Springtime is that time of the year that most people love the most. The nature awakens, the weather gets warmer (even here in Florida where it is usually pretty nice year round and we mostly notice it is springtime because there is an ever-increasing number of exuberant and intoxicated college kids around). But the important thing is that the winter clouds and rains have parted and the sun is shining in its full glory… All the better to reveal the stains and strain your carpet has endured over winter months.
For the purposes of this article, let us assume that you did not have carpet cleaning scheduled during winter months and let us skip over the reason why. Suffice it to say that your plan is to do a nice thorough large scale spring carpet clean up! Not much wrong with that, right? No point in cleaning all those square feet of carpet during winter, when the thing quickly gets just as dirty as it was, right? And you save money with just one big carpet cleaning effort, right? Wrong, actually, although unfortunately we still encounter this sort of thinking far too frequently.
It is precisely because of this sort of thinking that professional carpet cleaners are well-equipped and fully ready to restore your carpet even after several months of winter. Still, we think it would be useful and make both our jobs and facility managers’ jobs easier if more people were aware the pros and cons of a big spring carpet clean up. The short version: there are no pros. So, here are some cons.
Get the Winter Dirt
During winter there is a much higher presence of various air pollutants indoors, due to one simple reason: doors and windows are just not opened as much as they are in warmer weather. Of course, in wintertime there is a high likelihood of rain and even snow, depending on your local climate, which means more mud and dirt being carried inside on shoe soles and getting nested in-between your carpet strands.
Also, less air circulations means all the pollutants and bacteria floating around in the air end up on your carpet, where they get embedded deep in the fabric, once again, mostly thanks to foot traffic. This means you better make sure to call a carpet cleaning company that has the equipment and the know-how necessary to do what needs to be done in order to make your carpet truly free of health-risks once again.
The treatment your carpet will get from the pros is designed in such a way as to minimize the wear on the fiber, but in order to get rid of all the winter dirt, this treatment is by necessity more intense than what is done during regular carpet cleaning. This means that your carpet will first suffer abuse from air pollutants and outside dirt for several months and then have to go through a really thorough clean up. Not the best approach if you want your carpet to last its declared life-cycle.
You Mite Have a Problem
Whether you are a focused and dedicated facility manager or an experienced and detail-oriented executive housekeeper, you probably know about dust mites. But just in case, here is the low-down: dust mites are tiny, microscopic organisms that can live in stable human habitats, which in most cases means in your rugs and carpets, since they provide ample cover and food – in the form of particles of organic matter, mostly human skin.
All this talk of tiny ecosystems thriving in you carpet and literally feeding on your skin could justifiably make your skin crawl. To top it off, dust mites are a frequent cause of asthmatic reactions and allergies. They are the chief culprit behind wintertime allergies – since they tend to proliferate in winter time when food is more plentiful due to humans being more indoor and so on. Scheduled, regular carpet cleaning is the most effective method to get rid of them, since this means not allowing them to settle in and grow their numbers.
Fit For Every Mold
Wintertime means more moisture all around, and you can bet that some of that moisture will get trapped in your carpet fibers. The main source of moisture is, once again, foot traffic. From a facility manager’s point of view, it would certainly be nice to be able to tell people to take their wet shoes off before entering your building, but this is not going to happen (although “First Bare-Foot Bank” does have a certain cool ring to it).
Moisture brought in from the outside can not only cause ugly, usually sole-shaped stains (since that moisture is never only moisture, but contains dirt particles and other substances) but, more alarmingly, can cause mold to begin developing in your carpet fibers. Facility managers should take care especially in higher-than-usual humidity environments, such as hotel corridors leading to bathrooms or spa centers.
If your carpeting is left untreated during wintertime it runs a high risk developing mold and/or mildew. Scheduled carpet cleaning will cut that mold growth right at the root, not allowing it a chance to really develop. High-suctioning professional grade equipment that we use also easily eliminates any dampness or remaining moisture that could potentially cause further problems.
Still Won’t Budge(t)?
All those winter months without proper treatment can add up – and ultimately subtract from the life-cycle of your carpet. That is why we always recommend scheduled cleaning all year round. If you are in the Tampa Bay to Naples area, give us a call. Together, we can make this big fat spring clean up the last one your carpet will need.
