If you own a business, chances are you also own or at least rent an office space that has some type of carpeting that you will want to maintain. It is important to understand the methods and the reasons why you should have your carpets professionally cleaned at your place of business. So, we at J and R’s Carpet Cleaning, set out to find a greaat resource that can help us to explain the why and how’s that you seek!
In maintaining commercial facilities, much of the emphasis should be placed on daily maintenance. Daily carpet care is far less expensive than restorative carpet cleaning and carpet appearance levels can be maintained at much higher levels. The average life of carpet will last for years longer, if proper daily care is performed. However, in today’s economy with tight budgets and limited personnel, it seems that facility maintenance is always the first area to undergo budget cuts.
However, even with limited budgets, it is important that carpet cleaning be performed properly. Improper technique or improper use of cleaning chemicals can actually increase cleaning costs or increase the frequency of carpet cleaning.
Carpet cleaning, performed correctly, is a highly technical profession. Carpet cleaning can be described as a science due to the amount of chemistry involved in the cleaning process. On the surface, many people who are not associated with the carpet cleaning profession can not comprehend the intricacies involved. For those people who are about to become associated with the field, the complexity of the information may seem overwhelming initially. It may be necessary to define various cleaning terminology and describe the basic principles of the cleaning process to get a good basic understanding of the field.
The Principles of Cleaning
Carpet cleaning can be divided into four categories: dry soil removal or dry vacuuming, soil suspension, extraction or removal, and drying.
Soil Removal
Dry soil removal or vacuuming has been discussed in detail in the preventative maintenance section but the importance of vacuuming cannot be over emphasized. The carpet should be thoroughly vacuumed prior to any type of cleaning. Vacuuming the carpet pile is essential for effective soil removal. Vacuuming helps to separate the pile fibers, which aids in the release of soil during the suspension and cleaning phases.
Soil Suspension
Once the carpet has been pre-cleaned (vacuumed), it is time to pre-condition the carpet to prepare for the actual cleaning. The purpose of the pre-conditioning phase is to remove or suspend the soil from the fiber. Soil suspension can be illustrated by pouring water into a flour mixture. Particles of flour attach to the molecules of water. The mixture (dough) can then be removed. Soil suspension works in a similar fashion. A cleaning solution is added which attaches to the particles of soil. This solution completely surrounds the soil which removes it from the fiber.
The way in which suspension works is really very simple. To simplify the theory of suspension, four terms should be explained: hydro=water- lipo=oil- phobic= fear- philic=love. A detergent molecule (as shown below) has two ends. In the illustration below, one part of the molecule is described as hydrophylic (water loving), which means it attaches to a water molecule. The other part is described as lipophylic (oil loving), which attaches to oily soils found in carpet. Agitation or mechanical action is used to break the soil molecules from the carpet surface. At this point, detergent molecules completely surround the soil molecule which suspends the soil. This process is known as deflocculation or suspension.
The Components of Suspension
There are four basic components to the soil suspension process:
1. Temperature 2. Agitation 3. Chemical action 4. Time
Temperature is necessary to speed the cleaning process. Every increase of 18 degrees F over 118 degrees F will double the speed of the process. Hotter is generally better but care should be exercised to insure that the fibers, dyes, or stain treatments are not adversely affected.
Agitation is the process in which the fiber is cleaned or the vehicle for application of the cleaning solution. Agitation is necessary to break the bond between soils and the fiber. Agitation may include the brushes used in dry absorbent compounds, rotary shampoos, or dry foam cleaning methods. It may include the absorbent pad used in the bonnet method and the water pressure delivered in the hot water extraction method. Agitation allows the particles to be loosened and rinsed away.
Chemical action is the most difficult area of cleaning to comprehend. The purpose for the use of chemicals is to aid in loosening, bringing to the surface, or dissolving the soil contained in the carpet. Chemical action will be discussed in detail later in this section. Time refers to the recommended amount of time for the cleaning to take place. Some cleaning methods may be more effective the longer the time allowed, but other methods, such as dry absorbent compounds, must be removed within a specific time frame for maximum efficiency.
Each of these basic components are equally important for effective soil suspension. If one of the components is reduced or eliminated, the three remaining components must be increased. For example, if no chemicals are to be used in the hot water extraction process, agitation, time and temperature will need to be increased dramatically for effective soil removal. If heat will not be used in any of the methods, agitation, time, and chemicals will need to be increased for effective soil removal.
Extraction or soil removal is the next step in the cleaning process. Cleaning can be defined as the removal of foreign substances. According to this definition, extraction can be defined as the actual cleaning process. Extraction is the removal of soil from the fiber. Extraction may come in a variety of forms. In hot water extraction, rotary shampoo extraction and the dry foam method- extraction is a natural part of the cleaning method. The bonnet method uses and absorbent pad that aids in extracting soil. A vacuum cleaner is used to remove the dry powder in the dry absorbent compound method.
Drying
Drying is an essential part of each of the cleaning methods. The various cleaning methods have been divided into two categories. Minimum or low moisture methods which are composed of the dry foam method, dry absorbent compound, and the bonnet method. Rotary shampoo and hot water extraction are classified as wet methods.
Depending on environmental conditions and operator skill, all methods should be completely dry within 8 hours. Even the wet methods are usually dry within 8 hours. It is imperative that the carpet be completely dry within 8 hours due to biological concerns. For wet methods, air movers can be used to speed drying time.
Carpet Cleaning Chemicals
The effectiveness of cleaning depends a great deal on the effectiveness of the chemicals used to make the job easier. It is important that the proper chemicals be used in the proper amounts. Some technicians make the mistake of mixing chemicals to accomplish two or more tasks at the same time. In some instances this may work but in other instances it may develop into a sticky gob that is difficult to remove. Another common problem for maintenance technicians is the idea that more is better. If the directions for a chemical read: mix 8 oz. of chemical to a quart of water, some technicians think that if 16 oz. are added the job will be twice as easy and clean twice as well, but this is not the case. Mixing a higher concentration may leave residues in the carpet pile that may cause the carpet to resoil rapidly. Too much chemical can also create a number of other problems such as browning, yellowing, dye transference or fading.
Most facility maintenance managers have heard the expression- “wait as long as you can before you clean your carpet because it gets dirty, faster, after it is cleaned”. This statement may have been true at one time but not with today’s cleaning chemicals. At one time “true soaps” were used for carpet cleaning. These soaps were made using animal and vegetable fats and an alkali (see pH). The first soaps used in carpet cleaning were made from coconut oil. These soaps formed a weak bond with the water used in cleaning. Because of this weak bond, soap particles broke apart from the water molecules and were deposited in the carpet. True soaps are composed of a hydrophylic tail which attaches to water molecules and a hydrophobic tail that attaches to substances that are not composed of water. In the past, these formulas were very difficult to remove from the carpet due to the weak bond to the water molecules. As a result, the residue that remained in the carpet continued to perform its function of attaching to soil particles. This residue caused rapid resoiling.
For the rest of this article go to carpetbuyershandbook.com. If you are ready to have your office carpets or other flooring cleaned, please fill out the form below so that we can schedule your cleaning today!