While the winter months can be the slowest time of the year for many carpet cleaning technicians, business can get considerably busier around the holidays, especially for commercial carpet cleaners.
According to Howard Partridge, former owner of a large carpet cleaning company and now a trainer in the carpet cleaning industry, there are a number of reasons facility managers may opt to have their carpets cleaned, especially during the holiday season:
- Events, such as a company party.
- While this reason could apply to any time of the year, visible soiling is often a problem right after a holiday party in many commercial locations.
- For many commercial carpets, regular maintenance cleaning is a requirement to keep the warranty intact.
- Even though visible soil may not be present, facility managers may feel there is likely something lurking in their carpet that might be harmful to the health of building users and inhabitants.
- Occasionally, facility managers have the carpets cleaned with the hope it will rectify a defect, condition, or significant soiling or staining of the carpet.
- Odors—such as cooking odors—can permeate carpet fibers.
While some cleaning professionals and distributors might suggest to their clients, especially those with otherwise clean carpets, to hold off on cleaning carpet until after the holiday season, many will want the carpets cleaned before their holiday event, making the decision an emotional one rather than one based on reason.
However, after the holidays and any major event, contractors and distributors should strongly suggest that clients have their carpets cleaned for a variety of reasons. Among these are the following:
- Drink and food spills are common during holiday events. The longer a spot remains on the carpet, the more likely it can turn into a stain. A spot generally can be removed; a stain, on the other hand, refers to an actual discoloration of carpet fibers and can be far harder to eliminate.
- When carpets are soiled, there is a very good chance that these soils, especially if they are moist or are grease or oil, can collect on shoe bottoms and carried onto other carpeted areas, spreading the soiling.
- Many clients address spills and soiling during holiday events by wiping the problem area; as carpet cleaning professionals know, blotting—not wiping—is the way to remove a spot.
- Finally, not all soiling is apparent. Some carpet cleaning experts suggest if clients wait until soiling is apparent—especially after an event—they have waited too long. It can become much more difficult to remove the soiling.
Addressing Other Before and After Issues
Because distributors, carpet cleaners, and contract cleaners have evolved into facility operations advisors for many of their customers, building managers may have other issues and concerns to address before a holiday get-together at their facility. According to Doug Berjer—a regional sales representative of continuous flow recycling extractors who has worked in contract cleaning, distribution, manufacturing, and carpet cleaning—customers are likely to ask the following questions:
How can we protect our carpet before a holiday event?
Installing interior matting systems around food service areas is the No. 1 step to take. And due to adverse weather conditions that may exist during holiday time—and the subsequent moisture, salt, and soils that can track in on shoe bottoms—matting should be installed at building entries and all heavily-trafficked areas.
If we clean the carpet before the party, should we also apply a protectant?
The answer in most cases is “yes.” Carpet protectant helps to repel water and moisture and resist soiling, all of which are big considerations for a holiday event. Once applied to the carpet, the protectant provides an invisible shield to protect carpet fibers. This barrier also allows for dry spills to vacuum up more easily because the protectant helps keep dry soils from embedding in carpet fibers.
However, contractors, carpet cleaning technicians, and distributors must advise their clients that when it comes to spills and moist soils on carpet, the protectant will only give the client more time to clean up spills. If left to set on the carpet, the moist soiling will eventually penetrate this protective barrier.
Should we try to clean up spots as they occur or wait until after the party?
Most likely your customer is going to clean up spills and spots right away, so the best thing to do is to advise them on the safest in-house spotting procedures. For instance, as mentioned earlier, spills should be blotted out of the carpet by using a clean, white cloth. Do not rub or wipe them. After blotting, and if most of the spill appears to be gone, you may blot or gently rub the area using warm water and a small amount of dishwasher liquid.
Should we clean our carpet using a hot-water carpet extractor?
The answer is both “yes” and “no.” If there has been excessive spotting, then a hot-water machine with a perfect-heat system will help the cleaning chemicals work more effectively and likely result in more effective cleaning. However, in the interest of sustainability and the environment, it might be best to try cleaning the carpets with a cold-water system and an extractor that uses water more efficiently. Cold-water extractors do not require as much electricity, and an efficient carpet extractor recycles cleaning solution, helping to use significantly less water.
Have a Plan
When we step back and take a look at facility cleaning operations, we see that the key to keeping a facility clean and healthy is having a plan, and this is certainly true when it comes to carpet care around holiday events. Proper cleaning of carpet, before and after an event, not only keeps the carpet looking its best, but it can also extend the lifespan of the carpet significantly. Your role as a cleaning professional is to advise your customers to have a carpet cleaning plan in place—not only during the holidays, but year-round.
