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Pet Odor Removal

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Dogs and cats can bring such joy into your family and also some of the most difficult carpet odor, hair and stain problems.  We train our pets to behave indoors but occasionally there are accidents which have us looking for how to remove dog odor from carpet and asking, how do I get urine smell out of carpet?

There are many methods of pet odor removal and getting cat urine out of carpet so choosing the right carpet pet odor removal is important. For instance using ammonia when you are getting cat urine out of carpet only encourages the cat to urinate in that spot again. Ammonia is already in urine so you would not want to make this spot smell familiar by using more ammonia. There are many home remedies and products being sold that simply just don’t work.

When a cat or dog urinates on your carpet it’s best to act fast with an absorbent cotton cloth like a towel or if you are in a hurry a wad of paper towels. Wad up the towel and step on it to absorb as much liquid as possible change towels until there is no more liquid being absorbed. Next mix a solution of equal parts water and white vinegar to rinse the area so it penetrates to the fibers. Take a clean colorless towel or rag and blot out all the liquid until dry. Changing rags when they get wet will help soak up the spill quicker and prevent it from getting moldy when it dries.

Pet hair removers for the carpet such as a rubber fur removal brush sweeps pet hair away and can keep the majority of hair off furniture and carpets but it does not get it all off. Cat hair or longer dog hair is resistant to lint brushes so they do not work as well as a big piece of duct tape. Take a piece of duct tape and wind it around your hand and use it like a lint brush. You have heard that duct tape sticks to anything and it is the best quick hair removal tool. Pet hair has oil and dander on it and can cause odor if left unattended. By removing pet hair from furniture with a brush and by vacuuming carpet frequently you can keep carpet smelling cleaner.

The best way to remove pet odor and stains from pet urine is with a professional carpet cleaning from Commercial Steam Team. Call us today at 952-224-7222 to learn more!

How often should you clean your carpet?

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Fiber producers and carpet manufacturers recommend that a residential carpet should be professionally cleaned at least every 6 to 12 months for best performance.  Soil that is not removed from the carpeting cuts and slices on the carpet fibers, breaking down the carpet yarn. The result is that even with restorative cleaning, it won’t correct the damage that has been carried out to the fiber.

If you are someone who has heard the phrase “Wait as long as you can prior to having your carpets cleaned..” or “Once you’ve cleaned your carpet, it’s never the same..”, these comments are a result of carpet cleaners that have left  the carpet  with an overload of detergent residue and heavy oils, that do not get completely extracted with some cleaning systems.  As a result, the new dirt is attracted back to the ‘old dirt’ and heavy oils that were brought to the surface during the cleaning process.  Once you walk around in the space for a few weeks, the carpet looks dirty again because the new dirt is attracted back to the old dirt.

In conclusion, carpet that is cleaned properly, every 6 to 12 months, will last longer and be healthier for the environment of your home.

Top 5 Germ Places

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Microbiologists have identified the top 5 places in the home that have the highest number of germs.
• Dish sponges
• Kitchen Drains
• Bathroom Toilets
• Kitchen Trash Cans
• Air exhaust from a running vacuum cleaner

To prevent germs from being blown back into the air while vacuuming make sure your vacuum cleaner is working efficiently, change the bag often and schedule regular cleanings.

Give us a call if we can help with your carpet – Commercial Steam Clean 952-224-7222

Cleaning Up Carpet After Kids and Pets

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If you have a pet or kids you can expect accidental stains on your carpets every so often. There are many homemade remedies for pet stain removal but they don’t get down into the carpet or are ineffective in other ways, and that can leave a source for bacteria, dust mites, and other things to feed on and grow.

Isn’t it good to know your carpet can be cleaned with a hot water extraction cleaning from Commercial Steam Team!

Learn more about cleaning up after pets.

Please give us a call if you have a carpet that needs special attention 952-224-7222 Commercial Steam Team – Your Carpet Cleaning Experts in Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota!

Do you know what is living in your carpet?

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Children using a notebook while their parents are watching

The causes and effects of allergies have long been known and can be a serious health threat. Allergies are a menace to the immune system, resulting in inflammation of the eyes, nose (rhinitis), lungs (asthma), and skin (eczema).  It is estimated that allergies affect some 50% of the population.  One controllable culprit in the battle with allergens is the dust mite, a microscopic insect which is found in our indoor environment. We shed skin scales, which in turn, feed the dust mites.  Rooms that are used most in the home, for example, your bedroom, are ideal breeding grounds for the dust mite.

Steam cleaning your carpet is an excellent way to kill and remove dust mites from your carpet and upholstery is to have Commercial Steam Team steam clean your home or office. Call us today at 952-224-7222 to see how we can help keep your home healthier!

Office Chair Cleaning Reduces Sick Days

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Office chairs are extremely expensive.  The lowest end seems to be around $150.  Nice ones are often $250 and up.  Even if you only have 10 employees your bill is easily in the thousands to replace your office chairs.  You don’t even want to know how much if you have hundreds of employees.  Sometimes replacing is the answer when you have holes in the fabric and other actual damage. 

Far too many companies don’t realize that they can have their chairs cleaned on a regular basis for a small fraction of that cost.  For $10 or less a chair, depending on volume, the Commercial Steam Team thoroughly cleans office chairs.  This is a far cry from the staggering prices of replacing.

Another main reason for having office chairs cleaned by highly trained professional carpet cleaners is office productivity.  Look and smell aside, chairs store dust and allergen particles that release into the air as people sit down.  When they take a seat the spongy pad inside the chair squishes forcing the air stored inside the pad out at high speeds.  The allergens take a ride once again floating in the air for long periods of time.  Because of this your employees are breathing these allergens in all day long. 

Allergies are the true cause for a large percentage of sick days.  As we all know, employees are not at their best when they are still working but experiencing fatigue, congestion, wheezing, headaches, and other symptoms from allergies.  This is why having your office chairs cleaned regularly is very important to a high quality work environment.

Call an experienced professional for help cleaning your office furniture and experience the benefits right away!

Carpets Trap Allergens

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Here in Burnsville Minnesota we’re finally past the high pollen season where the trees dump vast amounts of yellow pollen into the air and it gets on everything. Pollen is most visible on smooth surfaces outside such as your car or the furniture on the deck. We find ourselves coated in the stuff when we go outside and coincidentally when we come inside it comes inside too. Pollen is on our clothes and shoes and is collected by our carpets.

Carpets act like a trap collecting allergens like pollen, dust, dirt, pet dander and many of the things that are in the air. Carpets act like a filter in our home, they trap particles and hold them until carpets are vacuumed and steam cleaned.

Click here to see the CNN video about common causes of indoor allergies.

With the kids out of school and spending more time at home it’s a good time to steam clean your carpets and remove the buildup of allergens and improve indoor air quality.

We can help you remove all those allergens from you carpet making a cleaner indoor environment for your family.  Call us at 952-891-3022.

Allergies, Asthma, and Your Carpet

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Does someone in your family suffer from allergies or asthma? Allergies can be controlled by avoiding the triggers that cause attacks.

Vacuums are a necessary part of keeping a carpet clean and removing the largest part of dirt and contaminants from a carpet, but for allergy and asthma sufferers, a normal vacuum cleaner might better be described as a necessary evil.

This is because vacuum cleaner filter bags are notorious at letting dirt pass through the bag, whereupon it is immediately blown back into the air to be breathed in and to settle on other surfaces where it can be easily disturbed and put back into the air yet again. Don’t believe me? Try this experiment the next time you change filter bags. Step outside with the filter bag, close the top, and shake it gently. The amount of dust that you will see will be amazing. (To simulate the huge amount of air passing through you vacuum – try shaking it vigorously!)

Studies have shown that removing carpet isn’t a solution. In fact when carpet is removed, allergies increased! Air movement on hard surfaces actually disturbs more particles which then enter the air.

The solution is regular professional carpet steam cleaning of your home and workplace. This removes allergy and asthma triggers by actually removing them without placing large quantities back into the air. This means that the next time you vacuum you’ll be disturbing far fewer particles, and so you’ll have fewer health problems from these contaminants.

Allergies and Your Carpet

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According to the Environmental Protection Agency there are many potential contaminants in a home, including pet dander and hair, dust mites, secondhand smoke, mold, and pesticides. Many of these contaminants can play a role in allergies. Because carpet can collect these and other contaminants, regular cleaning of carpets is critical in reducing the impact of allergies.

These same contaminants can also exist in the workplace, further compounding problems. Because it is particularly important to remove these contaminants without causing them to be disturbed and blown back into the air where they can settle on other surfaces or be breathed in, having a professional steam cleaning of your carpet is one of the best possible solutions.

Click here to see the CNN video about common causes of indoor allergies.