Developing an effective maintenance plan for your carpet is critical to maximizing your investment. The article below explains how cleaning a carpet too often can actually damage the very asset your are trying to protect. Keep an eye out for more articles in our carpet care series.
When it comes to commercial cleaning, there are some practices that customers understand and are comfortable with, and there are some services that aren’t as familiar. Nearly everyone understands concepts like dusting, for example, or taking out the trash, because everyone performs those tasks at some point.
The average person, though, rarely performs some commercial cleaning tasks – and, consequently, those tasks aren’t as well understood.
Commercial carpet cleaning is one of those tasks. Most people have carpets in their homes, but they rarely clean them using commercial equipment. Often, homeowners will have their carpets professionally cleaned, so they never develop an understanding of how the process actually works. And that can lead to some misconceptions.
The common line of thought is this: clean is good, so the more often you clean carpet, the better – right?
Well, not necessarily. Let’s take a look at how commercial carpet cleaning works, and discover why you shouldn’t over-clean your carpets.
How Commercial Carpet Cleaning Works
There are two main techniques of commercial carpet cleaning: dry carpet cleaning, and steam cleaning.
Dry carpet cleaning involves rubbing a solution or foam into the carpet that is designed to attract dirt. When this foam dries, it’s vacuumed up, along with all of the dirt it’s displaced.
The second option for carpet cleaning, steam cleaning, is generally considered a deeper cleaning method. This method actually doesn’t use steam. Instead, it essentially shoots highly pressurized hot water into the carpet and then immediately vacuums it back up.
In order to clean carpet in a commercial facility, both procedures are fairly labor intensive and require the use of commercial cleaning equipment.
How Often Should You Clean Commercial Carpet?
So, now that you have a bit of information on the procedures, how often should you actually clean your commercial carpet?
Well, the answer varies according to your space and needs.
One major consideration is the amount of foot traffic in a given area. If your carpet is covering a high-traffic hallway, for example, it will need to be cleaned much more often than the carpet in a seldom-used conference room.
However, you may not need to have your carpets cleaned quite as frequently as you’d think. Here’s why:
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Frequent Cleaning Can Wear Down Your Carpet
Cleaning too frequently, especially with chemical solutions, can actually wear down your carpet by loosening the fibers, making the carpet loose and more susceptible to dirt.
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Frequent Carpet Cleaning May Be an Unnecessary Expense
Sure, having your carpet cleaned as often as possible may sound like a good idea – but it can be hard to tell the difference between a carpet that was cleaned three months ago, and one that was cleaned six months ago. Don’t pay for a service when it’s likely you (or anyone else) won’t even be able to observe whether or not it was done.
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Spot Cleaning May Be All You Need
If you have a stain that’s bothering you, you may not need a full-scale carpet cleaning. Spot cleaning services can be perfect for troublesome areas, and they’re often more efficient than full cleaning.
The Right Frequency of Carpet Cleaning
As a commercial cleaning company in Maryland, we’ve been doing this for decades. When we provide you with a proposal of services, we’ll suggest the frequency of carpet cleaning that makes the most sense for your area. We won’t overcharge you for services you don’t need, but we’ll also be sure that your carpet is being kept at the optimal level of cleanliness.
We believe that when you hire a commercial cleaning company, you shouldn’t have to worry about when and if the cleaning is being done. The cleaning should just be done, in a time and way that satisfies you and your tenants.
Commercial carpet cleaning is no different. Get in touch with us today to find out how our janitorial services can put you and your carpet at ease.