Need a Guide on Selecting Carpet Fiber Right For You?

Basic idea of the expected qualities of a good carpet fiber is necessary in selecting the right carpet. A quality maybe seen across all fiber types while some maybe peculiar to a particular fiber type. There is no perfect carpet fiber.

Really the above statement is what it is. Every carpet fiber has its strengths and weaknesses. They are being continuously improved. I think what you should be looking for is what is in the market that best suit your need at a reasonable price. That said, lets examine:

Qualities to Look Out For in Carpet Fibers:

Moisture Absorption and Desorption

Most fibers tend to absorb moisture when in contact with the atmosphere and this quality is affected by their chemical and physical properties .
This quality is defined as moisture regain. Carpet fibers that absorb water tend to be easy to dye and process. Naturally those with low moisture regain tend to dry faster.

Resistance to Chemicals and Stains

A carpet fiber should have the ability to stand the effects of materials it comes in contact with. It should be able to reasonably withstand the chemicals, organic materials and gases it will surely come in contact.

Luster

This is the level of gloss or sheen of a carpet fiber.

Resiliency

For a carpet fiber to be useful to the user it should be able to bounce back to its original form when pressure is applied to it. Carpet fibers are constantly under stress as a result of usage. Stress can come in form of human traffic, heavy objects, and changes in temperature and humidity . A fiber should be able to handle these forces without damage.

Closely related to resiliency is abrasion . Abrasion resistance of a carpet fiber is its resistance to mobile stress.

Thermal and Flammability

This quality is very important for safety. A carpet fiber should not ignite easily and should also be self-extinguishing.

Common Carpet Fibers in the Market:


There are two types of carpet fiber : Synthetic carpet fiber and natural carpet fiber.
Nylon, olefin, polyester and acrylic are synthetic while wool, silk and cotton are natural fibers.

Nylon

Nylon is by far the most popular carpet fiber for both residential and commercial applications. It is the most common fiber used in the manufacturing of wall to wall carpet. Its popularity stems from the fact that it has quite a number of advantages over other fibers. It is strong , tough and durable. It has good resiliency and relatively inexpensive too!

It is easy to clean and can really resist matting. Due to its inherent
susceptibility to stain , it is treated to be able to resist stains. A popular example of stain resistant nylon is the stainmaster from Invista (formerly DuPont). Stainmaster nylon fiber is the most popular carpet fiber brand in US especial for residential carpets.

Primarily, there are two types of nylon carpet fiber; they are the type 6 and 6,6 . Although type 6,6 is marketed as a premium brand by Invista, the two are very similar in properties. The difference that may be doesn't really count in the expected end- user values.

Polypropylene(Olefin)

It is second to nylon in popularity. It is pigmented, that is color is added to it while in molten state. This makes it colorfast and resistant to sun fading.It has low moisture absorption and desorption ,this makes it resistant to soil but unfortunately undyeable. It has good stain resistant except for oil and grease stains. It is resistant to mold and mildew, and easy to clean.

Olefin has low fiber resiliency and crushes (flattens) under stress, therefore it manufactured in BCF(loop-pile) only. Due to its low abrasion resistance and low melting point , it can fuse if a heavy object is dragged across it.

Polyester

Polyester is not as common as nylon and polypropylene in carpet production. It has an excellent resistance to mildew and abrasion. It has good stain resistance. It has poor resilient property and susceptible to crushing. Polyester is normally sold in heavy face weight creating a rich luxurious feel .

Face weight is a product of pile density and pile height. Avoid high pile height; it crushes fast. The pile density should be high.
It is made in staple fiber(cut pile) and reasonably durable. It pills and stained by oil and greased.

Wool

It is a premium carpet fiber and have prestige attached to it .Its usage in carpet manufacturing is dated centuries back. It is crush resistant and durable. It is expensive and represent a very low percentage of fibers used in carpet making.

It resistant to pilling. It has a rich , luxurious look and feel . It is commonly used in rugs . It is easy to clean but will require a little more carefulness. It soils easily.


Which Carpet Fiber is Right For Me

As I said earlier , concentrate on defining your need and use it as basis for selecting from brands and types available in the market. This makes selection easy for you. For instance, if you have kids and pets which makes stains very likely and also want to give your living room a posh look.

Then you will be thinking of a carpet that has good stain resistant , easy to clean , high densed pile fiber to give a soft , luxurious look and feel and then a nice color to match your taste.

If you love playing around with colors and likely to repaint your living room in the next one or two years then it is very likely that you will be dyeing your carpet and therefore not a client to polypropylene. Olefin carpet fiber is good for outdoor carpeting.

Personally, I will advise that you keep to the popular good performer-nylon ,for indoor carpeting but if you are a bit adventurous you can try out good carpet brands in polyester and olefin.

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Before You Use Carpet Cleaning Chemicals On Your Carpet

Carpet cleaning chemicals have become an issue of some sort for various reasons ranging from safety , effectiveness and others.

Carpet cleaning chemicals are not altogether something to be overly apprehensive about. You may just need to understand it better, the issue around it, how best to apply it and get to know the best of the products for residential and commercial places.

What are Carpet Cleaning Chemicals?
Carpet is the most common floor covering type. And can really be beautifying and comfortable to use. With usage, the inevitable happens, that is, it gets dirty and needs cleaning.. The carpet cleaning chemicals are compound mixtures used to clean carpets. They are mainly used for dry carpet cleaning (chemical carpet cleaning). Some common ingredients contained in chemical carpet cleaners include lye, formaldehyde, disinfectants, acids and artificial fragrance. Some which are claimed to be trade secret may not be listed on the labels.
Carpet cleaning chemicals come in different groups such as, green cleaning /micro –splitters, deodorizers, spot & stain removers, protectors, problem solver additives, extracting agents, Carpet pre-sprays.

How to Choose the Right Cleaning Chemicals
This brings us to issues of safety and effectiveness. As I said earlier the cleaning chemicals are grouped. Therefore your choice will depend on what you want to achieve. To achieve maximum success, purchase the type meant for a particular job. As with many chemical products, they have contents that may be toxic and not healthy for consumption especially by children and pets. Sometimes some of their contents are not listed on the label, making the users unaware of a possible harmful substance. Though the manufacturers will be expected to place health warnings.
With that said, it does not mean that all chemicals for carpet cleaning are harmful, it simply means that you should apply some caution in dealing with these cleaning products. Check the label list first for any blacklisted (prohibited) chemical such as tributyl tin, tetrachlororthylene , hydrofluoric acid etc. There are also Eco-friendly (green) carpet cleaning solution available as alternative. They are primarily plant based. Brand names like Bi-O-Kleen, Capture , NatureClean are some green cleaning solution names.

Are Carpet Cleaning Chemicals Safe for use
The safety depends on the chemical content. During the application of the chemicals, apply safety measures like use of hand gloves, protective gears and goggles. Do not smell the chemicals. Ensure sufficient flow of air in the room to reduce inhaling toxic fumes. Try limiting the usage of carpet cleaning chemicals to “quick-fix” cleaning of very dirt highly trafficked parts of the carpet as against using it for the whole carpet. Vacuum thoroughly to reduce the chances of residual remnants to barest minimum.

Enjoy Your Carpet

I think the underlying interest is having a satisfactory clean carpet using a process you are comfortable with issues around it. There is a place for carpet cleaning chemicals but the milder the better . Try as much as possible to use green carpet cleaning solutions as alternatives where possible . Then use steam cleaning to do major carpet cleaning . It is still the process that most people and most carpet manufacturers can relate to comfortably.

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Important Facts about Dry Carpet Cleaning

Sometimes people wonder if, when, where to use dry carpet cleaning. They are apprehensive about the effectiveness and safety of dry cleaning. This article will discuss on issues relating to effectiveness, proper usage and safety of dry carpet cleaning. I hope it will help you make up your mind about dry cleaning.

Dry carpet cleaning Method

By its name, this stands for a method of cleaning that doesn’t require water. The main ingredient consists of a dry carpet cleaning compound containing moisture, absorbent, detergent and solvent. The cleaning powder is sprinkled on the carpet, and then the moisture dissolves the soil which then mixes with the solvent and detergent. The mixture is attracted and absorbed by the absorbent which is then vacuumed.

There are other cleaning methods sometimes referred to as dry cleaning. But in strict sense they can’t really be called dry cleaning since water is used. Dry carpet cleaning can be used on all carpet fiber depending on the chemical content of the absorbent cleaner (find out from a local carpet cleaning professional which will be okay for your carpet). It is mostly recommended for silk, wool and color-bleeding carpets.

Do It Yourself

The carpet should be vacuumed first. The cleaning mixture is poured on the carpet. Then worked into the carpet with a brush or vibrating machine (which you can rent). It is left to stay for sometime depending on how dirty the carpet is. The moisturized cleaner mixes with the dirt and soil and then vacuumed with a vacuum cleaner.

In case of stains, you should use stain treatment first. Be sure to verify that the cleaning mixture will be right for your carpet before using it. You can test it on a scrap carpet or a small area of the carpet that won’t be noticed.

Should I Use This Method On My Carpet?

The main case against dry carpet cleaning is on its inability to do a satisfactory cleaning. No matter how much you vacuum the carpet, there is always residual reminants in the carpet. This process can be likened to pouring cleaning powder on your hair then using hair brush or towel to rub it into the hair then vacuum off. How really clean is your hair?

There is also the problem of re-soiling due to soap and detergent residue. It can really be cumbersome getting loads of cleaning powder for a whole carpet cleaning.

I don’t know about you, but I am uncomfortable with the possibility of children and pets getting to this residue no matter how safe the manufacturers claim the compound is.

I still think there are places and situations dry carpet cleaning method can be used. As I said earlier, it can be recommended for silk and wool carpets where constant use of steam cleaning can damage and over stretch the carpet.Then use other cleaning options when it is real dirty.

It is also recommended for carpets that run color. Dry carpet cleaning can serve as a "quick fix" for highly trafficked areas of the carpet before any major cleaning can be done.

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Steam Carpet Cleaner:Best Option for Carpet Cleaning

Using steam carpet cleaner can get you a better cleaning job than other types of carpet cleaners. Steam cleaning is a very effective way to ensure that you obtain a real clean carpet.

There are basically four(4) methods used for carpet cleaning:

• Dry Shampooing.


• Carpet powder method(Dry Cleaning).


• Bonnet cleaning.


• External extraction(also called warm water extraction , 'hot water extraction" or steam
  cleaning")

For this article we are concentrating on steam cleaning which is the method approved by almost all carpet manufactures. Steam carpet cleaners can penetrate deep into the carpet fiber and ensure that there is a deep cleaning and then immediately vacuum off the dirty water to prevent leaving any residual liquid. The spraying of warm water ensures that there no over wetting.

I will advise you use the service of professional carpet cleaners if this is your first time but if can't spare the cash then go on and do it yourself. Most steam carpet cleaners come with instructions which you can follow .

In cleaning the carpet, first of all, remove everything in the room that will be an obstruction. Vacuum the carpet to remove cobwebs, dust . In case of stubborn stains , you can spray spot removals first and then wait some minutes . Move the steam carpet cleaner slowly using overlapping strokes when depositing the detergent. Then go over the wet area slowly in cycles with overlapping strokes . Some carpet steam cleaners have see-through covering , so that you can see the water as it is vacuumed into the machine .

You can repeat the process of depositing detergent and moving in cycles if you think you need to clean the carpet more. Continue vacuuming untill no more dirty water is entering the machine. This is particularily important to so that the carpet will dry fast. Don't walk over wet carpet because any collected dirt will set on the carpet.

In purchasing a steam carpet cleaners, you have to consider:

• Tank type/size/design: The tank type could be upright or canister. Uprights are heavier and used for large areas. Canisters hold more water than uprights but gets
  cold faster. Find out if the steam cleaner has different reservoirs for the cleaning solution and the vacuumed dirty water.


• Rotating brushes: The number of brushes . The more the better.


• Tool/attachments: Find out if the steam carpet cleaner have attachment for other cleaning
  such as upholstery and stairs cleaning.


• Water heater: Find out if you have to be adding hot water or if it offers water heater
  option .

Some popular steam carpet cleaners are hoover steam carpet cleaner and bissell steam carpet
cleaners.

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