Now that is is getting cooler, the family (and pets) might be staying in the house more often. This probably means that your carpets are taking a bigger beating than in the summer. As we apply salt to keep the sidewalks clear, we may be adding more grime in the home. Winter ice-melt products provoke greater soiling from two product families:
Salt: Traditional salt can make your carpets dry from snow and water slower because it pulls moisture from the air. The damper the carpet, the more easily it collects dirt.
Calcium Chloride: These blue or white pellets give off heat as they dissolve, melting ice faster at lower temperatures. Unfortunately, it also leaves an oily film, which attracts even more soil.
These salts will mix with snow and water and dry, creating difficult white stains on the carpet. The resulting high alkaline content can cause physical damage beyond staining. Your carpet may even weaken with these corrosive reactions.
First Step To Protect Your Carpet?
The first step you should take to protect your carpets is to change the first steps in the home. Catch as much of that winter ice melt product in an area rug before it hits your carpet. Studies show that 80% of soil comes off within the first 10-feet into a property, so buy a relatively large mat and clean it often. When shopping, look for wool or nylon, but not Olefin. You want absorbency; you want dirt and grime to be absorbed before your carpets are affected.
If wet mats are allowed to get overloaded with soil and residues, they become a source of soiling instead of prevention. When you capture grime at the door where it concentrates, you lessen the effects throughout the house. So get a good one and keep it clean.
Removing Salt And Ice Melters
However, even with a good mat, the other 20% of debris will make it onto your carpets. Vacuuming dry soil and chemical residues as soon as you see them is a start. Follow up with multiple wet extraction rinses (steam cleaning) to remove residues caused by ice melters throughout the winter months. Professional cleaners in the northeast have multiple techniques to treat by pre-spraying, adding a hard-surface floor neutralizer to the carpet cleaning rinse, and of course, focusing on high traffic areas.
Find A “Carpet Caring Company”
Professional Carpet Systems cares about your carpet and works diligently to remove soil, sand, grit and grime that cause permanent damage to carpet fibers. They have the knowledge and techniques to remove pollens, dust mite feces, mold spores and allergens that settle on carpet fibers and can cause health challenges. Since spills become spots and spots that are not cared for properly become permanent stains, they care about maintaining your carpets and your home.
PCS Niagara’s 200% satisfaction guarantee is a pledge that you will be satisfied that the work is completed to the highest professional standards. They will re-clean any areas that you feel dissatisfied with, for free. If you are still not pleased, they will return your money for those area(s) and pay another company of your choice to redo them.
PCS Niagara employs courteous, uniformed, and knowledgeable specialists to utilize specially designed equipment and proprietary cleaning and spot removal formulations. For office cleaning in the Niagara Falls area, please call 289-271-0163 or visit pcsniagara.com.