American Steamway LLC

Unfortunately, there is probably as much confusion in the carpet cleaning industry about carpet protectors as there is about cleaning. Uneducated, uninformed, and sometimes downright unscrupulous carpet cleaners cause a great deal of confusion by giving out false information or intentionally misrepresenting the product. A nylon stain-resist carpet is made with two protective properties: The first is an acid dye blocker that is basically a clear dye that fills the extra dye sites in a fiber. This helps to keep “foreign” dyes (such as red dye in a beverage) from penetrating the carpet fiber. The second property is called a “fluorochemical”. It is commonly known as 3M Scotchguard ® or DuPont Teflon ®. This treatment helps keep spillage from actually getting to the acid dye blocker, but its biggest job is to resist dry soil. By resisting dry soil, less soil bonds to the carpet, therefore being picked up by your vacuum or cleaning. Making sure that you have a sufficient amount of protector on your carpet will help keep the soil from bonding to the carpet. Once it bonds to the carpet, it acts like sandpaper on your traffic area. Once the traffic area yarns are broken down, there is no way to bring them back to their original state. 2 Primary Ways That Protector Is Removed From A Carpet:

Regular foot traffic. Over a period of 6 months to 2 years depending on the traffic, a significant amount of protector can be removed from your traffic areas and needs to be reapplied. High alkaline cleaner. Uneducated, uninformed carpet cleaners use harsh chemicals on the carpet that will strip its protection. If one of these rascals has been in your house, you may want to have the carpet re-protected.

4 Mistakes Other Cleaners Make In Applying Protector:

Not using high quality protector. Discount protectors are not as effective and sometimes void the warranty of the carpet. Our company uses only the highest quality, recommended protectors. Not using a dedicated container. Using the same container for carpet protector as other cleaners can contaminate the carpet protector making it gummy and ineffective. Our vans have a dedicated container reserved ONLY for carpet protector. Not applying the product properly. Some cleaners either under apply or over apply the protector. Under applying it doesn’t allow for complete penetration on the carpet yarns. Over applying it causes the carpet to become overly stiff and crusty. Our company technicians are diligently trained for proper application Not grooming the carpet. For the best performance, the product should be groomed into the carpet for maximum penetration. This ensures contact with all surfaces of the carpet yarn and proper distribution and drying. Our company thoroughly grooms the protector into the carpet pile.

6 Reasons You Should Always Get Carpet Protector: Reduces permanent stains. A great looking carpet can be ruined by an ugly spot. Unprotected carpet doesn’t repel spillage as well as protected carpet. Being able to remove spots and spills more effectively, you can avoid permanent staining. Helps save your traffic areas from becoming destroyed. Traffic area soil is very abrasive and cuts carpet yarns like a knife. This damaging soil can easily bond to an unprotected carpet. By applying protector, you will increase the life of your carpet dramatically. When you vacuum your protected carpet the soils will release from the carpet pile much more effectively. Make spots easier to remove. The easier a spot is to remove, the less cleaner you will have to use. The less agitation you will have to use, and the less time it will take to dry. Many spots can be removed easily with just water. Makes your next professional cleaning more effective. Having protector applied to your carpet will enhance your next cleaning. More soil will be removed the next time your carpeting is professionally cleaned. Helps avoid costly service calls. Although you want to call us out to handle any spot you cannot remove immediately, carpet protector helps you remove more spots than you could without protector. You may be able to save a minimum charge by removing the spot yourself. The result of having protector applied to your carpet is that your carpet will look better and last longer. How To Properly Maintain Your Carpeting When it comes to maintaining your carpet, one of the most critical areas of focus is the traffic areas. If ground in soil is not removed on a regular basis, the traffic areas will begin to wear excessively. The dirt is extremely abrasive against the fibers of the carpet as you walk back and forth on it. The second area of focus of course is spot removal. You must react to "danger" spots immediately. Red wine, Red beverages, urine, blood, etc. can cause a permanent stain if not treated immediately. Listed below are the steps that you must take to properly maintain your carpeting. WARNING: By not maintaining your carpeting properly, you could experience one or more of the following: Warranty voided Rapid resoiling Damage to fibers in traffic areas Unremovable spots 5.Short life of carpet Warranty Copies of specific warranties on your carpet purchase are available for you upon request. Stain resist warranties can vary from 5 to 20 years. ALL STAIN RESIST WARRANTIES REQUIRE REGULAR CLEANING AND IMMEDIATE SPOT REMOVAL. Vacuuming Vacuum your carpet often. Once or twice a week at least. Vacuuming removes the sharp soil that can cut and slice the fiber causing premature wear. Much of this soil is not visible to the eye. Vacuum before the carpet looks soiled. Remove any loose particles such as loose food, leaves, pieces of crayon, bugs, etc. as these items can cause a spot on the carpet. Professional Cleaning As a general rule, professional cleaning by a professional, certified firm, should take place about once per year. MANY STAIN RESIST WARRANTIES REQUIRE PROFESSIONAL CLEANING EVERY 2 YEARS. Have your carpeting cleaned by a professional at least every 12 months. If you have extremely heavy traffic areas, clean more often. Rule of thumb: If there is any visible soil whatsoever on the carpet; it is time to be cleaned. For extremely heavy traffic areas, cleaning may be required more often. Proper professional cleaning will not leave a sticky residue behind and can be done as many times per year as needed. Professional cleaning removes the damaging soil from the traffic areas that vacuuming has not been able to remove. WARNING: UNINFORMED CARPET CLEANERS MAY VOID THE WARRANTY, BE VERY SELECTIVE WHICH COMPANY YOU HIRE. Most manufacturers recommend hot water extraction applied with a truck mounted cleaning machine, by a trained professional. Quote from DuPont Stainmaster "We recommend that carpet be professionally cleaned at least every 12 months" "To maintain texture retention warranties, we recommend carpet be professionally cleaned with hot water extraction every 18 to 24 months" Spot Removal and Interim Cleaning Immediate spot removal is key to a clean carpet. Great care also must be taken in how spot cleaning is performed. When a carpet is new, or has sufficient protector on it, plain tap water will remove many spots. However for those spots that will not move easily with water, you must use a spot cleaner. Select a spot cleaner that is recommended by your carpet retailer or your trained, certified professional cleaner. Most spot removers that are purchased over the counter leave too much soap residue and can cause yellowing. Avoid using foam carpet cleaners or any product that is not made specifically for carpet. Apply spot cleaner sparingly to white terry cloth and gently massage spot causing it to transfer into the cloth. Never pour spot cleaner directly on carpet. If the product that you are using seems to cause the spot to resoil over a few week periods, discontinue use. Any spot that you are not able to remove, and for pet urine or feces, call your professional cleaner immediately. Protective Coatings Residential carpets are treated with stain and soil resistors. The soil resistor part is known as DuPont Teflon or 3M Scotchgard. After a period of 2 to 3 years, much of the soil-resistor wears off, depending on traffic. At that point you should consider having a professional carpet cleaner re-apply the treatment after professional cleaning. The soil resistor will help the soil slide off of the carpet easier when vacuuming, spots will be easier to remove, and professional cleaning will be more effective the next time it is cleaned. When you call us, don't forget to request your FREE estimate for Carpet Protector! (757) 877-9632