How important is commercial carpet cleaning? As a business owner, keeping your office premises clean is a top priority. Especially if you want better productivity and workplace engagement from your employees. An unclean office environment plays host to germs that can cause a wide range of health problems, and increase the number of sick leaves.
One aspect of commercial cleaning that often gets overlooked is the carpets. Because the foot traffic is quite high for commercial spaces, the carpets tend to get dirty very quickly. As a result, they turn into a breeding ground for allergens and dust mites.
You may know this already and may have hired a commercial carpet cleaning company to ensure your carpets are clean and germ-free. But, how do you know if they are doing it right? Choosing the wrong carpet cleaning company can be an expensive mistake. Costing you precious hours and manpower.
Commercial Carpet Cleaning – Do’s and Don’ts
Do select the best time of day/night to clean. Carpet cleaning must be done during the weekends or after hours when no one is working in the office. If the commercial carpet cleaning company you have hired choose to clean the carpet during your operational hours, you should talk to them about this. Workplace cleanliness is of paramount importance but it shouldn’t interrupt work-flow at your office.
Don’t applying the wrong cleaning agents
Commercial carpets often get dirtier and have more stubborn stains than the ones we have at home. Therefore, applying strong spotting and cleaning agents might be required to ensure the stains are removed completely. However, if your carpet cleaner uses wrong cleaning agents, you may have to replace your carpets more often. To make sure that doesn’t happen, ask your cleaning company to use cleaning agents that are effective yet safe to use.
Do pre-testing of the carpet material
In order to ensure the best results, a good commercial carpet cleaning company always pre-tests the carpet material. This helps them understand what type of cleaning solution that will be suitable for each different carpet. Often, commercial cleaning companies skip this step and start cleaning with their standard cleaners. To avoid this, make sure your carpet cleaners pre-test the carpet material even before starting.
Don’t clean only the visible areas
Cleaning staff often clean the visible areas only, and leaves out the corners and parts that are not easily reachable. This is a big mistake. The areas under the desks, tables, and cabinets often have the maximum amount of dust and dirt. Monitor the cleaning quality to make sure the cleaning company you’ve chosen is not taking shortcuts.
Do monitor the hot water extraction
Hot water extraction is a highly effective method of extracting dust and dirt from carpeting. This works wonders for your carpets when done regularly. For the best results, it needs to be performed under the vigilance of experienced cleaners. If your cleaning company doesn’t assign an expert to monitor the process. It will not only produce poor outcomes but can cause considerable damage to the carpet.
Don’t scrub the carpet
Since commercial carpets need cleaning quite often, scrubbing is not recommended. Too much scrubbing can release the fibers which makes the carpet look old. Too much scrubbing can also damage the carpet to the point where you may have to replace it. If your cleaning company believes in scrubbing the carpets, you probably need to hire a new one.
Don’t leave the carpet moist
It’s important that the carpets are dried completely before they are being walked over again. Leaving too much moisture can lead to what is called a “wick back”. This means the carpet holds chemical residues which attract dirt more quickly.
Do have a regular commercial carpet cleaning program
Having a proper commercial carpet cleaning maintenance program is essential to ensure prolonged life cycle of your carpet. Experienced commercial carpet cleaners always recommend a cleaning regime depending on the size of your office, the number of employees, and the foot traffic your carpet has.