A couple of weeks ago, one of our regular customers in Greenwood, Indiana reached out to me to see if we could tackle a carpet cleaning job for a highly trafficked hallway in their building. This carpet had 3 entrances from the outside which brought much in the way of soiling, and effects of the wintery weather that Indiana has been having with recent snow, rain, and muddy conditions. Further, as this was a school, there were stains created by the usual suspects, latte’s, energy drinks, and pop (yes pop, not Soda as we’re not in Minnesota, and not Coke as this isn’t the South!)
Our process was simple as the high end chemicals that we’ve relied on for years did all the major heavy lifting, as did the professional machinery.
- We Pre-vacuumed – Shockingly, this step is often over-looked or neglected altogether by many carpet cleaning experts. Yet studies have shown that vacuuming can remove up to 90% or more of dry soil from the carpet alone! https://carpet-rug.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Cleaning-Consumers.pdf
- We pre-treated each spot individually based on the type of stain that was presented. Again, using professional techniques such as industry certified spotting agents, maximum results are achieved for almost 100% removal of all stains!
- We then uniformly treated the entire area divided into manageable sections. This step is important to get right, treating too much of an area at once can cause the cleaning agents to dry up too quickly before agitation is introduced into the process. Cleaning too quickly, then you’re not allowing for a piece of the cleaning pie to work, which is dwell time.
- We machine scrubbed the carpet fibers through our oscillation method which both rotates over each carpet fiber in a circular motion, as well as also vibrating around the individual fiber as well – the result, is the elimination of soil and removal of stains through the SETT method – Soil, Extraction, Transfer, Technology.
The common question is: Where does the dirt go? The technical answer is two-fold. First, some of the soiling transfers to the carpet cleaning microfiber pad with embedded scrub strips. The second place it goes, is due to the chemistry involved in the process. The chemicals are engineered to “crystalize” around the dirt particles, once dry, they then break off during the post-vacuuming process and you can hear them being sucked up into the vacuum as if you were vacuuming little particles of dirt.
The results always speak for themselves. Most people don’t care about “how the sausage is made” so to speak. They just want actual, clean carpets. This method of carpet cleaning is often referred to as “very low moisture” (VLM) carpet cleaning.
Some say that this process is just a “maintenance” version of carpet cleaning, and that Hot Water Extractions (HWE) should be used on all carpets at least once a year. However, studies have shown for commercial carpets, that this relatively newer method (it started around 25 years ago!), also referred to as the Encapsulation Method of carpet cleaning is starting to replace HWE in many instances due to the nature of efficacy of the chemicals involved. Simply put, the Chemistry is so advanced now, this method is the singular, go-to method for many stand alone professional carpet cleaning companies in the United States.
Finally, I’d like to say that if you’re still reading this far, congratulations, not one word of this came from AI, it came from the knowledge I’ve acquired in my over 30 years in the cleaning industry. AI can’t clean your carpets, but we’d sure like to!
Let me know if you have any question, I’m happy to help!
Ready for a Cleaner, Healthier Facility? Contact American Facility Care Today!
If you’re ready to experience the benefits of professional cleaning for your Greenwood, IN business, American Facility Care is here to help.
Our friendly, experienced team is standing by to provide a free, no-obligation cleaning walkthrough and customized service proposal.
✅ Flexible Scheduling
✅ Custom Cleaning Plans
✅ Trusted, Local Service
👉 Contact Us Today or Call (317) 762-5758 to learn more
Tom Moore has been a part of the commercial cleaning and facility management industry since 2005. He co-founded American Facility Care in 2014 with the idea of bringing safety and aesthetics to buildings across central Indiana. He has an APIC certification in Infection Control and Prevention, and enjoys passing that knowledge on to his team using their exclusive Hygienic Training Method of cleaning. Tom co-hosts The Cleaning Indy Podcast, and would love a chance to connect with you and perhaps have you as a guest of the show.
