ENVIROCARE

Cleaning for a Healthier Home

Call: (907) 337-7993

SHOULD YOU CLEAN?

How to tell if your carpets need cleaning

Here are some problem areas that can be cause to clean your carpets

Traffic Areas

Traffic areas are typically a focal point of your home. They're where everybody walks! Because of this, they are the dirtiest part of your home. You can identify traffic areas with a few easy steps.

  1. Think about where your family walks most in their day.
  2. Look for change in the color of the carpet.
  3. Feel for a difference in the texture of the carpet.

After identifying your traffic areas, how do you determine if you can make them look like new again? The number one tell-tale sign of irreversible wear is the texture of the carpet. Feel the fibers. If they are matted down or if the fibers are unwinding, you will have to replace the carpet to make it look like new again. If the fiber feels the same as non-traffic areas of the carpet, we can use steam cleaning to bring life back to the carpet!

Spots and Spills

Everybody has spots and spills on their carpet. Some will come out easily and some will not. Here is a list of what you can look for in your home.

  1. Coffee: This will usually come out with steam cleaning and some special chemical processes.
  2. Grease: We can always get grease out with steam cleaning and a de-grease chemical.
  3. Oil: This is the same story as the grease. We have a special chemical that will take oil right out!
  4. Food: Depending on the food, we can usually get it out.
  5. Gum: This takes some work, but we can almost always remove these stubborn spots.
  6. Rust: We use a special acidic chemical to easily remove rust.
  7. Pet Urine: This almost never comes out. We can decontaminate the spot and get rid of the smell, but replacing the carpet is the only way to fully remove the stain.
  8. Ink: This is another one that almost never comes out. We have special chemicals to pull ink out, however they are often extremely stubborn.
  9. Red Dye Stains: With an involved process, we can remove most red dye stains.
  10. Fingernail Polish: This is, for the most part, permanent. We like to say, "It's a good place for a rug!"
  11. Makeup: Finally, we can remove makeup with normal steam cleaning.

Use this list to determine if your carpet can be cleaned or if it needs to be replaced. And remember, we welcome any questions you have about your carpet! Reach us at (907) 887-6881. We're always open!

Pet Stains

If you have a dog, you can probably tell exactly where he/she sleeps just by looking at the carpet. Dogs are notorious for leaving body oil stains on the carpet. Body oils almost always come clean through steam cleaning. Dogs and other pets also track a lot of dirt throughout your home. Commonplace dirt can always be removed from the carpet with steam cleaning.

Filtration

What is it? Filtration is the dark line around the edges of your carpet where it meets the walls. Filtration is caused mainly by forced air ducts. Forced air ducts create either a slightly positive or a slightly negative air pressure in your home. When you have a slightly positive air pressure, air is slowly forced through the cracks under your walls as well as a multitude of other places. The air carries small dust particles with it and as it passes through the edges of the carpet at the walls, is filtered out by the carpet. The dust accumulates on the fibers and eventually stains them.

We have a specialized steam cleaning tool that can focus on these problem areas. And with some extra work we can always lighten--if not remove--filtration stains from your carpet.

Schedule a Cleaning or Exact Quote