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

Vacuum Cleaner Selection Tips

In past articles, we have stressed how important it is to vacuum your carpets and rugs regularly. Since that is something we harp on, we are consistently asked “What is the best vacuum to get?” We do not have a specific brand to recommend but here are some tips on what to look for or consider when buying a vacuum.

Beater Bar Brush

For carpets and rugs, this is important. The beater bar brush is needed to loosen up the dirt during vacuuming.

Upright vacuum or a canister vacuum

Upright vacuums do a better overall job on carpets, though canister vacuums are easier to maneuver, especially on stairs. Also, top of the line canisters typically have a motor-driven head for better carpet cleaning.

Bagless vacuums verses bagged vacuums

Bagless vacuums save you the cost of bags, but like bagged models they still require filters. Emptying a bagless vacuum is also a dustier process, a concern if you have asthma or allergies.

Other features to consider.

Edge-cleaning tools help at corners and baseboards. If you will use your vacuum to vacuum draperies, make sure it has a suction control feature in order to protect the drapes. If you

 will use your vacuum for both bare floors and carpets, get one with a brush on/off switch. This will help safeguard from scratching bare floors and prevents scattered dust and debris.

Most Important, give it a spin before buying.

Even if you order your vacuum online, visit a store first. Push, pull, turn and lift any models you’re considering. The bottom line is, you may have the most expensive, fanciest vacuum, but if it is heavy, awkward to use or move around and you do not use it, it is a horrible vacuum. The reality is that the best model for you (whether cheap or very expensive) is the one you will use.

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

Have You Noticed Grayish or Dark Lines along the walls on your carpets

You probably do not want to know this, but it is not a defect in your carpet. It is called soil filtration which is a term used to describe dark, gray (sometimes black) lines that appear on carpet. Soil filtration occurs because the carpet acts as a filter to dust and other airborne particles resulting from a concentrated flow of air over the carpet. It is most commonly found around baseboards, under doors and along the edges of stairs.

The primary reason for this concentrated flow of air is pressure changes within a room. Pressure changes occur within a room from either the effect of warmer air rising or from your heater or air conditioner blowing

air into a room without a return vent. Because of the pressure change, air tries to flow either in or out of the room. For walls that are not sealed to the floor, air moves in and out of the room at these areas and that is why you will see it along walls and stairs. For these situations, unless the air leakage areas are addressed, the soil filtration will continue to occur.

 

 

Also, have you ever noticed a grayish or dark line at the doorway of a room? Especially a closet or a room that is rarely used and the door is always shut. Once again, soil filtration. It is quite common for dirt and dust to accumulate under doors when they are shut. Due to pressure differences between rooms (as described above), air will flow from the high pressure

room to the lower pressure through the largest available holes. With the door shut, the undercut of the door is generally the largest available hole. Therefore, as the air passes between the door undercut and the carpeting, the carpet acts like a filter taking out dirt and dust particles from the air. For these situations, you might consider leaving the door cracked so air can move around the door and not under the door.

Do your wool carpets and/or rugs shed when you vacuum?

     Are you worried that the carpet or rug is degrading. Don’t worry. This is a natural characteristic of wool carpets and rugs. 

     Some pilling and shedding can occur with all wool carpets and rugs. This is a natural characteristic of wool carpeting because wool carpets are made from short “staple” fibers. A staple fiber is a short

length of fiber generally ranging from 4 to 8 inches long which is then spun into a yarn comprised of these short lengths. As we all know, wool is sheared from sheep. The result is short lengths of fiber which is then woven into a yarn. Because the yarn is made up of millions of short fibers, there are millions and millions of ends of these fibers in the carpet. Kind of like split ends in a person’s hair. It is impossible to remove all of these loose ends in the construction process. The result is these ends come out or shed when vacuuming.

     Once again, no need to worry. Wool carpets will not wear out from the loss of fiber. They can “ugly out” from use and abuse but they won’t fall apart.  Also, the thicker the carpet yarn, the more likely you are to see shedding. Once again, no need to panic. The shedding should diminish with time but it will never go away completely. There will always be some fiber in the vacuum canister. Remember, this is normal.

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