This customer tried to clean his own carpet and used a hot water extraction machine. The solution loosened the glue holding his carpet to the floor, resulting in rippling and additional soiling.
Nobody intends to wreck their carpet, but some still do, even though they’re working hard to preserve their carpet. Here are three ways people can – by negligence or inadvertently – wreck their carpet.
1. Using too much water to clean carpet and failing to remove it.
I see this often. A customer works hard to preserve carpet or rugs using hot, soapy water. Often they cannot extract much of the solution, so they’ve only added soap and water to the soil that was already there. Those Bissell – for home use – “steam cleaners” do not have much suction and Rug Doctor machines are not much better. Even professional truck-mount machines cannot extract solution as well as our Teri-Towel system. If the carpet remains wet for more than a day, mold and mildew can result, wrecking the carpet. Water can also loosen the glue holding the carpet fiber to the backing. In the case of glue-down carpet, common with indoor-outdoor carpet and in some offices, the glue holding the carpet to the floor can loosen, causing stretching and rippling, as pictured above.
Besides the problem of mold and mildew, many home owners may use too much detergent, which leaves a sticky residue to attract new soiling, thus making the problem worse than before.
2. Failure to Use walk-off mats.
A simple way to keep dirt outside and preserve carpet and rugs inside is to use a walk-off mat that allows the person entering your home to wipe their feet. Better yet, have everyone leave their outdoor shoes at the door and use indoor slippers as is done in many Asian cultures.
3. Failure to dry vacuum the carpet regularly.
The easiest and best way to preserve carpet and enjoy it too is to clean it regularly with a simple dry vacuum, even if it looks clean. Many don’t know that carpet can hold its own weight in dirt, dust and grease before it shows! Failure to vacuum carpet is the most common way to wreck your carpet.
For best results, preserve your carpet and rugs with regular (at least weekly) dry vacuuming and periodic professional rug and carpet cleaning. Use a dry or low moisture carpet cleaning professional like Advanced Dry Carpet Care.
