What restaurant managers can do to help rid their carpets of reappearing spots is to walk through the area with the technicians and point out the problem zones. Although most managers might assume the technicians will notice the spots during the cleaning process, it should be remembered that this may be the first time the technician has seen this carpet, whereas the manager may see it and its spots every day. Pointing out the trouble areas allows the technician to attend to these patches before carpet cleaning begins, giving them more time to remove the spots.
Encourage the technicians to put more effort in flushing out the spotted areas using an acid rinse. This helps remove cleaning residue and can be especially helpful when cleaning restaurant carpets.
Stop the Wicking
The term ‘wicking’ may be new to restaurant managers, but it is everyday language for carpet-cleaning technicians and a very common problem. Wicking occurs when soils embedded in carpet fibers are not thoroughly removed. The carpets may look fine after cleaning but as they dry, the soil ‘wicks’ to the top of the carpet, making the carpet look dirty.
One of the first ways to prevent this is to make sure the carpet is thoroughly vacuumed before cleaning. Many technicians do not vacuum the carpets before cleaning, assuming dry soils will be removed by the carpet extractor. However, dry soil can reduce the effectiveness of the extractor. Insist that the technicians vacuum the carpets before cleaning or have your own custodial staff do this.
If this problem has occurred in the past, suggest to the technicians that they allow their chemicals more time to ‘dwell’ on the carpets, improving the effectiveness of the cleaning agents. Also have the technicians spend more time agitating the carpets. The goal here is to dissolve and loosen deeply embedded soils so the carpet extractor can more effectively remove them.
Additionally, knowing this is a problem, the technicians should spend more time rinsing the carpets when cleaning, and instead of allowing the carpets to simply air-dry, suggest that they place air movers (blowers) at strategic locations around the dining room. Faster drying helps reduce wicking.
Removing Darkened Traffic Lanes
Dining room restaurants usually have “traffic lanes” to reach all areas of the dining room. These lanes often become more soiled than other carpeted areas, often referred to as pathway soiling, and over time this can become very noticeable.
The bad news is that there may be nothing that can be done. Soils are abrasive, and they can scratch and damage carpet fibers, causing the area to look darkened.
However, if this is not the case, the technician should be aware of specific chemicals that can help remove pathway soiling, specifically in a restaurant carpet. For instance, often they can use oxidizing cleaners, known in the carpet-cleaning industry as ‘boosters.’
One way to address this problem, in fact, all of the challenges mentioned here, is to hire IICRC-certified carpet cleaners.* These technicians receive special training on the most effective ways to clean carpets and the use of carpet-cleaning chemicals.
The equipment component
As a manufacturer that provides both portable and truckmount carpet-cleaning extractors, it is very important to select carpet extractors that are Gold-rated by the Carpet and Rug Institute Seal of Approval Program. The reasons are quite simple: cleaning carpets in a restaurant can be much more challenging than in an office or other type of setting due to airborne grease. A Gold-rated system meets specific standards to help improve cleaning effectiveness.
Nick Wiebe is marketing manager for U.S. Products. He may be reached at: nickw@usproducts.com.
*The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification is a nonprofit organization that provides educational programs for carpet-cleaning technicians.