‘and now for the rest of the story’
(Sorry, I just love to say that)  In last months issue, I told you what the industry says about removing pet stains.  You may have been devastated to read that all old urine stains are permanent.  What if  I were to tell you that we can remove 99% of all pet stains, old or not.  That’s exactly what I’m telling you now.  The rest of the industry believes exactly what I wrote in the last issue, that all old urine stains are permanent.  In fact, I am certain that there is not a stain that we cannot remove, old or new.  I am referring to stains, and not “bleached” areas where the color has been removed or reduced so that it is no longer intact, in that case we would spot dye. We’ll discuss this in a future issue.  Where were we, ah yes, the concern within the carpet cleaning industry is that the  majority of carpet cleaners are unaware of the rapid changes and advancements in technology.  Additionally, quite frankly it’s un-nerving to have to explain that the removal of a urine stain or any other type of stain requires an additional fee.  For years unethical carpet cleaning companies have used “bait and switch” tactics to lure customers with low-ball prices and then hit them with ridiculous up-charges.  I got off the subject of urine again, forgive me, I’m very passionate about this subject as well, and we’ll be discussing ’bait and switch’ companies in a future issue as well.  
Back to urine (now that sounds exciting doesn’t it), recent developments have produced several new cleaning agents,  solutions, and techniques which make old urine stains, and practically every other type of stain removable.  Admittedly, these procedures require additional time, effort, cleaning agents, and specific choreographed procedures.  What does this mean?  It means that nearly every stain and associated odor (urine or feces) can be removed.  What else does this mean?  Yes, the additional stain removal techniques require an extra investment.  Often times, the assumption when having carpeting cleaned is that everything should be included.  Actually, high quality carpet cleaning is an art, and specialty spot and stain removal is a science , which when combined makes for a high quality service.

At Enviroclean, we offer several different carpet cleaning packages.  Not every carpet we clean requires our” Complete Restoration”, service where our “Quickie Re-Fresher’ service may be all that is needed when appearance is the main concern.   We also offer our “Healthy Home” carpet cleaning service package, which provides the benefits of a healthy sanitized environment and a high quality appearance, and  finally, our “Maintenance” cleaning package.

Invariably, I am asked the question as to what exactly is the benefit of having your carpeting protected. If you know for certain, or your experience is such that there will be no chance of spills,  large amounts of soil being ground into your carpeting, and or no pet stains, then I would say that protection is unnecessary for you.

What is protection?

That’s a good question.  Essentially, most protectors now have fluorochemicals with Teflon.  This means that your carpeting will be coated with Teflon.  Many of us have teflon coated cooking pans at home.  Over time, the teflon can become scratched away from the surface by the usage of abrasive cooking utensils.  If you clean your teflon coated pan carefully, and you do not cook with metal utensils, instead using softer materials such as plastic or wood, the teflon pan will look and stay like new for a very long period of time.

When we apply protection to carpeting we are essentially coating the fibers just as the cooking pan is coated with the same teflon.  If you do not wear shoes on your carpeting, and you vacuum your carpeting frequently to remove abrasive soil, your protection will last for a very long time.  If however, you do wear shoes and you do not vacuum as frequently as is required, and then add in children, and of course pets, we then have a situation where the application of protection is necessary at least annually.

Will Protection Wear Away After Cleaning?

Generally, it is only necessary to protect heavily traveled rooms and traffic lanes.  Remember your teflon coated cooking pan?  Even at temperatures of 400 degrees and hotter, the teflon was not affected.  Food substances easily lift from the surface, and it cleans beautifully each time you clean it.  The only thing that harms teflon is abrasives.  In other words, I cannot remove the teflon by cleaning the carpeting, or by using strong chemicals.  So now you know the truth, and if any carpet cleaner ever tells you that they removed the protection by cleaning the carpeting, that would be very difficult to do.  What can be removed by carpet cleaning is any residual teflon or teflon which has been scratched away from the fibers of the carpeting.

Now for the biggest misconception about protectors like Scotchgard.  The answer is NO!  What’s the question you say?  Does Scotchgard keep my carpet clean?  Well, actually in a way it does help to keep your carpet clean because the dirt and oils do not stick to the carpeting due to the teflon coating.  This means the soil can easily be vacuumed out, which essentially means that the carpeting stays cleaner, but it does not mean that it keeps your carpeting clean.  Additionally, protection provides benefits such that your carpeting is less susceptible to: stains, damage from abrasives, and premature wear.

How do you know if you are actually getting what you are paying for?

First of all, protector can only be applied separately after the carpeting has been cleaned.  It usually has a light or mild solvent scent as it is being applied.  If you are unsure whether or your not you are getting the product, have the cleaning technician apply the same protector to a paper towel (white towel).  Once the protection on the paper towel has dried, it should be able to repel water.  If not, then you probably did not get what you were paying for, and believe me I understand, because applying protection is a sizeable investment.

What is the best type of protection?

By leaps and bounds, the best protector available is made by Dupont, it is called DuPont Teflon Advanced.  It contains acid dye blockers as well as stain resistant teflon.  We like to call it bullet-proof.  Scotchgard is very good, but it does not contain acid dye blockers.  Most of the foods, beverages, even soil, and pet stains are acidic (acids).  Therefore, an active acid dye blocker means that the carpeting can nearly not be stained.  Extremely hot coffee, bleaches, and some other types of stains cannot be stopped completely, however, if you act upon stains occurring immediately, and you have had your carpeting protected properly, it will resist practically every type of stain.

In the future I’ll explain UV protectors which can insure that your carpeting never ever fades out.  Also, we’ll go into the world of re-color.  If you have bleached stains, or even dye stains in your carpeting, nearly every one of them can be fixed or re-colored to match the original color.  Imagine bleach stains completely repaired.

Health or Appearance

Appearance usually means to make it “look” better, and Health means to remove or eradicate an unhealthy condition.  It is possible to cause carpeting to “look” better by simply spraying a shampooing chemical, then lightly brush it into the fibers.  Examples are WooliteTM and Kirby Shampoo’ers.   The soapy solution is applied to the carpeting and then agitated to break-up the dirt deposits.  Unfortunately, the dirt and the soap are still in the carpeting, just less noticeable because they’re now spread out.   If you have ever had a shampoo-type of cleaning service performed, you already know that the carpeting re-soils rapidly because there is a soapy residue and the original dirt is still within the carpeting.  Even some carpet cleaning services who use the hot water extraction (steam cleaning) method have learned that if they over-wet the carpeting, it will “look” better for a short period of time (usually long enough to cash the check) because the dirt has been pushed deeper into the carpet’s pile.  The point here is that it is possible to improve the carpet’s appearance for a very short time without much effort, however, thoroughly rinsing the cleaning solutions and dirt out of the carpeting is a must if the carpeting is to remain “looking” good for extended lengths of time.  To insure the carpeting stays cleaner and resists future spots and stains, then the application of a protective coating is a must.

Without a protective coating such as Scotchgard Protector, the carpet’s fibers are susceptible to permanent staining. 
Nylon is dyed to the desired color using acid based dyes.   Here’s the interesting and fun part; most foods that we eat and drink are acidic (acid bsed).  Eg.  Sodas such as Coca Cola (we’ve all heard that it is as strong as battery acid, actually, it has a similar pH, but it is not as concentrated, so its not quite true), orange juice, fruit juices, etc… are all acids.  When a spill occurs, the acids allow the artificial or natural coloring of the spilled juice to penetrate the acid dye sites of the carpeting.  There are other acidic stains which take place over time as well, eg. While cooking at home, the aroma of a wonderful meal is floating throughout your house.  That beautiful scent is actually tiny particles or molecules of the food substance as it is cooked, that eventually land somewhere, which usually would be the floors, walls, and wherever else the molecules can find their way.  This means that you now have protein molecular build-up on the carpeting, the walls, your clothing… you get the picture.  Sorry, I got off subject for a second. Where was I?  Ah yes, improving the appearance of carpeting is subjective in terms of the expectation of the homeowner and whether the carpeting can be restored to the expected or desired level.  There are several quite different methods and processes that can be employed to accomplish “appearance” cleaning.  Typically, homeowners have their carpeting cleaned once or twice yearly because it “appears” dirty or has excessive spots, stains and wear.  A thorough deep cleaning will remove most of the contaminants within the carpeting, and re-fresh its feel and appearance.  Some of the spots and stains may have become permanent during the interim between cleaning visits.  The carpet’s material composition will play a big role in the carpet cleaning technician’s ability to remove spots and stains.  In February’s issue I explained the different materials of carpeting, and how each type of carpeting has inherent advantages and disadvantages.  Quick recap – Olefin and polyester will resist bleaches and juice stains; unfortunately, they absorb oils (like those flying through the home while cooking) and therefore will have permanent yellow or brown discolorations in traffic lanes.  They also crush and matt-down quickly leaving a permanent appearance of worn carpeting, even though the carpeting may only be one or two years old.  Nylon on the other hand, is affected by bleaches and juice stains, which if not immediately tended to can become permanent.  Nylon, however, is much more resilient than the plastic carpets; olefin and polyester and will bounce back to original shape significantly better. 
Many other factors will affect the achievable level of appearance such as:  wear, color loss (fading), off-gasing of interior environment, and many more… 
Carpet wear means that the carpeting has lost some of its weight by shedding fibers.  Additionally, carpet face fibers become scratched every time someone walks on carpeting, which has embedded micro-dirt or micro-soil particles.  It is very important to remove micro-soil from carpeting frequently, because it is this micro-soil which acts like sandpaper as you walk on the carpeting. 
Color loss occurs from sunlight, fluorescent light, off-gasing (I’ll explain this in a future issue), scratches as noted above, improper cleaning chemicals, and a multitude of other reasons.

The health of your indoor air quality (IAQ) is directly affected by the type and amount of contaminants living or existing within your home or interior environment.  For right now, we’ll focus on the flooring, but there are many other IAQ issues which need to be addressed.  As a carpet cleaner, our main objective is to remove as much of the micro-soils and other things residing in your carpeting.  Improving the health of your IAQ requires the removal of dust mites as well.  Although the dust mites are ugly little buggers, and many companies show photos of them to scare people into cleaning their carpeting, it is not exactly correct that they are the problem.  Just like mold, it is not the mold necessarily which is the problem; rather it is the fecal matter of the mites and the mold which cause our negative reactions.  By the way, if you think wood or tile floors are better, they’re not, in actuality, and case studies have proven that carpeting is healthier.  Here’s why:  carpeting catches and holds dirt, mites, and fecal matter etc… whereas hard floors have all the same wonderful little critters living upon them, but they (the wood / tile floors) do not have any means for the critters to cling to or hold them.  Therefore, as you walk through a room with a wood floor, the contaminants are whipped up by the passing air currents, and thus fly around, landing everywhere, including our nasal passages and throats.  In a carpeted room, the contaminants are held by the carpeting, so there is not as much flying around the room.  Eventually, the carpeting fills up with contaminants just like a kitchen sink does with dirty dishes, so it is necessary to clean it (the carpeting) and remove the contaminants.  Removing the contaminants for health reasons provides a high quality appearance, which for most of us is the reason we clean our carpeting.

I am asked on a regular basis about the content of the dirt in carpeting.  You know how winded I can get, but this is important.  Dirt comes in many different flavors for lack of a better word.  The percentages of each type of dirt varies according to location and conditions, but the composition is generally the same.  Common carpet soil is composed of:

Sand, silica, clay, quartz
40%

Petroleum oils, tar, etc…
10%
Gum, resins, food particles
6—10%
Human / Animal (hair, skin cells, dust mites, mite feces)
10—12%
Organic soil & dust
2—5%
Carbon deposits
3%
Miscellaneous
1—10%

Cellulose and natural fibers
5—10%
Most of the dirt (germs are dirt) and soil can be removed by thorough rinsing and extraction.  In fact 80% of common soil is removed by thorough vacuuming, although, vacuums which do not exhaust outside may also be recirculating germs.  Typically, even clean appearing carpeting contains substantial amounts of soil, which is quite evident especially when using a vacuum cleaner with a clear plastic dust cup.  Vacuum salespeople feast on this fact.  You could vacuum your carpeting a dozen times and still remove visible soil with each cleaning pass.  Thoroughly rinsing and extracting carpeting will remove the majority of the attached soils.  Sometimes the oily and clay types of soils require pre-conditioners to help break them free from “sticking” to the carpeting.  Some soils and especially stains which have penetrated the carpet’s fibers cannot be removed by rinsing and extracting.  Specialized carpet cleaning procedures and stain removal techniques are required for removal of those types of stains.  Nearly all liquid spills except water require additional spotting procedures for removal.   Remember, most liquid spills such as flavored drinks and the like contain food coloring and are usually on the acid side.  This means that most drink spills are excellent staining agents.  Urine of course is another animal all together (pun not intended).   Don’t allow oily or petroleum soils to sit on the carpeting too long, they will eventually be absorbed by the carpeting and may change the color of the carpeting.   The coarser gritty soils cut and scratch carpet fibers, so it is essential to vacuum thoroughly and frequently to remove those types of soils.

There are correct and incorrect procedures to cleanup accidental spills on your carpeting. What you should not do, is just as important as what you should do. Today’s newer generation carpeting resists spots and stains much better than those manufactured even a couple of years ago, however, they are still susceptible to spots and should be treated quickly to avoid a permanent stain.
STEP 1: Blot up as much of the spill as you can. Make sure you blot-don’t scrub. Scrubbing will only work the spill deeper into the fiber, and may leave a wear mark. Use a white paper or white cotton towel to blot. Fold the towel and press it into the spill. Rotate the towel often so a clean surface is always against the carpet . Continue to blot until no more of the spill transfers to the towel. Remove any solid material with a rounded spoon or the edge of a dull knife.

Step 2: Cover the blotted area with a fresh white towel. Weight the towel with something that will not transfer color to the carpet or towel. Leave this in place for 15-20 minutes to remove any remaining spill. Should the carpet remain stained by  the spill go to step three.
Step 3: Spotting the remaining stains in your carpet requires care and patience.  You cannot apply most household cleaners
to the stain without further damaging the carpeting. Many common  cleaners contain dyes and chemicals that will discolor the carpeting and permanently set the stain. If you can locate the literature you received when you purchased the carpeting,  it should contain spotting procedures for you to follow.
To remove most common household spills, follow the procedures on  this page. 

Do not proceed if any carpet color changes, try an alternate cleaner, or call a professional. If the test is successful, spot the stain by alternately applying a few drops  of cleaner followed by blotting . Always blot, never scrub, and do not over wet. Work from the outer edge of the stain to the center. Continue this process until the stain is gone or no more color transfer to the white towel. The final step is to gently rinse all remaining moisture with absorbent towels.
Should a stain persist, contact Cathy or George at
Enviroclean of Illinois, Inc.  847-683-7020 for assistance.

     Once,  I had read somewhere (an issue of Consumer Reports???) that 96% of carpet cleaning services cause more damage to carpeting than if it were not cleaned at all.  This means that only 4% or 4 out of 100 carpet cleaners actually improved the carpet’s health and appearance and quality levels.  Improving the appearance is very easy for a short time.  You could simply scrub the carpeting with a small shampoo machine and some dish wash soap and water.   Scrub, scrub, scrub, and viola (wala), your carpet “appears” cleaner.  Most carpet cleaners use this philosophy, since the most important criterion which the home owner can utilize in determining whether the carpeting has been cleaned properly is by its final appearance.  There are other factors and methods to check whether your carpeting has been cleaned properly, which I’ll explain later on, but it always comes down to your definition of clean.  As most of you already know, clean to me means to sanitize and improve the health of your environment.  A quality appearance is the result of sanitizing the surface being cleaned.  Today, however, we will be discussing the main reasons why carpeting “uglies out”.

     The main reason why carpeting “uglies” out too quickly is the result of not vacuuming frequently or thoroughly.  The majority of carpet maintenance is in the vacuuming process; nearly 80% of all fine particulate matter within the carpeting can be removed by thorough vacuuming.  The fine particles of dirt, sand, and dust are abrasives, which if not removed act as sandpaper would to any surface.  As you walk upon the carpeting, your feet (shoes compound this problem dramatically) grind the abrasives across the carpet’s face fibers causing scratches to those fibers.  The result is scratched fibers which appear dull because they no longer reflect light; instead, they diffuse the light.  To us, this appears as dullness, because the un-damaged carpeted surface adjacent to the scratched carpeting reflects light better and is therefore brighter and shinier.  Once the carpeting has these scratches and abrasions, it is permanent.  Carpet cleaners cannot remove scratches from the carpeting.  During the cleaning process, the fibers are coated with water which covers the scratches temporarily while it is damp.  Once the water has dried, the scratches are exposed once again and diffused light causes the dull appearance.  Often times, you will notice that your carpeting looks better right after it has been cleaned, but the next day it then looks dull.  The diffused light from the scratches also scatters the light at all different angles like having many small prisms (you remember triangles of glass in school, and watching how the light is broken down into different colored wave lengths like a rainbow), it is all these light refractions, which causes a collage of colors.  This collage of colors appears “brown” in colour to our optical reception. The traffic lanes now appear brownish to our eyes.  You can test this by turning the lights down in the room, as there is less light to refract, there is less discoloration.  It is only when there is enough light which is diffused that the brownish color appears.  Olefin carpeting has the brownish appearance because it has absorbed oil as well.   Eventually as more and more fibers are scratched, the areas looks duller and duller, and then the scratches themselves can now easily accept color changes.  Additionally, as the fibers become more and more scratched, they now begin to lose their twist, which in turn causes the matted appearance.  The twist refers to how the fibers are twisted to form little “springs”, it is those springs which give the carpeting the ability to “bounce back” from usage.  High quality thick padding absorbs the pounding to the carpeting so that it lasts longer.  Hint: don’t buy cheap padding to save money.  The better the padding, the longer the carpeting will last.
 
     Other causes of ugly out include:  spots and stains.  Quick action is the most important tool in fighting the permanency of detracting spots and stains.  Sometimes carpeting can be ruined in our eyes just because of all the ugly spots and stains, and the carpeting may have very little wear.   Most spots and stains can be removed nearly completely. 

     And now you know the rest of the story, “why carpeting uglies out.” 
What can you do to improve the carpet’s appearance for a longer period?  First,  vacuum frequently and thoroughly.  Second, have the carpeting cleaned thoroughly on a regularly scheduled basis. Third, require the application of Scotchgard Protector TM.  Teflon protection such as Scotchgard ™ will coat the fibers with a thin coating which can help to fill in the scratches and give the carpeting a little better ability to reflect light, and help to make it appear a little brighter because the scratches do not diffuse the light as easily.

Bulletin: Env107

     While nylon fibers sometimes have colorfast problems they are still the best choice for most applications.  Even the original DuPont 501 from the 1950’s were still around thirty years later.  You almost could not wear it out and it could be cleaned to look really good even after all those years. Today’s nylons are even better and if cared for they may be around until the end of the world.

     Unfortunately nylon has one giant creature feature that manufacturers have not been able to solve.  Compared to olefin, nylon dyes are more fragile; sunlight and many chemicals will damage the dyes especially in the blue range of colors.  In areas where nylon carpets cannot be protected from sunlight, they should be selected in earth-tones.  These are the least noticeable when color damage takes place.  We recommend having us apply UV protector to help prevent premature blue dye color problems from sunlight. 

     In addition to sunlight, nylon carpeting is also vulnerable to furnace fumes, chlorine walk-off from swimming pools, janitorial chemicals, etc, especially those of blue range of colors including gray, green, etc.  

     Here is the dirty little secret that has been a real snake-in-the-grass for carpet cleaners for 50 years.  Red nylon dye fades to pink and earth tones generally fade to the yellow side but when blue nylon fades it turns light brown on the tips.

     This mimics pH browning and the condition is often treated with acid or oxygen products and re-cleaning.  All of this activity can lighten the dyes
even further.  This loose or damaged dye flushes right out with the normal cleaning process.  Even plain water would do it and this dye loss is not apparent until completely dry, which in most cases is the following day or so.  Then you get a customer call saying “you ruined my carpet because it turned brown this morning”.  

     Our experience is to be wary of cleaning blue range nylons and treat any “browning” on blues and grays as color loss, which will only get worse with treatment until you know better about the true cause of the problem.  We have learned of an art-form test for blue range nylon dye damage that can be performed to verify and confirm the blue dye problem with nylon that usually works but it is subject to light conditions and the cleaning technician’s ability.

    Blue dye color loss can be nearly transparent and invisible before cleaning but often it can be discovered as well.  It will appear as slight beige color at the very tips of the carpet yarn.  This will be camouflaged by soil and matting of the yarn and extremely difficult to see.   If the slightest beige is present on the tips, you can conclude that it will be much worse after the carpet is rinsed and dried.  While the carpet may otherwise look nearly brand new after cleaning, this dye-loss will probably be even more apparent at least for the first few days until re-matting begins to take place.

      Olefin carpeting is inferior to nylon because the melting point of olefin is so low that just the friction of people walking on it will cause the pile  to be permanently distorted which results in dark, shaded areas.  Test this for yourself by passing a cigarette lighter quickly over the surface
of an unwanted olefin scrap and it will melt a path almost faster than you can pull it away.  This results in traffic lanes that defy the cleaner’s efforts to restore because they are damaged beyond our ability to “un-melt” them.  Therefore the light reflects and refracts differently from the fibers lying in different directions and still looks dirty from one direction and clean from the other end of the room.  However, olefin does have just ONE advantage over nylon. It is colorfast.  Sunlight, unburned hydrocarbons from heating systems, pool chlorine walk-off and improper chemicals do not usually affect it.

Why do they happen?

That is a very good question.  There are several… actually quite a few reasons that spots and stains re-appear, however, we’ll only discuss the main ones for now. 

Most everyone has experienced the reappearing spot and stain syndrome.  The main reason that spots or stains re-appear is due to wicking action.  What that means is that the residue from whatever caused the original spot has re-wicked its way back to the surface of the carpet’s fibers during the drying process.  Here’s how it happens:  First the carpeting receives a spot due to any number of reasons; soda spill, oil from shoes, dogs, feet, urine, and even a spill from a glass of water will cause a spot / stain.  The spot / stain causing element gradually or quickly (spills) works its way into the carpet’s primary and secondary backing, and then of course the cushion or padding.  Second, the homeowner applies a cleaning chemical, water, or some other form of attempt to remove the contamination, which usually carries the contamination deeper into the backing and cushion.  Third,  the stain appears to have disappeared, and the several days or weeks later, the spot or stain reappears.  It reappeared because as it dried, some of the spot causing molecules resurfaced at the tips of the fibers due to wicking action.  Wicking action is the result of the surface tension of water molecules.  Generally, what that means is that as evaporation is taking place, the water molecules “dry” (evaporate) as they travel upwards.  Through the process known as surface tension, each water molecule is “linked”, and subsequently pulls the next molecule upwards with it.  As the water molecules pull each other upwards,  they also attach to the molecules of the spot causing problem, and the soap which was used to clean the spot causing problem.  As a result, the spot causing problem, and now the soapy residue is back at the tips of the carpet’s fibers.  In addition, the spot or stain has spread out and become larger than it was originally.  Carpet cleaners then attempt to remove the spot or stain by re-wetting the area to gain fluidity.  By now, however, the contamination is in the padding. Without actually pulling the carpeting and subsequently cleaning the backing, there is no way to eradicate the contamination completely.  We can, however, thoroughly rinse the affected areas and this time we must apply a cleaning solution which will first neutralize the cleaning chemical which was used by the homeowner, and secondly, neutralize the spot or stain causing agent.  The more we rinse and extract, the more of the problem we can remove to a point.  Eventually, the contamination which was in the backing of the carpeting or padding will re-wick its way to the surface once again.  The most important tool in preventing spots and stains is quick action by the homeowner.

 
You’ll notice that I refer to spots and stains.  Spots are particles which have merely attached to the carpet’s fibers, where as stains are actual changes to the carpet’s color.  Soda, juice, coffee, mustard, oils, and anything acidic are examples of stains.  Stains can usually be removed (almost never completely) to the point which makes them acceptable and tolerable.   
Remember, this is just one of many possibilities as to why spots and stains reappear.   There are numerous other causes and subsequent methods for removal.

Carpeting is Significantly Healthier and Greener than Wood Floors

This first paragraph is a very brief overview of the article:  Carpeting provides a healthier indoor air quality than smooth floors because it acts like a filter which TRAPS and HOLDS germs so that they cannot become airborne. Wooden and smooth floors do NOT trap the germs which allows them to easily become airborne to infect us.  When germs are “trapped” and “contained”, they do not become airborne as easily and cannot gain access to our respiratory systems.   Carpeting is also greener than wooden and tiled floors; carpeting can be recycled repeatedly into plastic bottles, or even carpeting over and over.   Wood floors require that trees are chopped down, however, I recall as a child that planting trees is going green, not chopping them down.  It can’t be both ways.   Once installed, wood and tiled floors are later destined for the garbage dump or the fire pit…doesn’t sound very green to me.  This is a very simplistic synopsis.  Please continue reading to learn more about the science and logic behind these claims, it will completely change how you view your health and the environment.   

The following is indisputable evidence which overwhelmingly proves that carpeting is both much HEALTHIER and vastly GREENER than wooden or tiled floors.  Contrary to popularly held beliefs, properly maintained carpeting provides a much greater health benefit than wooden or tiled floors within our homes and indoor environments, and carpeting is significantly greener than either.  You can choose one of three options at this point:  1. You may choose to continue reading and discover the science,logic, and evidence which supports this claim.  2.  You may disagree and attack the messenger   3.  You may choose to ignore the facts because they upset your belief system and then continue upon your path with incorrect assumptions.  

Addressing the author’s credentials briefly:   George Heuvelman has been cleaning carpeting and flooring for the past 26 years, and is the founder and owner of Enviroclean of Illinois, Inc.,  which is a carpet and hard surface floor cleaning company specializing in health and hygienic cleaning standards.  George attended Arizona State University where he majored in Engineering.  He has invented and patented numerous devices ranging from: carpet cleaning tools, to medical devices, to landscape equipment in addition to the invention of machines for cleaning tile floors and grout.

Many people have been incorrectly informed that carpeting is unhealthy or unsanitary.  All of those reasons for which carpeting is presumed unhealthy, are precisely the same reasons which support the fact that carpeting provides a much healthier benefit than smooth floors such as wood or tile.  The unhealthy microscopic contaminates within our homes includes:  Dead human and animal skin cells, dust mites, dust mite excrement, dead dust mite carcasses, bacteria, mold spores, pollen spores,  dried pet saliva,  viruses, and of course carbon, lint, silica, quartz, clay, and others.  Remember, it is the direct contact with airborne germs and other contaminates within our homes which adversely affects our health.  Germs which have been removed from the air cannot affect us.   A filter which can trap and hold those contaminates would be the ideal solution.  Carpeting is such a “filter”, which traps and holds the germs, thus removing them from the repetitive circle of continuous movement from floor to air and back.    Forget the word “carpeting” for a moment and instead, think of carpeting as a floor “filter” which has been installed to “clean” and purify the air by CAPTURING, TRAPPING, and HOLDING the unhealthy microscopic biological contaminates.  The exact same contaminates exist in homes with wooden floors or carpeting.   Without a filtering mechanism to secure the germs, the contaminates landing upon the smooth floors are thereby encouraged to easily become airborne with any slight air disturbance created by practically any movement such as:  merely walking through a room, sweeping a floor, vacuuming, or any other air disturbance which effortlessly lifts the microscopic particles into the air, and they can remain airborne for up to 8 hours or even longer if exposed to additional disturbances.  For an illustrative exercise, imagine hundreds of children running across the SMOOTH tiled floors of a school corridor creating a huge air disturbance and stirring up germs which were previously at rest upon the floor.   Conversely, imagine the same exercise within the same school corridor, however, now it has been covered with a floor filter (carpeting) which TRAPS and HOLDS the germs.  The germs are held steadfast and do NOT become airborne nearly as easily as with smooth flooring.   

I’ve heard from clients who have wooden floors within their homes who tell me that they “clean” their floors frequently.  They are under the impression that their “cleaning” action has removed the germs, while in reality, their cleaning actions have in actuality disturbed the previously at rest microscopic germs thus causing them to become airborne, and they have mistakenly identified temporary cosmetic improvement as removal of germs.  Their “cleaning” activity merely exacerbates an already unhealthy condition. Remember, that cleaning is performed for only 2 reasons; health or appearance.  The typical homeowner believes that he / she performs high quality cleaning, judging by the resultant appearance.  Some of the much larger visible contaminates are easy to remove with sweeping or damp mopping, thereby, satisfying the desire to improve the appearance of the floor.   Unfortunately, it is the microscopic (unseen) contaminants which are so tiny that the smallest air disturbances easily lift them into the air for us to breathe and become infected which are airborne long before the sweeper or dust mop has physically reached them.   Mold spores in particular easily become airborne with the slightest air disturbance, even the small disturbance created by a person walking in one room of a house is great enough to cause the mold spores in a different room to become airborne.  This illustrates how smooth surfaces easily release germs into the air, and thus exacerbate an unhealthy indoor environment. 

Quick reference:  During the 15 year period from 1975 until 1990, the Swedish government felt that carpeting was unhealthy and removed it from nearly all of the public buildings and schools, installing smooth floors in place.  The result:  Allergic reactions of the occupants and students increased dramatically.  The final determination was that the positive filtering attributes of carpeting had not been taken into consideration or understood better.   Overwhelming evidence now clearly indicates that properly maintained carpeting provides a much healthier benefit than wooden or tiled floors within our homes and indoor environments.  There is a negative stigma associated with carpeting which is undeserved.   Most homeowners do not pay the necessary attention to, nor do they provide the proper maintenance services for their carpeting, and as a result they blame the carpeting for poor performance issues and therefore unhealthy conditions.  Unfortunately for the consumer, most carpet cleaners rinse carpeting with soaps, optical brightening agents, and dirt masking chemicals, all of which essentially mask the contamination, and therefore intensify the problem. 

 At Enviroclean, our company’s primary focus as carpet and floor cleaning professionals is biological contamination remediation.   We can fix any cosmetic or appearance issue, including spots and stains that other carpet cleaners leave behind, however, improving appearance without removing the biological contamination is counterproductive and contributes to an unhealthy condition. The fact is that the homeowner typically addresses the cosmetic care issues of his / her smooth surfaced floors (tile and wood) very regularly, but then neglects the carpeting, which should be cleaned as frequently as replacing the filter on the furnace.  For most of us, that’s approximately 4 times per year.  Unfortunately, the majority of supposed professional carpet cleaners do more damage to carpeting than the hoped benefit, so just imagine the ill effects caused by a homeowner who self-cleans their own carpeting.  Those who choose to self-clean their own carpeting using a rental machine from a store, are merely inviting all of the germs from every home that that machine was used in prior to their own home.

Currently there is a noticeable fanatical endorsement of natural materials within our indoor environments ostensibly because they are natural and thus assumed to be healthier than synthetic materials.  Once again, the facts prevail over the feel-goodism of the moment.  You must not conclude that natural materials are healthier.  For instance, mold spores, bacteria, grass, weeds, and viruses are natural, but we do not install them within our homes.  Natural floor coverings such as wool are made from the hair of sheep, and when you think about it, is actually quite unsanitary.  Would anyone want and accept a carpet made from human hair lying on their floor?  I would guess the answer is probably not.  Hemp and other natural wall coverings provide an excellent food source and promote the growth of mold and bacteria whenever the conditions exist such as high humidity and temperatures.  Mold does not grow on synthetic surfaces such as carpeting; it only grows where there is an organic food source available.  Carpeting is not a food source, however, the trapped contaminates are, which is a great reason to have your carpeting cleaned. Important note:  How and who should perform the cleaning is a whole subject unto itself, however, I must add that we at Enviroclean have been addressing the issue of correct cleaning procedures for proper hygiene for nearly 20 years.

Carpeting is also Greener than wood floors.  So I am compelled to ask.  When did chopping down a tree become classified as being a green activity?  I was always under the impression that planting a tree was green, now it appears that cutting a tree down is also green.  You can’t have it both ways.   Advocates of wood flooring will note that those trees came from “sustainable” forests.  We have already proved that wood floors contribute to an unhealthy indoor environment, and now we discover that wood floors are not very green either.  Yes, they are natural, but so is excrement from our pets, therefore, the goal of natural is not a specific science, but rather an emotionally contrived ideology.  Wood floors have very limited recyclable capabilities.  Wooden floors are also typically treated with polyurethane, Once wooden or tiled floors have been installed, they are not recyclable, they will end up in a landfill (nice term for garbage dump), or perhaps burned where they end up as airborne carbon.  Doesn’t sound very green does it?   Some people have also begun to install wall coverings made from hemp and cotton.  Although these materials are natural, they can also harm the indoor environment by allowing the growth of mold and bacteria.  Mold and bacteria grow where there is a suitable source of food, humidity, and temperature.  Natural materials are themselves the food source.  Wool rugs are also a food source for mold and bacteria.  Conversely, mold and bacteria cannot grow on synthetic materials such as nylon or polyester carpeting.  The food source is the organic contaminates which land upon the carpeting that allow for the growth of mold, but not the synthetic carpeting itself. 

At Enviroclean, our carpet and floor cleaning services employ health and hygienic carpet cleaning standards and protocols.  You should ask yourself, when you have your carpeting cleaned, is it a health related function or a cosmetic function?   Most people clean for appearance with the belief that if it looks cleaner, it must be healthier.  I’m sorry to report, but that’s not necessarily the result.  In fact, most cleaning is performed with the primary goal of improving appearance, which means that the carpet cleaner is being judged by the cosmetic results. 

For more information you can visit their website at www.HealthyCarpetCleaner.com

References and resources:

1.    Swedish study  http://www.interfaceflor.eu/internet/otherfiles.nsf/Lookup/Healthcare_CRI/$file/Healthcare_CRI.pdf

This above link provides volumes of studies and graphical evidence which supports the fact that properly maintained carpeting is significantly healthier than smooth floors.

2.   The health benefits of carpet cleaning

Dr. Michael Berry, in his book “Protecting the Built Environment: Cleaning for Health,” says that most indoor cleaning problems are related to improperly maintained carpeting.

Dr. Berry continues, “Carpets act as a sink to collect pollutants of all kinds from indoors and out, according to Berry. As the sink gets filled up (the carpet gets polluted), it stores more and more dirt, dust and contaminants. When the sink is full, it needs to be emptied.  He says that people clean carpets because they look dirty, although by the time you can see the dirt in the carpet, it is probably filthy. Rarely do people clean their carpets in an effort to protect their health, Berry says, but cleaning carpet regularly can improve indoor air quality.  Some of the benefits of extracting pollutants from carpets include: Reducing health problems from loose particles; reducing cases of biologically induced illness; reducing lifetime cancer risks; reducing complaints for building owners and managers; and reducing liability for building owners and managers.”
 

3.  Additional reference information:

a.  A study covering 23 countries that looked at individuals that had carpeted and non-carpeted bedrooms to determine in which type of rooms people had less allergic reactions. The study revealed that individuals who had carpeted bedrooms had lower allergic reactions to contaminants in the air than did those with non-carpeted bedrooms.

b.  The second study examined asthmatic children in carpeted schools, non-carpeted schools, carpeted bedrooms and non-carpeted bedrooms. Researchers found that those children that had carpeted bedrooms had much less severe symptoms and used less medication than all three of the other groups.

c.  The third study looked at the protective influences of carpet in bedrooms for those children who suffer from asthma. Researchers again found that the “filter-like” capabilities of carpet in the bedroom allowed the children to use lower levels of medication to deal with their asthma than children in non-carpeted bedrooms.