Carpet Cleaning Bristol

What is natural carpet cleaning? Natural carpet cleaning involves the use of safe cleaning ingredients. In general, the cleaners that are used in a natural process will contain no petrochemicals and solvents. The ingredients in the solutions being used are generally safe for your family, your pets and the environment.

Is natural carpet cleaning effective? Many people think that because a carpet cleaner is using natural ingredients that the carpet cleaning will be less effective. This is not the case. Today’s natural cleaners are just as effective as old-fashioned cleaning chemicals. They’re just much safer to use and more pleasant to be around.

Are there advantages to natural cleaners? There are many advantages to using natural cleaning chemicals. The most obvious is of course that it is safer for you and the environment. An advantage that you might not think about is that natural cleaners tend to leave less residue. This results in carpets that stay clean longer.

What is wrong with non-natural cleaners? Non-natural cleaners have proven to be effective but there are some drawbacks. Many of the ingredients used are carcinogens and have unpleasant odors. They can be unsafe to be around and also very unpleasant.

How do I find a natural carpet cleaner? These days, it is becoming much easier to find cleaners who use natural ingredients. To find one, just do a search for carpet cleaning and of the words natural or soap free. You should get many choices from which to choose.

Is natural cleaning more expensive? In most cases, it is not. Natural carpet cleaning solutions cost no more than traditional cleaners so in general your rug cleaning service will probably charge no more than old-fashioned carpet cleaner.

Bonnet cleaning is the process where a pre-spray is applied to the carpet and then extracted using bonnets on a rotating floor machine. We will explain it in detail below.

The Equipment

With the bonnet process, the carpet cleaner uses a rotary floor machine similar to a floor buffer. The machine usually spins at 175 revolutions per minute but some will spin at 300 rpm. The faster speed buffers are usually used for commercial cleaning only. The slow speed model is more often used with residential carpet. On the bottom of the machine the cleaner will have a drive block which is a plastic block with plastic spikes designed to hold the cleaning pad in place.

The bonnets themselves are usually 100% cotton in residential cleaning. They may also be a mix of synthetic and cotton or can be a micro fiber. The 100% cotton bonnets are the most absorbent but the least durable. They will usually be of a looped construction somewhat resembling a mop head.

The Process

The carpet is first sprayed with a pre-spray which is allowed to dwell on the carpet for 5 to 15 minutes. The bonnet is then placed on the floor and the machine is centered over the bonnet. The cleaner will either use a dry or slightly moistened bonnet. Either way is fine as long as the carpet is sufficiently wet (for lubrication). The machine is then engaged and the bonnet will turn in a circular motion. The cleaner moves the machine from side to side, changing or rinsing the pad as it becomes soiled.

Variations

A variation of this method is the orbital pad method. This method is similar except that an orbital or oscillating machine is used along with thinner cotton pads. This machine rotates the pads in a random semi circular method. The advantage is that this provides increased agitation.

Drying

This process generally leaves the carpet dry within 1 to 2 hours although some cleaners may dry the carpet in as little as 15 minutes by using carpet fans. It is always a good idea to turn ceiling fans on and turn your HVAC system on run after having your carpets cleaned to speed drying.

Your carpet cleaner left your home or office a few hours ago and while examining your newly clean carpet you find that it has wrinkles now. Ripples are all over your carpet and you are in a panic. Did they just ruin your carpet? Calm down, all is probably going to be fine. Let’s learn about what has just happened.

Post Cleaning Ripples on Residential Carpet

There are a few things that are causing your ripples. First, residential carpet is rarely installed correctly these days. Because of this, it is usually a little loose to begin with. It might look fine to you, and it might lay flat most of the time, but it probably does not have the needed tension. This is contributing to your problem because just a little bit of expansion on your carpet will cause a major change in appearance.

The main cause of the problem though is the carpet backing itself. Carpet manufacturers use clay as a filler in the latex backing. When this backing absorbs moisture, it will expand.  So, when the clay in the backing is damp, your carpet is actually bigger. This will cause wrinkles or ripples to appear on the surface. If a manufacturer uses more clay than average in the backing, the problem is more noticeable.

To remedy this situation, you simply need to let the carpet dry completely. Once it is dry, it will go back to normal. This can take 24 to 36 hours on very humid days. To speed the process, use fans to help dry the carpet and turn your homes air conditioning on to reduce humidity levels.

Post Cleaning Ripples on Commercial Carpet

Commercial carpet is typically glue down carpet. When commercial carpet gets too wet, the glue or adhesive can loosen. Just like with residential carpet, the backing can also expand when it becomes wet. Combine these two things and you get wrinkles in the carpet.

In most cases, the carpet will lay back down flat when it dries. The backing will dry out and the carpet will lay flat and re adhere to the sub-floor. This can take 24 to 36 hours during humid times. If, after a few days, you still have a wrinkle or a loose spot on the carpet, glue can usually be injected under the carpet to reattach the carpet.

When you hire a carpet cleaning company, you want to hire the best. This really goes without saying but it is not as easy as it sounds. How can you find out which companies are the top rated when they all claim to be just that, the best. Well, here is some advice that should help you find the best cleaning companies in your city.Review Services     There are plenty of review services on the internet that rank companies. These include such places as Yelp, Google Places, Judy’s List and Angie’s List. here are more, but these are some of the biggest websites. When looking at these websites, you must keep in mind that it is easy for companies to post fake reviews on most of them. Because of this, you should use caution with companies whose reviews are too good to be true. It is much harder for companies to game Angie’s List, but this website will cost you to join.

Search Engines     You can also use search engines to find out which companies truly are top rated. Do a search for their name on search engines and see what pops up. Throw in some keywords with their name like reviews or complaints to further refine your results.

BBB     The Better Business Bureau can be another source of information on companies. They track companies and complaints against them. Do keep in mind though that the BBB is a for-profit organization.

Have you gotten blood on your carpet? Perhaps you cut your finger on a piece of broken glass or maybe your dog cut his paw in the yard. Either way, you have blood on your carpet and you want it out. Here are several ways that you can remove the blood from your carpet.Remove blood with cold water. This is one of the easiest and safest way to remove blood without setting the stain. Get some cool water and a white cotton towel. Dampen the towel and wring it out. Now, blot the stain until no more blood transfers to the towel. Work from the outside towards the center of the spot. This will keep the spot from spreading. Also, be sure to blot and not rub. Rubbing the spot can spread it and can also damage the texture of the carpet.

Remove blood with ammonia. Mix a tablespoon of household ammonia in a cup of water. Ammonia is very potent so do not inhale it and use it in a well ventilated area. Moisten a white cotton spotting towel with the solution and blot the spot working from the outside towards the center. Just like with water, be sure to blot the spot and do not rub. Repeat until no more blood transfers to the spot.

Remove blood with peroxide. Use 3% hydrogen peroxide, the kind commonly available in the pharmacy. Pour just a little of the peroxide onto the spot. Do not soak it. Allow the peroxide to foam up and blot it with a clean and dry cotton towel. Repeat this process several times or until no more of the blood is removed.

Hire a professional. If the spot is very large, you might need to call a professional to clean it. Be sure to tell them the nature of the spot when you call your carpet cleaner so they will have what they need to handle the situation. Blood stains call for specialized solutions.

Okay, so you’ve just knocked over the candle which has been burning for a few hours and now their is a pool of candle wax sitting on your carpet. Don’t worry, its not all that bad. Wax is actually quite easy to remove. The real problem isn’t the wax, its the dye in the candle. Sometimes it will remain after the wax is removed. If that happens, you will want to contact a carpet cleaning professional to remove the dye. Lets go over how to remove it.

What you’ll need.

First off, you will need a couple of 100% cotton terry cloth towels. You should be able to find these at the grocery store for about a dollar a piece. Next you need a dull instrument to scrape with. A spoon will work. Finally, you need a steam iron.

Step One

First you want to scrape up as much wax as possible off of the surface. Do not get too aggressive here. You just want to gently remove as much as you can, you don’t want to tear up your carpeting.

Step Two

Take your terry cloth towels and soak them with water. Wring them out so that they are just damp. Now take your steam iron and set it on the lowest steam setting. Be careful not to place the iron on the carpet as it will melt very quickly.

Step Three

Place the damp towel over the wax. Now take the steam iron and place it over the towel. Keep the iron moving and don’t let it dwell in one place for too long. Make sure that the towel stays between the iron and the carpet at all times. You don’t want to burn your carpet. The candle wax should melt quickly. When the towel is full of wax, replace it with a fresh damp one. Repeat this process until all of the wax has been removed.

Caution:

Never allow the iron to come into direct contact with the carpet.
Do not leave the iron resting in one place.
Make sure the towel stays damp.

If you do not feel comfortable with this procedure, contact a professional for removal of the candle wax. A carpet cleaning company can perform this service for you for a reasonable charge.

A question that I get, more often than you would think, is can stair carpet be cleaned? Well, the answer is  a resounding Yes. Stair carpet is actually quite easy to clean for a steam carpet cleaning company. The problem with cleaning stairs is generally for dry carpet cleaners. Dry carpet cleaning companies equipment is usually ill suited for the task of cleaning vertical surfaces.

Stair carpeting, when cleaned with the steam cleaning method, is cleaned either with the standard floor wand or with a specialty stair cleaning wand. The proffered way is with a stair cleaning wand because it is much easier to handle and can reach into smaller areas than the regular floor wand can. Stair wands are normally about 1/3 the size of a standard floor cleaning wand and will have a smaller cleaning head. Many of them will also have a swivel assembly near the head to allow for it to adjust to different cleaning angles. Stairs cleaned with a specialty tool such as this will wind up cleaner and drier than those cleaned with a regular wand.

Still, many carpet cleaners insist on using a regular wand to clean stairs. This can work, but is slightly awkward because of the angles needed to clean stairs. If using a floor wand to clean stairs, your carpet cleaner should be careful of pictures and photos on nearby walls. If you are a carpet cleaner who does not use a specialty stair tool, consider purchasing one. For a couple hundred dollars, you can save yourself lots of grief and provide a better service for your customers.

Do you have wrinkles in your carpet?

If the answer is yes, then you probably need to have your carpet re-stretched. To test this out, go to the middle of your room and grab a tuft of carpet. Lift the carpet up and let it go. If it doesn’t pop right back down, then it is too loose. After a few years, the backing of your carpet begins to stretch out and your carpeting will no longer have the correct tension on it. Loose carpet can wear out at a quicker rate and is an eyesore. If your carpeting is less than 2 years old, you should check your warranty. Most carpet comes with a 2 year labor warranty which will cover re-stretching. If you are past the warranty period, then unfortunately the cost is yours.

How are the carpet wrinkles corrected?

A carpet repair stretching company can easily repair this. This is not an area for a novice. Special techniques are used to ensure a good final result. They will detach the carpet from the tack strip and re-stretch it from wall to wall. They usually have to cut off several inches of the carpeting since it has physically stretched out. They may also have to redo seams at doorways and closets. It can be quite a task, almost as labor intensive as the original carpet install, but it is well worth it. A properly stretched carpet will last longer, look better and be safer to walk on without the wrinkles and bumps.

How much does stretching cost?

It can vary quite a bit depending on where you live and how bad your carpet is. Most companies will come out and give you a free estimate. Don’t wait too long to have the stretching done. While it is loose, your carpet is wearing at a greater rate. Don’t put up with the wrinkles any more