Chances are you will be quite surprised to learn what is the undisputed number one cause for carpets around the country getting ruined and having to be replaced earlier than their projected life cycle.
No, it’s not coffee stains. And it’s not pets or little kids, either. It’s not even heavy use due to foot traffic, because that is actually accounted for in the projected life cycle and the warranty provided by your carpet manufacturer.
The number one cause of ruined carpets is simply what amounts to improper maintenance.
What do we mean by “improper” maintenance? It’s simple: this means that wear and tear and spillage, even though they happen and there’s nothing you can do about it, are not what will ultimately ruin your carpet. The make or break issue that determines the extent of your carpet life is what you use to clean those spills and how often you do regular maintenance.
Carpets are there to be walked upon. This means that dirt from footwear and in some cases (like for example in entrance halls or reception areas) outside factors like water, ice or dust, soils the fiber, directly affects the material. The microparticles get ingrained in the carpeting itself with every passerby and every time the entrance door opens to the outside. All this is normal and expected and the main job of carpet cleaning companies is to mitigate this and work on restoring your carpet’s luster and appearance.
When it comes to accidents that leave stains, the probability that something will get spilled increases proportionally with the total area of the carpet and the total number of people using the carpeted space. But modern cleaning equipment and products are powerful enough to clean most of these stains, so you would actually have to work-super hard, be really creative or unlucky in your choice of staining agent for a simple accident to ruin your carpet for good.
Therefore, the most important thing for keeping your carpet functional and beautiful, somewhat unintuitively, is actually not prevention. After all, who on Earth could ensure that nothing gets spilled on a carpet, ever? And not allowing people to walk on your carpet in order to keep it nice and clean is really missing the point of having the carpet in the first place.
No, the most important thing is maintenance – which entails two things of equal importance: mainly, that cleaning is performed on a regular basis and that it is carried out with adequate equipment and products.
The proper frequency of carpet maintenance is determined by several factors, most of all the frequency of its use i.e. foot traffic. Simply put, carpets that are in high-traffic locations need more frequent cleaning if you don’t want them to “ugly out” in record time. I have a list of cringeworthy examples of this happening – and the main reason is in an overwhelming majority of cases not investing in budgeted, regular carpet maintenance because the office manager, facility manager or some other executive in charge of carpet procurement and maintenance believed that some money could be saved.
For example, a hotel in Boca Raton, where 1,800 square yards of custom-pattern carpeting valued at close to a $100,000 and estimated to last for at least 6 years was ruined in little over a year, resulting in a huge loss of investment. The cause? Improper maintenance. Or a financial institution which shall remain unnamed and which had purchased 4,000 square yards of high-end nylon cut and loop carpet, an investment of $227,000, with design life of 7 years – and which ended up having to replace the lot after a little more than two years have passed. The carpet simply “uglied out” due to not being cleaned frequently enough and due to inappropriate products for such a high-end carpet were used.
This brings us to the second important point if you want to get the most mileage out of your carpet investment. If you are in charge of facility appearance, you absolutely must rely on experienced professionals to do your cleaning and to keep your carpet to be in top shape. And professionals use professional level cleaning equipment and products.
OK, that may sound like a truism, so the question really boils down to how do you know that the equipment and products to be used on your carpet are grade A stuff? Fortunately, there is a simple thing you can do – just ask to see if the products your carpet cleaning contractors use are endorsed by the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI).
CRI exists to educate consumers, commercial stakeholders and the industry about carpet and rugs and the best methods and products for their maintenance. CRI initiatives help protect air quality, improve carpet’s lifespan and lead to smarter buying decisions regarding cleaners and equipment, which consequentially means better informed decisions regarding the choice of carpet cleaning services.
Most carpets have a life of 7 to 12 years and CRI is focused on helping you achieve that with your carpet. This not only ultimately saves you money, it also has an effect on the environment, reducing waste and unnecessary consumption. Keeping your carpet in good shape means a smaller environmental footprint for your company or facility.
The Carpet and Rug Institute performs detailed tests of all cleaning products such as spot removers and deep cleaning extractors, as well as commercial and residential cleaning systems, in order to ascertain whether they meet strict international standards. Those products that receive the CRI Seal of Approval are guaranteed to be effective at removing stains while not harming either the environment or the carpet’s appearance.
Additionally, CRI gives their Seal of Approval to carpet cleaning service providers which adhere to its standards by using only top quality products and equipment and committing to performing their work in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner.
It is often the case that your carpet manufacturer ties the warranty and the projected life cycle of your carpet to use of CRI Seal of Approval products. That is why it is your best, and it could be said, only viable option to look for such service providers when you need high quality regular carpet maintenance.
