Commercial Carpet Cleaning

1. Commercial Carpet Cleaning

2. The Process - Overview • Prevacuum- What the janitor did last night doesn’t count! • Spotting – Some stains are best removed before cleaning. • Prespray – Powder or liquid? Which product for this job? • Agitation – How much agitation is required? • Extract – Is fresh water rinse OK? • Post Cleaning – Do I really need to do this step? • Protector – Which carpets need protector? • Pile Setting – When is this necessary? • Drying – Should I leave an air mover?

3. Selecting the Best Products • After we look at the basic steps of commercial cleaning, well look at choosing the most appropriate prespray, boosters, rinses and other cleaning agents.

4. The Process • Prevacuum- No! What the janitor did last night doesn’t count! Commercial carpets are often heavily impacted by tracked in soils. Consider using a counter-rotating brush machine like the Brush Pro to open the pile and loosen soil followed by thorough vacuuming for best cleaning results and to reduce wicking.

5. The Process • Spotting– The majority of stains will be removed in your regular carpet cleaning process. But, some stains are best removed before cleaning. Damp carpet has the effect of diluting stain removal agents. Your experience will tell you what stains require prespotting.

6. The Process • Spotting before cleaning - Use RedZONE for artificial food coloring dyes from Kool-ade, Gatorade and the like. Use StainZONE for mustard and hard to remove stains from organic sources.

7. The Process • Prespray – Powder or liquid? Which product for this job? In general, powders are more economical; Liquids are more convenient and can contain more grease busting solvents. We will compare presprays later in this program.

8. The Process • Agitation – How much agitation is required? Agitation can be accomplished in a number of ways depending upon the carpet’s construction and the soil load. Let’s look at a few options.

9. The Process • Agitation This may be as simple as a Grandi Brush or as aggressive as rotary floor machine with brushes or pads. However, many carpet manufacturers frown on rotary methods. A counter-rotating brush machine like the Brush Pro provides great agitation while really opening up the pile for better cleaning and better final appearance.

10. The Process • Extract – Is a fresh water rinse OK? If there are areas that were covered by furniture or for some other reason did not get presprayed an extraction detergent allows you to clean those less soiled areas. Just water won’t cut it. What about heavily soiled traffic lanes? After 1 or 2 wand strokes your cleaning agent has been extracted. Extraction detergent means you are still cleaning when additional scrubbing is required.

11. The Process • Extract – Get additional cleaning boost by rinsing with White Lightning or End Zone!

12. The Process • Prevent wicking, Protect & Neutralize – Now you can do all 3 in 1 step Wick back of coffee spills, tracked in soils, etc. can be a nightmare on commercial accounts. Encapuguard Green neutralizes alkaline residues, while preventing wicking and slowing resoiling. The carpet will be cleaner when you return in 30, 60 or 90 days! Spray on Encapuguard Green after every commercial HWE cleaning!

13. The Process • Protector – Which carpets need protector? All carpets benefit from protector which add resistance to dry soils, water based soil and oily soils. Olefin especially benefits from resistance to tracked in oils from parking areas and food service areas. If your client’s budget doesn’t include a full application of Maxim Advanced Carpet Protector, Encapuclean Green provides excellent protection between cleanings!

14. The Process • Pile Setting – When is this necessary? Much commercial carpet uses loop pile construction. Most of these carpets won’t need pile setting. A Grandi Brush is a great help when pile setting would improve the appearance!

15. The Process • Drying – Should I leave an air mover? Commercial buildings likely have no open windows; they may shut down A/C and ventilation. Cleaning large areas adds a lot of moisture to the air. This can be a bad combination! Musty odors, even ripples may result. Arrange to keep HVAC operating if possible. Air movers to speed drying are often a necessity!

16. Choosing a Prespray Flex is Bridgepoint’s strongest prespray. It works great on most commercial carpet. Does that mean it’s always the best choice? If the only tool you have is a hammer, every job looks like a nail.

17. Choosing a Prespray Factors to consider: • Soil Load– a less aggressive, less expensive prespray may be fine if the carpet is not extremely soiled. Zone Perfect will work fine and save you money. If the only tool you have is a hammer, every job looks like a nail.

18. Choosing a Prespray Factors to consider: Frequency of cleaning – Carpets that are cleaned frequently will have less soil build-up. Carpets that are cleaned infrequently are more likely to need the hard hitting grease and soil removal ability of Flex.

19. Choosing a Prespray Factors to consider: Type of fiber – Traffic Slamis formulated specifically to remove tracked-in particle soiling that often bind tightly to olefin fiber. Traffic Slam is highly concentrated to save you money and may work as well or better when cleaning olefin. Using Flex on residential carpets could damage the stain resist properties or void a stain resist warranty.

20. The Strengths of FLEX • High pH – Why that helps • Better and faster emulsification and saponification of greases and oils. • Solvents – What do they do? • Dissolve both petroleum and vegetable oils. • Some presprays leave out solvents due to environmental or regulatory concerns • High Cloud Point • Maximum effectiveness is reached above 200OF!

21. Cautions When Using FLEX • High pH – Requires safe practices and PPE; Flex may void stain resist warranties for residential carpets; Flex is not suggested for natural fibers including wool, jute or cotton; Flex will accelerate cellulosic browning if plant fibers are present (jute or cotton) • Solvents – Produce VOCs, which may be regulated, have some odors and can pollute the environment if not disposed of properly. • High Cloud Point – is not as beneficial if high heat is not available.

22. Alternatives to FLEX • TRAFFIC SLAM is a good choice for • Olefin carpets and tracked in soils which are common in commercial settings • BIO BREAK a good choice • When enzyme action is needed to break down tough food spills, including food oils and protein, is desired. • POWER BREAK a good choice • If the economy of a powdered prespray with 100% active ingredients is desired for cleaning apartments, restaurants and restoration situations. • ZONE PERFECT is a good choice for • Light to moderate soils on commercial carpet and Residential nylon carpets with a stain resist warranty

23. Choosing an Emulsifier • Your emulsifier helps assure thorough rinsing and removal of cleaning agents along with the soil. It does this by lowering the surface tension of the rinse water allowing it to penetrate every abrasion, nook or cranny in the carpet fiber and flush away loosened soils. • It also assures you have cleaning ability for areas where no prespray is present or when prespray has already been rinsed away by scrub strokes.

24. Choosing an Emulsifier • White Lightning is a super effective, highly concentrated powder for extraction. It dissolves quickly, blasts away heavy soils while leaving almost 0 residue. • White lightning has a high cloud point, is non-ionic and is economical. The ideal choice for grimy apartments and other heavily soiled commercial carpet.

25. Choosing an Emulsifier • End ZONE is a liquid emulsifier with good cleaning ability. Its powerful surfactants help rinse away sand and other particulates. • End ZONE also neutralizes alkalinity to leave carpets softer and residue free. • End ZONE works in any temperature water. It contains corrosion inhibitors to protect your equipment.

26. Choosing an Emulsifier • Power Point is a versatile liquid extraction formula that is effective on all types of carpet from greasy restaurants to residential carpet. • Power Point leaves no soil-attracting residue behind. A great choice is you prefer to keep it simple and use one emulsifier for every situation.

27. Boosters • Boosters help your prespray cut through heavy greasy build-up while providing other advantages as well. But boosters are not needed on every job. • Let’s look at two popular boosters and see what they have to offer.

28. Boosters • Citrus Solv is one of the most popular products in the industry! The addition of 1 or 2 ounces to each gallon of your prespray cuts through the worst greasy and oily soils to avoid recleaning or additional scrubbing. • Citrus Solv is 100% active ingredients, the most powerful citrus solvent available.

29. Boosters • Boost All adds the power of oxygen to your cleaning solution. The increased alkalinity allows your prespray to continue working longer in the presence of heavy soil. • The oxygen in Boost All whitens and brightens dingy traffic lanes. Colors and bold patterns really pop!

30. Cleaning Options Be sure to watch for Commercial Carpet Cleaning Encapsulation Coming soon to www.CleanWiki.com