Consumer
Alert
Indoor
Air Quality (IAQ) Testing Program
Carpet
cleanliness can affect indoor air quality.
Dust
Mites?
Misconceptions
About Carpet Cleaning
How
To Avoid Four Carpet Cleaning Rip-Offs
Carpet and Rug Institute's Vacuum
Cleaner Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Testing Program
DALTON, GA. When it's time to vacuum,
nothing is more discouraging than realizing dirt is simply being moved
around or thrown back into the air rather than removed. Vacuum cleaner
manufacturers are doing their part to make cleaning easier and more
effective by joining The Carpet and Rug Institute's Vacuum Cleaner
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Testing Program.
Under the voluntary testing program, vacuum cleaners can be approved by
The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) as models that have efficient soil
removal, keep dust in the machine and out of the air, and keep carpet
looking good. Vacuum cleaners, both residential and commercial, are
included in the program because they are extremely important for
maintaining the indoor environment and carpet.
Consumers and professional cleaners should look for the bright green IAQ
program labels on the vacuum cleaner packaging and merchandise displays
when selecting a model.
To ensure the carpet industry standard, vacuum cleaners are tested
following a procedure developed by industry manufacturers and
peer-reviewed by scientists with expertise in maintenance and indoor air
quality. Vacuum cleaners earn the Green Label designation after passing
the CRI test criteria for soil removal, dust containment, and carpet
appearance retention. These vacuum cleaners are graded by:
Soil Removal - must remove a satisfactory quantity
of soil in four passes.
Dust Containment - evaluation of the amount of dust
particles released into the air by the action of the brush rolls,
through the filtration bag, and any air leaks from the cleaner
system.
Carpet Appearance Retention - should keep the carpet
looking good.
The CRI strives to assist consumers and professionals
with vacuum cleaner buying decisions and help keep the indoor
environment - surfaces and the indoor air - cleaner.
For a full listing of approved vacuum cleaners, visit www.carpet-rug.com or call (800) 882-8846.
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Here's
to Your (Carpet's) Health
The biggest
enemy of carpet is dirt. Soiled carpets wear out faster
because foot traffic grinds dirt into fibers, causing them to
fray. Then fibers unwind and mat together like dirty hair on a
stray dog. The most effective defense against this kind of
carpet wear is frequent cleaning. Carpets should be
professionally cleaned at least once, preferably twice, a
year.
Carpet
cleanliness can affect indoor air quality.
Indoor
air quality, a growing governmental and consumer concern, is
forcing carpet cleaning company's to focus on health as well as
appearance.
When
properly maintained, carpet can improve indoor air quality,
acting as a filter to hold soil, debris and other
contaminants, and preventing them from becoming airborne.
Routine
carpet maintenance includes controlling the spread of dirt
with entry mats, vacuuming with proper filtration and micro filter
bags, and immediate spot removal.
Regular
vacuuming helps keep indoor air cleaner and extends carpet
life. Vacuums have improved via stronger and better suction
and use of filters that trap dirt down to 0.3 micron (a micron
is one-millionth of a meter). It is equally important to
regularly clean or replace vacuum filters to ensure
efficiency.
The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also recognizes the
effect of regular carpet cleaning on indoor air. Cleaning
includes regularly scheduled wet cleaning or extraction for
total soil removal. Extraction cleaning is the most effective
way to remove soil.
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DUST MITES?
Dust
mites are far too small to be seen with the human eye. Dust
mites and their feces are the single most common allergen that
people inhale in there home. As microscopic animals, they are
found in dust which produce a common allergen.
Dust mites, although much smaller, belong to the same family
as spiders and ticks. Over 22 million Americans are allergic
to mite residue that is small enough to be airborne. When
disturbed such as vacuuming with a standard vacuum, they and
their fecal dust may remain airborne for up to 10 minutes in
your home's interior air. Even walking across your carpet will
disturb their fecal pellets. The membrane that covers the
outside of these pellets-doesn't break down quickly - which
means that the pellets may keep their allergy causing
potential for months.
Dust
mites are most commonly found in textured upholstery,
mattresses and long or loose pile carpeting. Their population
increases and decreases with seasonal changed due to the
rising and falling of both temperature and humidity. There are
over 50,000 species of dust mites and most species greatly
increase their reproduction rate and thrive during periods of
high (over70%) humidity.
To control dust mites it is highly recommended that humidity
be controlled in your home. Rid your carpets in your home of
dust mites, dust mite fecal matter and residue, settled
airborne pollution contaminants, microorganisms and other
harmful allergens with a thorough carpet cleaning.
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Misconceptions
About Carpet Cleaning
Misconception
#1
You
should wait as long as possible before getting your carpets
cleaned.
No!
Dirt is an abrasive -- like sandpaper. Every time you step on
your carpet, you grind dirt into the carpet fibers. This cuts
your carpet, just as if you had used a knife. This cutting
action causes your carpet to wear out faster. A dirty carpet
will not last as long as a clean carpet. And while vacuuming
helps -- by itself, it's simply not enough. The longer you
wait to have your carpet cleaned, the more damage you do to
your carpet and the faster it wears out.
Misconception
#2
The only
reason to clean carpets is to removed the dirt.
NO! As
you probably know, outdoor air contains pollens, fungus,
bacteria, air pollution, cigarette smoke, car exhaust -- and
hundreds of other chemicals. When you come into your home you
carry those pollens, bacteria, and chemicals in your hair on
your skin, clothing and shoes. Not surprisingly, all those
chemicals and toxins wind up in your carpet. If you have
allergies, asthma, emphysema, or other breathing problems --
one major source of your problem could be the pollens, fungus,
smoke and chemicals in your carpet.
Misconception
#3:
One
method of carpet cleaning is as good as another.
NO. The dry
cleaning methods -- which are dry foam, Chem-Dry and dry
compound -- do not rinse your carpet in any way.
Instead, they leave a residue. You might say they clean your
carpet only halfway. The most effective cleaning method is hot
water extraction. Hot water extraction means a hot water
cleaning solution under high pressure, is forced into your
carpet and then sucked out of your carpet. Shaw Industries,
the world's largest carpet manufacturer, recommends hot water
extraction as the primary method of cleaning carpets.
Misconception
#4:
The
company that offers the lowest price is the company you should
hire.
NO! I've
seen so many problems arise from the lowest-bid companies that
I suggest you NEVER hire the company that quotes the cheapest
price. The two most common problems are: 1) The price
may not be for the services you want performed. The company
may be equipped to remove only the dirt from your carpet. But
you may want bacteria, fungus, pollens and tobacco residues
removed as well. 3)
The price you see advertised may not be the price you pay.
Many homeowners have learned that the low price they saw
advertised lasted only until the carpet cleaner got
into their home. Then they were pressured into paying a lot
more for a variety of add-ons.
Misconception
#5
Any
honest carpet cleaning company should be able to give you an
exact price quote over the telephone.
I
wish that were true, but it's difficult to be
exact. Most reputable companies charge by the
"Square Foot". Giving an estimate over
the phone without knowing your exact square
footage would be a disservice too you. However, it
is very easy to give a guest-i-mate over the phone and then,
if the price sounds within your budget, we will measure the
square footage and put the price in writing before we start
cleaning. The companies that you want to watch out for
are the ones that charge a flat rate per room and then in the
small print put the conditions for additional charges (heavily
soiled areas, spot removal, pre-conditioning). These are the
"bate and switch" companies.
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RIP-OFFS
How
To Avoid Four Carpet Cleaning Rip-Offs
RIP-OFF #1
UNBELIEVABLY
LOW PRICE.
To some
degree, all of us are attracted by low price because we want
to work within a budget. But some carpet cleaners use price as
the bait for their false and misleading advertising. They
offer a cheap price -- usually between $9.95 and $12.95 per
room -- and then, once they're in your home, they pressure you
into buying "add-ons". It's as if you were buying a
car and found that the dealer was charging you extra for the
tires and steering wheel. Carpet cleaning is not as cheap as
some unethical carpet cleaners would like you to believe.
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RIP-OFF#2:
BAIT AND
SWITCH.
As with
a lot of "coupon" company's, they will entice
you with a low per room charge and the tack on charges for
heavily soiled areas, furniture moving, basic spot removal
(spots that would otherwise be removed with the simple act of
cleaning). These companies can be avoided by simply
asking if they will come out and give a free written
estimate. Once an estimate is signed by you, the price
is set and cannot be altered.
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RIP-OFF #3:
UNSUPPORTED
CLAIMS.
"This
Cleaning Method Is The Best." You'll read this in almost
every ad. You'll hear this from virtually every carpet
cleaner. Remember this. The method that's
best for you is the method that achieves your goal. If you
want a method that dries quickly, then a method that takes a
long time to dry isn't the best for you. So before you choose
a carpet cleaner, identify your objectives. Then select the
method that best reaches those objectives.
RIP-OFF#4:
OUTDATED
BELIEFS.
"HOT
WATER DAMAGES YOUR CARPET." Years ago, many people
believed this was true because their carpets were damaged by
"technicians who didn't know how to properly clean using
hot water. But today, we know it's false. By washing and then
rinsing your carpet with hot water, your carpet is thoroughly
cleaned -- in the same way that the person who showers and
then rinses off the dirt and soap will be much cleaner than
the person who takes only a sponge bath. Obviously, each
carpet cleaner will be biased toward his own method. And each
method does have advantages. So I suggest you look to what
your carpet manufactures say. Shaw Industries, the largest
carpet manufacturer in the world, recommends hot water
extraction. Back to top |