8 Steps to Clean Residential Carpet

Introduction

We limit our discussion of residential carpet cleaning to the most common types of carpet found in homes and refer you to other brochures and resources for the carpets that we consider “specialty” carpets. The most common types of residential carpet are synthetic (man-made) fibers in a cut-pile formation. By far the most common fiber is nylon but polyester and olefin are making some headway in the residential market. Specialty carpets include wool or cotton fibers along wit woven carpets, both wall to wall and loose rugs. We will confine this discussion to tufted carpet made of nylon or polyester.

Procedure

Virtually every residential nylon carpet that you see will be protected with stain resist technology. This keeps the carpet from being soiled and stained easily, but no carpet is completely stain proof. In order to maintain the effectiveness of the stain and soil resistance you should follow certain guidelines. Going outside these guidelines can cause damage to the protective coating and even result in warranties being voided. The recommendations that follow will keep you within these parameters and produce excellent results to clean residential carpet.

Step 1 DRY SOIL REMOVAL

Begin by vacuuming the carpet to remove dry soil. It is easier to remove many soils before they are mixed with cleaning solutions.

Step 2 SPOTTING

Determine which spots will need extra attention prior to cleaning and go to work with a spotting kit

Step 3 PRESPRAY

Apply DOMINATOR to the carpet using a quality sprayer . A quality prespray will soften and loosen the soil for quicker more thorough cleaning. Although optional, it is often a good idea to agitate the carpet with a grandi-groomer. This will work the solution into the carpet and the physical agitation will loosen the soil. For heavily soiled carpet add CITRUS SOLV to your prespray to enhance your cleaning action.

Step 4 EXTRACT

This step is the “rinse cycle” where you wash the dirt away that was loosened in the preconditioning phase. Use GOLD LX in the chemical injection system of the truckmount or in the solution tank of your portable machine.

Step 5 NEUTRALIZE

Spray the carpet with a dilute solution of POWerRINSE. This will neutralize any alkaline residue left from the prespray or emulsifier in the rinse stage.

Step 6 PROTECT

Apply STAIN BLOCKER 5:1 carpet protector to the cleaned area.

Step 7 PILE SETTING

Groom the carpet in one direction to remove wand marks and footprints. This creates a good visual impression but more importantly it aids drying by straightening and separating the fibers.

Step 8 DRYING

Take all steps necessary to dry the carpet quickly. This would include using ceiling fans, opening windows, or preferably the use of an AIR MOVER.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Furniture moving- When moving furniture for your customers be sure to use foam blocks or plastic pads to protect both the furniture from the damp carpet and the carpet from absorbing stain or rust from the bottom of furniture. In general, furniture should be moved first, cleaned under and returned to original position before cleaning traffic areas.
• Protect the customer’s home and furnishings by using protective accessories such as Corner Guards, Safe Connects and Door Jams.
• A great marketing tool is to leave something behind with your name on it that the customer will use regularly. AVENGE SPOT REMOVER or AVENGE PRO are excellent for this purpose.

CAUTION –

1. On extremely dirty carpets you may need to use chemicals with a pH over 10. These can neutralize the stain resistance of carpet. Correct it by applying Power Rinse then apply Stain Blocker 5:1
2.  Be sure that your equipment vacuum system is working well to avoid extended drying times

OVERVIEW

Procedure:

1. Pre-vacuum carpet
2. Pre-spot difficult spots using a spotting kit
3. Pre-spray with Dominator boosted with Citrus Solv

   

4. Extract with Gold LX
5. Neutralize with Power Rinse
6. Apply Stain Blocker 5:1 carpet protector
7. Groom carpet where needed
8. Quick dry with air movers

More Info: Technical Bulletins, Test Methods and Information From CRI