Wednesday, February 20, 2013

how long will it take for my carpets to dry?




After spending time, effort and expertise getting a carpet completely clean, most customers ask the inevitable:

"How long will it take to dry?"

Some ask the question because of previous bad experiences.

It’s been known to happen: A carpet is professionally cleaned and it takes a day — or even two — to completely dry.

That’s a time frame unacceptable in today’s world of modern carpet cleaning equipment and especially with the popularity of low moisture cleaning.

Any carpet still wet after 24 hours can be susceptible to microbial growth. That will only create trouble for your cleaning company.

The low moisture debate

When asked how long a carpet will take to dry, your answer will depend on many factors, such as the method of cleaning, the skill of the technician, how large the job is and what you do to help remove the moisture before you leave the job site.

The skill of the technician is important. It is possible to overwet a carpet using low moisture cleaning, this occurring mainly because of operator error.

Low moisture cleaning methods should — logically — take less time to dry, and may use no detectable moisture at all, such as with compound cleaning.

Low moisture — with a twist

Many cleaners today say that low moisture cleaning isn’t specifically about how much water is used in the process.

They say that low moisture cleaning can be performed with a truckmount or high performance portable; low moisture cleaning isn’t particularly the amount of moisture applied to the fiber, but could be identified as the measurement of moisture residue immediately after cleaning.

In other words, if you use a system that has a typical water flow greater than traditional low moisture methods, but has a recovery system that leaves the carpet fiber as dry as a traditional low moisture method, you are using low moisture cleaning.

Getting from wet to dry

You may notice that when you clean just one or two rooms in a home or commercial location, drying occurs rapidly — so rapidly that the carpet is dry to the touch by the time you store your equipment.

But when you clean several rooms, or the entire home or commercial location, odds are increased that residual moisture is higher than you expected, even though you followed the exact same protocol and used low moisture cleaning methods.


Why?

Physics matters

A physics point that comes into play is the fact that high pressure moves to low pressure in any given area — when it can — which means that if you don't create an atmosphere in your work area so moisture can move out, you won't have as much success in rapid drying.

As you clean a room, and you increase the grains or amount of moisture in the air, that moisture needs to be removed from the air so more moisture that you create in the carpet can evaporate.

If the air is saturated, you won't have effective evaporation.
Air temperature, relative and specific humidity, dew point and vapor pressure all come into play when attempting to rapidly dry carpet during and after cleaning.

Steps you can take

As previously mentioned, using low moisture cleaning is an obvious step to take to accelerate drying, simply because there is less moisture used in the entire process.

There are several informative articles on www.cleanfax.com that illustrate modern low moisture cleaning methods. After opening the website, type “low moisture cleaning” in the search box.

Regardless of the method, some cleaners feel that if they simply create ventilation by opening doors or windows that they will effectively accelerate drying.

However, commercial facilities typically have no option of outside air transfer, and have to rely on the heating and air system and your own drying tools.

But if you are able to do a physical air exchange (opening doors/windows, etc) and the outside specific humidity is higher than indoors, exchanging the air by opening windows or doors will not lower dry times.

If the outside air is more conducive to drying (lower specific humidity), then it would be acceptable to exchange the air.

Otherwise, mechanical means such as the HVAC and air movers would be best.

Drying tools

As you finish an area, place the airmover in such a way as to create the most airflow, which will sweep moisture away from the air immediately above the carpet and allow more moisture to take its place.

This is called "Bernoulli's Principle" and basically means that airflow across a surface reduces air pressure, allowing moisture to move into that area.

Think of how airflow creates lift for airplanes. That same principle helps in the drying of carpet fibers.

www.cleanbrightcarpet.eu

Saturday, February 9, 2013

How to get tea stains out

I have just been reading some of the how too pages and whoa hold on there, do people really do this!!!! Vinegar , white wine, hydrogen peroxide, air fresheners next it will be radiation treatment lasers etc you get the picture
i know we live in hard times but do you really want a tea stain out , get a carpet cleaner.
one of the things we found really works is our 6 month free stain removal service. After they get their carpets cleaned we follow up with 6 monthes of stain removal advice or we go and get it out for them, it makes us different
www.cleanbrightcarpet.eu

Thursday, February 7, 2013

what lives in your carpet

WARNING!!!

The Following May Be Disturbing To Some Viewers...

Did you know? The Disgusting World That Lives In Your Carpet!!!

At first glance your carpet may look clean and spot free. But under a microscope its a whole different story. Here are a few pictures of the scary stuff that lives in your carpet.
DUST MITES
images/dust_mite.jpg
Dust mites are microscopic bugs that feed on dead skin, animal dander, and all sorts of other gross stuff that lives in your carpet.
44 Million homes are estimated to be infested with dust mites beyond recommended levels for allergens. You wash your sheets in water to get rid of these guys.
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning maintenance is important,
Just for the Health of It!
DEAD SKIN
images/SanitizingD.jpg
We are constantly shedding skin, and so are your pets. In fact, did you know that most of the dust in your home is human skin?
FLEA EGGS, LARVAE, AND FECES
images/fleaeggs.jpg
images/flealarvae.jpg
There are a million reasons why this is disturbing. You can have flea feces and larvae living dormate in your carpet right now. Once they hatch they jump to the nearest source of warmth. Typically your pets. If you have a flea problem that keeps coming back, check your carpet!
BACTERIA & MIRCRO ORGANISMS
images/toxicmold.jpg
That can of soda you spilled last week? Even if you cleaned the stain, you still provided enough sugar for a whole plethora of bacteria to start growing.
ALLERGY CAUSING POLLENS & SPORES
images/pollen.jpg
Dust and dirt from outside easily gets tracked into your house and carpet.
ANIMAL DANDER
images/animaldander.jpg
Fido sheds skin just like we do! Dust mites love the taste of dead skin. I can't decide whats worse. The dust mites or the dead pet skin cells.
MOLD
images/toxicmold1.jpg
In some places the mold that grows in carpeting and on walls is toxic, and can kill you. Mold spores are airborne travellers that can easily be inhaled and infect you and your families respritory system.
These are just a few examples of what could be growing in carpets
www.cleanbrightcarpet.eu

 
 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Carpet cleaning and price shoppers

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      PRICE is often the first question they ask…even before they know if we’re even available for their date!

Getting Past the Price Question

After the Recession hit, the price question started popping up more than ever. Mom and Dad lost their pension funds to Bernie Madoff, soon-to-be-weds couldn’t find jobs after college, and the stock market was full of doom and gloom.
Prices in the wedding industry were over-inflated, just like they were in the housing market. The “wedding bubble” popped, resulting in a 31.5% decrease in the average cost of a wedding in only two years. (source: WE tv Networks Wedding Report)
Even though the economy is slowly recovering, the buying mindset of brides has changed. They are no longer so willing to rack up credit card debt to pay for the wedding, and their parents aren’t willing to mortgage the home or tap diminished retirement savings.
Price shoppers are here to stay. Either we learn how to deal with them and turn them into booked weddings…or the future of our wedding business is at stake.

5 Steps to Turning Around a Price Shopper

1. Don’t Focus on Price.

What happens when you pick up the phone or open an email lead? Are you bracing yourself and preparing your (probably long) response to the “price question?”
The #1 mistake most wedding professionals make when dealing with a price shopper is focusing on price.
Don’t try to explain your value. Don’t share horror stories of couples who hired a “cheap amateur.” Don’t list the endless benefits of hiring a “professional.”
Understand that she is asking about price because it’s the only thing she knows to ask. The bride is educating herself about prices and offerings.
The more you focus on price, the more she’s going to focus on it. Give a brief answer to her question, and then redirect the conversation to more important things…how you can help her.

2. Redirect the Conversation With Power Questions.

Give her a brief, realistic answer with a starting price or price range and IMMEDIATELY redirect the conversation where you want it to go.
Take control of the interaction by asking questions that allow you to help her and that instantly demonstrate your expertise.
Not sure where to begin? Start with the basics: date, location, hours, logistics. Then work your way up to questions about what she has seen and heard that she likes and doesn’t like, theme and color preferences.

3. Help Her.

Instead of selling and telling the bride about the value of your services, help her. Imagine that she is a friend of yours who just happens to be planning a wedding.
What would you do and say to help a friend? Do that for the bride.
This may include sharing ideas and tips, making recommendations or referrals, sending her links to articles of interest, or even simply listening to her story. This is the quickest way to get off price and start building a relationship that leads to a booking.

4. Tell Her What To Do Next.

Once you’ve redirected the conversation away from the price question, tell her what to do next.
What action do you want her to take?
If your conversation is happening in an email, you may want her to schedule a meeting or a phone call. If it’s a phone conversation, maybe you want her to meet in person.
Decide the ideal action you’d like her to take and guide her to it. “We really like to get to know our couples to find out if we’re a good match for your wedding, so I suggest a meeting. When is a good time for us to meet?”
Remember: the bride has never planned a wedding before and she doesn’t know what to do. She wants you to take control and make finding and hiring a wedding vendor easy. So do it!

5. Follow Up.

The second big mistake wedding professionals make is assuming that the bride was a “only a price shopper” and their price was too high when they don’t hear from them the next day.
She liked your stuff enough to call you. Don’t assume that you lost her to the “price objection.”
It’s more likely that she got busy and forgot to get back to you. Planning a wedding is so overwhelming that most couples procrastinate just to avoid dealing with it!
Make a simple and friendly follow up call or email. “Hi, we spoke the other day about your upcoming wedding. Do you have any questions so far? Please let me know if I can help.”
Give her a chance to object before you assume she’s gone for good.


www.cleanbrightcarpet.eu