Carpet in your office or commercial facility is often a substantial investment. An investment that requires periodic maintenance, such as changing the oil in your car or washing and waxing your car. If you don’t wash and wax your car, the condition of the paint will deteriorate much faster. The same goes for the carpet in your establishment.
Which cleaning method is right for your needs? In today’s article, I will cover the pros and cons of both hot water extraction and encapsulation. We must first understand what type of carpet we are maintaining. Most commercial carpets manufactured today are of loop construction with an olefin chemistry. Olefin is an oil-based product, therefore it attracts oil. Which sometimes makes it a challenge to clean. Don’t worry about the right maintenance schedule based on the amount of foot traffic that will give you clean looking carpet for years to come. At the end of this article I will give a final recommended cleaning schedule.
Let’s first look at the pros and cons of hot water extraction. Let’s leave 1 important point to rest. There is no such thing as “steam cleaning”. There isn’t enough moisture to rinse and wash a pile of carpets on “full steam.” Also, there is no commercial or truck mounted carpet cleaning machine that has the ability to produce steam only at the tip of the wand. Therefore, all water based wand cleaning is hot water extraction. Water boils at 212 degrees at sea level. Yes. It may seem like a stream of steam is coming out of the tip of the wand when cleaning, although it’s still the same effect when you go outside on a cold day, breathe heavily, and see steam or what appears to be steam coming out of your mouth.
Most commercial equipment will push almost 200 degrees out of the rod tip. That’s hot! This is one of the cons. Too much hot water extraction tends to deteriorate the carpet backing. It can also create another condition called Dry Rot. Technically, Dry Rot is not Dry Rot. It occurs when the carpet gets wet and then dries too often. It should be called Wet Rot. Another disadvantage is the amount of wet weather or the amount of time it takes to dry. Security issues with unlocked doors during cleaning, which is usually done after hours. The biggest advantage of the hot water extraction process is its ability to rinse the pile out of the carpet and then extract it. Almost total elimination of allergens, dust and dirt. Next, let’s discuss encapsulation. Then we’ll cover how the two of you working together will create a near-perfect maintenance plan for your facility.
Pros and cons of encapsulation. I must first briefly describe the encapsulation process. Caution: This description of encapsulation is not scientific. It is kept basic so that most people can easily understand it.
Encapsulation: It is a specialized solution that is applied to the carpet with some type of spray. It is then fed into the pile by some type of agitation, usually a rotary floor machine with a hood or a carpet-grade scrubbing pad. The solution wraps around the fiber like the protection of a carpet. As long as it is on the grain, it will repel or release more surface dirt. When the carpet is vacuumed, more dirt is pulled from the fiber. Eventually, the non-dirt-attracting coating on the fibers breaks down as it is sucked into the vacuum. The advantages of encapsulation are that most stains don’t come back: the carpet doesn’t get wet enough to absorb it, it dries fast, and carpets stay cleaner longer. It also reduces the chances of Dry Rot and won’t damage the carpet backing. It is a much faster cleaning process. The only downside I can see with the encapsulation process is that it doesn’t completely rinse the carpet. This is where we marry the two processes for a near perfect carpet maintenance program. The Carpet & Rug Institute, the foremost authority on commercial carpet maintenance, suggests that for every 3-4 encapsulation processes, 1 hot water extraction process should be performed. This will reduce the number of times hot water extraction is required and extend the life and appearance of your commercial carpets without sacrificing indoor air quality or cleanliness.
Depending on the amount of traffic that passes through your facility generally determines the frequency of cleaning. The frequency can be every two months, quarterly or every 6 months. Having your rugs encapsulated will also save you money. Encapsulation is a much less expensive process due to its speed and the fact that truck mounted equipment is not being run. I have heard of encapsulation cleaning for as low as 5 cents per square foot. I have not seen a reputable company that offers hot water extraction for less than 10 cents per square foot.
Your carpet cleaning professional can give you a better idea of what is best for your installation. I hope this article helps you make an educated and informed decision about carpet maintenance for your office or facility.