Join us for an extreme carpet cleaning strata demo! These filthy stairs were cleaned six months ago by another carpet cleaner. Challenge accepted!
As you can see in the photo, the soiling was extreme! I initially thought there was a lot of wear as it looked like there was no texture left in the carpet. According to the building manager, the carpet cleaning company that cleaned them six months ago left them so wet it took two days to dry. These stairs are an excellent example of how soil-attracting residues can wreak havoc with commercial carpet.
Filthy Stairs and Austrian Tanks
I began the carpet cleaning strata demo with extensive dry soil removal using industrial counter rotating brush machines made in Austria. These things are like tanks, and no one builds better tanks than the Austrians (Eva’s parents are from Austria, so she should know). Then came the vacuuming. Then some more vacuuming, and even more vacuuming. Did I mention vacuuming?
I know what you are thinking: enough already with the vacuuming, this must be overkill? Well, I will tell you (and you younger carpet cleaners out there), the more dry soil you remove from the carpet before you make it wet, the better the final results will be. Please do not take my word for it. Read this article by the Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI): The Importance of Vacuuming. I know, that was riveting reading, and you can thank me later.
But back to the carpet cleaning strata demo. By now, my competitors would be long gone! It always amazes me (I know, I don’t get out much) how much dry soil commercial carpet can hold.
Already I could see what I initially thought was abrasive wear was ground-in dirt. It was like concrete. No doubt, due to how long it took the carpet to dry after the other carpet cleaners did their worst. This stairway leads straight outside to a parking lot, and there is constant foot traffic. Many splash n’ dash, low-budget carpet cleaners and janitorial companies use inferior carpet cleaning chemicals that leave sticky residues in the carpet. Not to mention a high pH that also contributes to rapid re-soiling. They also do no dry soil removal and work too fast. All these factors combined leave a big mess!
Clean Stairs and Plant-Based Elixirs
Finally, after extensive dry soil removal, now I could start the wet cleaning process. After pre-spraying and dwell time, I could slowly strip the remaining oils (oils bond to the fibres) and stains from the carpet. Traditional steam cleaning drives soil and water deep into the carpet backing (only to resurface later). We clean the fibres from the bottom up. Due to the high degree of soiling, we needed to use various processes and a combination of our custom-blended truly green, plant-based carpet cleaning elixirs (I always wanted to work the word elixir in a sentence). The result was true restorative cleaning.
Dry in Minutes
As you can see in the post-cleaning photo, the results were fabulous and well worth the effort. The carpet was dry within 30 minutes of cleaning! I cannot overestimate the importance of leaving the carpets as dry as possible. In strata or apartment buildings, you cannot stop foot traffic. By leaving the carpet dry, any soiling will remain dry and easy to vacuum out by regular maintenance. Removing the oily soil and leaving no soil-attracting residue to the carpet fibres means the carpet will also stay cleaner and last longer.
Needless to say, the carpet cleaning strata demo was a success, and I got the contract.
Tapestry Fine Carpet Cleaning in Victoria, BC is a Vancouver Island Strata Owners Association (VISOA) member. If you live in the Greater Victoria Region, and would like your own free, no-obligation strata carpet cleaning demo, let us know. As Eva always says: “Give Bill (that’s me) your worst!”