Best Carpet Cleaning Method

Finding a carpet cleaner is often confusing because there are so many different methods offered. It is very hard to judge one company from another if they are using totally different methods to clean your carpet. Knowing the difference between these methods will help you better understand how to get the best cleaning for your carpet.

 

One of the lesser used methods to clean carpet is the dry method. Dry carpet cleaning methods are often used in commercial carpet cleaning; however, some companies will also utilize them in residential homes. Usually, a compound is sprinkled on the carpet and raked in. This compound is allowed to absorb soil and dries. After it has dried it is vacuumed up. In theory, the soil is encapsulated by the compound and removed through vacuuming. The problem with this method is that not all of the compound is always vacuumed up. This compound may be left behind to attract more soil and make the carpet look dirty faster.

 

Traditional steam cleaning has been around for many years. The majority of carpet cleaners will utilize this method of cleaning. More often than not, they will have a truck-mounted unit in conjunction with a traditional floor wand. Traditional steam cleaning uses high heat along with high water pressure to literally blow the soil off fibers and attempt to vacuum it up. The problem with traditional steam cleaning is that often drives the soil into the backing of the carpet, making it harder to remove with vacuum.

 

Finally, many carpet cleaners these days will describe their cleaning methods as low moisture cleaning. Low moisture may include methods such as bonnet cleaning. With bonnet cleaning a cleaning solution is sprayed on the carpet and allowed to dwell for 15 to 20 minutes. Then cotton pads are used on a machine to absorb the cleaning solution. Other low moisture cleaners may use truck-mounted carpet cleaning machines in conjunction with special floor machines that do not use as much cleaning solution as traditional carpet cleaning wands. These cleaners often are able to utilize much less moisture because of increased agitation with the floor machine.

Carpet Cleaning Shampoo

Now I know that many of you have seen infomercial after infomercial that claims to offer the next great wonder in carpet cleaning shampoo. So do any of these products actually stand up to the claims that they make in their marketing material? Well I've found one l that I think is worth mentioning. The product is called Awesome and it comes highly recommended. Now I know that is a unique name but I can tell you that my sister-in-law purchased this product and absolutely raves about its effectiveness. She said that she is hooked and recently mailed me a bottle. Now I haven't had the opportunity to test this out myself so I can't really comment from personal experience but both my sister-in-law and my Uncle have claimed that this is the best cleaning product that they have ever tried. I will be sure to let you all know what my thoughts are on this once I receive and test out the sample. Stay tuned....

Carpet Pad Disposal

I thought I would write a quick blog post talking about the proper way to dispose of used carpet padding. Now we all have a responsibility to make sure we do our part to preserve and protect our environment and it has come to my attention that many people are unaware of how they can dispose of their used carpet pad in an eco-friendly way. So this post should help you all out with that. In every major city that I have ever worked in they have what is known amongst installers as a "pad house". This is a place where installers go to both buy carpet pad and dispose of old carpet pad. What do these pad houses do? Simply put, they take old used carpet pad and recycle it. They then sell the recycled pad at a discount when compared to new pad and this is why installers love these places. Instead of paying a dump to dispose of their pad, they can take it to the pad house where they will be paid money for bringing in the old pad. Now this isn't huge money but it sure beats paying the landfill to dispose of the old stuff. So if you are planning on remodeling your home, I would encourage you to take some time and research where a pad house exists in your community. A simple google search of carpet pad recyclers YOURCITY should put you on the right track to finding a pad house in your area. You can also talk to a few local carpet installers who should also be able to point you in the right direction.

Red Carpet Events: The Aftermath

Have you ever wondered what happens to all that red carpet that is used at premiers and A-list Hollywood functions? Well there are quite a few different paths that that red carpet could travel after having served its initial purpose of allowing the stars of entertainment to grace it with their presence. Since the carpet is usually still in very good shape after only one night of use it is often still desirable for many people. It is not uncommon for carpet companies to donate this used red carpet to drama schools or community theater programs. These programs often need to build sets for productions with a bare-bones budget and this carpet can really help allay some of the set creation costs. It is also recycled commonly. Since manufactures have become more and more adept at recycling carpeting this has also become a very common path for used red carpet to travel. These are just a couple of ways, we might revisit this topic in the future and provide even more information.

Berber Carpet: The Pros and Cons Part 1

Many people have a love affair with Berber carpet. This is not without good reason. Berber carpet has several distinct advantages over many other types of carpet and this makes it an attractive option for many home-owners. For one, Berber carpet is often perceived to be more durable than many other popular types of carpet. This is true to a certain extent but is not as true as most people might lead you to believe. The quality and durability of a piece of carpet is largely a product of the thickness and ounce weight of that particular carpet. This means that a light(ounce weight) Berber is not going to be more durable than a heavy(ounce weight) plush carpet. However, comparing apples to apples, when the ounce weight and other quality measurements are similar, Berber carpets tend to last on average slightly longer than many other types of carpet. So we see that durability can be one of the pros for Berber carpet. Let's look at some of the cons. One major con for Berber carpet is that it tends to be more pricey on average than other carpet options. It is also more expensive to install than virtually any other type of carpet. Again this is an apples to apples comparison for standard carpet weights. Now this just scratches the surface of Berber carpet; in the coming posts we will go into much more detail on Berber carpet and cover many more pros and cons.

Plush Carpet: An Overview

Plush carpet is one of the most popular carpet options amongst home-owners over the last 2 decades has been plush carpet. Plush carpet is popular for a variety of reasons. One of the most obvious reasons is its price. Plush carpeting is cheaper in price than the vast majority of other carpet and flooring options. This is primarily due to the fact that it is often made from readily available material and it has a relatively low production cost. One of the most popular materials used in plush carpeting is nylon. In addition to nylon plush carpet is also made with synthetic materials like polyester. While there are advantages and disadvantages of each type of carpeting material the most popular is definitely nylon. Nylon is slightly more expensive in general when compared to polyester. One primary reason that it is still more popular is that it has on average a longer life. This attracts many consumers since the price difference is usually minimal. We will go into this in much more detail in the coming posts. Stay tuned!

Carpet Installation

In a recent conversation with my buddy Ron who provides carpet installation in Atlanta, I was told that the slow down in real estate has really changed the landscape of the carpet industry in Georgia. We talked about how consumers are now looking for lower cost flooring options and many of the companies who were surviving on the margins have gone under. Now this was a pretty sad conversation since I knew quite a few of the vendors who we spoke about that had to fold. These were solid Atlanta flooring companies. One company had a history back to the mid 50's and had to close shop this past November. What is the lesson in all of this? Well the primary lesson that I took from our conversation was the importance of staying aggressive in business. Ron and I have been working together for a long time and he has had a steady stream of business in spite of the slow down experienced in the greater market. The primary reason that he has been successful is that he knows how to cultivate relationships. He has used that charisma to build relationships over the years and has consistent annual business from trade shows, conventions, and many red carpet events. This along with his low cost solid wood flooring keeps him working. If you are looking to learn a little about carpet installation or hardwood flooring in Atlanta, leave a comment and I will be sure to give you Ron's contact information because he really is a very affable guy who will go out of his way to help others. This is how he builds such strong relationships that last him for many many years. Well that's all for today but if you are in business or thinking about going into business remember the lessons of many of these failed companies and do your best to stay aggressive and treat people right.

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