How to remove iron/ rust stains in carpet.

The most common place I see these is around metal chair or table feet that have been placed on wet carpet or had water spilled on the carpet near them.

The normal carpet cleaning options and chemicals won't pull iron out (or red dye - separate post) so you need to get a specialized iron removal chemical. janitorial supply distributors will have them, maybe some drug stores and carpet stores as well.

1) Follow label instructions.

2) Note with special care the instruction for removing or neutralizing the residual chemicals you don't extract with the stain. Iron removal requires acid. Acid strong enough to destroy your carpet. Unless you completely remove the chemical you risk permanent damage to your carpet. We are forced to use "hot" acids to remove iron stains from toilet fixtures and sinks - while not as aggressive as these acids, this stuff still doesn't belong in your carpet long term.

Bob

Hydrogen peroxide cleaners

I've seen a lot of data and have one acquaintance who owns a janitorial supply distributor and dumped all his other chemical lines in favor of hydrogen peroxide - simpler, safer, greener - etc.

We called several distributors in our market and they were all to lazy to work with us - and our collective spend is one of the largest in our market, oddly enough.

We finally found someone hungry enough to work with us and are testing some commercial cleaning products.

Bob

Red Stains in carpet

Normal carpet cleaning chemicals work pretty well on everything except red stains and iron stains (rust from the metal feet of a chair or table that was placed on moist carpet would be a common source of rust stains)

Red stains are of two types :

- Organics like fruit juices, red wine (probably most common) and tomatoes

- Non - organics like red dyes (including dyes added to apple juice to mike it look like a more expensive juice ) and medicines.

A ) Get a specialized red dye spotter targeted for whichever type of stain. janitorial supply distributors, many carpet stores, possibly Home Depot or Menards, and many better hardware stores will stock these.

B) Follow label instructions.

C) I'm told that the old "steam iron and a clean white cotton cloth" means of wicking the dye out of the carpet is no longer absolutely necessary - but that it still helps a lot. Any application of heat will speed up the action of most carpet cleaning chemicals, and the instructions may suggest a variety of ways to apply heat.

Bob

Wood floors - and bamboo - how to maintain them.

We don't clean a lot of wood floors. Generally, in commercial buildings they are in low traffic areas (tho some restored older buildings downtown have them thruout) like VP offices.

Usually we only need to mop them with clear water. Sometimes we add a little vinegar or some very mild form of acetic or citric acid if the floor is a little dirtier. I don't know any reason why you can't use detergents instead of acids except that I suspect the ph of wood finish is different than the ph of vinyl floor finishes and ceramic floors. My understanding is that this chemical inconsistency leads to streaking, hence the acid wash. Might also strip the finish over time.

Bob

Hepa - filter vacuums - defined.

High Efficiency Particulate Air - = HEPA

Rated at or better than 99.97 collection of particles down to .3 microns in size.

Not going to get virus' out of your indoor air - but will take the allergen level down a bunch - captures most molds, yeasts, and bacteria.

We are standardized on HEPA filter vacuums going forward - they are about 30% more expensive than standard commercial cleaning vacuums, but this is the way the industry is going so we might as well get ahead of it. We still have a lot of " legacy" older vacuums out there - but new accounts will get the HEPA filters, we require it for all medical facilities and areas where there might be compromised immune systems.

Since carpet tends to hold allergens, regular vacuums can at least theoretically degrade the indoor air quality by pulling the allergens out of the carpet, not catch them in their filters, and push them out in the air for us to breathe. Which, if you've ever walked behind a poorly maintained commercial vacuum will be no surprise to you. I'm not normally very sensitive to dust, but that will do it for me - sneezing fit ahoy.

If you are really serious about particulates - say in a manufacturing clean room or a surgery room janitorial project - you can also move up to ULPA filters - 99.99 % effective down to .2 microns. These will actually capture some virus'.

Bob

Carpet Cleaning - Time, Heat, Chemical and Agitation.

These are the 4 variables in cleaning a carpet.

The more time a chemical has to emulsify or encapsulate soil the higher the percentage of the soil will be transferred from carpet to chemical and removed from the carpet.

The more agitation, the more likely the chemical is to actually meet up with the soil and have a chance to emulsify or encapsulate it.

The more heat, the shorter the time it takes for emulsification and encapsulation to happen.

Similarly, very hot water can work in moderate soil situations with no chemical at all

The more chemical, the more soil that can be captured and removed with some combination of these 4 variables.

Dry methods use agitation, time and chemical in small amounts.

Extraction uses chemical, agitation and time.

Truck mounts often use only heat, but can use chemical and agitation in highly soiled situations.

Bob

Carpet cleaning - Shampooing, detergents, and resoiling

No such term as "shampoo" is in current use in commercial cleaning.

Generally, old time carpet "shampoos" were detergents.

We use both detergents and solvents.

Solvents are volatile and evaporate - so if you don't extract them completely - no harm.

Detergents must be thoroughly extracted to remove all residue as the residue will hold any dirt that gets tracked on afterwards - "resoiling " - the carpet.

Your daily vacuum cleaning won't break this bond so the dirt will stay in the carpet with the chemical and you will have defeated the purpose of cleaning the carpet in the first place.

Bob