CMM – Archives • June 2012 • 15

truckmount hot water extractor are often contracted out. Spotting Upon a recent trip to attend a trade show hosted at a casino, I noticed the custo-dial staff utilizing box extractors along with a stack of microfiber cloths and a chemical solution to remove spots in the carpet. I asked one of the individuals how often they perform carpet spotting, and his response was, “We never stop.” He was right: Any time I walked through the gaming floor or any other area of the complex, I noticed staffs performing carpet spotting. Carpet spotting is a wonderful way to keep carpets looking clean when wide-area deep cleanings are not necessary and when replacing the entire carpet is not in the cards. It is important to ensure that all of the cleaning chemical and as much moisture as physically possible is removed from the carpet during spotting. Any residual chemical will cause rapid resoiling, and moisture could lead to odor problems or issues with soils wicking to the surface. Residuals in the carpet can also cause damage to the fibers, not to mention the possible off-gassing in the form of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that could, over time and depending on one’s susceptibility, be a health hazard to end users and building occupants. “Be mindful of sustainable certifications and safety considerations,” cautions Roger McFadden, vice president and senior scien-tist for Staples Advantage. “Frequent expo-sure to harsh chemicals, through application or accumulation in the carpet fibers, can be harmful to people as well as the environ-ment. Be sure to avoid toxic chemicals that are persistent, bioaccumulate or are toxic to human and environmental health. An easy way to determine if a cleaner is safer for the environment is to look for credible, indepen-dent third-party certifications from science-based organizations like Green Seal Inc. and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Design for the Environment (DfE) pro-gram.” Carpet Care Online Seminar In conclusion, it is rather difficult to provide a general overview of carpet care — what do I say that hasn’t already been said or that you don’t already know? A separate article could be written about each aspect touched upon herein but, short of that, we will be tackling the topic of carpet care in some detail on Thursday, July 26, 2012 at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). If you have any carpet care expertise to share with the Cleaning & Maintenance Management community, contact me. In addition, if there was something you were hoping to have read in this article but didn’t, drop me a note and we will work to include some content catered towards your knowledge needs in the July 26 Carpet Care Online Seminar. CM GREASY MESSES & RESIDUES – FULL-STRENGTH DETERGENT, HIGH PRESSURE & FLOW ONE-TOUCH BURST OF POWER – EXTRA DETERGENT, PRESSURE & FLOW only from Advance of chemicals and extra labor, not to mention environmental impact. So one-pass, sustainable cleaning with the EcoFlex system not only makes perfect economic sense, but ecological sense too. Our free white papers help you see how at ecoﬂ exsystem.com/whitepapers A Nilﬁ sk-Advance Brand ©2012 Nilﬁ sk-Advance 800-850-5559 www.advance-us.com