Cleaning Woven Antron Fibre

CREATING A CARPET MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

It's vital you understand the importance of proper carpet maintenance, then you are ready to create a comprehensive maintenance program for your woven Antron fibre carpet.

Step 1: Make preventive maintenance a priority

Preventing soil from entering the environment is easier and less expensive than removing it from the carpet. Here are five simple but important steps in a preventive maintenance program:

Keep outside areas clean

Outside maintenance helps minimize immediate sources of soil. The cleaner you keep sidewalks, parking lots, garages and other areas around the perimeter of your building, the less dirt that will be tracked inside. During winter months, remove as much snow and ice as possible rather than treating it with chemicals or sand.

Use soil barriers

Walk-off mats, grates and removable elevator carpets help collect soil before it can be tracked throughout the building. Be sure soil barriers are large enough to allow for at least five steps across. Vacuum daily, clean frequently and change often for best results.

Protect desk areas

Chair pads under desk chairs prevent casters from crushing carpet and grinding in soil.

Specify eating, drinking and smoking areas

By restricting these activities to limited areas, you can help confine certain difficult kinds of soil.

Step 2: Manage soil with regular vacuuming

Vacuuming is the most important dry soil management procedure. Effective vacuuming removes dry soil so that it cannot spread to other carpeted areas. The level of effective vacuuming has two components: frequency and equipment type.

Vacuuming frequency

• Heavy to moderate traffic areas (entrances, elevator lobbies, reception areas, busy corridors, cafeterias, vending machine areas, employee lounges) should be vacuumed daily.

• Light traffic areas (offices, conference rooms) should be vacuumed at least two to three times per week.

Equipment type

• Powerhead upright vacuums are very effective machines for thoroughly cleaning heavy- to moderate traffic areas. This vacuum uses two motors to clean. One motor drives a beater-brush bar that knocks dirt loose, while the second motor provides suction that pulls dirt into the vacuum bag.

• Barrel vacuums can be very effective machines depending upon their design. For the most part, they should only be used in light-traffic areas. They are generally less powerful than upright vacuums, but easier to maneuver around furniture.

• Carpet sweepers may be used to remove larger particle-sized surface dirt and small litter in high-visibility areas during the business day. However, they are not an effective cleaning method and should not take the place of thorough vacuuming.

Step 3: Promptly remove spills and stains

Although spills are inevitable, permanent stains do not have to be. Most stains can be avoided or removed by immediate, or at least same-day, treatment. It is good practice to have spot and stain removal products and equipment on hand for immediate use.

Correct identification of spots and stains is the first step in proper removal because some types of spills may require special cleaning solutions and techniques. But for most spills, the basic removal procedure is the same:

1. Blot as much of the spill as you can with an absorbent towel. Always work toward the center of the spill. Do not rub! If the spill is solid or semisolid, gently scrape off what you can using a dull knife.

2. Apply a general-purpose carpet spotter to the spill. This is a detergent solution that is specially made for use on carpets. Never use other kinds of cleaning solutions, such as bleach. These may permanently damage the carpet.

3. Tamp or pat in the carpet spotter with a tamping brush.

4. Wait three minutes, then blot again.

5. Rinse with clean water, then blot as dry as possible.

If the stain remains, repeat the entire process. If the stain persists after the second time, contact a maintenance professional.

PROFESSIONAL CLEANING AND EFFECTS OF USING EACH METHOD

Sydney and Nationwide:

Carpet Care Services - Freecall 1800 626 564

Ph: 02 9420 1715 Fax: 02 9420 9629

Host Cleaning Service – Freecall 1300 130 390

OR A.C.T. Ph: 03 9866 8151

Melbourne: Chem Dry 03 9723 7304

Hot water extraction

Extraction machines clean carpet by first spraying hot water and detergent into the carpet pile under pressure, and then removing water, detergent and loosened soil with a powerful vacuum. This method is the most frequently used type of cleaning in the industry and is very effective for deep-cleaning carpet. Caution: Detergent left in the carpet will continue to attract soil (resoil) causing a dingy, dirty appearance.

Dry compound

In this method, dry compound is sprinkled on carpet to attract soil and absorb oil.

A mechanical brush with counter-rotating agitation knocks soil from carpet fibers. The compound is then vacuumed up. Less moisture is used with this method than with hot water extraction, which means a shorter drying time is required for the carpet. Caution: Carpet can appear clean in some areas and less than clean in others due to inconsistent application of the dry compound.

Foam shampoo

This method uses a machine to create foam by air compression and agitation.

A revolving cylindrical brush combs foam through carpet pile. Like dry compound, the foam shampoo method uses less moisture, resulting in short drying times. Caution: A dingy, dirty appearance may result from detergent left in the carpet, and some areas may appear less clean due to inconsistent foam application.

Rotary shampoo

With this method, a solution of detergent and water is fed through a brush into the carpet. A rotating brush agitates the solution into the carpet pile, loosening soil particles from the carpet fibers. This method is usually used in conjunction with the hot water extraction method. Caution: The rotary shampoo method requires the use of a heavy machine that can cause pile distortion or even carpet damage. Damage can also result if the rotating brush dries out during cleaning.