Do-It-Yourself Spot Cleaning

Children, pets, parties and such can tend to create accidents on your carpets and rugs. It is wise to clean them and remove any spots as quickly as possible to prevent stains. We have found that many people will use products purchased from the store to try and remove these accidents. As cleaning professionals, we do not recommend that approach for the following reasons. Consumers assume that if a little bit of something works well, than a whole lot of it should work even better. This philosophy is bad in the spot cleaning world. The reason is that store bought cleaners will leave a residue. The amount of residue left is based on how much cleaning product was applied to the spot and how good of a job the consumer did trying to remove the cleaner after application. The problem is that the residue left on the carpet will then attract dirt.

Also, some of the store bought cleaning products can utilize harsh products to address spot removal. If these type cleaners do not remove the spot, they tend to make it a permanent stain.

So what do you do? First, removal of the initial insult is top of the list. For liquid spills, use a dry clean white cloth or towel. Put it on the spill and apply pressure. The liquid will migrate from the carpet/rug onto the towel. Keep moving the towel so a dry area is over the spill and keep this up until no more liquid is transferred to the towel. For any solid particles, scrap them off with a spoon or dull object. If a spot is still visible, we recommend starting with clean water. If the water does not work, try either 1 teaspoon of a neutral detergent with ½ pint of lukewarm water (a non-alkaline detergent that does not contain bleach such as used for washing delicate fabrics) or 1/3 cup white vinegar to 2/3 cup of water. Using a spray bottle, sprits the spot with the cleaner but do not over wet the spot. Then blot it up as described above.

For more information, visit my website at www.graysoncleans.com

Pet Hair In The House

    Cats and dogs can bring joy to a household but they also bring shedding. While pet hair from shedding cannot be eliminated from a home, it can be reduced.

Reduce the amount of pet hair that sheds.

    Pet hair loss is normal. Animals shed seasonally, and indoors animals may shed more because their systems can’t detect changes in the seasons. Also, unexpected temperature swings may cause pet hair to shed and grow more often. Daily brushing removes loose hair before it sheds and helps keep your pet’s coat healthier. Bathing your dog also reduces loose hair.

    However, some animals may have hair loss for reasons beyond seasonal changes. If your pet is shedding excessively, try changing their diet. If they are under stress, try alleviating the stress. There could also be medical reasons, so you might take them to your veterinarian to be checked.

Pet hair removal

    For clothing, lint brushes and lint rollers can be used to remove pet hair. So can masking or packing tape wrapped around your hand or rolled into a ball. Make sure the sticky side is out and rub it along the fabric grain.

    For furniture, remove as much of the pet hair as possible by vacuuming it with the hose attachment of the vacuum cleaner. After vacuuming, put on rubber gloves and dip them in cold water. Shake your hands so that the gloves are damp but not dripping water. Then, wearing the dampened rubber gloves, run your hands across the furniture fabric in one direction. This should gather the pet hair together in a little roll that you can easily pick up and throw in the trash.  Keep wiping all of the fabric in this manner until it is free of pet hair.

For More information, visit my website at www.graysoncleans.com

Dealing with Spills on Upholstery

When there is a spill on your upholstery, DON’T PANIC.

However, act promptly before it spreads or dries.

For liquid spills:

Blot lightly with a dry towel to start. Increase pressure and use a fresh towel until no more liquid is absorbed. DO NOT RUB! Do Not Add Liquid to a Liquid Spill

For solid or semi-solid spills (such as foods):

Gently lift the substance from the upholstery with a spoon or dull knife, scraping carefully toward the center of the spill. Treat any wet residue as a liquid spill.

For dry spills (such as ashes or dry cosmetics):

Adding any liquid to a normally dry substance, such as ashes, may cause a permanent stain. Vacuum, beat the area with a ruler or similar implement, vacuum again, then use the adhesive side of masking tape to remove any residue.

If residue still remains after above procedure:

Use 1/3 white vinegar and 2/3 water in a spray bottle. Spritz the stain and repeat the blotting steps described above for liquid spills.

For more information, visit my website at www.graysoncleans.com

Protecting your carpets

     The two most important aspects of carpet care are regular vacuuming, especially the traffic patterns, and walk off mats. With respect to walk off mats, there are 2 areas to address. Door mats for the entrance and exits from your home and internal mats for those transitions from a hard surface to a carpeted area.

     Door mats are very important for keeping the outside dirt from tracking onto your carpets. They should be placed both at the outside entrance to your home and at the inside entrance. The outside mat’s purpose is to scrap debris off shoes and to hold it. Therefore, they should be made of a more abrasive material. Also, many people do not purposely stop at an outside mat and wipe both feet. Therefore, the mat should be the width of the door and deep enough that both feet land on the mat during walking, approximately 3.5 to 4 feet. The inside mat’s purpose is to remove the smaller particles of dirt as well as oils and other liquids that can be tracked from the outside. Area rugs can work well for this purpose but make sure there is a non-slip pad underneath. Once again, it should be the width of the door and deep enough that both feet land on the rug during a natural walk.

     Internal mats are good wherever there is a transition from a hard surface to a carpeted area. Internal matting addresses two concerns. One is the difference in height between a carpeted area and hard surface. Typically the carpet fibers are a little higher than the hard surface and as a result, feet scrape across the fibers creating excessive wear. The other consideration is the loose particles on the hard surface being carried into the carpet fibers. This is especially important if the hard surface is the kitchen. An internal mat, whether on the hard surface or the carpet, can minimize both concerns.
     While the function of mats within the home is beneficial, they can sometimes create a conflict with the visual presentation and feel you want to achieve. However, outside matting should never be a problem. Remember, anything you can do, with respect to matting, will help prolong the appearance and life of your carpets.

For more information visit my website at www.graysoncleans.com

 

Cleaning up after you pets

We have recently received a rash of calls about cleaning up pet urine. So, I thought it would be good to make that the topic of this newsletter. As funny as this sounds, urine is a rather sophisticated problem. As a result, it requires slightly different approaches depending on whether it is fresh or had time to dry.

When Urine is fresh or still wet, the first step is to remove as much as possible by blotting with a dry towel or rag. Once you have removed as much as possible by

blotting, consider applying baking soda to the damp spot. Fresh urine’s PH is on the acidic side and baking soda will help neutralize it. The baking soda will also act as an absorbent to pull more of the urine out of the carpet (or rug). Leave the baking soda on the spot until it is dry. (However, before using baking soda on your carpet or rug, test it on a non-conspicuous area to make sure it does not affect the color.) To remove the baking soda from the carpet, you will probably need to vacuum it many times.

If your pet did not tell you they had an accident and you come across the spot after it has dried, white vinegar and water is your best approach. When urine has dried, the PH of the urine salts is on the alkaline side. Therefore, white vinegar is the best thing to use to neutralize and to remove the urine from the carpet or rug. To address the spot, mix 1/3 white vinegar with 2/3 water in a spray bottle. Spray the dried urine with the mixture, let it sit a few minutes and then remove it by blotting with a dry towel. This process will probably need to be repeated multiple times. Finally, the best way to determine if you have gotten the urine out is to actually smell the area.

 

For more information, visit my website at www.graysoncleans.com

Carpet & Premature Wear

Ever wondered why your carpet looks dull and extra dirty at the entrance to doors and why dull looking paths appear on your carpet. The answer is that the carpet is actually wearing away and is called a wear pattern. What creates this? People tend to drag their feet when they walk which creates wear. Especially at doorways where carpet and a hard surface meet. This is because the carpet is typically higher than the hard surface. Not only do we drag our feet a little more here but the carpet is also cleaning the dirt from our feet that accumulated from the hard surface.

The reason wear patterns appear through rooms is that we tend to go the same way through a room. The walking and the dragging of our feet create the resulting wear. This becomes very apparent in rooms with lots of activities such as dens. Another factor that contributes to premature wear is dirt in your carpet. When we walk, the dirt grinds against the sides of the carpet fibers like sand paper and weakens the fibers. The result, at these high use areas, is that the carpet fibers get physically worn away and create a dull appearance. Also, because the fibers are frayed, they will absorb dirt, spills and such easier than the non-worn fibers.

We live in our homes and carpet wear is natural. However, there are things that can be done to help reduce the affect. The biggest and best thing you can do is vacuum regularly. More than 70% of dirt in your carpet is dry particulate which vacuuming can remove. You can also look at buying higher grades of carpet which have a higher fiber count (more material per square inch just like “thread count” in linen). This can actually be a cost savings in the long run if you properly maintain the carpets. They will maintain their appearance and last longer than a lesser grade carpet. Also, avoid textured carpets in high use areas. While they look beautiful new, the textured carpets have high and low spots. The high spots will wear away quicker because there is less material to support them. The result is that traffic patterns stand out sooner. Finally, non-slip walk off mats at entrances to carpets help by capturing dirt before it hits the carpet. This will help reduce the doorway wear described above.

 

For more information, visit my website at www.graysoncleans.com