Commercial Carpet Cleaning

Carpet is a flooring type that is often found in commercial buildings, schools, universities, and hotels for a variety of reasons. One main reason carpet is chosen is because it helps absorb noise, making a room quieter and providing better acoustics. Another reason is that carpet provides more stable footing, lowering the risk of a slip and fall while providing more cushion and reducing injury in case of a slip and fall. Finally, when compared to finished VCT flooring, study after study shows carpet is less expensive to maintain.

An effective carpet maintenance program actually begins outside your building where soil is tracked into the facility on the shoe of each visitor. Here are some statistics that show the importance of addressing soil intrusion:

• 80-94% of soil found inside a facility is tracked in with foot traffic
• A study attributed to the International Sanitary Supply Association showed that 1,000 people per day entering a facility track in 24 pounds of soil over 20 days
• The average grain of sand tracked in on the shoes of visitors polishes like 120 grit sandpaper

The most effective way to stop soil from entering your facility is through sweeping dry soils outside, pressure washing parking lots and walkways to stop oily, sticky soils, and an effective matting program. According to the American Institute of Architects, five feet of matting will capture about a third of walked-in debris; 10 feet will capture 52 percent, 15 feet will capture as much as 80 percent, and 20 to 25 feet of matting can capture 100 percent of soil.

Interim maintenance procedures on the carpet, such as encapsulation cleaning, use less water, detergent, and labor than restorative methods such as hot water extraction. Additionally, encapsulation dries in 30 minutes as compared to 4 to 8 hours for extraction cleaning, returning the space to use much faster.

Because encapsulation uses far less water than extraction, spots do not wick back to the surface after cleaning. In fact, if you were to extract 1,000 square feet of carpet you would use 8 gallons of water and 16 to 24 ounces of detergent. To encapsulate the same 1,000 square feet of carpet would only require 1 gallon of water and 8 ounces of detergent! 

Encapsulation works by separating the oily, sticky soils from the carpet fiber through detergent action. Once the soils are separated, the detergent dries to a flaky, non-sticky crystal around the soil. The soil can be recovered as soon as the carpet is dry in 30 minutes, though most simply recover it during the next scheduled vacuuming.

To encapsulate with the Square Scrub Pivot, follow these steps:

1. Vacuum the carpet thoroughly.
2. Mix encapsulant according to the manufacturers’ directions in a pump-up or electric sprayer.
3. Pre-spray conspicuous or obvious spots to allow for dwell time.
4. Remove the weights from the Pivot and apply the solution tank & dispersion bar.
5. Tip the Pivot back and apply the Microfiber Carpet Pad.
6. Saturate the pad by spraying it with the sprayer.
7. Tip the machine forward onto the pad and fill the solution tank with encapsulation solution.
8. Begin cleaning, moving the machine forward, making long, overlapping passes like a lawnmower.
9. When you come to spots that need extra agitation, work them east-west and north-south, cross-hatching the area.
10. Use the handle to release solution from the tank to keep the pad under the Pivot wet.
11. Check the Microfiber Carpet Pad every time you fill the solution tank for soil loading. Flip or replace as needed.
12. After the area is cleaned, recover the encapsulated soil when the carpet is dry or at the next scheduled vacuuming.

Though encapsulation can replace 3-5 extraction cleanings, you will eventually need to extract your carpet.

When extracting, follow the 4 Principles of Cleaning:

1. Dry Soil Removal – Vacuum first because 79% of the soil in the carpet is dry particulate soil that is most effectively removed in a dry state. The scientific formula we learned as children still holds true in your carpet: water + soil = mud.
2. Soil Suspension – Employing the principles of time, agitation, chemical action, and temperature to separate the soil for extraction. Put down a pre-spray mixed in hot water, agitate it into the carpet, and give it 10-15 minutes to dwell.
3. Extraction – Removing the separated soil.
4. Drying – Use air movers, fans, and HVAC systems to dry the carpet as quickly as possible. Pro-tip: drying the carpet quickly reduces instances of spots returning to the surface!