A Royal Treatment Carpet Cleaning is the premier carpet cleaning company in Sacramento offering a variety of carpet cleaning services by certified and professional carpet cleaners serving the Sacramento area.

What is the industry standard for carpet cleaning?

Did you know that there is an industry standard for carpet cleaning that IICRC certified technicians take an oath to follow and that this industry standard requires the preconditioning step? According to the IICRC and the Bridgepoint Cleaning Network “No hot water extraction process is complete without a preconditioning step”.

It is a fact that carpets cleaned to industry standards maintain their integrity and last longer. It is for this reason that Shaw Industries along with other major mills began requiring that only IICRC Certified Firms clean their residential carpet in order to maintain the carpet warranty.

The preconditioning step should never be treated as an add-on service, it is an essential step in the carpet cleaning process and should be included in the price you see upfront.

Guidelines set forth by the IICRC for hot water extraction:

Preconditioning Step:

During preconditioning, a cleaning agent designed to emulsify, saponify, and suspend the oxidized oils and soils, is applied to the carpet. Mechanical agitation must be applied by either a grooming rake or carpet brush. If carpets are heavily soiled, a few minutes of dwell time may be needed to allow the preconditioning agents to act on all the soil present.

Extraction:

The oils and soils oxidized, emulsified, saponified, and suspended by the preconditioning step are extracted from the carpet fibers. A mild detergent is used during this step of the carpet cleaning process to ensure the removal of the oils, soils, and preconditioning agents.

Fabric Softening Neutralizing Step:

This is the step in the carpet cleaning process where neutralizer is applied to the carpet if the cleaning agents in the previous steps did not have a neutral pH. Agitation is again required either by a grooming rake or a carpet brush to ensure even distribution of the neutralizer which leaves the carpet pH balanced, soft to the touch, and ensures color fastness.

What Can I Do To Improve Drying Times For Carpet Cleaning In Sacramento During The Rainy Season?

Typically carpets will dry faster after carpet cleaning if you open your windows to exchange the inside humid air with the outside dryer air. However, this can only be accomplished if the outside air is dryer than the inside air. For carpet cleaning during the rainy season the conditions outside your home may work against you to slow the drying process. High levels of humidity and cold temperatures are not conducive to evaporation.

If the moisture content outside your home is greater than it is inside your home A Royal Treatment Carpet Cleaning recommends keeping your doors and windows closed and turning your home heating on to a temperature of 80 degrees. This forced drying method will greatly increase the rate of evaporation of water from your carpet. As the vapor pressure builds inside your home A Royal Treatment Carpet Cleaning recommends that you briefly open your doors and windows every 1 to 2 hours to release the vapor pressure. Placing air movers (fans) at floor level will reduce the vapor pressure just above the surface of the carpet further increasing the rate of evaporation.

Problem Carpet Stain that won't go away?

Problem carpet stains that magically reappear after carpet cleaning are due to a phenomenon called wicking, most often observed when a liquid spill has penetrated the pad. Regular carpet cleaning which thoroughly cleans the carpet will often fail to entirely remove a spill that has settled into the pad. As the carpet dries, capillary action causes the stain to be drawn back up into the carpet fibers and the stain magically reappears.

In Sacramento, where humidity levels are high year round it is important to have spills cleaned by a professional carpet cleaner to be sure the liquid is removed from your carpet and pad. Please be sure to inform your carpet cleaning technician if any stains are due to large liquid spills so that extra precautions can be taken from the start to reduce the number of treatments required to remedy the problem.

What is That Dark Line in the Carpet along Your Wall?

There is another type of problem carpet stain which is beyond the control of the carpet cleaner and the consumer. Usually only seen in white or very light colored carpets, a grey strip of discoloration may persist around the edges of every room in a house even after a thorough carpet cleaning. This carpet stain is due to cement dust and other particulate matter that was left behind inside the wall during construction. Oftentimes it takes several months for filtration to occur and the gray carpet stain to appear. It can appear sooner around entryways because every time a door opens or closes the suction of air at the surface of the carpet pulls the dirt particles from inside the wall through the carpet.

This problem carpet stain can only be prevented by vacuuming the inside of the walls before putting up the sheetrock. You may or may not see complete removal of this type of carpet stain with professional carpet cleaning but even if it is removed it will come back at no fault to the carpet cleaner.