What Is Carpet Steam Cleaning?

Keeping the carpet cleaned in your home is important for the indoor air quality in your house – and therefore the health of your family – and for the look and feel of your home. Here are some common mistakes so that your carpet remains as clean as possible.

Letting spills set.

This is a way to kill carpeting, particularly when the stain is from a pet. While it’s possible to clean and deodorize an old stain, the odds of completely removing a fresh stain are immeasurably higher, according to carpet experts. What happens is that the spill works deeper and deeper into the carpet if it is not immediately cleaned. Depending on what has spilled, the stain could begin to eat away at carpet fibers. Finally, if the carpet padding becomes soaked in any one area, that could require an entire section of the carpeting to be replaced.

Neglecting to test any cleaning products first.

Do you have a sample of your carpeting or some extra pieces that weren’t needed when the carpeting was installed? These are perfect to use in order to test any type of neutralizing agent or deodorizing powder. The last thing you want to see is a stain develop from one of the cleaning products you are using to remove a stain or odor. Instead, use an extra piece of carpeting, and if there is none available, pick out a spot in the rear of a closet to test.

Cleaning spills improperly.

Don’t use a wet vac or rent a professional steam cleaning machine to pull a stain from the carpeting. The heat will actually cause the stain to set into the carpet fibers. Another common mistake with spills is to rub too vigorously with a brush, rag or other item. Instead, soak up the spill with paper towels and newspaper by standing on top of the pile of towels. Use a 50 percent mixture of white vinegar and water and brush very mildly to remove the stain. Vigorous brushing untwists the carpet fibers, which allows them to sit down and give that trampled, dull appearance.

Never hiring a professional cleaner.

There’s a reason that all carpet manufacturers recommended at least one deep, professional carpet cleaning a year: this is best way to remove the dirt and soils that have been pushed down deep into the carpeting by your vacuum cleaner. The high pressure professional steam machines used by professionals run water and a safe cleaning product all the way to the padding of your carpeting. This cleans deeply, but doesn’t allow your carpeting to get too wet and risk mold or mildew. These professional machines are great for those stains that you have caught and cleaned during the year. The professional cleaning also works well to re-energize high traffic areas and help to restore that like-new shine and luster to your carpeting.

Call today for a Free estimate 949-545-5205!

Call on Pacific Carpet & Tile Cleaning in Orange County CA  (949) 545-5205   www.pacificcarpetcleaning.net

Paying A Professional Carpet Cleaning Service vs Doing It Yourself With A Rented Carpet Cleaner

I’m here to tell you that sometimes doing it yourself does not pay off.

My family and I spent the past weekend cleaning our carpets.  My husband rented a carpet cleaning machine from Home Depot for 2 days.

Along with the cost of the cleaning solution ($108.27 with tax) and the carpet cleaning machine itself, my husband, my son and I spent the better part of 2 days moving furniture, setting up fans, and using this behemoth of a machine to get our carpets clean.

As a result of our 2-day carpet cleaning experience, I have a sore ankle and back.  My husband has a sore back, too.  And my son is avoiding us, for fear that we will ask him to do something else.

I have to admit that it’s wonderful to have our carpets so clean, but I’m realizing that I could have had a  professional carpet cleaning service do the work for just a little more money, and I could’ve been more productive elsewhere.

For instance, while my husband did this work in his spare time, I took time off from my work for this DIY project.  I’m realizing now that I could have just as easily worked for those 2 days and used that money to pay a professional carpet cleaner — and still had a bit left over.

And we all would have probably been much happier in the end.

 

When To Let The Professionals Clean Your CarpetsIn an effort to make the most of our money, many of us tackle hard jobs ourselves instead of calling in the professionals.

But if you sit down and do the math before going out and renting expensive tools and instruction booklets, you may find that someone can do it for you in less time, with greater expertise, and often for a lower price — especially if you take into account the cost of mistakes that are likely to be made by amateurs.

For example, my husband started our carpet cleaning project by flooding the kitchen with water when he walked away while filling the reservoir bucket on the carpet cleaning machine.  He not only left the water running to answer the door, but went across the street and helped a neighbor with a gardening project.

This is why our project took 2 days.  The first day was spent cleaning up the mess.

Call today for a Free estimate 949-545-5205!

Call on Pacific Carpet & Tile Cleaning in Orange County CA  (949) 545-5205   www.pacificcarpetcleaning.net

Carpet cleaning in Orange County is an unavoidable aspect of owning a home or apartment with carpeted floors. More than the basic maintenance of vacuuming, more commercial-grade carpet cleaning methods are necessary to ensure a long, healthy life for your carpet. As many homeowners already know, vacuuming does little to remove the grime and microscopic dirt that clings below the surface of your carpet. Even the most pampered carpets, including homeowners who demand that guests remove their shoes, should have their carpets cleaned thoroughly at least once a year. Other carpets may see such heavy use that a homeowner would do well to buy their own carpet cleaning equipment.

DIY Orange County Carpet CleaningMany homeowners undertake their own carpet cleaning to varied success. While carpet cleaning may seem fool-proof, many types of carpet cleaning must be expertly executed to avoid common problems that can arise from the cleaning process itself. You may have invested in a steam cleaner for your carpet, telling yourself that a few hours of your time is worth saving the cost of hiring a professional. The problem is that many steam cleaners marketed for use by homeowners have inadequate controls for steam application. A delicate balance must be achieved to get your carpet clean without saturating the fibers and padding with moisture. Given the high moisture content of the air inside and outside many New York homes, your carpet may take too long to dry. This creates mold and mildew problems, as well as generally foul odors that are notoriously difficult to eliminate. Saturating your carpet padding with poorly applied steam cleaning can also reduce the carpet’s viability and life expectancy.

What about the dry powder cleaning solutions? These cleaners may work okay, but you’ll need to be sure your vacuum is relatively powerful and in good working condition. If your vacuum is unable to pick up the powder and the dirt the clings to it, once again you can unwittingly create headaches for you and your carpet down the road. Plus, you’ll probably still want to occasionally hire a professional to come in and clean your carpets.

Professional Orange County Carpet Cleaning ServicesThe same warnings of DIY Orange County carpet cleaning can be translated into the benefits of hiring professional cleaning services. The equipment and expertise high quality carpet cleaners will bring to your home simply can’t be reasonably matched by the typical homeowners. Some carpet fibers, for example, can take more moisture than others. Commercial-grade steam cleaners in general will get your carpet cleaner and with less residual harm to the carpet.

These cleaners will also be able to take care of the side work such as moving furniture, although some companies offer discounts if you take care of this yourself. And you may just want to enjoy the weekend, rather than spend it laboriously learning about and completing your own carpet cleaning. The average time for New York carpet cleaning is under four hours, much less than you could achieve on your own, no matter how simple the project appears in your mind.

Call today for a Free estimate 949-545-5205!

Call on Pacific Carpet & Tile Cleaning in Orange County CA  (949) 545-5205   www.pacificcarpetcleaning.net

While your carpeting may not require the regular cleaning that other types of flooring demand, your carpet should be professionally cleaned once every year to 18 months, even if you vacuum regularly. Professional carpet cleaning extends the life of the carpeting and contributes to better air quality, reducing allergies and illness.

Do-It-Yourself Carpet-Cleaning Damage

Ideally, your carpet should be professionally cleaned. However, to save money, many people alternate between the do-it-yourself cleaning and professional cleaning. While the do-it-yourself approaches are far less expensive, they are almost never as effective as professional cleaning and involve a considerable amount of time and hard work. Depending on the method used, it is also easy for the novice to damage the carpet.

Beware of the three most common ways do-it-yourselfers (and inexperienced pros) damage carpets:

• Over-shampooing
• Over-wetting
• Failing to protect the wet carpet from furniture

Over-shampooing occurs when either too much shampoo is used or the carpet is not adequately rinsed. Both are practically inevitable with some wet do-it-yourself approaches. This is the biggest reason why even hard-core do-it-yourselfers should occasionally use a professional. If they don’t, the build-up of soapy residue can be impossible to clean out, leaving a carpet that is a virtual dirt magnet.

Over-wetting occurs when too much water soaks into the bottom of the carpet. Some backing materials cause the carpet to discolor if they get too wet. Some carpets will shrink, literally tearing themselves up from the floor. If the backing and pad get wet, it is very difficult to dry them, and you run the additional risk of mold and mildew problems.

The final carpet-cleaning hazard is stains caused by furniture coming into contact with wet carpeting. Many kinds of wood furniture will release some of the dyes in their stain if left in contact with a wet surface. Many pieces of furniture have feet that are at least partially metal. The metal can rust, leaving a stain in the carpet.

Do-it-yourselfers are more likely to encounter these problems because they often don’t remove all the furniture from the room when cleaning, and they often don’t have ready access to the foam blocks and foil-backed cardboard squares that the pros use to keep the furniture off the carpet until it is dry.

Professional Carpet-Cleaning Methods

One carpet-cleaning method, dry extraction, isn’t technically a “dry” procedure; it’s more a “moisture-controlled” process. That is, it applies a controlled amount of moisture to clean the carpet and still leave it dry. This process is similar to the do-it-yourself “dry” method, but the equipment is larger and much more thorough.

Though it uses the same cleaning chemicals, the dry process alters the amount of chemicals used and how they’re applied. A machine with two counter-revolving brushes moves the cleaning agents through the carpet’s material. The cleaner supplies enough liquid to dissolve the dirt, then re-absorbs the soil and liquid, which leaves the carpet dry for vacuuming and immediate use.

Some carpet-cleaning professionals spray a carbonated cleaning solution onto the carpet. The carbonation allows the cleaning agents to get to the carpet fibers with minimal wetting. The solution doesn’t contain the oil or detergents that typically leave a dirt-attracting residue. Dissolved dirt is removed with a machine that rubs soft cotton pads over the carpet.

Click here if you need the professionals to tackle your carpet cleaning.

When compared to wet systems, some suggest this method may not get as much of the deeper dirt out, but in fact the dry method does get into the fibers and the base of the carpet to clean. It does this without the risks of residue or over-wetting. Many businesses use this system because the carpet is usually dry and ready for traffic within an hour.

Otherwise, professionals use methods similar to do-it-yourself approaches, with two important differences. First, pros do this all day every day, and that experience helps them realize the maximum cleaning potential of each system and avoid the hazards of each.

Second, pros usually use much more powerful and sophisticated equipment and cleaning agents. Because they know what they’re doing, they can use all that extra power without succumbing to the risks that power entails.

For example, on heavily soiled carpet a professional might first use a power shampoo system and then follow it with hot water extraction. There is equipment that does both in one pass. Often, the vacuums used in hot water extraction systems are extremely powerful and are mounted on a truck that is parked in front of the home.

Professionals have two other advantages as well. First, they’re accustomed to moving the heavy furniture. Second, they usually know a lot more about how to handle specific challenges like heavily soiled areas and stains.

Carpet Stains and Carpet-Cleaning Extras

Carpet stain removal: Some firms include stain removal in the base price. Other firms charge extra for highly soiled areas or for individual stains. Ask about this up front.

Carpet pretreatment: Most wet-cleaning results can be improved by spraying a cleaning agent on the carpet a few minutes before cleaning. The chemicals help dissolve grease and oils so that the final cleaning extracts even more dirt. For some firms this is standard procedure; others may charge extra by the square foot or room. Be sure to ask.

Soil retardants: Most carpets are now factory-treated with a coating that helps the carpet fibers shed water and spills. The key is cleaning up the spills quickly. Once a carpet is five years old or so, you may need to have it retreated, at least in the high traffic areas.

The easiest way to check whether carpet retreatment is necessary is to place a few drops of water on the carpet in the questionable areas and see whether the drops bead up or are absorbed quickly into the fibers. If they are absorbed, it’s time to retreat the carpet.

The best retreatment chemicals (and usually the only ones recommended by the manufacturers) are fluorochemical based. Scotchgard or any treatment containing Dupont’s Teflon are made from this material. The treatment should take place after cleaning and, for best results, should be gently brushed into the carpet while it is still damp.

Deodorizing and pet odor treatments: Most of the possible carpet odor reduction that can be accomplished will be accomplished by the cleaning itself. Many odors come from mold, mildew, or urine that has penetrated the carpet backing and pad. There is no practical way to get at the source without damaging the carpet through over-wetting.

Applying an anti-microbial agent (see below) will help slow the return of mildew and mold. Other than that, “deodorizing” is really nothing more than masking the odor with some stronger and more pleasing scent. Carpet perfumes have only a temporary effect and may be irritating to some people.

Anti-microbial treatment: The cleaning itself will kill most mold, mildew, yeast and other microbes, but it is practically impossible to kill all of them. The anti-microbial treatment creates a hostile environment for these microbes to reproduce and spread and will help control odor problems, extend the carpet’s useful life, and provide considerable relief to allergy sufferers.

Anti-static treatment: Static electricity often becomes annoying in the winter, when heating systems dry out the air in our homes. Carpet manufacturers have responded by developing new finishes, fibers, and backings that prevent the build-up of static electricity. If you are having a problem with your carpet, the easiest, best, and healthiest remedy is to increase humidity with a humidifier.

Once the relative humidity gets above about 40 percent, the static problem disappears. There are several treatments and finishes that can be applied that reduce static electricity, but nearly all act as soil magnets, greatly speeding up the rate at which your carpet gets soiled.

Call today for a Free estimate 949-545-5205!

Call on Pacific Carpet & Tile Cleaning in Orange County CA  (949) 545-5205   www.pacificcarpetcleaning.net