A lot of homeowners have trouble processing the idea that their carpet could be responsible for their constant allergy attacks. They’d much rather look at the local pollen count or change the filters in their furnace. But the fact is, all of those allergens you suffer from aren’t just in the air: they’re on the ground, buried deep within your carpet fibers.
One of the chief reasons to invest in carpet services in South Amboy, NJ is to abolish these allergens and pathogens from your home. You might do a great job extracting them from your airflow, but if they’re in your carpet, they need to be eradicated there as well.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s lurking in your carpet, how it gets there and what you can do to fight back against it.
What’s in Your Carpet?
At a microscopic level, just about any known allergen is lurking in your carpet. It’s the truth! Put your carpet under the microscope and you’re liable to see dust particles, pollen, dander flakes, mites, bacteria, mold spores and just about anything else listed on the local allergy report. Alongside these things, dirt, debris and just about anything else present in your home is also present in your carpet at a microscopic level.
Needless to say, with all of these things clinging to your carpet fibers and embedded in your carpet pad, each time you walk on your carpet, you’re tossing these things into the air. Try this: the next time you sit or lie down on your floor, see how long it takes for you to get itchy, sneezy or congested after you get up. Chances are, it won’t take more than a few minutes.
Making Things Worse
Did you know that vacuuming your floors on a routine basis can actually make your allergy problem worse? Not only does your vacuum kick allergens into the air with each pass, it also embeds debris further into your carpet pad over time. Vacuuming is very much a double-edged sword: you need to do it to keep allergens from building up, but every time you do, you exacerbate the problem!
The Solution
The solution to your carpet allergies is a simple one: carpet services in South Amboy, NJ! Having your carpets professionally cleaned a couple of times each year can dramatically reduce your exposure to all of the irritants lurking at your feet.
Steam cleaning carpets extracts embedded allergens and traps and removes loose ones, leaving behind clean and clear carpeting. With proper maintenance, your carpets may remain relatively free of allergens for weeks afterwards, leading to a higher level of comfort and air quality in your living space.
It’s best to have your carpet cleaned seasonally—once in spring and once in fall—to deal with the buildups that occur during summer and winter. These seasons tend to come with buildups because the home is shut up and air is recirculated.
If you can’t remember the last time you had your carpets professionally cleaned or you’re having more trouble than usual with allergies, it’s time to get to the source: your carpeting. Contact Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center today for restorative carpet services in South Amboy, NJ.
If you’re a mechanic or work in a factory with equipment that needs maintenance, you’re likely familiar with the trouble of tracking home motor oil. Motor oil is viscous enough to cling to shoes and clothes, yet it readily sets in carpet fibers the moment it touches them. Even a small amount of motor oil in your carpet can lead to a major blemish. And things only get worse if you try to scrub out the stain!
To truly deal with motor oil stains, you’ll need to enlist the help of carpet cleaning specialists in South Amboy, NJ. Only they will have the technology and expertise to extract oil fully and completely from your carpets.
If you’re in a pinch and need to make your motor oil stain go away, or you’ve got the smallest little spot to clean up, there are a few tips that you can take to heart. Try these simple pieces of advice for best results:
First and foremost, remove any excess oil from the spot without pressing it deeper into the carpet fibers. A great way to do this is with a dull knife or other metallic object. The motor oil will cling to the metal nicely and it can be easily washed away when it’s removed from the carpet.
Next, you’re going to want to soak up any extra oil that you can’t scrape away. For this step, use baking soda or corn starch. Both are highly absorptive and will quickly conceal any excess oil. Let it sit for about 15 minutes for best effect.
Once the corn starch or baking soda is dry and the excess motor oil is congealed, run a light vacuum over the area. This will suck up all that extra congealed oil and give you a relatively clean slate to work with when it comes to treating the core stain.
Using a few drops of dry cleaning solvent or dishwashing detergent, drop them into the stain and start to gently blot it with a clean cloth. Oil should start to extract itself from the carpet fibers into the cloth. If it doesn’t, try a little white vinegar with the solution you’re using.
When your blotting ceases and there’s a dramatically lighter stain left in the carpet, it’s time to do the same thing with a sponge. Make sure you’re using a fresh sponge and pressing carefully onto the stain. Don’t scrub!
Rinse the area with cold water and see how it looks. It should appear significantly better, and may even appear to be nonexistent. If you can still see the stain clearly, repeat the cleaning steps again for good measure.
The unfortunate fact is that motor oil is one of the absolute hardest stains to get out of carpet—especially if it’s allowed to set. Carpet cleaning specialists in South Amboy, NJ often have to use complex extraction methods to remove the oil entirely from your carpet and remediate it.
Don’t let oil spots be the bane of your carpeting. Contact the carpet cleaning pros at Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center to absolve them from your surface entirely.
Carpeting in your home is an important investment; it pulls a room together and keeps you comfortable. You want your carpet to look as good as new for as long as possible, which can be a challenge, especially if you have pets or small children. Accidental stains happen quickly, and if they’re not addressed just as fast, they can cause permanent damage. Nobody wants a large, unsightly stain in the middle of their floor!
Of course, professional carpet cleaning services in South Amboy, NJ can help you address these tough stains and maybe even remove them entirely, but sometimes you need to do something while you wait. Here are some of the most common and toughest stains and how to remove them from your carpet:
Coffee: Coffee stains happen quickly; one moment you’re sipping your morning coffee, and the next, a dark brown stain is settling into your carpet. Coffee stains can be particularly difficult to remove because they cause a dark yellow or brown color. You’ll want to start by blotting the area with a dry towel. Next, try a mixture of water and vinegar or dishwasher detergent to remove or lessen the stain.
Wine or fruit juice: Stains caused by dark liquids like wine, fruit juice or Kool-Aid can be a nightmare to remove, especially on lighter colored carpets. This is because these liquids seep into carpets quickly, spreading and staining with very dark colors. Blot the area, but never rub, as it can spread the stain and make it worse! Next, wet the area with hydrogen peroxide and later spray a mixture of water and vinegar or carpet cleaner to treat the area.
Ink: A busted pen can lead to a long-lasting, nasty stain on your carpet if not treated immediately. Ink can destroy carpets if it’s not addressed! Blot the area with a cloth dampened with isopropyl alcohol. Let it stand, rinse it with water, then use a liquid-friendly vacuum to remove the moisture. However, this stain is sometimes best left to professional carpet cleaning services in South Amboy, NJ.
Blood: Blood, like wine or juice, both penetrates carpet quickly and leaves a dark colored stain when it dries, so it’s best to address this type of stain quickly (after you make sure everyone is okay first!). Always use cold water when treating blood stains, and spray a mixture of grease-fighting liquid detergent and water on the stain, blotting as necessary.
With all types of stains, be sure to blot and not rub or scrub to avoid spreading the stain and making the damage worse! Besides using household cleaners, most stores sell carpet cleaning solutions that are specifically made for targeting specific stains like blood, wine or coffee.
Our carpet cleaning services in South Amboy, NJ are unrivaled!
If you find yourself face to face with tough stains, call Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center! We’ve been your local experts in carpet cleaning for nearly 70 years, and we offer a full range of carpet cleaning services in South Amboy, NJ for your carpets and rugs, and can clean, repair, re-stretch and install carpets using the latest products and technologies. Give us a call today for a free estimate!
When your carpets are severely soiled and are in need of a good cleaning, you might initially believe that all it takes is some general shampoo or cleaning solution to take care of the problem. However, choosing a cleaning solution for carpets is a lot more complex than that and requires some basic knowledge of chemistry.
Yes, that’s right—to understand the fundamentals of carpet cleaning in South Amboy, NJ, we’re going to have to take you on a quick trip back to high school chemistry class and explain one of the most important components of carpet cleaning: pH. The pH of the carpet to be cleaned and the cleaning solution to be used have to be correct to not only clean the carpet well, but to avoid creating more damage or voiding the carpet’s warranty.
pH 101
pH stands for the “potential of hydrogen” and is a measure of the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution. pH levels run on a scale of 0 to 14. Levels between 0 and 6 are considered acidic, levels between 8 and 14 are alkaline and a level of 7 is considered neutral. Each step up or down on the scale represents a different intensity of the acidity or alkalinity.
Products at the extreme ends, meaning 0 and 14, are extremely corrosive and the most intense acids or alkaline solutions available. Needless to say, these types of solutions would not be used to clean your carpets. However, some heavy stains may require the use of more intense solutions like an alkaline solution with a pH level of 12.
How pH plays a role in carpet cleaning in South Amboy, NJ
The pH level of a cleaning solution and the carpet itself will ultimately determine the cleaning performance. For the most part, cleaning performance on oily soils, which are the most common in carpets, will be increased with an increase in pH level, meaning with more alkaline solutions. However, some soils will be best removed using acidic solutions.
Carpet cleaners need to be able to determine the pH of your carpet and know the pH of their cleaning solutions to effectively clean the carpet without damaging the carpet’s dyes or fibers. The cleaner will determine what type of fibers your carpet is composed of and then determine the type of soil present to select the best cleaning solution for the job.
For example, most of today’s carpets are synthetic, made of nylon or polyester, so solutions with a pH higher than 10 could cause severe damage to the fibers.
After the carpet is cleaned, your cleaners should neutralize your carpet, or balance its pH, so that there is no acidic or alkaline residue remaining that could cause future damage.
Call the expert cleaners at Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center
Are you in need of carpet cleaning in South Amboy, NJ? Call Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center! We’ve been your local experts in carpet cleaning for nearly 70 years. We offer a full range of cleaning services for carpets, rugs, hardwood floors, tile floors and more, and can clean, repair, re-stretch and install carpets using all up-to-date products and technologies. Give us a call today for a free estimate on your next service!
Do you know what your carpet is made of? Most people don’t really think about that, but at Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center, your local experts in carpet services in South Amboy NJ, we know everything there is to know about carpeting. After all, we’ve been in the business of carpet cleaning and installation since 1948! Knowing what carpets are made of is our business, but if you’re kind of curious to know, too, here’s a breakdown of carpet materials from the experts.
Nylon
Most of the carpets you see on the market today are made of nylon. Nylon can be dyed or printed easily, which allows for a wide range of variations. It also ranks highly when it comes to wear-resistance. Although nylon is not naturally stain-resistant, it can be made to be so using a carpet treatment. Because of its versatility and high resistance to wear, nylon carpet is what you will most often see in offices, hotels, and other places with a lot of high foot traffic. Because nylon is a petroleum-based material, the price often fluctuates with the cost of oil.
Wool
Wool is typically considered to be the best or premium carpet material. Wool is luxurious and feels very soft to the touch. Although it has a very soft feel, wool is also extremely durable. Because of the natural kink in the fiber, wool does not crush easily like other carpet materials; it can retain its resilience even in high foot traffic areas. Some added benefits of wool carpeting are that it is sustainable and eco-friendly. Wool is also naturally fire-resistant; it will smolder if hot enough, but it won’t catch fire. All these great benefits do come at a price, however: wool is often the most expensive carpet material.
Polypropylene
Polypropylene is not as resilient as other types of carpet fibers, but it is typically a little less expensive. Polypropylene is typically used in loop pile construction, where there is less need for resiliency, because it is not as strong as other fibers. This type of carpet is difficult to dye because the color actually has to be built into the fiber itself. However, this also means that polypropylene is far less likely to fade due to being in direct sunlight or subjected to harsh cleaners.
Polyester
Finally, we have polyester, also known as PET. Polyester offers exceptional softness and color, and is naturally stain- and fade-resistant. However, polyester is not as strong or durable as other forms of carpeting. Polyester can crush or mat easily and is best for residential use in low-traffic areas. Like polypropylene, polyester makes up for some of its drawbacks by being more affordable compared to other premium carpet materials.
If you’re trying to decide what type of carpet will work best for your home or business, let the experts at Lov ‘N Kare Carpet Center. We specialize in all types of carpet services in South Amboy, NJ, and we can help you determine what type of carpet will fit your lifestyle and your budget!
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