First Post! 01/21/2012
There are three different processes to carpet cleaning and upholstery Cleaning: 1) The Dry Method, 2) VLM (Very Low Moisture) method and 3) HWE (Hot Water Extraction) which is sometimes also called "Warm Water Extraction" or "Steam Cleaning", although steam is not what comes out of the wand, it is only warm to hot water depending on how good the water heating equipment is on the truck is. The dry process uses a few products, 1) chemical foam and does clean well, although much of the chemical is still on the carpet fibers and the carpets usually re-soil quickly because the foam is not extracted properly and it leaves a sticky residue behind. 2) Ground up Corn Cobs is the other method of a dry process and is very messy. This process does not clean up well even with the best vacuum. The HWE process (Squish, Squish) is usually used when someones has a flood in the basement or water pipe burst or even a sewer backing up. The equipment used to extract the water does a great job, although the padding under the carpet is still very soggy and wet. Many times it takes days or even weeks to dry properly and anytime carpet is wet for over 24 hours, mold spores start to grow and the wet environment offers a perfect breeding ground for pests and bacteria to multiply. When this happens, people who have allergies and asthma are horribly affected and usually need to use medications to alleviate their symptoms (Due to the mold spores and dust mites getting air borne). We feel that if a carpet is damaged by flooding.....the pad and carpet need to be taken out and new pad replaced. Sometimes the carpet can be saved, although if there are children or elderly people with compromised immune systems in the home, respiratory issues may occur and we feel it is just not worth risking someones health for a fewhundred bucks. The VLM (very low moisture) process we feel is most beneficial for all homes and commercial offices spaces, because we are not soaking the carpets and creating down time for the home owner or office space use. AllerganX takes a more holistic approach to cleaning. We know that 80-90% of the dirt, dust, dander, dust mite and particulate in the carpet can be vacuumed up, as long as the proper vacuum is used. Our vacuum has a 4 horse powered, 6 stage HEPA filter that captures all loose particulate down to the .03 micron. A dust mite is approximately .125 micron, so we are sucking up most of the dirt, dust mites, excrement and other pollutants and creating a healthier indoor air quality. We then spray down a solution, which is an environmentally friendly, green carpet cleaning solution on to all fibered surfaces and offer some time to dwell. The solution will emulsify the dirt and suspend it in the carpet. We then extract the emulsified dirt and solution with an osolating pad machine, which is 15 inches in diameter. There is a thick pad made of several different fabrics that absorb the solution and also provides gentle agitation to the carpet fiber cleaning all sides of the carpet fiber. As we are cleaning, many times we can see more hair and embedded pebbles/dirt being brought to the surface of the carpet pile. The process is very thorough and offers a "Deep Cleaning" of the carpets. In many cases we are actually doing a "Restorative Clean" which costs more money, although we do not actually charge more money to the client. We then vacuum after the cleaning to remove what ever was brought to the surface and then do a walk through with the client before packing up our equipment. If there is anything that we need to spend special attention on, we would rather try one last time before packing up our gear into the truck. The carpets/upholstery dries in just a few hours and we eliminate any chance of creating a health risk to our clients. The carpets stay cleaner longer and our customers are happier because they not only have clean carpets, but they have better indoor air quality too. We will use approximately 2-3 gallons of water for a 5 room house and then another 5-7 gallons to wash our pads in the laundry for a total use of maybe 10 gallons of water. The HWE people will use 20-30 gallons of water per room. They then dump the grey water into the sewer system with many harsh chemicals. This is not good for our environment and with fresh water becoming more of a commodity, we all need to conserve our water use. I have worked for several major industrial chemical companies in the past and know that you do not need harsh chemicals to clean carpets. It is the process that does the cleaning,,,,chemicals are just a small part of the cleaning process. Dave is hyper-sensitive to chemicals and fragrances and I suffer from allergies and slight case of asthma. I hope the information we have provided helps give you a better understanding of why we are so passionate about what we do? Dave and I use these chemicals every day, so we do not want to put ourselves inharms-way nor our customers. We are a green company that is always trying to improve our carpet cleaning results and adding value to the cleaning service with out harming the earth and all of its resources. We feel our biggest challenge so far in this business venture is that we have to find the educated segment that understands the value of our carpet cleaning services or we have to educate people about how to reduce their triggers as asthmatics and those that suffer from allergies so they are seeking out the correct services without harming themselves or their family. Allerganx Carpet And Upholstery cleaning 5477 East Brenner Pass Minneapolis Minnesota 55432 1 Comment | David Nordahl
Our mission on this blog Page is to educate the community of Minneapolis and St. Paul on how to manage and maintain the highest standard of indoor air quality. I take pride in being a specialist in the cleaning carpet and upholstery coverings . We have committed ourselves to gaining a high level of education and providing the best customer service possible, including providing other methods of carpet cleaning using the safest products. ArchivesCategoriesAll |
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