Carpet Cleaning

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It's all about the questions..

Pro's Choice manufactures an entire line of carpet cleaning supplies and products, many of which are designed for specific situations. So in order to find the right pre-spray and extractionemulsifier we need to find out what kind of carpet cleaning you'll be doing with it. The first real question is, what kind of work are you doing? We've found that cleaning carpet tends to break up into several different categories which include:

1. Owner Occupied (These are homes not rental units like duplexes)
2. Commercial (Offices and Restaurants and Hotels)
3. Apartments (This category includes apartments, rental homes, and duplexes)
4. Restaurants (Not really it's own category but has specific situations that need to be addressed.
5. Special Needs (Some specific situations that require special attention to clean effectively).

Next, let's talk about the different categories and their needs.

Owner Occupied

When cleaning the carpet owner-occupied homes, the pH of the products you use is very important. You need something that is going to be aggressive but not strip the stain resistance out or void the warranty on the carpet. Your going to encounter a combination of foot traffic, food spills and a multiple levels of soiling. It's also where the application of carpet protectors like Stain Guardian Ultra and Protection Plus are the most effective. Because remember, protectors don't just protect the carpet, they protect a homeowners investment.

For a pre-spray Ultra TLC give unparalleled performance. It rivals high pH pre-sprays in power but has an 8.8 pH. In areas with heavy grease and oil from garages and driveways the Ultra TLC can be boosted with Energy.

To extract I'd recommend Last Step Textile Rinse for light to moderate soil and for heavy soil I'd recommend Pro Powder for those who prefer powders and Liqua Pro for those who prefer liquids.

Commercial

Cleaning office buildings that have commercial glue down carpets (no pad underneath). These places have lots of foot traffic and spills like coffee and soda, especially around the break room. This makes time a big issue because the longer your in there the less you make. Some common cleaning problems you will encounter are:

Wicking, this is where the carpet looks great when you leave but sub surface stains come up as the carpet dries.

Rapid re-soil from spills, this is where the carpet cleans up great but stains reappear over a period of weeks due to sticky residues (like from soda spills) attracting soils.

Rapid re-soil from detergent residue. Again, the carpet will clean up great but in this case the traffic areas re-soil within a few weeks due to detergent residues attracting soils.

In many cases, to save time and money, low moisture cleaning (especially bonnet cleaning with the wrong products) is used to maintain the carpets without having to hot water extraction (HWE) clean every time. This can lead to a buildup of detergents in the carpet that can cause rapid re-soil. The answer to this is to use a product that not only doesn't leave a sticky residue but also actively removes existing residues. This brings us to Soil Crystallization Cleaning.

Apartments

Cleaning apartments many times will mean dealing with a lot of heavy soil as well as grease and oil and occasionally things I'd rather not look at too closely. You need something heavy duty that will do a good job of cleaning and get them in and out of the apartment unit fast.

Extreme Clean: Hi pH powder pre-spray ideal for cutting grease and oil.
Firewater: Hi pH liquid pre-spray ideal for breaking up ground in dirt so it can be extracted away.
Energy: Booster for breaking up grease and oil.
Pro Powder: Powdered emulsifier with oxygen boosters for cleaner brighter carpets.
Liqua Pro: Liquid emulsifier with a variable dilution ratio for cleaning even the most heavily soiled carpets.

Restaurants

Cleaning restaurant carpet means dealing with a combination of issues. There's grease from the kitchen (protein) and heavy oils from the parking lot (petroleum). There will also be many drink spills that may re-soil rapidly because of the sugars in the drinks attracting soil.

For a pre-spray I highly recommend Pro-Zyme for those of you who like powders and Dirt Chaser or Dirt Chaser X2 for those of you who like liquids. As a side note any of these enzyme based pre-sprays can be used as protein spotters. If grease and oil from the parking lot (petroleum based) is an issue around the entrance any of these products can be boosted with Energy.

If the area is heavily soiled Extreme Clean will be the most effective for cleaning and establishing a positive environment for continued carpet maintenance. Once an effective maintenance program has been put into place SCR (Soil Crystallizing Rinse) can be used to effectively clean and maintain the area.

Drink spills from soda, beer, and mixed drinks will contain sugars that while they appear easy to clean initially may "appear" to come back. This rapid re-soil situation can be corrected with ARA (Anti Re-Soiling Agent). ARA contains polymers that will encapsulate and crystallize any sticky residues that can attract soil.

Special Needs

You will also run into a couple of specific "special needs" situations. Situations where typical cleaning procedures should not or can not be used include:

Chemical Sensitivity Issues
Berber Carpets
Natural Fibers
Soil Crystallization
No access to hot water

For complete information on this subject drop us a line to request your copy of 'The Guide' CD. It's available at no charge and contains more detailed information than what is presented here. If you are planning on making this a serious part of your business, click here to check out our class listing for classes in your area.