Using Bleach on Carpet is Risky

Why Using Bleach on Carpet Isn’t a Good Idea

One of the more common carpet related internet myths we see is recommendations for using bleach on carpet.

Let’s cut to the chase right away – this is a bad idea that we don’t recommend you try. We’re not alone, either. Most carpet manufacturers also recommend against applying bleach to carpet.

As professional carpet cleaners, we see bleach stains on carpet all the time. Throughout the Denver area, as we’re working, we’re always shocked at how many bleached spots we end up dealing with.

Using bleach on carpet creates discolored spots

Expensive to Repair or Dye Bleached Spots

Typically the only way to resolve bleach stains is either by performing a carpet repair or by dyeing the carpet. Both are costly repairs that take lots of experience to make look right. 

Still not convinced and desperately want to bleach your carpet? We’ll do our best to convince you with the rest of this article.

What is Bleach?

In it’s most commonly known form, the active ingredient in bleach is sodium hypochlorite. It’s generally useful as a cleaning agent and to remove color from fabric and fibers. It also has broad bactericidal properties. This makes it a powerful disinfecting and sterilizing solution.

In practical everyday terms, bleach refers to a substance that removes color from fabric or fibers. As you likely know from doing your laundry, it’s a whitening agent that also helps add a cleaning boost.

On the surface it might seem that applying bleach to your carpet could make sense. However, you certainly wouldn’t apply bleach to a load of colored laundry. Similarly, you don’t want to put it on your carpet either.

Bottle of Clorox Bleach

The Myth of Putting Bleach on Carpet

Various do-it-yourself sites falsely recommend diluting bleach with water and applying it to your carpet. Yes, this will definitely whiten your carpet. That’s what bleach is supposed to do. However you’re likely to end up with a blotchy, non-uniform result.

If your have anything but pure white carpet, bleach is going to (rather unevenly) remove the pigment from the carpet fibers.

Even worse is when you attempt to clean up isolated spots or stains with bleach. Instead, you end up with a stained area of carpet that is off color from your other carpet.

 

Using Bleach on Carpet as a Disinfectant or Bactericidal

It is true that bleach kills just about all bacteria and viruses. However, there are plenty of better alternatives when it comes to cleaning or freshening your carpet. Products like Microban are specifically designed as a disinfectant/bactericidal that won’t harm your carpets.

We use products like MediClean Disinfectant Spray Plus or BotaniClean Disinfectant for certain carpet cleaning applications. We also use it for water damage restoration work.

Technically bleach would likely solve many of the same problems. At about 1/10th the cost, we would save a lot of money if we used it instead of more expensive products. However, we use the appropriate products that won’t cause permanent damage to your carpets instead.

Using a power sprayer to apply solutions to carpet

Using Bleach on Carpet With Mildew

Other advice we’ve seen is that if your carpet smells musty, it’s due to mildew. This may or may not actually be the case.

The way it’s presented is that if bleach is simply applied to the carpet, it will resolve the musty odor. The truth is that if you legitimately have mildew issues in your carpet, applying bleach isn’t going to solve it.

If carpets have mildew in them, the carpet pad first needs to be thrown out and replaced. In certain instances, you may be able to salvage the carpet. The carpet may be able to be cleaned along with using professional restoration products like the ones mentioned before.

Alternatives to Using Bleach on Carpet

Hopefully by now we have been able to steer you away from using bleach on your poor carpets. There are plenty of effective cleaning solutions that are safe for use instead. If your goal is to clean your carpet, use a specific solution designed for that purpose.

Professional Carpet Cleaning

A knowledgeable professional carpet cleaner can also brighten up your carpet. We use specific peroxides that we use as a safe bleaching agent. This can be applied to brighten the carpet without discoloring it.

Professional carpet cleaning also has the advantage of safely removing stains on your carpets and rugs. We use professional carpet cleaning machines to get your carpet looking it absolute best.

Many of our customers are shocked at how much brighter just our professional carpet cleaning will get their carpets. All without any specific brightening additives.

professional cleaning carpet

In Summary

Before you go and use bleach on your carpet, put down the bottle. Instead pick up the phone to call a professional carpet cleaning service.

The results you get from a cleaning will make your carpet look great. Meanwhile, you will avoid risking discoloration or other damage you’d get from bleach. If you’re in the Greater Denver Area, give us a call. We’d be happy to help!

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How to Get Cat Urine Out of Carpet

How to Get Cat Urine Smell Out of Carpet

If you were to take a survey the worst smells present in carpet, cat urine in carpet must be among the most offensive odors for most people. Because of this, knowing how to remove cat urine from carpet properly is a must.

Home Remedies vs. Full Restoration

We are going to cover both some home remedy cat urine carpet cleaner options to try as well as the surefire (but much more manually intensive option) in this post. Feel free to try the home remedies first with the caveat that many times they are not fully successful due to the pungency of the cat urine.

Usually the solutions will be more successful with recent, wet cat urine spots, instead of areas that have been repeatedly used as a cat bathroom and/or sprayed and marked with cat urine. For those, full restoration is likely needed.

Home Remedies For How to Remove Cat Urine Smell From Carpet

Cleaning Fresh Cat Urine Stains

Cold Water and a Towel

Use cold water and an old towel or paper towels to absorb as much of the cat urine odor as possible. If you have a portable carpet extractor (many people falsely refer to these as “steam cleaners”), saturate the area with cold water and then extract it.

Repeat a few times. You can also use a shop vac to extract water, but be prepared to toss your filter out afterwards and thoroughly clean the inside of the shop vac.

Apply Enzymatic Cat Urine Carpet Cleaner

Next, apply a pet urine enzymatic cleaner. Natures Miracle is a good consumer product to remove the stains and odors. Especially any of the “Urine Destroyer” products. Follow the instructions on the container or spray bottle.

While there are numerous concoctions available online involving dish soap,baking soda, vinegar and water, hydrogen peroxide and so on, in our experience, the above solution is the one that will get you the best results for cat pet stains.

Steps for How to Clean Dried Cat Urine From Carpet and Severe Cat Urine Cleaning

  • Locate and identify cat urine in carpet with a black light
  • Manually inspect walls and baseboards in affected areas for damage
  • Manually inspect for cat urine in carpet and pad
  • Depending on severity, clean or remove baseboards and drywall
  • Replace affected carpet pad and seal subfloor if necessary
  • Thoroughly clean both the carpet fibers and backing with pet enzyme cleaner
  • Let dry and reinstall carpet

Locating and Identifying Cat Urine in Carpet

There are a few methods to find the source of the cat urine smell. Our preference, and the preference of many professional carpet cleaning companies, is to use a black light. Cat urine glows under a black light due to the phosphorous contained in urine. This makes it easy to spot.

We recommend using a black light with a wide beam pattern and plenty of LEDs. You do not have to spend a fortune, and a cheap light can still work, it just makes the cat urine harder to see.

Using a Black Light

To use the black light, first turn off the lights and close the blinds. While it does not have to be completely dark in your home, trying to spot pet urine of any kind of daylight or a bright environment will be much tougher.

Next, scan the areas and identify where the cat urine smell is emanating from. Likely what you will find is that your problem may extend beyond simply having cat urine in the carpet. Often the cat pee has been sprayed on the baseboards, drywall, and an entire corner of the room. Take note of affected areas.

Manual Cat Urine Carpet and Wall Inspection

The next step is to see how bad the cat urine damage is. This is going to take a bit of poking, prodding, and pulling back the carpet.

After you’ve located the cat urine with the blacklight and before you start pulling back the carpet, we recommend examining the drywall and baseboards first. This will give you an idea of how bad the problem is and what level of deep cleaning you may need.

Cat Urine in Drywall and Baseboards

Start by using a blunt object, like a dowel or rod, to press on the drywall and baseboard. If a cat has frequently been using an area as a bathroom, many times you will find the drywall or composite baseboards have been saturated with urine.

Drywall will be soggy or crumbling, not firm. A light poke will not provide the resistance you would expect and may pass straight through. Baseboards (especially composite) will show visible damage like bubbling paint and warping.

Consider Calling a Professional

If you have damage as described above, now may be a good time to call a professional carpet cleaning company that specializes in pet odors and stains. These contaminated areas of drywall and baseboard likely need to be removed, sealed, and replaced.

Wood base boards can potentially be salvaged; however, drywall or composite baseboards will need to be discarded and replaced.

Inspecting the Carpet and Pad

Once you have located the cat urine with a blacklight and investigated the drywall and baseboards (assuming that is relevant to your issue), it’s time to really see how bad the cat urine in the carpet and pad is.

Pull Back and Examine the Carpet

Using needle nose pliers, you will need to reach under the baseboards and gently pull the carpet back, being careful not to rip the carpet. Once you have done this, it should be easy to spot the cause of the cat urine smell.

Examine the backing of the carpet. Cat urine should clearly show each ring or a cluster of rings where the cat has peed, and the urine has dried. It will appear as dark rings or a darkened area.

Look at the Tack Strips

Once the carpet has been lifted you can get a look at the carpet pad and the tack strips. Are the tack strips discolored, yellow or black? If so, those will need replacement.

Examine the Carpet Pad for Damage

Does the carpet pad have a moisture barrier? This will look like a plastic sheet on top of the pad. If so, it may be possible to clean it. If not, the carpet pad will likely show damage and should be replaced.

If the carpet pad does not have a moisture barrier, you should pull back the carpet pad to see if urine has made it through and into the subfloor beneath. Whether the subfloor is wood, or concrete is irrelevant.

Both are porous surfaces that cat urine odor can penetrate. If the urine has made it to the subfloor, it will need to eventually be encapsulated to get rid of the cat urine smell and keep it from creeping back up.

Surefire Method to Clean Dried Cat Urine From Carpet

Once you’ve identified the source of the cat urine odor, you have a few options. Either you can attempt to clean the area using a pet enzyme cleaner or other home remedies, or you can tackle the problem head on, knowing that you’ve done the job right.

In our experience, when dealing with cat urine, it’s best to remove damaged materials and replace them. Carpet itself can be thoroughly cleaned, however carpet pad (unless it has a moisture barrier) likely should be replaced.

Typically Cat Urine Stains Have Already Dried

Most of the time when you discover cat urine in a home, it already will be dried. Cats are often sneaky or are urinating in places that you may not initially notice. Often this discovery is not a single incident, either. Because it’s typically not an isolated incident, there is usually enough damage to warrant restoring the area, not just trying to cover up the odor.

Surefire Steps for How to Clean Cat Urine From Carpet

  • If the drywall and/or composite baseboards are affected, cut out and discard the affected areas. For solid wood baseboards, you can likely paint them with two coats of Kilz oil based paint to seal them.
  • If you have a moisture barrier on your carpet pad, clean it thoroughly the cat urine odor is gone. Otherwise, cut out and remove any cat urine saturated carpet pad and replace with a piece of pad that is of the same thickness and density.
  • If cat urine made it through to the subfloor, clean the area, let it dry, then seal the subfloor (wood or concrete) with two coats of Kilz paint.
  • Thoroughly clean and rinse both sides of the pulled back carpet. Both the face of the carpet and the backing will need to be thoroughly rinsed. Use a pet enzyme carpet cleaning solution for urine.
  • If you have a portable extractor, that will work best. Repeat until odor is removed and carpet is thoroughly rinsed. Let the carpet dry. Use fans if you have them to speed drying. Make sure the urine smell is gone once dry.
  • Replace any removed drywall or baseboards. Paint and prep the area.
  • Reinstall the carpet using a knee kicker. If it is a large area, a power stretcher may be necessary to properly stretch carpet back into place

Call the Professionals

As a professional carpet cleaning and repair company, here at MSS Cleaning, we’ve tackled more cat urine issues than you can probably imagine. If you’re in the Greater Denver Area and need our help, feel free to give us a call or book an appointment online with us!

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Carpet Cleaning and Stretching Recommendations

Common Carpet Cleaning and Stretching Questions

There are often many questions when we talk to our customers about carpet cleaning and stretching.

Our customers want to know things like “should I clean my carpet before the stretch or after?”. Another common questions is “what happens if I stretch a carpet while it’s still wet?”. Lastly we get questions like “will carpet cleaning help remove the lines left over after the carpet has been stretched?

Cleaning Carpets Before or After Carpet Stretching

The relationship between carpet cleaning and stretching services is simple when you consider one thing: water. When carpet is cleaned with hot water extraction (also known as steam cleaning), hot water is sprayed into the carpet and then extracted.

Even after extracting the water, some moisture is left behind.

Even common dry carpet cleaning methods also known as low moisture cleaning still typically use some water. So don’t think mistake “low moisture for no moisture”.

Most carpet is made with a latex backing and latex glues. When these become wet and hot, the carpet expands a little bit.

Carpet stretching and cleaning

Ideally Do Not Stretch Carpet While it is Wet

If you stretch the carpet while its wet and hot from cleaning (and therefore expanded), you risk over stretching the carpet. Especially when you incorporate the use of a power stretcher, as all quality carpet stretchers should.

What that means is that as the carpet dries, the carpet contracts and pulls against the tack strips holding it to the wall.

Overstretched areas of carpet can pull off from the tack strips, or worse, split a carpet seam in the middle of the room.

To avoid carpet damage, do not stretch it while it is wet. We recommend waiting a few days after a carpet cleaning before stretching the carpet.

Stretch Carpet Before Cleaning

Now that we know not to stretch carpet while it is wet, let’s discuss the ideal method for carpet cleaning and stretching.

The best way to clean carpet is after the carpet stretching is complete. There are a few reasons for this.

Avoiding Overstretching

If you clean the carpet after you stretch it, you avoid risks of tearing seams or overstretching the carpet.

Cleaning Carpet in Room

Help Erase Lines and Wrinkles in Carpet

Over time, carpet that has needed to be stretched wrinkles and buckles in the same places.

As these wrinkles continue without being repaired, they become more prominent and permanent. The latex backing of the carpet settles in that same shape.

When carpet is stretched, often the lines where the wrinkles and buckling were still show to some extent.

Hot water extraction (steam cleaning) cleans the carpet, helps relax the wrinkled shape and allows the carpet fibers to realign.

Cleaning a carpet with hot water extraction after the carpet is stretched helps release and hide the creases that formed in the carpet over time.

wrinkled buckling carpet

Special Exceptions Where We Clean Before We Stretch

Now that we have discussed the ideal scenario for carpet cleaning and stretching, we will now touch on some exceptions.

There are certain circumstances where cleaning the carpet before restretching it is necessary.

Pet Urine and Odor

We frequently are called in to handle difficult carpet cleaning pet urine and odor issues. When carpet cleaning and flooding treatments alone can’t handle the odor and pet damage, we have to get serious.

This involves:

  • Pulling up the carpet
  • Removing the carpet pad,
  • Potentially sealing the subfloor
  • Replacing the carpet pad with new pad
  • Cleaning both the top and backing of the carpet and performing and necessary carpet repair services
  • Stretching the carpet back into place.
Cleaning Both Sides of Carpet Before Stretching Back Into Place

When we need to clean the underside of the carpet as well as the fibers on top, we obviously want to clean the carpet before we stretch it back into place.

A professional Denver carpet cleaning company (like ours) knows how far to stretch still damp carpet without causing seams to tear or causing other damage.

Depending on the scope of the carpet stretching, it may make sense to let the loose carpet dry or not.

Water Damage Restoration

Like the pet urine situation mentioned above, water damage restoration often calls for a carpet pad replacement. Depending on the source of the water damage, we may need to clean and sanitize both sides of the carpet.

The Conclusion on Carpet Stretching and Cleaning

In normal situations, stretching the carpet before cleaning is the right way to do it. However, there are certain circumstances (including ones not discussed here) that call for reversing that order.

Our skilled Denver carpet stretching and repair technicians can assess each situation and choose the right course of action.

As always, if you have any questions or you’d like to book an appointment, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

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Or Call: 1-720-233-0761

How to Get Gum Out of Carpet

 

How to Get Gum Out of Carpet

Three Simple Ways to Remove Gum From Your Carpet

 

We all know the feeling of finding that sticky situation: chewed up gum in your carpet. Between the everyday demands of daily life, gum seems to make its way into the trickiest places. It’s not always easy to clean, trust us, we know.

Girl blowing bubble with bubble gum

If you drag some gum into your home you’re in for some trouble. Fresh gum, dried gum, any gum is a huge pain for anyone. Especially when that gum is rubbed deep into your carpets. If you are desperate for foraging minty gum out of your once beloved carpet, you’re in the right place!

First Priority: Tackle the Gum as Soon as Possible

It’s always best to try and remove gum (or frankly any stain or foreign substance) from the carpet as soon as possible. The longer you wait the harder the process.

If it took you a little while to find the gum, don’t worry, there’s still hope! We’ve got a few methods and MSS Cleaning is sure one of them is right for you.

If you still can’t remove it with household methods, we regularly remove gum from carpets of all kinds and would be glad to help if you are in the Greater Denver Area.

Ice cubes to harden gum makes it easier to remove gum from carpet

Method #1 for How to Get Gum Out of Carpet – Freezing the Gum:

Freeze the Gum

Find some ice cubes – we suggest three or four – and place them in a zip lock plastic bag. Then, place that on top of the gum. The point of this is to harden the gum. 

Scrape Up The Hardened Gum

Once the chewing gum is hard, it’ll be easier to remove the bulk of the gum from the carpet. Use a scraping tool, like a butter knife, once the gum is hard to scrape the gum out of the carpet. Try to avoid using a sharp knife to avoid damaging the carpet. A rigid comb or something with bristles can loosen the gum as well. 

Apply Carpet Cleaning Solution

Once you feel you’ve removed most of the gum, get some carpet-cleaning solution. Rub the solution on the remains of the gum stain. Let it sit for a minute or so. 

Dry and Extract

Find a paper towel or dry rag and place it on top of the stain. Let it soak up the solution. Dab the gum stain until dry! If there is still gum left over, add a little more liquid solution and dab until dry. 

Once you’ve removed the gum, rinse and extract (or soak it up with a towel) the spot with cool water to remove as much of the carpet cleaning solution as you can. This will prevent re-soiling of the area.

Using a hairdryer to get gum out of carpet

Method #2 – Use a Hairdryer to Remove Gum from Carpet: 

Heat Gum With a Hairdryer

Warm temperatures can work when ice doesn’t What’s the best way to apply heat to a nasty gum stain? You got it, a hairdryer.

Turn on the hair dryer and point it directly on the gum stain. Make sure to keep an eye on that nasty gum stain as you don’t want it melting into the carpet fibers. 

Scrape

Once the gum begins to soften and loosen, use a scraping tool to remove the gum. Repeat this process over and over until you’ve gotten most of the gum out of the carpet. 

Rinse and Extract

Then, grab some carpet cleaning solution and rub it into the gum stain. Use a dry towel to blot it dry. As mentioned in method 1, rinse the treated area to remove any remaining carpet cleaning solution such as to avoid future re-soiling of the area.

Using Goo Gone to remove gum from carpet

Method #3 – Use Goo Gone or Another Solvent to Get Gum Out of Carpet: 

If you’ve tried all the above and that pesky, good for nothing gum won’t come out of your carpet you’re still in luck. We’ve got some more tricks up our sleeves. If you’ve come to this method as a last resort that means you’ve got a serious gum problem. Serious gum stains require serious attention.

Apply Goo Gone or Other Solvent

Firstly, you will need Goo Gone or a similar solvent, a fingernail brush (or any small brush that could act as a substitute), and some carpet cleaning solution. If you don’t have Goo Gone you can try to use white vinegar as a substitute.

Apply a decent amount of Goo Gone to the gum using a rag. Beware that certain solvents (like acetone) can eat away at the backing of the carpet, so you want to make sure to treat the fibers with a rag and not to saturate the spot. Let the solution work for a little while or at least until you see some changes in the gum texture. This will make it easier to use your small brush to remove the gum.

Agitate The Gum and Solvent

Grab the small brush and begin agitating the gum spot. Try to move in the same direction repeatedly – right to left or left to right – to begin removing the stain. 

If need be, add more Goo Gone / Solvent to the stain and repeat scrubbing and massaging. Use a dry towel to blot the excess liquid if you need. Keep on repeating this process until you feel you’ve removed the majority of the gum stain. 

Apply Carpet Cleaning Solution

Now, use carpet cleaning solution and apply it to the stained area. This will begin to clean the affected area. If there are still little specs of gum, use tweezers to remove them. You can even apply a basic carpet cleaning solution if there is any left over stain.

Rinse and Extract

Find a clean sponge and rinse it with cool water. Apply it to the stain and gently wash until you feel the stain is no longer an eye sore. Alternately, use carpet extractor to rinse and extract.

Dry the area after with a towel and you’re all set! 

Call in the Professionals

If you’re still struggling with removing gum from your carpet, it may be time to call in the professionals. At MSS Cleaning, we routinely remove gum from carpet including at large scale! We clean not just residential but also commercial carpets, so we’re no strangers to gum in carpet and can certainly help you with your gum issues if you’re located in or around Denver, CO.

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How to Get Hot Glue Out of Fabric

Working with your kids last minute on their science project and made an unexpected mess with hot glue? Now you’re wondering how to get hot glue out of fabric. Whether you got hot glue on some fabric or on the carpet, we have the solutions in this article.

Hot Glue Removal Tips

Don’t worry, with these tips, the hot glue should come right off. There are a few methods to try here. At MSS Cleaning we understand the frustration of quickly attempting to rub off fresh hot glue only to burn your fingers – and smear that glue deeper into your clothes. The giggles from your kid probably don’t help. 

Not to worry. After you take care of your little burn, we can fix that hot glue stain! Read on and see which works for you. One of them should do the trick! 

Hot Glue Gun

Method 1 for How To Get Hot Glue Out of Carpet or Fabric: Use an Iron

Getting hot glue out of fabric with an iron is pretty simple. All you need is an iron and a cotton cloth or paper bag. If you don’t have either you can use newspaper as well but use a section without print.

What you’re going to do here is melt the hot glue off the piece of clothing and onto the cloth/paper. The glue should be drawn to the paper or cotton cloth and away from your carpet or fabric. Easy!

The First Step

The first step is to heat up the iron to a temperature that melts the hot glue but doesn’t damage your carpet and/or other textile. If we’re working with clothing, you’ll want to lay out the piece of clothing with the hot glue stain facing up.

Prepare the Textile

For getting hot glue out of carpet carpet, obviously you won’t need to lay anything out, but follow the rest of the instructions. Lay the cloth/paper you are using to soak up the glue on top of the stain.

Apply the Hot Iron

Now, apply the iron – without steam – for about 10-20 seconds. Let that glue melt off your clothes and onto the excess cloth/paper. 

Once you start to see the glue transferring, lift the iron off and check the hot glue stain. If there is still some glue left over, choose a new spot on the cloth/paper and repeat. 

Attack Both Sides, if Possible

For Better Results, flip the fabric you can. If you’re struggling to remove all of the hot glue from the fabric, try flipping both fabrics. Place the cloth/paper on the ground or table. Then, place the hot glue stained clothing on top with the stain facing downwards.

Now, apply the iron again and see if that helps. Remember to choose a clean surface area on the cloth/paper to soak the glue into. 

 

Using a clothes iron to get hot glue out of fabric

Method 2 for Removing Hot Glue From Fabric: Try the Freezer 

You read that right. We’re going to freeze your clothing. This method is great but takes a little time. Hot glue may be easy to pull off once it’s frozen.

All you need to do is throw your glue stained article of clothing into the freezer and let it sit until the glue hardens. Once it looks frozen, pull the piece out of the freezer. Get a butter knife or something thin and dull and begin to scrape the glue off.

Usually the glue will pop right off! If you aren’t able to get the article in the freezer, you may be able to use ice cubes to harden the hot glue on, say, an affected area of carpet. This can help you to be able to scrape the hot glue off of carpet fibers.

If there is still some glue left over, try step one or two on the remaining glue! That should do the trick.

 

Freezer to remove hot glue from fabric

Method 3 to Get Hot Glue off of Fabric: Acetone!

All you need is acetone or acetone nail polish remover and some cotton swabs or soft cloth. Goo gone is also a great adhesive remover so if you have some of that laying around this can be a fine substitute.

Acetone is a wonderful adhesive remover that can knock out hardened hot glue stains. Just be sure to test it on a hidden part of your clothing to make sure it won’t stain or damage the color. 

If all looks good, soak the cloth or cotton ball with the acetone nail polish remover. Apply it to the hot glue stained area and let it soak. 

Take a clean cotton ball or cloth and blot the glue dry. The glue should loosen up and transfer onto the cotton ball or cloth. The acetone will break down the glue and make it easier to rub off. 

A Note on Acetone and Carpet

While acetone usually won’t damage typical fabrics, carpets commonly have a latex backing. If acetone stays in contact with this latex backing, it can cause the latex to break down. This results in visible damage to the carpet or even the fibers falling out. Be very cautious if attempting to use acetone on carpet or skip it all together.

Acetone nail polish remover to get hot glue out of fabric

For Additional Help

Keep repeating these steps until all the hot glue comes off! Otherwise, if you’ve got stubborn dried hot glue on carpet or upholstery that you need help with removing, we service the Greater Denver Area and would be happy to help you out with professional solutions to remove the glue spot.

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Considerations For Carpet Cleaning Traffic Lanes

What are Carpet Traffic Lanes?

Traffic lanes are the areas in a home or business where people repeatedly walk the most. Hallways, doorways and pathways around furniture see more walking traffic. Less used rooms or areas, under furniture and other less traveled places see less wear and tear.

carpet cleaning traffic lanes on stairs
agitating carpet with counter rotating brush for a deep scrub

Traffic Lane Carpet Cleaning Considerations

Traffic lanes see a greater amount of foot traffic. Consequently, they both collect dirt and wear out faster. Because of this, professional carpet cleaning companies typically have special considerations for cleaning the high traffic areas in a home or business.

  • Higher strength or concentration pre-sprays may be applied for more cleaning power.
  • Agitation should be used, preferably with a machine like a counter rotating brush, to provide deep scrubbing and soil removal.
  • Carpet pile should be lifted and set both via agitation (or a pile lifter) as well as with a carpet grooming after the job has been completed.

Dry Soil Damages Carpets

Many people don’t realize that dry soil, repeatedly ground into carpet through foot traffic, further accelerates wear.

Not vacuuming frequently as well as not professionally cleaning carpets on a recommended basis can lead to the prematurely wearing out. Carpet manufacturers typically recommend a 12-18 month interval for professional carpet cleaning. Failing to to this can lead to carpet prematurely wearing out. Then, it may need to be replaced sooner than if it had been properly maintained.

Commercial Traffic Lane Carpet Cleaners

When designing an ongoing commercial carpet maintenance plan, many times it makes more sense to alternate full carpet cleanings with traffic lane cleanings. Areas like hallways, the pathway to a breakroom, and conference rooms see more foot traffic and soiling. Alternating cleanings of all areas vs. just the traffic areas saves costs while still doing a great job.

Another option for commercial traffic lane cleaners is to use encapsulation cleaning for commercial maintenance alternated with the thorough deep cleaning or hot water extraction. This keeps the carpet looking good, helps remove damaging dry soil, and adds longevity on to the expensive carpet investment.

Encapsulation is a different carpet cleaning method that does not clean as deeply as hot water extraction, but still does a good job at a lower cost.

heavily soiled carpet being cleaned

Worn Out or Dirty Traffic Lanes?

Many times our customers want to know whether dark traffic lanes can be cleaned, or not. The answer is “it depends”. If the cause of the darkened area is dirt, soil and mud, then yes, a thorough cleaning should return the carpet to a uniform appearance.

Narrow Traffic Lanes Accelerate Wear

On the other hand, if traffic lanes have been repeatedly traveled through a narrow area for years and years, if shoes are worn in the area, or the area has not been frequently cleaned, darkened traffic lanes may be more permanent. They’ll almost always improve significantly with a thorough cleaning. However, they may still be visible.

Worn Out Damaged Carpet

Often this is due to worn down carpet and/or burst and unraveling carpet fibers instead of what may appear to be soiled areas. When this happens, light refracting off the carpet fibers can provide a contrasting appearance to the adjacent carpet fibers, such that they appear darker.

MSS Cleaning employee vacuuming carpet in home

How Can I Avoid Dark Traffic Lanes

The most important way to avoid visible traffic lanes in carpet is to keep the carpets properly maintained. Vacuum the carpet regularly. Avoid walking on the carpet with shoes if possible.

Professional Carpet Maintenance

Get the carpet professionally cleaned per the manufacturer’s recommended cleaning schedule. More often if you have pets and/or kids or heavy traffic sources. Following these tips will help your carpets look better, longer. Here are the carpet cleaning frequency guidelines one of the largest carpet manufacturers, Shaw,

Eventually Dark Traffic Lanes Will Occur Regardless

Like all textiles, even with proper maintenance, carpet has a useful life and will eventually wear out. Following the tips in this article will certainly prolong the life of the carpet, but it will still wear out some day.

Traffic lanes will be the first places to show significant wear. Once it’s worn out, there really is nothing that can be done to fully change the darkened appearance.

Better Quality Carpets Last Longer

For cheaper carpets, wear can occur as early as 8-10 years, while higher quality carpets like nylon or newer higher quality polyester carpets can last over 15 years and top quality carpet fibers like wool carpet can regularly last longer than 20 or 25 years. Commercial carpet can wear out even quicker.

The Best Denver Area Carpet Cleaning Company For Traffic Lanes

For help with cleaning and restoring traffic lanes, call the Denver carpet cleaning experts at MSS Cleaning. We can discuss how we design custom plans for keeping your carpet, whether commercial or residential, looking its absolute best. We offer carpet cleaning throughout the Denver area. From carpet cleaning in Castle Rock to Boulder, Thornton, and beyond.

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