Cleaning & Maintenance Management magazine, August 2014

Remove Spots Daily Establish some sort of spotting removal program and know that the best time to remove a spot is right now Because of this a spotting kit including chemicals designed to tackle the most common spots should be stored in the janitorial closet Clean Areas Based On Usage Cleaning carpets according to usage applies to vacuuming as well as interim and restorative carpet cleaning Concentrate on lower floors and high traffic areas to help keep soils from being redistributed Install Carpet Or Matting In Elevators A carpet or mat placed on the floor of the elevator can help remove soiling from the passengers shoe bottoms Very often this is dry soiling which can be removed with vacuuming as discussed earlier Use An Effective Interim Cleaning Method When performing interim cleaning one of the most effective methods is encapsulation This process can effectively remove many soils and because the encapsulation chemicals are essentially dry the area can be put back into service relatively quickly Use Hot Water Extractors For Restoration Carpets should be cleaned using hot water carpet extractors once twice or more often per year depending on soil load use and other factors Because cleaning professionals are concerned about performing their cleaning tasks as effectively as possible and in the shortest amount of time selecting a heated carpeted extractor is preferable Heat increases the reaction of the molecular activity of most cleaning chemicals Pay Attention To Transition Areas A transition area is where a hard surface floor connects to a carpeted floor Carpet installed around food service areas should be given special attention A good practice is to install a mat of about 5 feet before the transition area This helps keep the hard surface floor soils from being redistributed to the carpet More Carpet Considerations Here are two other important items to consider 1 If selecting a new carpet extractor when it comes to price keep in mind that you will likely get what you pay for A quality machine may cost a bit more but will last longer with less downtime 2 Cleaning pros should develop a carpet cleaning plan identifying when all of the carpet cleaning tasks should be performed This schedule should be displayed for cleaning workers and property managers as well This not only helps ensure that these tasks are being performed but also can be used to verify the additional service charges that may be added Joe Versluis is national sales manager for U S Products manufacturers of portable hot water carpet extractors He can be reached through his company website at www USProducts com Image courtesy of ian francis iStock Thinkstock Image courtesy of ProTeam Image courtesy of Medioimages Photodisc Thinkstock 2 1 Image courtesy of neyro2008 iStock Thinkstock 2 Image courtesy of Violka08 iStock Thinkstock www CMMOnline com 17 1