Guidelines for the protection of your Axminster investment

GUIDELINES FOR THE PROTECTION OF YOUR AXMINSTER INVESTMENT

Commercial carpeting represents a large capital investment. This is justified by the benefits it brings in terms of comfort, luxury and aesthetic appeal. However, in order to protect your investment there are a number of simple maintenance issues to be aware of.

1. Prevention comes first.

Quite simply, carpets gets dirty because they are walked on, most of the dirt coming form outside. Therefore, it is imperative that adequate walk-off areas be provided at all external doors.

There are many types of walk-off matting to choose from. Textile matting is recommended as the best means of trapping both water and grit. In areas where moisture is not a factor than a grille type system can be appropriate.

Research has shown that a five meter long textile mat prevents practically all soil from tracking into a building. Unfortunately, not all premises can accommodate such walk-off mats. Look for creative solutions, such as placing recessed matting in revolving doorways where people tend to shuffle their feet as they enter, or the use of outdoor matting in conjunction with indoor matting.

Remember also that grease from kitchen areas and oil from plant rooms can also be tracked onto the carpet. Placing walk-off matting inside the doorways leading from such areas will easily avoid this problem. Matting in elevator cabs will prevent water and soil from tracking onto different levels.

Regular, thorough maintenance of entrance matting is mandatory, or the matting itself becomes a reservoir for soil, which increases rather than reduces soiling in a building.

2. Effective vacuuming takes some beating.

Upright vacuum cleaners with rotating beaters and/or brushes remove more soil than tub machines fitted with flat-headed wands. This is because the added vibration provided by the brush or beater bar helps to loosen grit trodden into the base of the carpet pile. Ineffective removal of this grit can cause damage and lead to premature carpet wear.

Vacuum cleaners need to be adjusted to suit the carpet they are used on. The vacuum head should be set as close as possible to the face of the carpet, without being so close that the vacuum is difficult to push.

Remember that new carpet will shed loose fibres. This is perfectly normal. However, this can cause vacuum cleaners to clog up more quickly than normal. 50 bags need to be emptied more frequently at the beginning of your carpet’s life.

3. Prompt actions stops soiling.

Wool had good natural stain repellent properties, provided soiling is dealt with promptly. In most cases, if a spillage is simply blotted with a clean cloth or paper towel with a few minutes of the spillage occurring, then staining can be avoided. Of course, in most cases stains are not reported and remain undiscovered until cleaning personnel are working on site. There are a number of simple rules to follow for anyone attempting to deal with carpets stains.

- Blot, don’t rub. Rubbing can cause distortion and fussing of the pile, so that even if the stain is removed the carpet is permanently disfigured.

- Familiarise staff with products before using them in the field. Test spot removing materials on leftover pieces of carpet as soon as new carpet is installed. In this way it can be determined if spot cleaning products might possibly have an adverse effect on the colour of the carpet and, if so, alternative products can be chosen.

- Attempt to identify the stain immediately so that the correct spot remover is used. Always use a chemical that bears the WOOLSAFE APPROVED logo.

There are plenty of good topical soil and stain repellents to the carpet. Have always some on hand.

4. Cleaning

4.1. Cosmetic cleaning is often all you need.

In many locations, particularly where there is adequate protection from walk-off matting, carpet soiling may be only superficial. Therefore, only superficial cleaning may be necessary to brighten colours and freshen the carpet’s appearance. Regular cosmetic cleaning will lengthen the intervals at which carpet will require more thorough deep cleaning.

4.2. Bonnet cleaning.

Bonnet cleaning involves skimming the surface of the carpet using a soft pad impregnated with detergent solution. Lano does not ordinarily recommend the use of rotary cleaning techniques due to their tendency to cause pile burst and superficial fuzzing. However, with very dense carpet constructions, where traffic levels are high (such that the pile is well consolidated) and where there is limited time available for cleaning (where there is a high throughput of people at times when cleaning may be undertaken), bonnet cleaning may be carried out with care.

4.3. Absorbent powder.

This cleaning method (also known as dry powder of dry extraction cleaning) is an acceptable way to brighten the carpet’s appearance whilst keeping drying times short.

However, because this process involves brushing a detergent laden powder into the carpet pile, it is critical that effective vacuuming is carried out at the end of the cleaning process. Otherwise particles of the powder will remain trapped within the pile and ultimately contribute to overall levels of soil in the carpet.

4.4. More thorough cleaning.

Despite your best efforts at protection and cosmetic cleaning, there may be time when more thorough cleaning is necessary. We recommend only hot water extraction, supported in heavily trafficked areas by vacuuming using a dual motor vacuum machine, sometimes known as a pile lifter. Such machines have two motors, one to drive a rotating brush and another to apply suction, and are usually dragged backwards over the carpet. These machines open up the carpet pile and thus make soil trapped at the base of the tuft accessible for removal in the subsequent wet extraction process.

Before commencing the extraction process, all areas to be cleaned should be pre-sprayed using a suitable woolsafe approved solution. This solution should be allowed to dwell in contact with the carpet pile for approximately ten minutes before extraction begins.

5. Woolsafe approved.

Woolsafe approved is a woolsafe organisation logo which signifies that a cleaning agent has been subjected to stringent independent tests to ensure that, when used properly, the cleaning agent will have no deleterious effect on a wool carpet.
Lano recommends woolsafe approved chemicals for use on their carpet.

From April 2007 there are approved environmental friendly products on the market.

See www.woolsafe.org for appropriate services.