DYNAMIC CARPET CARE

CONSUMER INFORMATION REPORT #4

HOW DOES FURNITURE GET DIRTY & WHY DOESN’T IT SEEM TO SHOW?

Dust is the one enemy of upholstered furniture. Gritty matter blows in through doors and windows and impregnates itself on the furniture cushions and back. Then when you sit on the cushion the oils from your skin compress the dirt into the fabric where its almost impossible to remove with a vacuum cleaning.

The abrasive action of the grit pressing into the fiber CUTS the fibers like a knife-that’s why your furniture wears out. Then combine this with pollens,food crumbles,dust mites and their nasty fecal pellets……your furniture is literally a wash with soil within a short span of just a year (with a average family). If you have pets and kids your furniture needs to be cleaned thoroughly at least once a year.

BACTERIA AND GERMS are the result of soils that are not removed from furniture on a regular basis. The byproduct of decaying living materials decomposing is a foul smell that characterizes furniture that has not be cleaned regularly.

WHY DOESN’T DIRT SHOW? Because today’s fabrics are designed to hide dirt with patterns and colors… But just because it doesn’t show doesn’t mean its not there!

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I HAVE MY FURNITURE CLEANED? If you’re a retired couple and live in your home 6 months a year…probably every 2 or 3 years. If you have a active family with kids and pets—I suggest at least 2 times a year!

WHY PROFESSIONAL CLEANING? Because Dynamic uses special cleaning agents that sanitize, deodorize and remove soil from your fabric furniture.

MANY FABRICS ARE DELICATE—If you try spot cleaning furniture you can ruin it by not getting it evenly wet. We have seen many instances of damage done to furniture by clients who tried to clean it themselves.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Many factors such as soil conditions and the difficulty of the piece affect the price. We usually charge $115.00 to clean and protect a standard sofa.

IS PROTECTANT NECESSARY? You benefit by having us apply our protectant any time we clean carpet, rugs, & furniture. Our protector makes it more difficult for spills, spots, and stains to penetrate to the interior of the fibers.

Before You Clean Your Carpets and Rugs

If You Plan to Shampoo Your Carpet, First Try Pre-Cleaning: Sweep the carpet, which will make the nap stand up and loosen the imbedded dirt. Next vacuum. With this work alone, the rug should show a noticeable improvement, so much in fact that you may decide to delay shampooing.

To Neutralize Odors: Use Borax and cornmeal. Sprinkle the carpet with a mixture of 1 cup Borax and 2 cups cornmeal. Let this mixture stand for an hour before vacuuming.

Carpet Freshener: Combine 3/4 cup baking soda, 2 tbs. corn starch, and 1/4 cup perfumed talcum powder. Sprinkle on dry carpet, let stand 5 to 15 minutes, then vacuum.

Stain Removal: Clean up spills as fast as you can. Blot or scrape up as much of the spill as possible, blotting from the outside toward the center.

Dents and Depressions (from furniture or heavy objects): Shift the location of furniture from time to time. Brush the dented area, or use a grooming tool to loosen and stand-up the mashed tufts. Using a steam iron, steam the dented area lightly and brush up the tufts with your fingertips. Do not let iron touch the carpet. Hold the iron 2-3 inches above the carpet. For carpets containing acrylic or mod-acrylic, use the warm setting on a hair dryer, as steam may melt the fibers. To avoid further crushing, use casters under furniture legs.

Carpet Cleaning

Proper care of your floor prevents damage, extends its life and keeps it looking new for years. How do you properly care for your flooring?

If you enjoy going barefoot, or even if you don't, kick your shoes off at the door. Why remove your shoes? If you have a rough board that needs smoothing, you grab a sheet of sandpaper for the job. Guess what's on the bottom of your shoes? Sand and dirt grind away at the fibers in your carpet, leading to an early death.

Take a closer look at the bottoms of those shoes and you'll find oil, dirt and heaven only knows how many bits of leftover dog deposits. Small wonder why your carpet stubbornly refuses to come clean. Do wear slippers or socks inside. The oil from the bottom of your feet also dirties the carpet.

Vacuum your carpet regularly, and do not use liquid carpet shampoos to clean them. Ever wash your hair and forget to rinse out all the shampoo? The same thing happens to your carpet. The shampoo can't be completely rinsed out, leaving a sticky residue. That residue acts like a big magnet pulling the dirt from the bottom of your shoes. Now you have clean shoes and even dirtier carpets. Use dry carpet cleaners instead. Stores selling vacuum cleaners carry dry carpet cleaners.

Getting out old shampoo becomes the trick. Rent a shampoo machine that cleans with water. Mix 1 cup vinegar per 2 ½ gallons of water and clean according to directions. Go back over the carpet with warm water only. The vinegar pulls out the old shampoo, cleaning the carpet as well. It may take a time or two, but your carpets will be soft and free from grime. The hot water reactivates the shampoo already in the carpet, providing the needed cleansing action.

Stains in carpet can be a hassle to remove. Never rub a stain, just blot. Rubbing breaks down the fibers and spreads the stain. Remove most food stains with shaving cream. Spray on and resist the temptation to rub it in, then let it set for 15 minutes. Rinse with a vinegar and water solution.

Club soda generally removes red wine stains. Remove red dye stains (found in drink mixes, Popsicles, dog and cat food) with a 30/70 solution of peroxide to water. Remember, peroxide is bleach, so test an inconspicuous spot first for color fastness. Apply the mixture, wait 30 minutes, then remove as much moisture as possible and rinse with a vinegar/water solution. If the stain remains, add a bit more peroxide to the mixture and retreat.

Brake cleaner also does a good quick job of removing most food stains. Dab a little on a clean cloth and gently blot the stain. Rinse with soap and water. Brake cleaner contains the same chemical professional dry cleaners use to clean stains in clothing. Do not pour brake cleaner directly into the carpet. It could dissolve the adhesive holding the fibers in the carpet.

Oops, the dog had an accident and the stain and smell refuse all attempts at removal. First try an enzyme product. Pour on enough to saturate to the pad and treat an area twice as large as the stain. Urine hits the pad and spreads. Let it set a couple of hours. You'll find enzyme products at pet stores, RV or marine stores. They are used in the holding tanks to dissolve solid material.

Should that not remove all the stain or odor, baking soda and peroxide remain your best hope. Mix a 30/70 solution of peroxide to water adding 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of mixture. Yes, it bubbles and fizzles, but not before removing the stain and smell. Always test a spot first for colorfastness. Peroxide is bleach and may discolor the carpet. Blot up what you can with an old towel and rinse well with 1/3 cup vinegar per quart of water.

If you see red spots on your carpet where your pet just lost its lunch, switch food to a neutral colored food. The red dye in pet food is the culprit behind those spots. Dogs and cats are colorblind, so they can't tell the difference. Again, use the 30/70 peroxide and water combination for removal.

Oil, grease, magic marker and ink can be the dickens to remove. Most janitorial companies or department stores carry a product called DeSolvit. WD40 or Orange Clean also work wonders at removing these stubborn stains. Rubbing alcohol removes ink. Blot on, allow to set 30 minutes and blot to remove. Rinse with sudsy water. Magic marker is generally permanent and you may not be able to remove it.

Gum - Freeze gum with ice cubes and chip off what you can with the blunt side of a kitchen knife. DeSolveit removes the rest.

Wax - Freeze with ice and chip off what you can with the blunt side of a knife. Wax needs heat for removal. Some of the newer carpets are quite sensitive to heat and scorch easily, so test an out of the way spot first. You can also use a hair dryer set to the hottest setting.

Set your iron to a low to medium heat. The less heat you use, the less chance of scorching your carpet. Take a white paper towel or paper bag with no writing on it (the dye will transfer to the carpet) Put the towel down on top of the wax and iron the towel for no longer than two seconds. Move the towel and redo if necessary. Generally once is enough.

Carpet Cleaning and Care

Regular thorough vacuuming removes soil from among fibers of carpets, thus keeping their good appearance and extending their life. Most carpeted areas need this vacuuming once a week, with several slow strokes. Little-used areas need may not need as frequent vacuuming, while areas with lots of active or messy use may need quick daily vacuuming.

Surface Soils

Dry soil from shoes, crumbs, etc. may stay on the surface of the carpet a short time before working its way down into the carpet. This, along with litter such as paper, threads, etc. can be removed with a vacuum, light-weight stick vacuum (or "electric broom"), or even a carpet sweeper, if used promptly. These methods will also remove dust from the carpet surface. Pet hairs should be removed promptly, as the oil in them makes them cling to carpet, and work its way down into the pile.

Deep Soil

Gritty soil tracked on carpet by shoes, wet or dry, will sink down in between fibers of carpet. Gritty soil has very sharp edges capable of cutting carpet yarn fibers. Vacuuming is the best means of removing the grit from deep in between the carpet fibers. Moving the vacuum over the carpet seven times - forward and back, forward and back, forward and back, forward on the next section - should remove deep seated grit.

Upright vacuum cleaners generally do the best job of removing deep-seated gritty soil from carpets. Next are combination canisters with power-driven rug nozzle. Steps can be vacuumed with the upholstery nozzle or brush attachment.

Room size oriental rugs are best cleaned with an agitator type cleaner. When approaching a fringed edge with an upright cleaner, lift up the cleaner nozzle by pushing down on the handle. This will allow cleaning to the fringe, but will raise the nozzle and avoid catching the fringe. When using a canister with a power nozzle, stop before reaching the fringed edge. Fringe may be cleaned with low suction, using the upholstery tool or floor brush.

Pile fabrics tend to stain more readily due to long yarns. They may be cleaned satisfactorily at home with dry powder cleaners, but test first. Wet cleaning of velvets, etc. should be done professionally. If protected with stain resistant finish, blot quickly and gently with lint free cloth. If stain remains, spot clean, wiping the stain in the direction of the pile. Brush lightly during drying to prevent matting. If unprotected, pretest in an inconspicuous area for discoloration or pile distortion. If color proves fast, sponge lightly with appropriate cleaning agent.

Carpet Cleaning

Eventually carpets need some type of cleaning to remove soil that sticks to the fibers. How often depends on amount of use and soil carpet gets; some areas will need cleaning before other. Basic methods are: dry absorbent powder, foam, shampooing, and hot water extraction (sometimes called steam cleaning or extraction). Each method has advantages and disadvantages. Costs in dollars, time, and energy vary, as do skill needed to do a good job. Always vacuum thoroughly before starting cleaning method. Here are some general precautions for all methods:

• Pretest before using.
• Protect the carpet from rust stains by putting aluminum foil, wax paper, or plastic wrap under furniture legs, until carpet is dry.
• Follow the cleaner and equipment instructions as directed.
• Do not over wet the carpet. Excess moisture can cause shrinkage, streaks, or mildew.
• Keep mechanical action to a minimum to avoid carpet damage or streaks.

Dry Powder

In the dry powder method, absorbent granules containing dry cleaning solvent are sprinkled over a section of carpet and worked into the pile by mechanical or hand brush. The dry cleaning solvent dissolves oils and greasy soil. These are then absorbed by the granules. When thoroughly dry, the carpet is vacuumed. A powerful vacuum is essential for total removal of cleaning granules.

Advantages

• short drying time
• good for delicate and non-colorfast carpets
• relatively inexpensive
• effective for spot cleaning

Disadvantages

• less effective on heavy soil or water-base soil
• complete granule removal may be a problem
• dry cleaning solvent can evaporate in storage
• not recommended
• for shag carpet

Professional Carpet Cleaning

Have your carpet professionally cleaned periodically, every third or fourth time, if this service is available in your area. Or you may find it more convenient to have it done professionally each time special cleaning is needed, rather than doing it yourself.

Professional cleaners use similar methods to home cleaning, but they should have the knowledge, equipment and experience necessary to do a more thorough job of removing embedded soil. Room size rugs and some wall-to-wall carpets can be sent to the rug cleaning plant.

Professional cleaners can also handle spot removal, re-dyeing, rebinding and repairs. Always alert the cleaner to the location and cause, if known, of spots and stains that require attention.

When selecting a cleaning service, the main factor to consider is the operator's skill and ability. Ask reputable carpet dealers in your area whom they recommend. Satisfied customers may also suggest a cleaner to contact. Rug cleaners of long standing reputation can usually be relied upon to provide satisfactory service. They cannot provide guarantees, however, because of the range of quality and wear they face in the carpets and rugs they clean.

Professional cleaners offering truck-mounted hot water extraction, will have more power to remove soil and water than in a smaller, self contained unit (like the ones you rent). Another professional method using carbonic foams the carpet with the same bubbles as club soda, and less water. This method often leaves less moisture.