Rawson Carpets

Maintenance                            

Your carpet is not only a valuable investment but its appearance tells your visitors something about you. The main objective of a maintenance programme will be to preserve, as nearly as practical, the original beauty and appearance of the carpet and prolong its useful life.                             Preventative maintenance will protect your investment but you must plan or programme that maintenance.

In the past carpets have been neglected only to be cleaned when it was obvious that attention was necessary. This is known as "crisis cleaning". This approach is not only old fashioned, but has been proved to be a false economy. In addition to the carpet looking scruffy its life is being drastically reduced.                                                      Preventative maintenance, which has to be planned, will extend the life and enhance the appearance of the carpet because the carpet "destroyer" - soil - will be effectively removed.

The purpose of vacuum cleaning is to remove soil from the carpet and restore the pile. Naturally, heavy traffic areas require more attention to remove dirt particles. These areas should be vacuumed at least once a day, as should primary and secondary traffic lanes. Medium traffic areas should be attended to at least twice a week. Light traffic areas and the rest of the carpet should be thoroughly vacuumed at least once a week.

Even though time consuming, regular vacuuming is very cost effective and can remove up to 80% of surface dirt.

A vacuum cleaner with a motor driven brush and beater bar does the best job of cleaning. The beater bar loosens the compacted dirt making it easier for the brush and vacuum effect to remove the particles.

Operate the machine slowly back and forth and let it do the work. Don't hurry - this is another false economy.

Carpet Cleaning

Routine vacuum cleaning does delay general cleaning but eventually the carpet colour dulls. As dirt compacts into the carpet a point is reached where it is not collected effectively at the track-off areas. The dirt is then carried by feet further into the building to form more soil reservoirs. Additionally the oil content of the soil (up to 15%) causes particles to stick to carpet fibre and resist vacuuming. To restore the carpet to its best condition, frequent light cleaning gives the best result and is often very cost effective. There are two main types of soil extraction cleaning systems - wet extraction and rotary disc.

Wet Extraction.

This is used where there are heavy soil build-ups and deep cleaning is required. This system works by spraying a hot detergent and water solution under pressure into the pile immediately followed by the extraction of the solution by vacuum head mounted adjacent to the spray nozzle.

Care must be taken with wet methods. Over saturation causes shrinkage and seam splitting. Drying time can extend from several hours to a day or more. The operator must be skilled and have experience to understand the relationships between soil conditions, humidity and the amount of moisture to apply to avoid over wetting.

Rotary Disc.

This method of cleaning is generally used as part of a regular maintenance programme and offers an opportunity for the life expectancy of the carpet to be extended.

Regular vacuuming and applying a light shampoo rotary action to the pile can result in the causes of premature wear being drastically reduced.

For effective blotting action, use pressure, use the heel of the foot. Avoid the natural tendency to scrub.

Sequence of Procedures

Apply the following procedures in the correct order. Blot after each procedure

Code Procedures

Rawson Carpets Limited give the advice in good
faith but cannot be held responsible for events over
which they have no control.

Shoe wiping mats, barrier or entrance mats and special soil traps collect most of the dirt before it reaches the carpet. When these are placed properly at entrances from the outside they reduce the amount of soil being tracked into the main building. But even with these precautions soil will find its way into the building to penetrate and damage the carpet.

When left in the carpet, soil particles penetrate and become difficult to remove. The particles if not removed, combine with atmospheric impurities which dull the carpet's original brightness. Additionally when walking on the carpet the particles virtually grind and cut the fibre thereby destroying your investment.

A further objective of preventative maintenance will be to confine the majority of maintenance efforts to the areas with the most need. Foot traffic accounts for 80% of the soil deposited on the carpet which builds up in two main areas.                            

Track-off Areas:                                                                      This is where foot soil is traced from outdoors or from hard surface floors indoors. This is where the carpet catches and holds most of the dirt.

Funnel Areas:                                                                         This is where foot traffic is squeezed through concentrated area such as a doorway or on a stairwell.

Soil builds up imperceptibly in these areas. That's why planned attention must be given in advance.

Attention must also be given to high risk areas where spills and stains easily occur such as near vending machines and drinking fountains, in washrooms and around general food areas.

Remember to apply cleaning agent to a blotting towel rather than directly onto the carpet.

First remove the excess stain caused by food etc and ensure that the area affected does not grow in size. Blot the area with a full roll of kitchen towel in order that as much fluid as possible can be absorbed. Always work towards the centre.

Test your carpet by pre damping a small area (5cm x 5cm) in an inconspicuous area with the solution you plan to use. Blot the damp area with a white towel and look for any colour absorbed into the towel or any colour change on the carpet.

Stains marked with �P� will definitely require professional attention and you should contact your local professional carpet cleaning company.

Dab the spotting agent onto the stain with the moistened towel working from the outer edge of the stain inward towards the centre to keep the stain from spreading. For effective blotting action use pressure from the hand - for even more pressure use the heel of the foot. Try blotting for a prolonged period of time. (The stain will naturally soak up into a weighted stack of towels).

* Traces remaining after procedure 2 should be treated with cooking oil, blotted and followed by procedure 1