Is Your Home Making Your Family Sick? Most people are aware that outdoor air pollution can damage their health, but may not know that indoor air pollution can also have significant effects. The EPA studies of human exposure to air pollutants indicate that indoor air levels of many pollutants may be 5 times higher than outdoor levels. These levels of indoor air pollutants are of particular concern because it is estimated that most people spend as much as 80% of their time indoors. Over the past several decades, our exposure to indoor air pollutants is believed to have increased due to a variety ..read more

Why does low priced carpet cleaning leave you shortchanged? Low price carpet cleaning companies survive on two things: Volume – which means booking as many jobs as possible each day, get in and get out fast and hopefully complete all of the days bookings – if they show up on-time or show up at all; oh well they tried. Sales – hard sell as many extras as possible before angering the customer – if you don’t buy into the extras they clean as fast as possible – maybe the next job will produce a high ticket price! If your cleaner isn’t taking the time to pre-treat soiled areas, spot clean stains, a ..read more

Generally this happens by mid October however this year it seems to be happening in September, the overnight temperature drops below zero; the lawn mowing is done for another year and most of the yard work has been completed. Alas there is but one last small, but important, chore to do! Turn off the flow of water to the outside faucets, and then open the valve on the outside to drain the water from the valve. This will prevent freezing. Also check to ensure that there is adequate insulation surrounding the pipe connections at the outside wall, since this is where they usually burst. This is al ..read more

Rolling wheels or casters of any type or size (from desk chairs to wheelchairs) over carpeting produces a rippling effect in the carpet backing. In time, repeating this practice will cause the backing to separate, ruining the carpeting. Additionally the wheels of the chair will pack down the carpet fibers and eventually flatten the area permanently. Once flattened it’s simply a matter of time before this area is worn through by the wheels. When wheels are unavoidable, the carpeting should be not be installed over pad but glued directly to the sub-floor. Doing so will not prevent the above dama ..read more

Understanding Traffic Lanes and What Can Be Done About Them: It’s imperative not to forget that carpeting is a textile, just like our upholstery, linens and clothing. After about a year or so; we are not terribly upset when the seat and knees of our $50 jeans become threadbare. Why, on the other hand, do we feel that carpet should last a lifetime? After all, it is a fabric, similar to other products made from textiles. The main reason a carpet shows signs of premature wear is due to improper maintenance. If major traffic lanes were vacuumed daily and professional carpet cleaning was done every ..read more

Germs, mold, fungus, bacteria and chemicals of all kinds can settle onto or be tracked into your carpeting. These biological microbes are alive and thriving in your carpets, and as long as it remains dirty, they will continue to breed and grow. Sticky residue from conventional shampoo, dry foam and dry-chemical methods of cleaning will cause rapid re-soiling due to lack of rinsing and extraction of the chemicals used by these methods. Spots and stains will resurface because they were only pushed a little deeper, and the traffic lanes will appear dirty much sooner for the same reason. Sand, gri ..read more

A carpet that ripples after a professional carpet cleaning is almost always a symptom of an underlying cause. The cause is due to the carpet not being installed correctly when it was new. Not installed correctly means that the carpet was cut to fit and knee-kicked only as opposed to the correct method of power stretching the carpet and only using the knee kicker to position and help tuck the carpet under the baseboard. Over time a loosely laid carpet can contribute to degradation of the latex backing materials which hold together the two carpet backing layers. Such damage to backing is referre ..read more

There is a right way and a wrong way to cleanup an accidental spill on your carpet. What you should NOT do is just as important as what you should do. Step 1: Remove any spilled solid material with a rounded spoon. Blot up as much of the spill as you can. Don’t scrub, scrubbing will only work the spill deeper into the fiber, and may leave a wear mark. Use a white paper towel 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. Step 2 ..read more

Studies show that debris collected from the air filter in a ventilation system contains between 100 and 6,700 bacteria per gram of dust (approx 2,800 – 190,000 bacteria per ounce), from ventilation ducts contains between 50 and 50,000 bacteria per gram (approx 1,400 to 1,400,000 bacteria per ounce), and the floor debris contains similar numbers of bacteria. Other studies show that dust also contains many other biological contaminants such as mite and insect excrement, heavy metals as well as many organic contaminants such as soot, industrial residues and pesticides. Use electrostatic towels, d ..read more

We are often asked, “How often should I have my carpets cleaned?” While we jokingly reply “once a week”, the truth is there is no set amount of time. Cleaning frequency really depends on the type of traffic you have on your carpet and how you maintain it. Some people can get by with professional cleanings every couple of years, while other people need their carpets cleaned every 3 months or so. Appearance alone should not be the determining factor when deciding to clean the carpet. Today’s carpets are engineered to hide soil. In fact, a tan, residential grade Saxony carpet can hide up to a pou ..read more