Carpet Cleaning Bradenton FL

Are you about to have a nervous breakdown because your three year old decided to express her artistic abilities all over the living room carpet? Try these simple steps first before resulting to pharmaceuticals.

Ink removal can be one of the trickiest things to remove from your carpet and upholstery. A spot the size of the head of a pin can grow to the size of a softball if you aren’t careful. Don’t attempt this if there is a lot of ink on your upholstery or carpet. It may call for a professional with some experience in the matter. Make sure that if you do call a professional that he is IICRC certified. An amateur could make things worse for you. If you are going to attempt this yourself, make sure that you test any products that you use on an inconspicuous area first. You don’t want to end up with a bleached spot in the middle of you living room.

      1) Use a dropper to drip a barrier of hydrogen peroxide around the ink spot. This will keep the ink contained within the peroxide barrier so that it doesn’t get bigger.

     2) Put some ink remover (can get from janitorial supply store) or acetone (nail polish remover) on a white cotton towel.

     3) blot the spot with the acetone/ink remover from the outside of the spot while working you way to the middle until there is no more ink transfer to the towel. Be careful not to take color out of the fabric or carpet you are working on. If you do, you will be trading one problem for another.

     4) drip a little acetone/ink remover onto the spot and vacuume with a wet/dry vac. DO NOT saturate the spot with acetone/ink remover because it will delaminate the carpet.

     5) Stop when the spot does not transfer to the towel anymore or is completely gone.

     6) Rinse the spot well with a neutral pH spot remover. A few drops of Dawn dish detergent to a half cup of water will work fine. Don’t make it too soapy or the soap will attract soil. Rinse again with plain water until there is no more residue.

Have you ever wondered if you are cleaning your floors and fabrics enough? Or too much? Are there frequency guidelines for professional cleaning? If so, where do you find them? Surely you have heard “Wait as long as you can before you clean your carpet…” or “Once you’ve cleaned your carpet, it’s never the same…”.  These widely used comments have stemmed from unfortunate encounters with uninformed cleaners that have left the carpet with an overload of detergent residue. The consumer has assumed that this is the case with all carpet cleaning and resolved to wait until the carpet is in dire straights to clean it.  The good news is that a properly cleaned carpet will not re-soil as quickly and will actually last longer. Why? Because damaging soils are removed with effective cleaning. Soil that is not removed by vacuuming, even though it can rarely be seen by the naked eye, cuts and slices on the carpet fibers as the carpet is being walked on breaking down the carpet yarns in the traffic areas. The result is that even with restorative cleaning at that point, it will not correct the damage that has been done to the fiber. Fiber producers and carpet manufacturers recommend that a residential carpet should be professionally cleaned at least 18 to 24 months for best performance, more often in heavily trafficked and heavy soiling situations.  A Clean Carpet is a Healthy Carpet Not to mention that a carpet that is not cleaned on a regular basis is an unhealthy carpet. Carpet is like a sink. It collects soils, pollens, insecticides, exhaust, etc. that gets tracked in or blown in from the polluted outdoors. This creates and unhealthy indoor environment.  What About My Hard Surface Floors and Rugs?  Hard surface floors can also be permanently damaged by not being professionally cleaned on a regular basis. For example, hardwood floors get deep scratch patterns. The grout on stone and tile floors isn’t sealed or the sealer has been affected by household cleaners and no longer repels the soil and spillage. Also, the grout is a “valley” that the soil gets mopped into on a daily basis.  And finally, a 9 x 12 Oriental Rug can hold up to 87 pounds of soil without looking dirty! This was demonstrated by a study done by the Eureka Vacuum Cleaner Company. So, get your rugs cleaned about once a year as well.

 Unfortunately spots happen and usually this time of the year when all your friends and family come to visit. If your family is anything like the family on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, you’re going to get spots. Relax. Don’t Panic. The following procedures will help you with removing those unsightly spots from your carpet and upholstery.  If you need further assistance, Guaranteed Carpet & Tile Care’s highly trained and friendly staff can bail you out of almost any situation. Hope this helps you survive the holidays. There will be a home spotting guide coming soon to our website www.carpetcleaningsarasota.com . Please check back often.

1. Catch it while it’s fresh, when chances of removal are 75% better. Don’t iron or hot-air dry until the stain is gone. Heat will set most stains.  
2. First blot up all the liquid and scrape up all the solids you can. On a large liquid spill you can use a wet/dry vac. Be careful not to spread the stain.
3. Test any chemical you intend to use in a hidden area to make sure it won’t discolor or damage the surface.
4. Apply spotter and work from the outside of the stain in, to avoid spreading. Blot, don’t scrub; strike with the flat face of a spotting brush if needed to help break up the stain.
5. Rinse chemical spotters out with water, blot the area dry and feather the edges. Brush or fluff up pile or nap.

6. On carpet and upholstery, put a thick pad of toweling over the spot, weight it down with books, and leave it there overnight to “wick up” any remaining moisture.

Good Luck and Happy Holidays

Kenny Ferguson

Hello and welcome all friends and clients.  I will be occasionally posting useful information on spot removal, floor selection, and maintenance issues.

Please check back often.

Thanks,

Kenny Ferguson