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.