Your Oriental Rugs - How to care for them

Regular Care for Your Oriental Rugs
To best maintain & protect your investment in a beautiful Oriental Rug, always do the following:

Vacuuming – Oriental rugs, like most carpeting, should be vacuumed on a regular basis to remove dirt and restore life to the fibers. Be sure not to vacuum the fringe with your beater bar! Use the end of a vacuum hose from a canister vacuum.
Rotation – To insure even wear, your rug should be rotated once a year. Depending on the traffic, the rotation may vary from six months to two years.
Padding – A quality pad under your rug protects it from dirt, wear and slippage.
Regular Professional Cleaning - Annual professional cleaning in a rug spa facility will remove deeply embedded soils by doing dusting and cleaning procedures that cannot be performed in your home.

Spot and Spill Procedures - Safely and immediately clean up spots and spills before they set.

- First, soak up the excess liquid by blotting with a clean absorbent material. Do not brush or rub the stain
- Then spot-clean with a mild detergent white vinegar-water solution. Do-not over wet.
- Rinse area thoroughly with water and a small amount of vinegar. Avoid wetting the rug’s backing.
- Blot dry until most of the moisture has been absorbed. Allow to air dry. A fan or cool hair dryer can be used to hasten the drying process.

For stains that do not come out using these methods, ask our Lakewood Ranch Oriental rug cleaning specialists.



(941) 301-9555
Overturf’s Cleaning
www.CleaningManatee.com

What to Look For in a Vacuum

As you've often heard from us, one of the best steps you can take to preserve your valuable floors and fabrics is regular vacuuming. Does it matter which vacuum you buy? When prices range from $50 to $500 we sometimes wonder what features to look for in a quality vacuum for home use. This article will hopefully clear up some of the confusion.

What to Look For in a Vacuum from http://www.consumersearch.com Consumersearch.com reviewers say to consider the following when buying an upright vacuum: Look for a filter. High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters have excellent filtration properties, but other types of filters can be equally effective. Reviews say that most vacuums control emissions fairly well; unless you have severe allergies, most filters will be adequate. Choose between bagging and bagless. Bagless models eliminate the ongoing expense of buying new bags, but emptying the dirt cup can be messy. Bagging vacuums generally hold more dirt and may be preferable if you have allergies, because emptying a dirt bin can expose you to a cloud of dust. Either type will do a decent job of cleaning. Look for a brushroll shut-off feature if you plan to vacuum bare floors. Uprights generally have a tougher time cleaning bare floors because the revolving brush, which digs dirt out of carpets, often spits dirt from hard surfaces back out of the machine before it can be sucked up. Many vacuums have this feature, but some less expensive models do not. Also, be cautious using the beater bar on Oriental rugs, especially avoid those fringes with the beater bar! Skip the dirt-sensor feature. Sometimes you'll see vacuum manufacturers advertising this feature, which is supposed to sense when dirt pickup slows, presumably meaning that the area is clean. However, reviewers say dirt sensors have nothing to do with performance. Check the cord and hose length. A longer hose (7 feet or more) makes it easier to clean high places with an attachment, and it's less likely that the unit will tip over when doing so. A longer cord (30 feet or more) allows you to clean a bigger area without having to plug the machine into a different outlet. Retractable cords, which don't need to be wound up by hand after use, are also handy. Think about the weight. Most upright vacuums weigh between 9 and 22 pounds. If you'll need to carry the vacuum up and down stairs, you might be happier with a lighter vacuum. These usually have fewer accessories but might be worth the trade-off. In user reviews, weight is a big complaint. Consider the size. Generally, uprights are more cumbersome for cleaning under chairs and tables, although some smaller uprights have a low profile that's more conducive to hard-to-reach places.

Setting Goals in 2013

As another year begins with new opportunities, we hope you've had a phenomenal 2012 and reached many of the milestones you've set for yourself.

 

A valuable tool we've learned from Zig Ziglar is what he calls "The Wheel of Life". Using this wheel, it helps you reach for balance in all areas of life. We encourage you to set attainable goals in 2013 for your family, mental, physical, social, career, financial, and spiritual life.

Here's a simple but very effective tool that can get you started...

 

Print out the wheel below, then circle on the wheel the number from 1 to 10 where you are at currently with that aspect of your life. Next, draw a line connecting the circles you just made on each spoke of the wheel.

If this were a real wheel on your car or bicycle, would you be in for a bumpy ride? Or is your wheel nice and smooth, but small, all 3's and 4's? If so, wouldn't it take you a lot longer to get anywhere? 

Do you see any areas where you could use a higher number? What goals could you set that, when you reach them, could raise your number on the wheel of life? 

 

Interestingly, they say Zig used to take this test daily, to make sure he was leading a balanced life. I like to take it every so often to see where I'm at, and I encourage you to keep it and do a self evaluation now and then too, and never stop improving!

Steps to Remove a Spot

Although we've posted various types of spots and how to get rid of them, here are some basic steps for effective removal no matter the spot.

Act Quickly!

Most carpet available today has been treated with a stain-resist treatment, so many spills can be removed if immediate action is taken. The longer the delay, the higher the probability of a spill becoming a permanent stain. Remember, staining is influenced by many factors, and no carpet is completely stain proof.

Blot liquids with a dry, white, absorbent cloth or or white paper toweling (no printing or colors on the paper towels).

Do not scrub! Scrubbing may cause pile distortion in the affected area. Continue to use a dry cloth or paper towels until the area is completely dry. For semi-solids, gently scrape up with a rounded spoon. Solids should be broken up and vacuumed until completely removed. If the spot can be identified, locate the substance in the spot removal computer and follow the directions carefully.
Pretest any spot removal agent in an inconspicuous area to be certain the solution will not damage the fiber or the dye. After applying several drops to the testing area, hold a white cloth on the wet area for 10 seconds. Examine the carpet and cloth for color transfer, color change, or damage to the carpet. If a change occurs, another cleaning solution should be selected.

Apply a small amount of the selected cleaning solution to a white cloth and work in gently.
Work from the edges of the spill to the center to prevent the spill from spreading. Do not scrub! Blot in order to absorb as much as possible, and repeat if necessary.

Continue using the first cleaning solution as long as there is a transfer of the spill to the cloth. It is not necessary to use all of the cleaning solutions if the first solution removes the spill.

Be patient! Complete removal of the spill may require repeating the same step several times.

After the spill has been completely removed, rinse the affected area thoroughly with cold water, and blot with a dry cloth until all of the solution has been removed. Some cleaning solutions will cause rapid soiling if the solution is not completely removed. Apply a one-half inch layer of white paper towels to the affected area, and weigh down with a flat, heavy object. Continue to change paper towels as needed.

A dry, absorbent, cleaning compound may be used as a substitute to accelerate drying time.
For more detailed information on a specific spill, please feel free to contact us or refer to our newsletters that contain this information.

Also, many fiber manufacturers provide toll-free cleaning assistance and advice (consult your carpet or fabric's warranty).

Wool Carpets and the Care They Require

Please note: these are not instructions for taking care of a wool rug, or an oriental rug.
Before you try any product on your wool carpet, test for color fastness by taking a white cotton towel that has been dipped with a small amount of wool safe cleaner, and then patting the towel on each color separately.

Regular Maintenance of your wool carpets
If you have wool carpets, throw away all your store bought carpet cleaning spotters. Many of these products not only leave behind dirt attracting residue, they also have a high pH that is too aggressive to use on wool and can ruin your carpets.

Use a product that indicates on the packaging that it is wool safe. Using too high a PH cleaner on your wool carpet can turn the fibers brown or yellow.

High PH cleaners will also break down the cuticle or hard scaly surface that holds the fiber together.
Breaking down the cuticle leaves behind a fuzzy spot that you can't really do anything with.

When using a wool safe product, do not scrub the spot – blot. Scrubbing will also cause the fiber to fuzz out.
Do not get bleach on your wool carpet. Bleach will dissolve wool carpet and leave a hole behind.
As with all carpet, vacuum as often as possible, at least once a week.

Your wool carpets need to dry quickly once they are cleaned. If the carpet takes too long to dry it can yellow or brown. Your Sarasota carpet cleaning professional will run an air moving fan to help dry the carpet faster while he is there. He will also give you instructions so you can assist your carpets to dry more quickly.

A lot of effort, training, and specialty products go into cleaning wool carpets correctly. That’s why selecting the right professionals like those at Overturf’s Cleaning makes this job a successful one with no headaches down the road. You also want to be sure the carpet cleaner you use is IICRC Certified. That means he has undergone formal training and has received at least some classroom education in carpet cleaning. It's much safer than choosing someone without this training. Visit our website at www.CleaningManatee.com to download a free guide to choosing a professional cleaning service.

At Overturf's Cleaning, we help you avoid uneducated, uninformed, and even downright unscrupulous carpet cleaners by providing the most outstanding service experience ever, guaranteed.

Your Air Quality and Carpet

Your Air Quality and Carpet

Recently, the EPA reported that indoor air is found to be more polluted than outdoor air.

Is that really true? If so, why? The main reason is that indoor air is trapped. Rarely does it get completely replaced and completely recirculate. Outdoor air on the other hand is constantly being refreshed with new, cleaner air.

Trapped air in our home constantly gets dirtier: from our clothes, shoes, our bodies, our hair, our pets, our garages, and many other sources. These contaminants eventually settle on our furniture, our floors, our rugs, and yes, our carpet.
Then, when someone walks over them, they get stirred up into the air and we breathe them in. A great example is when you look at a stream of sunlight and see all the dust floating around. You breathe that same air over and over. That's why indoor air is more polluted than outdoor air.

There is a way out of this vicious cycle: Getting your carpet cleaned thoroughly and regularly rids your home of these pollutants lurking in your carpet. Yes carpet cleaning Bradenton is a major factor in improving your air quality.

The polluted air is circulated and some of it settles on horizontal surfaces--the largest horizontal surface being your carpet. That's why cleaning your carpet is the best solution for removing indoor air pollution. And that's why we recommend cleaning all rooms of carpet regularly even if they don't look dirty.

What's regular cleaning? That can vary, based on conditions in the home such as smoking, pets, children, the amount of foot traffic.
According to a U.S. EPA Letter, January 1989, the longest recommended interval between cleanings to maintain indoor air quality is 1 year.

Ask yourself: What would it be worth if regular carpet cleanings could mean one less doctor visit? What is it worth to my family to be able to breath better and get sick less often?

Why Spots Reappear - Reason 2

Reason # 2: Re-soiling. Re-soiling is caused by a sticky residue that has been left behind. The residue may be from the spot itself, the cleaner that was used, or both. I once had a residue issue at a job due to me not rinsing out the spot cleaner I used thoroughly enough. Once I returned and flushed the cleaner out, the carpet looked as good as new.  

Some common residue causes are over-the-counter carpet cleaners purchased at the grocery store. The sticky residue they leave behind often attracts more dirt. 

Avoid using these cleaners all together. If you have to use one of these cleaners, or you have to use dish washing detergent, use as little as possible and rinse with water thoroughly.

  

Other residue causes would be oily spots. Duct tape residue, body oils, lotions, sticky mats or other types of adhesive, etc. If all of the oily residue is not removed, it will attract soil as the carpet is walked on. Even quality professional cleaning may not remove all oily residue the first time.

SPECIAL NOTE: Cheap carpet cleaners use cheap products that are loaded with Optical Brighteners. Optical Brighteners create an illusion of clean that causes the soil or spot to appear to be removed. The spot is still there. The soil is still there. Optical Brighteners create a film that reflects light so that the carpet looks incredibly clean. It's an optical illusion.

Using optical brighteners will often void your carpet's warranty. See your warranty for details.  

A stark illustration of this can be seen at a flea market, home show, or a late night infomercial. Someone will be demonstrating a miracle cleaner on a small rug. The rug is saturated with motor oil. The salesman then scoops off just the foam of the miracle cleaner and presto, the motor oil is gone! This is physically impossible. Notice that the salesman has several bright lights shining on the demo rug to create the illusion.

Quality cleaning companies use quality products, and they guarantee their work. That means if a spot reappears, they do to, and at no extra charge to you!