Sean's Carpet Care

Do you have a hardwood, tile, or laminate floor in the house?  Floors take a real abuse. Think about it. You grind your full weight into it with a quick turn of the heel. You stop, start, and slide. A little bit of grit completes the picture. It’s like having sandpaper with two hundred pounds, well maybe only a 100 pounds in your case, of pressure bearing down on your once shiny floor. In a short amount of time your shiny new finish can dull. Given enough time, you can do some real damage.

Oriental Area Throw rugs can save your floors. They trap the dirt before it hits your floor, providing  a protective barrier in the highest traffic areas of your house. Besides, throw rugs add beauty, personal touch, and warmth to a room. With proper cleaning, maintenance tips, and using the best rug pad it will last a long time.

Have you ever thought why they call them throw rugs? I suppose it’s because you can just throw them anywhere. Or it could be because if you’re not careful they will throw you. Getting thrown onto your floor makes for good slapstick comedy but potential serious injury.

It seems we have a friend and a villian in the same little rug. On the one hand the lowly throw rug saves your floor, and on the the other it breaks your arm or worse. Of course, most things in life have that potential of good or harm. This post is about taming the throw rug. What can we do to make it safe? People have tried many different solution to the unruly throw rug. In the past homeowner employed double-sided tape. It will help keep a throw rug from creeping. However, it is messy, and it will lose its grip over time. I wouldn’t count on it when you come rushing in with a bag full of groceries.

The carpet industry came up with their own taming ideas. They applied latex to the back of throw rugs. Latex does help with the slipping problem. However, latex has some nasty habits. I provide rug leaning in Portland, Oregon so I have seen some of the effects latex backed rugs can have on floors and carpets. As it ages it yellows and can release a foul smell. If the rug is laying over carpet or linoleum it can turn them yellow. You saved your floor only to have the throw rug turn it yellow. You can still buy throw rugs without latex on the back.

For my customers I recommend that they elevate the position of the lowly throw rug. Give the throw rug a pad. A pad accomplishes many things. Most people think of padding as the thing which makes your carpet soft and comfy. Rug padding has several purposes besides making your carpet cushy. A rug pad increases air flow under your throw rug for better vacuuming. The pad extends the life of your throw rug by absorbing the punishment given by your feet. They minimize uneven surfaces underneath the throw rug thus prevent wear on high spots.

Natural rubber padding is among the best carpet padding you can buy. In fact, it can run into quite a bit of money for an entire room. One could afford to splurge a little on a throw rug, however. The natural rubber provides excellent slip resistance. I have linked to an article which provides the best rug pad buying guide for your given floor and throw rug. You need to buy the proper padding of the proper thickness to prevent damage to your rug and floor.

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

On my website that provides information on carpet cleaning in Portland, Oregon I mention as a tip the danger of placing a latex backed entry rug over your carpet. I also mentioned in that tip a chemical called BHT (Butylated hydroxytoluene). BHT can cause the latex on the back of a throw rug to yellow and in turn yellow your carpet. So what is this BHT?

BHT is a synthetic analogue of vitamin E. What is an analogue? Don’t feel bad. I had to look it up too. An analogue in chemistry is a compound that has the same structure of another but with different chemical elements. In other words BHT looks like vitamin E but has different elements and is made commercially rather than occurring naturally. It has antioxidant properties just like vitamin E.  It’s been around since 1940, and we eat it.

Yes, they developed it for the food industry to preserve  foods like butter, potato chips, and most fatty type products. Controversy has surrounded BHT with claims made on both sides. You can read on the the Web that it may cause cancer or it may prevent it. Evidently the food industry had some concerns at least about bad press because they came out with BHA (Butylated hydroxyanisole). The food industry  uses both however.

Manufacturers found that BHT helped reduce flammability of carpet backing and underlying pads. Unfortunately, in some situations that same BHT causes the backing to yellow. For that reason many carpet manufacturers have removed BHT from their processes. However, if you buy a latex backed throw rug at the discount store, it could still have BHT in it. If you put a latex backed rug on top of your carpet it might turn your carpet yellow causing a permanent yellow stain.

Deciding if BHT is bad for your health or not is something you need to decide for yourself. For me the most worry about BHT is that it turns many carpets and linoleum bathroom floors yellow. In many types of carpet and linoleum floors the yellow is often permanent.

It can be easy to tell if a throw rug is latex backed. The easy way to tell if your rug is latex backed is to look at the back of the rug. If you can see the pattern on the front of the rug from the back then there shouldn’t be latex in the rug. If you look on the backside of the rug and see cloth instead of the pattern on the front then most likely there is latex between the cloth and the pattern of the rug. Sometimes improperly cured latex can cause odors in the rug.

We learned a couple things from our research here. One, don’t place latex backed  throw rugs over your carpet. Buy throw rugs without a backing. I learned another incidental factoid which I think proves helpful. On this website about carpet backing, they recommend the use of vinegar as an antidote to yellowed backing. If you have a latex backed throw rug in the bathroom, you might give that a try. However, I have found that once it yellows it starts to chip off shortly after. It might be better just to replace it.

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

The holiday season is obviously upon us and we all know that a few accidents will happen on the carpet or on the fabulous persian area rugs. In my carpet cleaning Portland business I get calls everyday asking how to remove accidental spills from rugs and carpets.

Oriental and persian rugs hold a special place in the hearts of their owners. Even if you don’t have the most expensive rugs in the world your rug is important to you, so it is important to know how to safely remove accidental spills.

I found a great article written by Lisa Wagner, The Rug Chick, that details how to safely save your rug from, “Red  wine, soda, food, mud, and with all those guests making your pets NUTS…inevitably pet puddles on your rugs too. ‘Tis the season….for RUG SPILLS!’”

Read her article, Rug soills during the holidays…’Tis the season

Happy Holidays! Hope this info is helpful….Sean

.

Carpet cleaning is a business that covers more than just cleaning carpets. Many companies often specialize in other services that includes, mattress cleaning, hardwood floor cleaning, upholstery cleaning, pet urine odor removal, rug cleaning, and more.

In my Carpet Cleaning Portland OR business I offer all of the above services and a few more. One specialty service I offer is rug cleaning. Every so often I have been asked to clean rug that have strange odors. If there are pets in the home then I will inspect the rug with a black light to detect odor caused by pet urine.

Occasionally there there is no pet urine to be found. So what can it be I am asked? If there is no pet urine, or water damage problems then usually the odor is coming from latex in the rug. Yes, the latex in the backing of the rug smells if bad.

Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done to remove the odor from the latex backed rugs, except to get a new rug.

Here is a great blog by Lisa Wagner that talks about Rugs That Stink.

Hope this information is helpful…Until next time Sean

Pets are a wonderful addition to the family. Hey, I am a pet person, so I understand the down side in dealing with unexpected cat urine or dog urine accidents. Almost everyday in my carpet cleaning Portland business I receive phone calls for help with pet urine issues.

I get calls all of the time for asking for help with pet urine removal from carpet and then there are those special calls: Pet Urine Removal from Wool Rugs.

Pet urine removal is challenging, except for carpet cleaners with specialized knowledge and tools. Pet urine in wool rugs requires additional specialized experience and knowledge to properly treat.

Damage from pet urine in wool rugs can sometimes be minimized if quickly and properly treated. If the urine is not properly treated quickly there can be permanent staining, color loss, fiber damage, and more!

Here is a great article written by Lisa Wagner, “The Rug Chick”, that has a great article that provides answers to the question: Pet Accidents Happen. Now What?

With all of the options in vacuum cleaners today it can be overwhelming to know which is the best. It is hard to know which is the best one to choose. I mean you can spend as little as $50.00 or over a $1000.00 dollars on a new vacuum cleaner! As a professional Portland Carpet Cleaner I get asked almost daily which is the best vacuum cleaner to buy?

One of my favorite types of vacuum cleaners is the bagless style vacuums. Bagless vacuums can be great because you do not have to fool with bags. One secret to maximizing the power of any vacuum cleaner is to keep the bag or cylinder clean. So to keep your vacuum performing efficiently just make sure the bag or cylinder is not more than 25 – 50 percent full. With a bagless vacuum cleaner it is easy and cost effect to keep the cylinder not more than 25 – 50 percent full.

Here is a great website I found that talks about The Best Bagless Vacuum Cleaner

Hope this info is helpful…until next time…Sean

The key to excellent carpet maintenance is through vacuuming. Ok, so you know you need to vacuum your carpet to keep it looking new in-between carpet cleaning appointments. You also know that you need proper vacuuming techniques to maximize your vacuuming efforts. You have even learned how to select the best vacuum cleaner. Your only real limitation is learning how to Prevent a Smelly Vacuum Cleaner. This is a great article written by Dave Donovan that I hope will motivate you to take the best care of your carpets.

I hope this information is helpful. Talk to you soon…Sean

Everyday, I visit with new and repeat clients in their homes to discuss their cleaning needs. Often I am asked about cleaning oriental and persian area rugs oregon. Rug cleaning requires special skills and vast cleaning knowledge of a professional to be performed safely. Not everyone can afford the expensive rugs that can cost as  much as a nice mid-size car and that is fine. There are some retailers that offer reasonably priced rugs that look wonderful and if taken care of properly will last a long time.

Some of the discount rugs are cheaper than the expensive rugs, but please be aware that they can have issues with cleaning and lasting. Before purchasing a rug you should make sure it will last and can be cleaned from time to time. Here is a article, written by Lisa Wagner, on one of the types of Rugs To Run From: Viscose Rugs!

I hope this information provides a little incite into choosing a great oriental or persian area rug. Talk to you soon…Sean

You love the feeling of the carpet under your bare feet. Whether the carpet is new or has been in your home for awhile you want to take the best care of it. There are some simple steps to taking the best care of your carpets. I thought I would point out some carpet cleaning Portland tips to help you take the best care of your carpets.

At Shaw carpets, one of the worlds best carpet and flooring manufacturers there are some great tips to help Keep your carpets just-like-new. Here you will find information of carpet vacuuming, spot and soil removal, overall cleaning, DIY cleaning, and more.

I hope this information is helpful to maintain your carpets. If you have any questions, please let me know…bye for now…Sean

More destructive to carpet than spills is soil! Yes, it’s true. The soil in the carpet causes the carpet fiber to distort (change shape) and cause what looks like wear. Spills are usually not that much of a concern for a professional carpet cleaner, since most can be removed making your carpets look like new again.

The real problem is the soil left in the carpet that acts like sandpaper damaging the face yarns of the carpet fibers. Everyday, in my Portland Carpet Cleaning business I see carpet that if it was regularly maintained through vacuuming and cleaning it would stay looking like new. It is sad to see some carpet that with a little maintenance would have still looked great but now looks older than it should. I can get out all of the soil and fluff up the carpets, but the distorted fibers get to stay.

One of the best ways to maintain indoor air quality and keep healthy happy carpets is to provide regularly scheduled vacuuming and carpet cleaning. Here is a great article written by Veronica Harley to help Get Rid of Dust Bunnies For Good: Top Rated Vacuum Cleaners

Hope this information is helpful…Until next time…Sean