Depending on foot traffic and lifestyle, Jeff Bryant, president of highly rated Pacific Carpet & Tile Cleaning in Orange County, Calif., recommends carpet cleaning about once a year. However, Bryant says a lot of companies advertise low prices per room and then raise the fee when they get to the home. He advises asking what services are included in the price upfront.

“The bait and switch companies count on the fact that you … may need to have it done that day for a special event,” he says. Be sure you’re dealing with a scrupulous company by asking these questions:

1. Do you offer free estimates?

“We encourage people to get two or three estimates so that they are comfortable with their decision,” Bryant says.

2. What carpet cleaning method do you use?

Townshend and Whisenant both use hot water extraction, or steam cleaning, which they say is the recommended carpet cleaning method by the majority of carpet manufacturers. Bryant adds that a carpet cleaning technician’s experience can play a big role in the quality of work done. He recommends doing research on the carpet cleaning company, including checking consumer reviews.

3. Are you bonded and insured?

Improper chemical use could ruin your carpets, so make sure a carpet cleaning company has bonding and insurance. Bryant recommends requesting to see proof of insurance from the company. He also advises pointing out areas of concern with your carpet cleaner upfront.

4. How long will it take for my carpet to dry?

Bryant tells consumers to allow 24 hours for complete carpet drying, due to many variables such as fiber type and humidity. However, there are ways to shorten the drying time, such as opening windows, using fans or turning the heat up in the winter. They also provide booties to wear so you don’t have to leave the home while his company cleans the carpets, and Townshend recommends keeping pets off the clean carpet while it dries.

5. Is your work guaranteed?

Guarantees are pretty common in the carpet-cleaning business but can come with different conditions, so be sure to ask upfront. Pacific offers a 30-day guarantee if you find any missed spots or if something doesn’t look right. This guarantee covers the carpet cleaning, but not any fresh spills.

I know it’s just my imagination, but my car always seems to drive better when it’s freshly washed. That’s especially true if the interior looks clean and spiffy.

We spend a lot of time in our vehicles. Keeping a car’s interior in good shape is not just an investment in the vehicle, it’s an easy way to rev up the quality of everyday life.

Here are tips for keeping your car’s carpet and upholstery in tiptop shape, gleaned from our researchers’ interviews with highly rated auto experts:

Basic care

• Don’t allow smoking; it leaves a nasty residue and odor.
• Clean spills immediately. Dilute with cool — not hot — water. Blot excess with a clean rag or paper towel.
• Vacuum dirt and debris regularly.
• Deep-clean fabric upholstery and carpet. Mix a cup of vinegar and some dish soap in a gallon of hot water. Use a hard-bristle brush to work into fibers. Let sit for about 30 minutes before rinsing with water and blotting dry.
• Clean leather with a cloth soaked in water and a low-pH soap. Allow to thoroughly dry. Condition to prevent drying and cracking.
• Clean vinyl upholstery with a damp rag and baking soda. Rinse with water and dish soap. Avoid using oil- or mineral-based cleaners, which can make vinyl stiff.
• Shampoo upholstery and carpet every three months or more.
• Have the interior detail-cleaned every year or so.

Special situations

Stubborn stains: Some fabric or carpet stains that remain even after initial cleaning can be broken up with glass cleaner. First, test an inconspicuous area to be sure it won’t create damage. Then, saturate area with glass cleaner, let sit for five minutes and blot to clean.

Ink: After testing a hidden area for possible damage, coat stain with hair spray. Allow it to absorb for a few minutes, then wipe off. Repeat as needed.

Blood: Make a paste of cold water and powdered laundry detergent. Apply to the stain until dry, then brush or vacuum all excess detergent.

Faded carpet: For non-wool carpet, try ammonia. First, vacuum thoroughly. Then, mix half a cup of ammonia and a pint of water and mop into the carpeting. Blot any excess.

Carpet or fabric indentation: Cover the mark with a damp towel. Gently iron towel with an iron set on low. To avoid melting fibers, don’t use a hot iron and don’t leave in one spot for too long.

Hiring a pro

Many businesses provide detailed interior and exterior cleaning. Others specialize in repairing or replacing carpet and upholstery, and can fix or upgrade seats, trim, sagging or loose headliners, convertible tops, vinyl roof covers, dashboards, door panels and other vehicle elements.

Some auto detailing shops also provide upholstery services. And many carpet and upholstery businesses will also work on vehicles.

Before you hire someone, consider these tips:

Ask about experience with your type of project. Even within the automotive upholstery field, professionals may specialize in one particular type, such as convertible tops.

Review the company’s portfolio. Before and after photos can you give you a good idea of the service provider’s skills and an idea of how your final project will appear.

Ask friends or family members for recommendations. Check how the company rates on a trusted online review site.

Visit the shop. This is a good idea if you plan to leave your vehicle for more than one day. Is the shop clean and organized? Does it have adequate lighting and security?

Our company offers safe and effective upholstery cleaning too in Orange County. We can spot clean and pre-condition your upholstery to make sure that it looks clean and attractive. Our technicians have the right tools and cleaning supplies to work on all types of upholstery without causing any damages. We can get rid of stains, pet hair, and more.

Commercial Tile & Grout Cleaning – Orange County CA

Multiple Cleaning Solutions for Varied Tile Surfaces

Modern workplaces typically consist of more than upholstered furnishings and carpeted floors. In fact, tile and other hard surfaces are becoming increasingly commonplace. The Pacific tile cleaning process extracts the dirt from your tile floors, removing it from deep within the pores of the grout. In almost no time, we clean, restore and protect your tired-looking tiles, eliminating the expense that comes with total replacement.

First, we inspect your floors to determine the best treatment process. Then our trained technicians use a proprietary high-pressure rotary tool with dual rotating jets to clean your tile and grout. We combine this tool with the same truck-mounted steam/pressure cleaning that we use to deep clean your carpet. Then we apply specific cleaners that strip away any waxy buildup and extract the dirt from deep within the tile and pores of your grout.

It’s no secret that traffic can be heavy at certain times of the day and on special occasions. Spills and stains appear quickly, transforming your tile floors from beautiful to ugly. Our trained technicians use state-of-the-art equipment to create a high-pressure water and vacuum combination that suctions the dirt from deep within the tile and grout. The entire process takes about 30 to 60 minutes for an average-size room, but businesses with large tiled areas should allow for additional time. This, too, can vary based on several factors, including the size of the tile, amount of soil in the grout lines, and room configuration.

There are several factors to consider when deciding how often the Pacific tile cleaning should take place. But cleaning frequency is directly related to the amount of traffic. However, routine maintenance affects how often your tile and grout needs to be professionally cleaned.

The Pacific tile cleaning process may be gentle on your floors, but it is highly effective at getting the dirt out. Rely on Pacific tile cleaning to give your tile a makeover. Call the people who wrote the book on clean.

Tile & Grout Cleaning in Orange County CA

Ceramic tile is one of the most abused and overlooked floor and wall surfaces in the home simply because of the care involved in cleaning it. No one is anxious to relive the terrible memories of scrubbing each tile and grout line for hours with a small brush and of using those irritating, harsh, and unsafe chemicals. Most of us would rather rearrange our sock drawer.

The good news is Pacific Carpet & Tile Cleaning in Orange County can make short work of this task, using only earth-safe products that won’t harm your family, your pets, or this world we share.

Pacific Carpet & Tile Cleaning skillfully accomplishes the proper cleaning of ceramic tile. Heating purified water to over 230 degrees, we then inject an oxygenated form of hydrogen peroxide under 800+ lbs of pressure utilizing very specific tools and attachments. The cleaning results speak for themselves. Whether your tile is in your kitchen, bathroom, or some other area of your home, those stubborn stains, embedded bacteria, and germs don’t stand a chance. Your tile and grout will look very much as it did the day it was installed.

Pacific Carpet & Tile Cleaning we are dedicated to helping you keep your home healthy, clean, and always looking its best. The solution to difficult ceramic tile and grout cleaning is just a phone call away.

Trust Pacific Carpet & Tile Cleaning for all those difficult and unpopular projects. You really will be glad you did.

Maintenance:

General cleaners not specifically formulated for natural stone or tile are never recommended. These can breakdown the sealer, thereby removing its protective properties and making the stone and tile grout susceptible to stains. Worse yet, many cleaning products, including those that contain lemon, vinegar, bleach or ammonia can etch away the polish, discolor the surface, or even scratch your stone. Many cleaners have what is called a chelating agent in them. This agent breaks down and dissolves minerals in hard water. Since all stone is made up of minerals, these types of cleaners will dissolve and cause streaks over prolonged use.

Ceramic Tile & Grout

Ceramic tile and grout is man-made clay fired material. Glazed ceramic tile does not normally require any protective treatment. It is the glaze itself that gives the tile its excellent protection and resistance to the absorption of dirt. Many of the new ceramic tiles in today’s market are manufactured to look like real stone. Pacific Carpet & Tile Cleaning of Orange County offers tile and grout cleaning and sealing. For best results, have your ceramic tile and grout sealed and use a neutral stone cleaner.

Quarry Tile & Pavers Brick

Quarry tiles are an unglazed ceramic material. They are particularly well suited for exterior paving due to their low absorption and resistance to freezing. This type of floor is one of the most durable on the market today. Pacific Carpet & Tile Carpet Cleaning offers cleaning or stripping along with sealing or a wax finish. For best results, have your quarry tile & pavers brick sealed and use a neutral stone cleaner.

More and more cleaners are adding tile and grout cleaning and sealing to the list of services they provide.With more cleaners cleaning more tile and grout, they are encountering unexpected problems.One such concern is a white haze on the grout or, sometimes, on the tile after the floors dry.There are two common situations that can produce a white haze.The first is efflorescence. Efflorescence appears as a white powder, normally on the grout.The second is sealer residue. This appears as a milky white haze where sealer has pooled and dried on the surface rather than penetrating into the grout or stone. This is more easily seen on dark colored grout.Correcting efflorescenceSome efflorescence will wear away from traffic.This solution may be acceptable if the problem is mild, or if your clients are not picky.In many situations, the salts can be removed by simply brushing with a stiff brush.When brushing is not an effective solution, efflorescence can be dissolved and removed with acid products.You may be able to use concentrated solutions of the acid-side tile and grout cleaners already in your cleaning arsenal.Another option is muriatic acid diluted about 10 ounces per gallon of water. There are also a variety of products designed especially to deal with efflorescence.Caution! Anytime you are dealing with acids be sure to use appropriate personal protective equipment. This includes splash goggles and acid-resistant gloves.Keep in mind that water is a necessary ingredient to produce efflorescence. Try to use a minimum amount of water when removing it.Your acid can be applied with a damp sponge or slightly damp mop.Preventing efflorescenceEfflorescence can occur anytime there is moisture in masonry material — grout, concrete or ceramic flooring. It may happen no matter what the cleaning technician does or does not do.However, there are some steps that can be taken to reduce the possibility of efflorescence forming.

1. Get the floors dried quickly following cleaning. This step may include the use of airmovers.
2. Seal grout lines or porous tiles. Apply the seal after the floors are dry. This helps to keep out the moisture from daily maintenance cleaning. A seal that breathes allows any moisture remaining below the surface to get out.
3. Because efflorescence is more easily seen if the grout is a dark color, reduce the amount of water in the grout by choosing a sealer with a solvent carrier.

Sealer haze: The causesStone and grout sealer is intended to penetrate the porous surfaces and fill the capillaries. This prevents other liquids, either water or oils, from getting into those same pores and staining the surface.If the seal stays on the surface, it can dry to a milky haze. If much sealer remains on the surface, the residue can be sticky.If stone and grout sealer has dried on the surface, something prevented it from penetrating.Unlike carpet protector which wears off with foot traffic, grout sealer below the surface does not wear off with traffic. Previous applications of sealer may prevent a new coat of sealer from penetrating.Some grout is more porous than other grout. The amount of sealer that was just right for one job may be too much for another site.An increasing number of grouts contain polymers, latex or epoxy. These are non-porous materials.These types of grout, in effect, have a built-in sealer. They may not accept any sealer or will only accept solvent based sealers.Attempts to seal with water-based sealers will leave a film.When more than one coat of sealer is applied, the first coat can keep subsequent coats from penetrating.Moisture that remains in the grout or stone can act as a barrier to solvent-based sealers. Consequently, solvent-based sealers should only be applied to floors that are thoroughly dry.An ounce of preventionAll of the previous scenarios can usually be prevented by first determining how much seal is appropriate for each job.A simple test in a small area should answer that question. You only need to test a small area.Select your test area somewhere that has received average traffic. If the floor has been sealed previously, a low traffic area would need less sealer.Apply a few drops of water to the grout lines. On a natural stone floor, you should also test the stone in the same way.Observe how quickly the water takes to penetrate.If the water penetrates quickly, it means there is little or no sealer present. If the water does not soak in, then the floor does not need additional sealer.The water test will tell you whether or not the floor should be sealed. If it does need to be sealed, it will also give a rough idea of how much sealer is required.Now apply seal to an area. When it has dried, you can determine if there is enough sealer or perhaps too much.It will always be easier to add another thin coat than to remove excess sealer. Do not overuse tile and grout sealer.Procedure to correct over-application

• Step 1Thin, dry sealer haze on ceramic or porcelain tile or smooth stone surfaces can be polished off using a white polishing pad under a standard rotary machine. For more extreme cases, you may need to use a red buffing pad.An excess of dried sealer in the grout lines can be removed with a grout brush.
• Step 2To remove built-up or sticky residue from grout lines, wet the surface with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol.
• Step 3Agitate briefly with a grout brush.
• Step 4Vigorously wipe the grout lines with a white, absorbent, cotton towel. You will be removing some of the sealer along with any remaining alcohol.
• Step 5Continue until all affected areas have been treated. Repeat if needed.
• Step 6Depending on the sealer used and the time it has been down, the alcohol may not dissolve it. Seal can be emulsified and returned to a liquid state by applying a small amount of the sealer that was used.
• Step 7As soon as the sealer on the floor begins to liquefy, wipe it off with a clean, absorbent cotton towel.

Becoming popularTile and grout cleaning is a naturally-added service.More and more homes have tile floors. You are already in those homes cleaning the carpet.Begin with man-made tiles such as ceramic and porcelain before trying to work on natural stones.A little practice on your own floors or those of friends will help void problems like those discussed above.Many distributors also have floors where you can compare products and get some hands-on time to try various equipment and methods.

Tile & Grout Cleaning

We offer professional tile & grouting services in Orange County. Our company can make sure that your tile and grout stays clean. We can also handle marble/travertine floor polishing. If you have porcelain or ceramic tile, we can make sure that is is cleaned properly too. Contact us  in Orange County CA if you are interested in Limestone cleaning and polishing, vinyl floor stripping and waxing, or wood floor refinishing.