_A Rug’s Value can vary from a cheap $100 Pottery Barn rug to a one worth millions of dollars. Cleaning them is a complex subject so I wanted to pass on to my clients some of the industry knowledge and precepts about them.

First of all- there is "surface cleaning" and there is "washing".   Surface cleaning is what a cleaner can do in your home. Washing is done in a "Rug Plant" where rugs can be shook, dusted, bathed, and quick dried.

Most people  want surface cleaning - usually, and every few years will go for a full wash. The price difference is  drastic, maybe 4 to 8 times.
Here are the steps involved in Rug Cleaning.  Once the fibers have been identified:

1. Dry Soil Removal. "Dusting"  
Rugs – ESPECIALLY wool rugs – have a capacity to hold a large amount of soil in them. This is because wool under the microscope looks kind of like fish scales, so lots of layers, with MANY places to hide dirt and grit. It’s these many “little pockets” that hold soil, and why a wool rug can have POUNDS of soil in it and still not look especially dirty. The dirt is hiding. And not just dirt and soil, but a whole host of other contaminants. A Rug Plant has vibration machines that literally shake the soils loose.  In a home this step is done with a vacuum.

2. Testing of dyes
Each color could be an unstable dye. Sometimes these are food dyes added as a last finishing step by the rug maker to brighten areas. Testing these dyes involves applying hot water and high ph cleaning solutions in small areas and checking the results. Most times there are no running colors and cleaning can proceed with no problem. Sometimes colors can transfer or move- and in these cases the cleaner must know how to clean so these dyes do not run or spread.

3. Cleaning and Rinse Method
In a Rug Plant the cleaning method is to bathe the rug. There is a thorough wash and rinse.
In-Home cleaning involves usually Hot-Water Extraction (similar technique to carpet cleaning)  or "Encapsulation" - where soils are set up by a polymer solution to be carried away by regular vacuuming.


4.  Drying
This is done as quickly as possible. In a Rug Plant the rugs are hung and blown dry in sophisticated wind environments. That is because those “tiny pockets” that hold soil, also can hold a lot of water molecules too. Wool rugs get HEAVY when wet, and the inside fibers are absorbent cotton warps and wefts that swell with water, so you need to have the equipment capable of removing that level of moisture so that the rug can be properly and thoroughly dried quickly.

In a home the situation is less drastic because the rugs have not been soaked. Often a high volume air mover is used- other times the sun works fine- while the rug is hopefully suspended above the floor to speed up the drying process.

In Conclusion:
The cleaner must be familiar with all the complexities of Rug Cleaning to safely execute it in the home or in a Rug Plant.
USA Carpet can achieve wonderful surface-cleaning results and also is affiliated with Robert Mann Galleries of Denver for specialty cleaning.

Water Damage Restoration

   USA Carpet is growing into more sophisticated areas. We are actively pursuing certification and expertise in the field of Water Damage Restoration.

   The Carpet Cleaning Industry shares equipment and expertise with several other disciplines- namely Upholstery, Mattress, Rugs, and Tile and Grout cleaning.  Water Damage Restoration is also a closely related field.

In the event of a water pipe break of flooding situation what should the home owner do?

   First of all- stop the source of the water and take immediate steps to dry all affected wet areas.

                                                  Your timing is very important !
   Each day that this condition exists makes the issues, dangers, and expense much greater.  For instance:
An clean water overflow from a bathtub is an easy dry-and-fix if it is attended to within the first 72 hours of occurrence.
It is called a Category 1/ clean water intrusion.  At this point all materials may be dried and reused.

   After 72 hours this same situation escalates to a Category 2/ gray water condition. Now the water contains a significant degree of chemical, biological, and physical contamination with the potential of causing discomfort or sickness in humans. At this point carpet padding must be removed and replaced. The same implications apply to your belongings and other affected materials.

   After 48 more hours this situation escalates to a Category 3/ black water condition. The water now is considered pathogenic, and personal protection is required on anyone working in its proximity. All porous and semi-porous materials affected must be removed. All carpet must be discarded.

   The equipment and efforts needed grow considerably more complex, involved, and expensive as conditions escalate.

   This summary is a very abbreviated synopsis of the efforts to restore a flooded area. There are special tools for restorers beyond the standard "suck-and-dry" equipment that professional Carpet Cleaners own. These include Air-Scrubbers, Moisture Sensors and Meters, De-humidifiers, and other measuring and drying accessories. The body of knowledge needed to effectively use this equipment is also quite extensive.

   If you ever find a flooding situation too much to handle at home you can call USA Carpet to dry out flooded areas for you. We can pull up carpet and dry under and over the sub-floor, and in most cases we can also re-install it too.
Remember-  Your timing is very important!

What Professional Carpet Cleaners Need To Know:

I was talking to a Dishwasher Repairman the other day and some of his remarks got me thinking. He stated that phosphate cleaning agents have become illegal for home use in some states. Since Professional Carpet Cleaning Agents contain mostly Phosphates I was interested in our applied science and the law. Why do we clean with Phosphates?     (These cleaning agents were developed because there were problems with soap and how soap acted in hard water)

Well it IS legal to clean with Phosphates but there are strict laws that must be abided by to do it. These Phosphate compounds form our "synthetic detergents" and they are specifically designed to clean carpets and furniture textiles and fibers.

Detergents and Soaps
The EPA states,
"The word 'detergent' refers to household cleaning products which are based on non-soap, synthetic surfactants and which are primarily used for laundering and dish washing."


Detergents and Soaps in Carpet Cleaning:
Surfactants.  also called surface active agents are the chemicals necessary to reduce the surface tension of water. This property of tension with water causes it to bead-up on surfaces like fabric (you know, like a drop of water on a counter . . . it does not spread-out, but beads up instead) and will slow the wetting of that surface - which inhibits the whole cleaning process. . In order for the water to spread and wet/soak into a surface (like carpet, laundry) - you need surfactants, chemicals that effectively cut the surface tension and are said to "make water wetter."

    So, the first commonality between soaps and detergents, even though they are not exactly the same thing, is that they are both surfactants.

    Both soaps and detergents perform the same task. - As far as removing dirt,  the difference between soaps and detergents are in their composition.

        Soap is produced from natural products. They are FATTY ACID SALTS made by a reaction of fats (an animal fat or a vegetable oil) with LYE (sodium hydroxide). Soaps are salts of carboxylic acids

       Detergents (synthetic surfactants ) are produced entirely in a chemical factory. Detergents are sulfate or sulfonate salts, and can be designed to perform specialized cleaning tasks. 


The development of the first detergents was an effort to overcome the reaction of soaps with hard water.
Detergents react less to minerals in water and do not leave residue.

Disadvantages With Soap;
Due to their gelling properties, soaps have a tendency to clog sewerage reticulation systems, it deteriorates with storage,  lacks cleaning power when compared with the modern synthetic surfactants, and very importantly from a domestic laundry point of view, soap does not rinse out; it tends to leave a residue behind in the fabric that is being washed. A residue gradually builds up and causes bad odor and deterioration of the fabric.
HARD WATER (water containing the dissolved salts of calcium, magnesium and/or iron) causes a problem: the dissolved salts combine with soap molecules to produce a water-insoluble scum (“ring-around-the-tub”).
That build-up would detract from the fabric's maximum absorption capabilities. Soaps form a scum in hard water and this scum will not rinse away easily and is known to turn laundry a grayish hue. The insoluble film it leaves can leave a residue on your laundry much like you would see in a shower stall where hard water is present.

Our modern technological solution (since the 1940s) to the soap scum problem is to use SYNTHETIC DETERGENTS which don’t precipitate the mineral salts found in hard water. Some of these synthetic detergents are chemically related to soaps, as they are derived from the same fatty acids used to make soaps.



Detergents and Soaps in Carpet Cleaning:

Professional Carpet Cleaners have access to cleaning compounds that are not available to the general public. Cleaning technologies refined since the 1940's have addressed the interactive issues between  material and chemicals.

First of all- as Professional Cleaners we are  privy to a wide range of Phosphate Cleaners.
We are bound by law that directs us to dispose of our used solution water somewhere other than public sewers and drains. Usually this means we must empty water on lawns or fields- and since Phosphates are fertilizer for plants this is considered a good thing.

Phosphates are naturally occurring in the environment as a result of rock weathering and organic decomposition. Phosphates in the water only become a problem when they reach “unnaturally” high levels and are taken up by phytoplankton and other aquatic plants. When this occurs these high levels can result in algal blooms. By sending detergents used for washing clothes, dishes, cars etc down the drain and into our waterways we cause ecological imbalances.  Effectively as the algae grows it uses up the oxygen in streams which then endangers fish and aquatic life.

Professional Carpet Cleaners, like everyone else,  have a responsibility to understand their impact on the environment. By being aware we are able to use the right chemicals (what's best for people and fabric) and apply used water and agents into the environment in a manner that actually enhances life and health.
That is a VERY GOOD THING!

Competition in Carpet Cleaning

          Broadly speaking, in Carpet Cleaning a cleaner is competing either to be the cheapest or to be the best.
These thoughts occurred to me lately while I was working on a client's home carpet. A neighbor of hers had called to say she had her 2000sf home cleaned for $150.00. My first thought was "Could I do that?"  
To come up with a "YES" answer what would I need to do?

       Time:   I would need to be in and out of the job in about 2 hours.  Now I spend more than 4 hours on a job that size.
         Chemicals:   I'd need to use cheaper chemicals- maybe over-the-counter broad spectrum soaps instead of the Free-Rinsing Detergents I currently use.
(The problem is that I know too many reasons why these cheap soaps should not be used)

    Fuel Costs: Turning down my temperatures from Steam to  warm. Some of the laundry soaps are cold-water so that would help.

       Cleaning:  I'd need to wash over Amimal Spots as if they were common soil instead of disinfecting, rinsing, and deodorizing.

      I would need to do away with the education and improvement budget and instead attend Marketing seminars where the lauguage of "cheap" has become a religion.
I would need to do away with Business Insurance, Quality Check calls, and free offers.
      The Industry Standards that were developed to protect consumers could not be followed because they dictate steps too costly to implement.  
             (these involve knowledge and proper techniques for fiber and chemistry , behavior of soils in textiles, protection of  homeowners  investment. etc..)

        I couldn't permit myself the enjoyment of washing down baseboards and vents, and corners thick with dust, or making small repairs.
        I would not be allowed to stand back after a day's hard work and enjoy the GLOW of the TRANSFORMED and HEALTHY HOME knowing that I had used my knowledge and training, the
BEST PRODUCTS AND EQUIPMENT available, and mostly-
my Whole Heart in bringing this all to my client.

Can I mention- Your Carpet Cleaner finds Great JOY providing his service? He feels that "Life is too short!"

When budgets are an issue I can work out solutions with a client. If that is necessary I can make cuts in areas that don't compromise someone's health and happiness. The difference here is that we make decisions using KNOWLEDGE rather than nickels and dimes.

A Great Cleaner knows there is no way to get cheaper and cheaper without cutting corners, reducing quality, and cheating.

The Great Carpet Cleaner and the cheap carpet cleaner come from different worlds and really have a very hard time being friends because their ideologies clash.
The readers of this newsletter have not fallen for cheapness and have received good knowledgeable care on their textiles. We at USAC renew our commitment for out Work Integrity , Quality, and Truely Fair Pricing.

Clean first for health, then for appearance.
    Is the air starting to smell stale? Great News! Pollutants in the air are filtered through your carpet. The carpet traps them so you don’t breathe them over and over. What happens when the trap gets full? Your family starts breathing dust mite debris, cat dander, pollens, fungus, spores, bacteria, chemicals, scores of known  carcinogens, and a long list of really gross stuff.
    Tearing out the carpet is not the answer!
    The Environmental Protection Agency found that homes with carpet are healthier as long as they are cleaned frequently. This is because of your carpet’s natural filtering ability which traps all that junk, so your family doesn’t breath it over and over. Once your carpet’s natural filtering ability is full...it’s time to thoroughly clean it, for your health’s sake.

I am a hopeless Do-It-Yourself-er. After all- it is the American way.
My family helped settle the American West and I somehow carry on the genetic memory
that makes me resort to self-reliance when things get real serious.

I've also learned that there are some occasions where asking professional help would
have been a good idea. Situations like hanging exterior doors and wiring home electrical
panels come to mind as a couple of my greatest 'moments of truth'. I could add others too-
like home heating systems, bathroom installations, and carpet cleaning.

Yes- Carpet Cleaning, and It is from the perspective of being a reformed carpet cleaner that
I'd like to share a couple lessons.

         It is when I walk into a new job and hear the story that someone has been cleaning their own
carpet for years and now there are so many brown and yellow spots they need to ask a
professional's help that I can see myself most clearly. The store-rental and home cleaning
machines look like they can do the job- and the ads say they can- so why not?
                          After becoming a Pro I can now say 'why not'.

Training, Knowledge Power, Experience, Heat, High Powered Cleaning Equipment- 
                                                        ( I could go on--)
(these are all things you do not get when you rent a store machine- yet they are the most important!)

When you hire a trained professional- (at least when you hire one from USA Carpet) you are getting
someone with training in Cleaning Chemistry, the understanding of many different textiles including
all Carpet types,  Physiology of Enzymes, Stains and Odors, Steam to clean and disinfect, High-powered
Vacuum to carry all contamination away from your home or business, and a broadness of knowledge and
experience that is capable of handling a very broad spectrum of home-owners and situations as you would
expect from a Professional. You also get a Personal Comittment to bring the latest in industry developments and technologies to your situation.        And You Get This With A SMILE AND A GUARANTEE!

As time goes by I will add to these blogs many articles with hints, facts, and tips for the homeowner. It is my hope to participate with my clients to help them best preserve their carpets and textiles. There are, after all, many things a Do-It-Yourself-er can and should do. Most incidential situations can be handled at home with a few tips and tricks.
Here's to the American Way!   Here's to self-reliance!   And here's to my favorite company-
USA Carpet Cleaning of Denver!