www.longshoreservices.com