Best Commercial Cleaning Services, Mold Remediation, Dry Ice Blasting, Emergency Flood, Cleanup

1. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum

• Vacuuming often helps remove dry soil from carpet. This dry soil is the main cause for carpet wear. As foot traffic moves across dry soil, the dry soil actually scratches the carpet fibers, causing wear areas, especially in heavy foot traffic areas. These fibers that are scratched appear dirty, while the carpet appears to be dirty, it is actually worn from being scratched by soil and foot traffic.
• Vacuuming also removes dust mites, dander and allergens from carpeted areas. Unlike hard surfaces such as tile, hardwood or vinyl, carpet traps contaminants by filtering them into the fibers. Vacuuming removes the filtered contaminants from carpet, therefore keeping them from becoming airborne again.
• Buy a good quality vacuum that uses hepa filter bags, rather than bagless vacuums. Have your vacuum inspected and/or serviced to assure it is operating as efficient as when you purchased it. Pro Clean is happy to supply you with a list of some of the best vacuum cleaners on the market, as well as local repair shops to have your vacuum serviced.
• Vacuum at least once a week. The more you vacuum, the healthier and cleaner your carpets will be.

2.  Spots & stains

• Avoid using over-the-counter spot removers unless they contain specific ingredients for specific stains. It is much easier to call Pro Clean for a free spotter, than try to take a course on the chemistry of carpet cleaning. Each individual stain requires a specific treatment. There is NOT a “one size fits all” for cleaning carpet stains. For example, a coffee stain requires  a completely different treatment than a Kool-Aid stain. If you don’t know the chemistry of carpet cleaning, it is better that you do not attempt to clean the stain. Many over-the-counter “stain removers” can actually lock in stains, since they are not specifically PH balanced for each individual stain. In some cases, using an “over the counter” “stain remover” can actually make it impossible for a professionally trained carpet cleaner to remove stain. Feel free to email Pro Clean if you have a question about a stain and we will do our best to help you remove it.

3. Rental, “do-it-yourself” cleaning equipment

• Avoid using any rental or store bought “do-it-yourself” “carpet cleaning” machine. These machines will do one of two things. They will either make your carpets look worse or damage your carpet. These machines over-wet your carpets without having the power to extract enough of the water and solution out of your carpets that it puts down. The result of over wetting your carpets is that you can damage the backing of your carpets backing causing it to de-laminate, costing you life on your carpet. Carpet will also wear and fray in areas that have been over wet by  rental carpet cleaning machines. Another side effect of over wetting is called “browning”. If you have already used one of these machines, you may have seen this occur on your carpets. Browning, caused by over-wetting carpets, is the dirt that has been turn to a liquid type form, rather than the dry soil it previously was. Soaking the carpets causes this dry soil(dirt) to mix with the water and cleaning solution. As the carpet starts to dry out, the soil that was once below the carpet, moves to the top of the carpet fibers, causing the carpets to look more dirty than before you clean them. Do-it-yourself carpet cleaning machines also don’t use a clean water rinse or a neutralizing PH rinse. This means that all of the soap that was injected into carpet is not pulled back out of the carpet. This soap actually causes carpets to re-soil faster, because it is easier for the airborne dirt, dander and allergens to stick to the residue, than stick to the carpet fibers.

• If you must use a do-it-yourself machine, use a steam machine that only uses water, without a soap. Make sure to not over-wet any areas, drying out impacted areas using a box fan to avoid re-soiling or browning of carpet.

Inhaling the house dust allergen triggers rhinitis allergica or bronchial asthma. People with allergies to house dust usually also have allergic reactions to house dust mite fecal material and cast skins. Studies have shown that the most potent house dust allergens can be extracted from the feces produced by dust mites. The rest of this fact sheet, based on Chapter 10, “Mites,” in Common-Sense Pest Control by Olkowski, Daar and Olkowski, will discuss biology of dust mites and will emphasize non-chemical control tactics. An allergist, a medical doctor specially trained to treat allergies, should be consulted for proper diagnosis and treatment of allergies. One of the most strongly allergenic materials found indoors is house dust, often heavily contaminated with the fecal pellets and cast skins of House Dust Mites. Estimates are that dust mites may be a factor in 50 to 80 percent of asthmatics, as well as in countless cases of eczema, hay fever and other allergic ailments. Common causes of allergy include house dust mites, cat dander, cockroach droppings and grass pollen. Symptoms are usually respiratory in nature (sneezing, itching, watery eyes, wheezing, etc.), usually NOT A RASH. However, there are reports of a red rash around the neck. Other allergic reactions may include headaches, fatigue and depression. The wheeze-inducing proteins are digestive juices from the mite gut which are quite potent. An exposure to the mites in the first, crucial year of life can trigger a lifelong allergy. There is no cure, only prevention. One must control house dust mite levels. Beds are a prime habitat (where 1/3 of life occurs). A typical used mattress may have anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million mites inside. (Ten percent of the weight of a two year old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings.) Mites prefer warm, moist surroundings such as the inside of a mattress when someone is on it. A favorite food is dander (both human and animal skin flakes). Humans shed about 1/5 ounce of dander (dead skin) each week. About 80 percent of the material seen floating in a sunbeam is actually skin flakes. Also, bedroom carpeting and household upholstery support high mite populations. The protein substances in the dust mite feces produces antibodies in humans who are allergic when these are inhaled or touch the skin. These antibodies cause the release of histamines which causes to nasal congestion, swelling and irritation of the upper respiratory passages. The Mayo Clinic, WebMD and NIH collectively provide this list of typical symptoms of an allergy to dust mites; You may experience all or just some of them: Hay fever, Watering eyes, Runny nose, Sneezing, Asthma, difficulty in breathing, Infantile eczema, Itchy, red or watery eyes, Nasal congestion, Itchy nose, roof of mouth or throat Postnasal drip, Cough Facial pressure and pain Frequent awakening, Swollen, blue-colored skin under your eyes. In a child, frequent upward rubbing of the nose.