Increase your building's asset value with investment in carpet care!

Carpet accounts for more than half of the total US flooring market! That's a big chunk of building assets and maintenance cost for the care for them. It may seem tempting to save on expense and only clean carpeting when it looks dirty, however the truth is, cleaning increases a carpet's lifecycle, and this is the cornerstone to increasing facility asset value. You'll save money in the long run if you invest in cleaning before you see soil and stains appear on your carpeting.

Why is this? The reason is because 80% of the soil that makes its way into your carpeting is dry. You may not see this dirt because it's embedded itself. Dry soil abrades and damages carpet fibers. Damaged carpeting gets visibly dirtier sooner and needs to be replaced more often.

What should my carpet maintenance plan look like? The basic areas of carpet maintenance are remarkably similar to hard floor maintenance, except the procedures are different.

Preventative Maintenance— Stop soil from entering your facility in the first place with a good matting strategy. Experts recommend both exterior and interior mats at all entry points. Be sure your interior mats are 10-12' long to catch as much soil as possible. Prevention is low cost, high value maintenance.

Daily Maintenance— Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Vacuuming is a less expensive procedure than extraction cleaning and it's easier on carpet fibers. If you can pick up 80% of soil by vacuuming, you'll have to extract less often. Daily spot removal is also important. (See our earlier article for tips on how to remove spots). The longer a spot sits on your rug, the more likely it'll turn into a harder-to-remove stain. Nassco offers many types of vacuums from backpacks to riders.

Interim Maintenance— Performed less frequently than daily, interim maintenance can be used either overall or in spot areas like heavy traffic lanes to reduce the frequency of expensive deep extraction. Bonnet cleaning removes ground-in soils. Dry extraction or encapsulation uses chemical agents to surround soil, pulling it off carpet fiber and crystalizing it for future removal with routine vacuuming. We recommend P&G #27 Bonnet/Traffic Lane Cleaner for interim maintenance.

Restorative Maintenance— Even with daily vacuuming, spotting, and interim maintenance, deep extraction is needed occasionally to restore carpeting to its original condition. If deep extraction is not done often enough – perhaps 1-3 times annually – carpeting may become heavily soiled and damaged, making it impossible to clean even with extraction. For deep carpet extraction and protection, use P&G Carpet Extraction Cleaner/Sanitizer #25, which will clean, sanitize and neutralize odors.

The Carpet and Rug Institute estimates that properly maintained carpet can last 3 times longer than poorly maintained carpet.

Replacement of carpeting is, by far, the most expensive form of restoration. But If you invest the time and money in a thoughtful carpet care plan, you could dramatically extend the lifecycle of your carpeting and delay replacement for years – maybe 3 times longer than if you didn't maintain it! This will increase your facility's asset value on your balance sheet.

For more information on procedures, products or equipment for carpet care, call your Nassco sales rep at 800-729-6726 or ask a Nassco expert today.