Protecting your investment makes sense
February 1st 2007 Dr Eric Brown, head of
Cleaning Research
International, outlines
the basics of effective
carpet management
The general ambience of any
public place is hugely
influenced by the state of its
floor coverings, whether they are in
the corporate headquarters of a
city finance house, a prestigious
hotel in the heart of some capital
city, or on board a holiday cruise
liner. People may not notice high
levels of dust on skirting boards or
the tops of filing cabinets but the
condition of the carpets is
immediately obvious. If office
carpets are dirty not only are
members of staff likely to be more
downbeat but, in our experience,
they become increasingly sloppy in
the way they behave towards
them. If hotel carpets are dirty,
guests are less likely to return. So,
even if we ignore the economic
arguments why carpets should be
well maintained, there are plenty of
aesthetic reasons .
There are three aspects to
effective carpet management.They
may described as preventative
maintenance, routine maintenance,
and periodic maintenance.
Preventative maintenance is
undoubtedly the most important.
The more effort put into this the
better is the appearance retention
and the less frequently the carpets
will need to be cleaned – with
consequent benefits in terms of life
expectancy and maintenance
costs. It involves the installation of
adequate lengths of effective
barrier matting; the
implementation of good
housekeeping procedures such as
those intended to reduce the
likelihood of casual staining; careful
selection of colour and design; and,
some argue, the application of soil
retardant and stain repellent
finishes.
Regular
maintenance, which
is often carried out
by a daily office
cleaning company,
depends upon
competent vacuum
cleaning using the
correct equipment in
a proper state of
repair; and daily
attention to spots,
stains and chewing gum deposits.
Periodic maintenance is carried
out to freshen the appearance of
the carpet and remove soiling
which does not respond to
vacuum cleaning. This means soil
which is retained by adhesive
forces such as oil bonding as
discussed in the last issue. It is
achieved by any of the recognised
carpet cleaning procedures
depending often upon the
personal preference of the person
who commissions it.Techniques
include spray extraction, rotary
shampooing, dry foam
shampooing, absorbent powder
cleaning, or one of the bonnet
cleaning variants. Included also are
those techniques embraced by the
recently rediscovered
concept of
encapsulation – of
which, more later.
Successful carpet
management should
strike a balance
between delaying the
need to undertake
periodic cleaning whilst
at the same time
ensuring that the
carpets do not reach a
state beyond which the
appearance cannot be satisfactorily
restored.
Each of these aspects is too
involved to be dealt with in a
single article. So next issue we will
examine in detail the excellent
reasons for installing barrier
matting as part of a preventative
maintenance programme and look
at some of the opportunities for
installation of mats that premises
managers often overlook.
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