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How Often Should My Business Have It’s Carpets Cleaned?

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How often should businesses clean their carpets?  I am asked this question all the time.  One would think after focusing on commercial carpet cleaning for 13 years I could give a definitive answer to this question.  Unfortunately, I can’t.  There are many variables that alter the frequency in which the carpets in Minnesota businesses need to be cleaned.  Here, in the Twin Cities Area, we deal with a lot of sand and salt.  This increases the frequency of cleanings needed considerably compared to other areas of the country.  These cleaning schedules listed below are for Twin Cities and surrounding areas of Minnesota companies only and based on my personal carpet cleaning experiences:

  • If you are a retail store with lots of foot traffic.  You should be having the carpets cleaned and protected every 3 months to every 6 months depending on the amount of people who come in off of the street and the cleanliness of the parking lot.
  • If you are a restaurant or Bar you should be sure to have the carpets cleaned and protected quarterly.  This is important because of how often people spill and as well as the grease that gets tracked in from the kitchen.
  • Office buildings should have their carpets cleaned every 6 months to a year depending on the number of employees and the conditions they walk in on the way to the building entrance.
  • Automotive and trucking companies tend to be heavy in oil.  This oil attracts dirt and will cause the carpet to rapidly soil. I recommend that these companies clean and protect anywhere from quarterly to twice a year.  Falling behind on this causes the oil to compound exponentially, meaning the longer it goes without cleaning the faster the damage will occur.
  • Churches should have one thorough cleaning and protecting a year on all carpet.  However they should have certain areas like their entrances or narthex cleaned multiple times a year depending on their size.
  • Industrial companies rarely clean as often as they should.  Metal shavings and oil from factory machines and forklifts do a real number on carpets.  They often accept the fact that they will need to replace their carpets eventually and let it go.  This is not necessary however.  Cleaning and protecting quarterly will almost always prevent permanent damage from forming in the high traffic areas and although the carpets will still get discolored eventually between cleanings the fibers themselves should stay sound and the cleanings will provide a night and day change.

I’m sure it goes without saying that these are not concrete numbers.  Every business is different and the weather has to be considered as well.  A carpet will get dirty faster during winter months than summer months.  Total number of people, exits, and how often people go from the outside to the inside of the building are variables that I have had to average out.  The amount of sand and salt used on roads and sidewalks in your specific area are factors that affect Minnesota businesses as well.

Rapid Re-Soiling After Carpet Cleaning: Professional Carpet Cleaners

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Professional carpet cleaners stopped using oil based soaps or “shampoo’s” decades ago.  Some less experienced carpet cleaners still have a problem with rapid re-soiling.  Why is this?  Proper training and equipment eliminates this problem for those companies that understand how it works.

  • State-of-the-art direct drive truck mounts are important to get the carpet dry enough after the job.
    • If the carpet is left wet for days then the carpet will lose its ability to resist rapid re-soiling.
    • Ph. balances must be equalized.
      • Companies that rinse with water will leave the Ph. level of the carpet too high after cleaning. This can feel residue-free, but will attract soil none the less.
      • Companies that grow too fast through advertising tend to have a turnover of only a few months.  Proper training takes many months of assisting to an expert carpet cleaner to ensure that Ph. ratios get balanced.

Carpet cleaning is a science, but it is also hard work.  Training is important as well as hiring the right workers and paying well enough to keep them motivated and in your employ.  “Shampoo” may not be a factor in professional carpet cleaning anymore, but work ethic and training always will be.

9 Reasons for Property Managers to Use Commercial Steam Team Carpet and Upholstery Cleaners

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*We make your job easier!

*We understand that our job is to make you look good!

*We do the scheduling and quality control for you!

*We pick up and drop off keys so you don’t have to!

*We go back to any job where there is a concern Free Of Charge!

*Only 11 out of 886 jobs asked us to come back last year (just over 1%).

*Our employees have a stake through profit sharing.

*We call every job a week after just to make sure they love it.

*Sharp looking direct drive truck mounted units (V8 engine).

*Licensed Bonded and Insured*

Recurring Spots and How To Prevent Them

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No one likes having to return to a job days or longer after a carpet cleaning job to get one or more spots out.  Even worse, no customer likes the inconvenience of a second trip either.  This cannot be eliminated entirely, though there are some steps that can be taken to greatly reduce these occurrences to nearly zero.

  • Know your spot or spill.
    • Use the correct cleaning agent for that particular spot.
      • Sticky/dense, use an acid base (citrus).
      • Coffee, use a leave in treatment (Stain Magic).
      • Oily residue, encapsulate the oil molecules.
      • Rinse thoroughly.
        • Most carpet cleaners forget they are rinsing the cleaning agent out as well as the spot/spill.
        • Use the proper rinse for your machine and cleaning agents. (Clearwater rinse works best for me)
      • Make sure your equipment is powerful enough to rinse both the spot and spill.
        • Cheaper carpet cleaning companies save money on equipment.  They can’t rinse all the way to the backing, even if they try.
        • Do not go over 500 lbs. psi. or you can go through the backing to the pad underneath.  The pad will likely not dry for months or longer.
        • Leave the area of the spot/spill as dry as possible.
          • I find with Hydramaster 4.8 direct drive, a few extra vacuum strokes does the trick.  Other equipment may take much longer.
          • Recommending the customer turn their thermostat fan on (rather than auto).
            • This way the fan still runs without cranking the ac/heat up.  (much cheaper way to run the fan).
  • The client can place a fan directed at the spill as well.  Or bring your own fans/blowers if your equipment vacuum isn’t as strong.
  • Understand that spots can look like spills beneath the carpet surface.  Vacuum the area around the spot as well.

These are a few easy steps to prevent recurring spots/spills.  The best step is prevention by applying a protector each time the carpet is cleaned.  This prevents the spill from soaking into the heart of the fibers as easily.  This also allows more time to blot out spills before soaking in.  These steps will likely prevent nearly all spot/spill related redos, when done properly.

Welcome to Carpet News!

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At Commercial Steam Team we feel it’s important that people know about carpet, how carpet can impact quality of life, and learn strategies to get the most out of your carpet. Thanks for stopping by and we look forward to having you visit again!