Werner Braun: Using proper carpet cleaning products pays off

DALTON — We busted a carpet “urban legend” last week by demonstrating how carpet can put money back into your pocket over time when properly maintained. Now that your house or business is full of vibrant new carpet, it will need regular cleaning, and it is only a matter of time before the first spills and stains occur.

So how do I keep my carpet looking great, you might ask. Easy.

The next step in protecting your carpet investment is preserving its quality using products with the green and blue label of the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Seal of Approval Program (SOA).

Wait, what label?

The label of CRI’s Seal of Approval Program. Since 2004, SOA has put spot-removers, in-tank and pre-spot solutions, deep cleaning extractors and systems (products combined with extractors) through rigorous testing. And prior to that, CRI got its first taste of testing carpet cleaning equipment with a vacuum testing program that has evolved into today’s Green Label/SOA program which certifies both commercial and residential vacuums through rigorous independent testing.

This makes identifying effective carpet-cleaning solutions and vacuum cleaners easier for you — because safeguarding your carpet shouldn’t be rocket science and using the wrong cleaning products can be a costly mistake.

The SOA program is the result of clearing yet another carpet myth: Why people think carpet is so hard to clean. And what we found even shocked us. Out of 25 products, only four cleaned a soiled carpet sample better than water. Some of the products caused the cleaned carpet area to re-soil faster, and even worse, some products damaged the carpet’s color and texture. We also tested vacuums and extractors, finding a wide variance in how well they cleaned carpet or, more, didn’t clean carpet.

This original test proved that not all carpet solutions and equipment are equal, and since then, we have set out to uncover only the best through SOA.

The SOA has three programs: spot removers/cleaning solutions, green label vacuums, and extractors and systems. All spot removers/cleaning solutions with the SOA are tested on overall cleaning effectiveness, rate of re-soiling, pH, surface texture change, optical brighteners and colorfastness. Vacuum cleaners and extractors are tested to determine their ability to remove soil and contain dust while not affecting the carpet texture more than a one step change based on one year of normal vacuum use.

We certify and put our name on products that have demonstrated they are effective at removing soil and don’t harm carpet’s appearance. Even many independent companies have tied carpet warranties to SOA products for the positive benefits the SOA program provides.

But what does happen when you use the wrong carpet cleaning products? Besides countless hours spent scrubbing on your hands and knees, or talking to a cleaning professional, you will end up wasting your hard earned money.

Take for example these two “real life” situations. A family purchases 100 square yards of carpet for their residence. They spent $3,100 for the installation of carpet designed to last seven years. The family used harmful cleaning products to spot remove accidents from dirty shoes and everyday accidents. The carpet “uglied out” in only two years and the customer lost $1,500. Or the company that purchased 4,400 square yards of carpet for its new commercial building installed for $183,000. The carpet design life was 11 years, but the carpet “uglied out” in simply four years because of improper professional cleaning.

You may know someone who has made this costly mistake, or you might have found your own carpet “uglied out” many years before you ever dreamed. So what should you do now? Look for the SOA green and blue label and leave the worrying to the experts.

With technology advancements, we continue to raise the bar in finding the best carpet-cleaning solutions and equipment for soil removal, dust containment and carpet fiber protection. The new Seal of Approval/Green Label program is an enhancement to CRI’s long-standing Green Label Vacuum program. With its gold, silver and bronze ratings, we are pushing manufacturers to meet higher standards of cleaning.

Because the higher the standards, the higher the quality of carpet-cleaning solutions and vacuums you will receive, and the longer your carpet investment will last.

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