Carpet Care

Does a Vacuum Cleaner REALLY Clean?

The answer is Yes and NO! How’s that for an answer?

Yes, it picks up stuff on the top of the carpet. NO, it does not clean the carpet.

Okay, let’s get a bit deeper into the subject is what I’m trying to say. If only surface cleaning is what you are after, then used a vacuum. I don’t care if it is commercial or residential grade.

An upright vacuum cleaner with a brush roller does remove dirt and grime from carpets at best from the top 1/3 of the pile. However, it is what is BELOW, in the remaining 2/3 of the pile which causes the health issues to us.

Many years ago, I started to really look at the facts of carpet cleaning and discovered that using a vacuum cleaner is like using a dust mop on hard surface floors. While it removes what I can see, it doesn’t really clean. So why do we continue to use tools that don’t really do the job?

That is when I started looking into the old ‘pile lifters’ of old. Heavy, bulky, loud, and just plain too aggressive to be used on any regular basis. Did they work? Oh, heck yes they worked.

So, what could I find that would be more user-friendly and do the job. I found it. Twin cylindrical brush units that basically float across the carpet. They dig up the dry soils below the surface, change the appearance of the carpet, and DON’T HAVE A VACUUM.

When I instruct a carpet care class here at the Academy, we always start by learning what soils are and when to use the right processes. DRY EXTRACTION is what we call it…with NO VACUUM.

You can view a short clip of students learning this first step in TRUE carpet cleaning here.

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Cleaning Industry Thoughts...., Education

How Many LISTS do we Need? REALLY!

If you have been keeping up with the lists from the EPA for Emerging Viral Pathogens, the newest is LIST: Q.

At the time of this article, there are over 400 on the Emerging Viral Pathogens List. Here is the link to LIST: Q https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/disinfectants-emerging-viral-pathogens-evps-list-q

NOW, WHAT IS THE REAL ISSUE?

It is that operations, managers, and frontline staff are NOT following directions, don’t have the proper knowledge of the processes for using the disinfectants, and don’t RINSE.

YES, I SAID RINSE! Why is this such a phenomenon that can’t be understood? No matter what chemistry you use in the process of cleaning and disinfecting, the surface MUST be rinsed to make it safe and healthy.

You do this with your dishes! You do this in the shower, with your hair, your body! You do this with your car! You do this with your laundry!

You must know that some viruses are more difficult to kill than others, and a disinfectant’s effectiveness can change based on how you use it.

So here are some simple steps from the EPA to ensure you choose an appropriate product and use it effectively.

First, determine which disinfectants are expected to be effective against the virus you intend to inactivate.

The EVP guidance divides viruses into three categories: 

  • Tier 1: Enveloped viruses are the easiest to inactivate. When disinfectants damage their lipid envelope, the virus is no longer infectious. 
  • Tier 2: Large, nonenveloped viruses are encased in protein capsids that make them more difficult to inactivate compared to enveloped viruses. 
  • Tier 3: Small, nonenveloped viruses are the hardest to inactivate. Both their protein capsids and their small size make them less vulnerable to disinfectants compared to other viruses.

To find disinfectants for use against the emerging virus you intend to kill, you need to know which category that virus falls into. Use the product correctly, THEN RINSE!

SO WHY DON’T YOU RINSE THE SURFACES YOU ARE WORKING SO HARD TO MAKE SAFE AND HEALTHY? WHY?

Whatever list you’re working from.

Whatever chemistry you are using to mitigate our exposure to pathogens, JUST RINSE afterward!

We all want a safe surface to use.

To learn more, attend the next Rock Star Infection Prevention class. Learn More HERE.

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Luxury Vinyl Floors

Resilient Floor Care

Floor care makes up over 80% of a custodian/janitor’s time and effort when maintaining any commercial facility.  Today, more than ever, that will be split between mainly hard surface care, and that has and is moving more toward the care of Luxury Vinyl flooring.  

Many operations are not certified on the requirements of this flooring material, don’t know what it is, don’t know anything about it, and just do to it what they have always done to VCT flooring.  IT IS NOT THE SAME MATERIAL!

VCT is a porous flooring material and liquids, finish and sealers penetrate the VCT.  This gives the coatings something to grab onto and lock to the flooring material, making a bond.

Vinyl is NOT porous and therefore the coating you put on it and do NOT attach permanently.  Thus, the coating you have just applied does NOT bond to it well.

Also, the two main forms that this material is distributed and installed are PLANK (like the picture here) and TILES.  Luxury Vinyl Planks (LVP) is long and narrow and have liner groves that hold copious amounts of debris. Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT) are either square or rectangle in shape and are generally smooth.  Why do you need to know this?  Because this changes the process and equipment required to maintain them in the best practices manner.

These are just some of the issues you need to know and are instructed on during class.  Attend a hands-on class today to learn more.

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How To Videos

How to Use Low Moisture Carpet Cleaning

After 7 years of wet extraction and not getting the results they wanted, a church sent two staffers to class.

After learning about Dry Extraction and Low Moisture Carpet Cleaning, they wanted an on-site class. In very little time, with less than a pound of low moisture compound, the changes were dramatic.

More was needed for full recovery of the carpet, but now they are on their way to a maintenance program that can be replicated on a schedule without the use of water.

Join us for a class!

www.AcademyofCleaning.com

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How To Videos

How to Clean Outside Windows

The challenge was to remove years of buildup with landscaping in the way.

Watch and see how, in his first window cleaning class, this student learned how to use a no-touch cleaning unit, soaper & pole in conjunction with the proper cleaner and descaler on these outside windows…and never used a squeegee!

Classes forming now in our classroom at the GEM Supply location in Ocala, FL.

www.AcademyofCleaning.com

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"The most valuable resource an operation has is an engaged employee, let that be YOU!"