Sean's Carpet Care

Another year has passed! Ok, I may be a little announcing that it is a new year, but hey it is still January 2012. Last year I received the Super Service Award from Angie’s List. This year I was honored to win the Angie’s List 2011 Super Service Award Portland Oregon

I want to thank all of my great clients and Angie’s List! It has been a long year and felt great at adding new clients. It is always fun to see my repeat clients, providing Carpet Cleaning in Portland.

Thank you!

Sean

Super Service Award 2011

Sean’s Carpet Care, 1631 NE Broadway St. #318, Portland, OR 97232

Have you ever wondered why your Do it Yourself pet urine odor removal secrets have failed? Have you had a hard time trying to remove pet urine odor from your carpets? Often, many people think that carpet cleaning will fix the pet urine odor in the carpet. If you look around on the web or in pet stores you’ll find an abundant supply of pet urine odor removal secrets. I am a professional carpet cleaner providing Carpet Cleaning in Portland. The truth…I rarely see these products work on removing pet urine. The problem is that most products only treat the surface of the pet urine. When someone calls to ask about carpet cleaning I always ask, “Is the carpet or is there pet urine?” I know that once water is added to pet urine the pet urine odor will return immediately and carpet cleaning alone will not fix the urine odor. See the video and watch what is in the pad of the carpet and what needs to be removed.

Now you can see what your up against. The truth is that the pet urine in this is an extreme example of pet urine in carpet, but it happens to be this color every so often. There is always pet urine in the pad  and unless it is treated then the pet urine is still there.

Before spending too much money on Do It Yourself Pet Urine treatment it may be better to hire a professional experienced with pet urine odor removal. I provide Pet Urine Odor Removal in Portland

Hope this information is helpful…..Until next time….Thank you…..Sean!

Wow, I found a great local business networking group part of LeTip in Portland. This a great group of professional business working to pass business referrals to each other every week. As the group grows, each week, the amount of local business referrals seems to grow exponentially.

This new group is called the LeTip Lloyd Center in Portland. A newly formed group is a great opportunity for local business professionals to join and start growing their business. It is surprising at how many business categories are available to join.

The Lloyd Center LeTip group is starting out with several key category positions filled. Currently, LeTip Lloyd Center Portland has companies that offer Local Banking Services, Carpet Cleaning Portland, Portland Salon & Spa services, Interior Designer Portland, Portland Real Estate Investment, Tax Preparation Portland, Portland Tree Service, and more to come!

If you are looking for a cost effective way to grow your business then I recommend visiting LeTip Lloyd Center Portland.

Take care…Sean…

Have you recently had a spot or stain on the carpet? Have you searched around the web for help? Isn’t it amazing at how much information there is to remove  spots and spills from your carpet and upholstery? Pet Urine removal is also a hot topic with tons of supposed secret information on how to treat pet urine.

As a professional carpet cleaning in Portland I am amazed at how much mis-information there is on the web. Some of the information I learn that my cleints have tried has often made spots worse or improssible to remove. The truth…using the correct chemistry to remove a spot can keep it from becoming a permanent stain. Use the wrong chemistry on a spot or stain and the spot can become permanent.

Everyday, I see things done with carpet, upholstery, counter tops, tile, etc. that cause major, often unrepairable, damage. With a little education on how to take the best care of your carpet, upholstery, tile & grout, and more you can keep your home in great condition.

What I’ve Learned – Secret Carpet Cleaning Information – For My Clients

Helpful Tips to Keep Your Home Looking It’s Best

Tip #1 – CAUTION Putting Area Rugs Over Carpet - You want to put a beautiful new area rug on top of the carpet in an area of your home.

Ok, but please make sure the rug does not have latex in the backing. Latex releases a gas called BHT that over-time naturally causes irreparable damage to the carpet turning it yellow. For example, the latex back on new shower mats is white and turns yellow over time. The BHT gas sometimes can also turn vinyl floors yellow.

Tip #2 – Acids Etch Natural Stone Counters/Floors- Natural stone counter tops and floors are prone to etching when exposed to acids, such as lemons. It is important to have these surfaces sealed. Often contractors skip sealing natural stone counter tops. Even after sealing natural stone surfaces can still etch, so be careful letting any type of acid sit on these surfaces.

Tip #3 – Unsealed Tile - Tile floors, counter tops, and showers are often left unsealed by contractors.  We can bring these areas back to life and seal them to help keep foreign debris from penetrating the grout.

Tip #4 – Prep A Repair Piece (Just in case J) - If you have new spare pieces of your carpet then I would recommend taking an approximately 12 x 24 inch piece and placing it where it will get lots of foot traffic (preferably shoe traffic). This will serve as great piece of replacement carpet that will blend in with the original carpet, if needed. After about a year of walking on this carpet have it cleaned and then put away.

Tip #5 – A Reason Why Dogs Like Certain Rugs – Do you have a dog that likes to pee on certain rugs and not others? The reason some dogs pee on one rug consistently and not the others is because the rug they favor may be made out of wool. Of course the dog has not seen a lamb running around the house, but the wool causes the dog to think there is a lamb near. The dog thinks, “Hmm…No lamb is coming into my home and taking over.” The dog pees on the rug to mark its territory. Bleach dissolves wool. So if you carefully remove one fiber from the rug and put some bleach on it and it dissolves then you know it is wool! Do Not put bleach on the rug.

Tip #6 – Microfiber Upholstery – Microfiber is a fabulous material that is very durable. This fabric is imitation suede, which is a compliment. If you have a spot on this type of fabric make sure to BLOT the spill. NEVER rub the spot or you can permanently damage the fabric turning it from a suede look to a leather look. Microfiber is not like carpet and cannot be re-dyed.

With the information above you should be better equipped to take the best care of your home. I found a great article on AOL that discusses How to Avoid The Top 5 Cleaning Faux Pas to help provide the best home cleaning tips. P.S. Make sure to read the comments section. There are some great tips there as well.

Hope this information is helpful! Until next time….Sean

Home maintenance is often thought of vacuuming and occassional carpet cleaning. If you have pets in your home you may need to step up your home maintenance schedule.

Have you noticed at how many people have their pets, especially dogs and cats, living in their homes? I mean isn’t interesting how many people let their pets take over their home and run the house? Everyday, in my business providing carpet cleaning in Portland, I visit homes that need help with removing and killing heavy pet urine.

Did you know that, according to the CEO of Coit, in their article Pet Services Program, “More than 60 percent of U.S. households include pets.”

Hey, i’m a pet fan and to me dogs are especially great, so I understand that families and pets can live happily together. I believe pets are important and can greatly enhance people’s lives. The trick it seems is to live together without letting the pets take control of the house. Removing pet urine from the carpets can be difficult without help from a professional carpet cleaner.

Pet Urine is Difficult – Pet Dander Is Impossible (Almost)

When dealing with pet urine removal from carpet there is more than just the odor. Another problem is the yellow stains and the salt. Yes, salt is a huge problem with pet urine removal. Have you looked at the shelves of stores for pet removal products or around the web for pet urine removal formulas? Isn’t it amazing at how many products for pet urine removal secrets are available for consumers? The problem is that many of the secret solutions only deal with a couple problens associated with pet urine.

The real issue with pet urine removal is that if not all of the issues with pet are solved then the pet urine will still remain and be annoying.

Some carpet manufacturers are trying to develop special carpets to protect against pet urine problems. You can even buy special carpet pad to protect against pet urine from penetrating the carpet and working its way into the sub-floor of the home. Lately, I have even heard of special carpet protectors that protect against pet urine odor and stains from becoming permanent.

Pet urine removal from carpet can seem impossible, but what is really impossible, well almost impossible, is the removal of pet dander from the carpet. Regular vacuuming is the best defense against having pet dander penetrate carpet fibers and carpet backing permanently.

Vacuuming and Carpet Cleaning Didn’t Work!

Ok, so you have tried to vacuum the carpet thoroughly. Maybe you have even tried to have the carpets cleaned by a professional carpet cleaner, but the pet dander smell is still there. You know that annoying odor that smells like wet dog or sometimes smells like pet urine.

The truth…Carpet cleaning and vacuuming alone will not get rid of tough pet danger odor problems in carpet. Trust me…I have seen a lot of pet dander problems, especially in apartment and house rental situations.

Solutions – that Kill Odor

The best solution for pet urine odor removal is by hiring a professional carpet cleaner that has experience in dealing with tough pet urine removal.  The truth is that a professional carpet cleaner needs to use formulas to remove the yellow, kill the bacteria, and remove the urine salts down to the level of their contamination.

For heavy pet dander odor removal it is also important to hire a professional carpet cleaner. Cleaning may not be the ultimate solution to correct the odor caused by pet dander. A special type of pairing deodorizer may be needed to remove the odor permanently.

So before risking your hard earned money on trying to fix pet odor issues make sure to find a reputable professional carpet cleaner in your area.

Hope this information is helpful…Thank you…Sean!

Often the only time to clean the carpets is when the carpet looks dirty. Really, carpet cleaning is not just about the look and actually about good health. Yes, it can be annoying and sometimes embarrassing to look at the dirty carpet. Isn’t it amazing to look at the dirt build up and wonder, “How did all of that soil get there?” Even if you take your shoes off the carpet still seems to get dirty.

This Is Amazing

Whenever one my my clients happends to see the color of the water coming out of the carpet, especially carpet that looks clean to the eye can be shocking. Then if my clinets go one step farther and happen to sneek a peek at the inline cleaning filter they are often amazed at what has been removed from the carpet.

Yes, regular carpet cleaning maintenance is best performed by regular vacuuming and many clients are great at taking care of their indoor environments. Even with regular vacuuming and removing shoes before entering the home it can be disturbing to still see the soil, hair, sand, and much more than is removed with professional carpet cleaning.

Wether you have hardwood floors or carpet and no matter what you do to take care of your indoor environment soil will always enter the home. You see there is always a layer of air that travels throught the home. This air runs around the edges of the walls, up the stairs, and under door ways. The air that travels throughout the home carriers with it soil from outside and oily soot from filtration air.

Dark Filtration Line

One of the toughest things about filtration soil is that it gets stuck on the stairs and under door ways of doors that are not often opened. Filtration soil is also more prevalent in second story homes. Have you seen this type of soil? Look around the walls, especially upstairs. Do you see the dark lines around the walls? Now check under door ways of mostly closed doors. See the dark soil?

So you have vacuumed regualrly and taken your shoes off everytime before you walked in the house. So the obvious question is, “How did this soil get here?”

How Did The Soil Get In?

The homes that are built today are air tight. Every time a door leading outside is openned it is as if your home is exhaling. Well, what happens after everytime we exhail? Right, we inhail. Everytime an exterior door is openned your home exhails and inhails particulate soil, bacteria, etc. into your home. The good news…If you have carpet installed in your home it will filter and store the contaminents from outside until cleaning.

The Key…Cleaning!

The key to taking the best care of your indoor environment is to clean the carpet once in awhile. Usually it is recommended to clean your carpet every 6-18 months. It is best to clean your carpet at least once per year. Clean out the filter in the home and you will breathe better.

With cleaning you need to decide which type of carpet cleaning method is best for you.

Carpet Cleaning Starts Here

When trying to decide where to start with carpet cleaning it is best to start by reading your warranty. To maintain your carpet warranty carpet manufacturers recommend cleaning intervals and the method of carpet cleaning required.

In addition to carpet cleaning tips in this article the Sierra Club has a great article on Carpet Cleaning for Looks and Health.

Some useful tips for maintaining carpet are:

• Use doormats. As much as two thirds of the dust and dirt in our homes is tracked in on our feet. Make sure you have doormats inside and outside your doors, ideally long enough to come in contact with your shoes for several footsteps. Vacuum the mats frequently.
• Shoes off, please! Taking your shoes off as you enter your home is even more effective than doormats at keeping dirt out. Make shoe removal convenient by putting a bench or chair near the door.
• Cover it up. Small mats or rugs on top of the carpet in heavily trafficked areas reduce wear and tear, extending the life of the carpet.
• Clean up spills immediately. To prevent ground in dirt and stains, vacuum dry spills right away and blot (don’t rub) wet spills with an absorbent cloth.
• Vacuum frequently. Frequent vacuuming, especially in high-traffic areas, keeps surface dirt from working its way deeper into the carpet fibers, where it can be harder to remove. Always vacuum before a deep cleaning for maximum effectiveness.

Checkout their great article listed above. Now that you see how the soil gets into your home you can now see how to take the best care of your indoor environment.

Hope this information is helpful…Until next time…I will be out carpet cleaning for awhile…Sean Mecham…Professional carpet cleaner providing carpet cleaning in Portland, OR

Moving is almost always a pain isn’t it? Not one of my favorite things to do. It always seems amazing at the amount of stuff that was somehow collected. The challenge of organizing and packaging possessions can be overwhelming.

The scary part after removing items is the amount of cleaning that is needed to get your apartment ready for the move out inspection. Once everything is removed from the apartment it is like, “hey where did that spot come from on the carpet, or I never noticed all that black stuff down there!”

With this article I will help provide some tips to get your apartment ready ready for the big day.

Everyday, I get calls about what to do to get the carpet ready for moving out of an apartment. One of the hard parts to moving is dealing with all of the spots on the carpet. There can be black spots, red spots, yellow spots, or pet urine on the carpet.

Who to Hire?

Now that you notice all of the spots there is the tough decision of what to do about them. I mean should you hire a professional carpet cleaner or do your own carpet cleaning? I understand that everyone has a budget when getting their carpets cleaned. I get that the main goal with apartments and cleaning the carpet is to get it clean enough to get the deposit back.

The deciding point about whether to hire a professional carpet cleaner or to do it your self is deciding who has the best chances of getting the spots out? Black Spots are pretty easy in most cases. The spot cleaner Folex, which is sold at Home Depot, is great at removing most stains. For red stains it may be best to call a professional carpet cleaner. Often red stains need special attention and using the wrong spot remover will permanently set the stain. Secret Tip: Using and “Oxy”gen based spot remover will set most red stains.

Pet urine removal is most often best performed by a professional carpet cleaner. Most of the products used to treat pet urine don’t work. If you want to understand pet urine and how to remove it click the pet urine link above.

If you want to do your own carpet cleaning here are some useful tips on how to do it yourself carpet cleaning. This will tell you how to setup a rented carpet cleaning machine to get the best results.

Not Just Carpet

Obviously there is more to preparing for a move out inspection than just cleaning the carpet. You still have to clean the rest of the house!

Here is a great article that proivdes step by step details and how to prepare your apartment for moving out:

How to Clean an Apartment Before Moving Out

• Find out whether your landlord or apartment complex automatically cleans the carpet, without charge to you, when you move out or whether they require you to have stayed in the apartment a certain number of years before they will waive the carpet cleaning. Spot clean tough stains with a spray-on carpet cleaner first, like Folex.
• Before painting make sure the apartment manager is not going to paint anyway
• If there is damage you want want to start a conversation with the manager of the apartment about what they might charge to fix it. They often get deals from contractors to help with their repairs.
• Check the list on the site above to make sure you have all the items you need before you begin cleaning.
• Have family or friends help you with the cleaning. You can bribe them with offers of free meals at your new place.
• Bring a radio to listen to while you clean.
• If viable, begin cleaning in the room farthest from the front door, working your way towards the door. This prevents you from cleaning yourself into a corner.
• Send your new address to the landlord, so they know where to mail your security deposit.
• Take photos after cleaning your apartment to show the condition if needed.
• Hold on tight to the various records associated with your stay, such as:
  • apartment lease or rental agreement
  • rent receipts or checks
  • a copy of all agreements regarding damages between you and the landlord
  • a copy of the letter sent to your landlord with your forwarding address

Now you have your list and it’s time to get to work!

Hope this information was helpful…Until next time…Take care Sean

Sean is the owner of Sean’s Carpet Care, providing Carpet Cleaning in Portland.

Do you know what one of the most controversial topics with carpet cleaning is? Controversy surrounds the question of which carpet cleaning machine to use to clean carpet.

Yes, i’m sure you’ve seen all of the ads and reviews for the best home steam carpet cleaners for the Do it Yourself Carpet Cleaners, but what about professional carpet cleaners? There a lot of great home carpet cleaning machines for quick removal of spots and stains around the house. It is true that professional cleaning services do the best job of getting dirt out of carpets, so here is some advanced carpet cleaning information to help choose the best carpet cleaner.

Which Professional Carpet Cleaning Machine is Best?

As a professional carpet cleaner providing carpet cleaning in Portland it is amazing to see the reaction I recieve from new clients with the results provided by my hot water steam cleaning machine, the Rotovac. Between professional carpet cleaners there is a lot of debate about which is the best carpet cleaning tool.

Did you know…Carpet cleaners are called steam cleaners or steam vacuums, but there’s actually no steam involved

For me and my clients I feel that rotary jet extraction is best and it takes hot water extraction carpet cleaning results to the extreme.

Ok, I said it! You know which carpet cleaning machine I like best and which one I use everyday. Now, I will explain the two most prominent carpet cleaning tools used by professional carpet cleaners everyday. I will explain the science of capret cleaning and the benefits and negatives of each carpet cleaning tool.

Most Common Carpet Cleaning Tools

When hiring a professional carpet cleaner you will often see them use a Wand carpet cleaning tool and every once in awhile you may see a carpet cleaner use what is called a rotary machine.

Don’t worry…I will explain everything in a moment

With professional carpet cleaning two of the most popular cleaning tools, that is with hot water steam cleaning, are the Wand and Rotary Jet Extraction.

With a wand the carpet only receives 1 or 2 cleaning passes over the carpet. One of the secrets to getting carpet as clean as possible is agitating the fibers to loosen up and suspend the soil.

With a carpet cleaning wand the only agitation provided is from the front of the tool. Limited amounts of agitation only provided mediocre results at breaking up difficult stains and soil.

One of the best carpet cleaning tools on the market is the Rotovac 360i. This tool

provides 250 cleaning passes per minute over the carpet. This tool uses almost four times the water as a normal carpet cleaning wand. Then a second pass is made over the carpet to extract excess water and soil. Did you know…Carpet that is left extremely wet is also left with a lot of soil!

Using a carpet cleaning machine like the Rotovac 360i your carpet fibers are left fluffy and as soft as possible.

Click Rotovac Carpet Cleaning in Portland to see to Rotovac in action!

When searching for the cheapest carpet cleaner or the best carpet cleaner to hire you now have some information to help select the best carpet cleaner for your investment.

I hope this information is helpful…Please let me know if you have any questions…Until next time…Sean

P.S. please use this information on your website, blog etc. Just please put a link to this post! Thank you!

Providing professional Carpet Cleaning in Portland I know a ton about the science of carpet cleaning. Not trying to brag, but I am an expert at pet urine removal, tile and grout cleaning, carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, and more. Everyday, I learn and sharpen my skills regarding the science involved in removing some of the toughest carpet stains. A professional carpet cleaner can help you with difficult stains that many customers think are impossible to remove.

Hey, I Understand

I understand that not everyone wants or can afford to hire a professional carpet cleaner. I always do my best to educate my new clients on how to take the best care of their home environment. To help here is a couple great tips of how to perform Do it Yourself Carpet Cleaning.

Soap Is Your Enemy

One of the problems with do it yourself carpet cleaning is not being able to rinse out all of the soap. When soap is left in the carpet it leaves the carpet sticky and crunchy. The left over soapy residue attracts dirt quickly and can make the carpet look worse than before it was cleaned. I understand that you may rinse the carpet over and over thinking you got all of the soap out, but guess what? It’s still there!

Stay with me for a minute…

Have you ever noticed the crusty soap built up around the soap dispenser at the sink? After removing all of the soap around the dispenser, please do me a favor. Please put some water on your finger and rub it around where the soap was. Guess what happens? It foams up because the soap is still there!

Follow the tips below to help improve your carpet cleaning efforts.

If you want to rent a carpet shampooer at your local grocery or hardware store and do your own carpet cleaning you need to know a couple professional carpet cleaning secrets.

First, make sure to not put soap into the rental machine. You should put soap in a separate spray bottle and manually spray the carpet first. Then work the soap gently into the carpet with a broom. Brushing the carpet agitates and loosens up the soil and making it easier to remove more soil than just plain carpet cleaning.

Before beginning the rinsing process put a small amount of vinegar in the tank where the soap usually goes. The vinegar will help to neutralize the soap cleaning solution. The vinegar will help neutralize the soap and improve your cleaning efforts.

Make sure to not over wet the carpets by making extra dry passes over the carpet.

Now, your cleaning efforts will greatly improve close to a professional carpet cleaner.

Here is a great article, written by a fellow carpet cleaner in Portland, that provides some great advanced carpet cleaning tips for the Do it Yourselfer.

Read here, Portland carpet cleaning pro gives tips for homeowners

I hope this information is helpful! Take care until next time…Sean