Carpet Myths

Carpet myths dispelled

by Jeff Cross

Most complaints about carpet are due to maintenance and installation issues.
Consumers, whether in the residential or commercial market, rarely have their carpet cleaned as often as they need to be cleaned. That's part of the maintenance issue.
And because of this, the carpet often looks terrible and the solution - to the consumer - is to replace them with hard flooring.
It's interesting that the hard floors in a home or facility will get a frequent cleaning, while carpet is ignored until it is blamed for non-performance.
And therein lurks the problem - and the solution. Clean each surface with equal fervor, and you will see myths dispelled.
Carpet myths abound in today's world. Let's look at some of these that affect your customers or facilities.

A positive study

There is an interesting study that the carpet cleaning industry enjoys analyzing.
The study comes from Sweden, with final results very much in favor of the carpet manufacturing and carpet cleaning industry.
Apparently, circa 1975, Sweden made a huge push to remove carpet.
Many blamed carpet as the culprit for allergy sufferers. They said that carpet was the cause of poor indoor air quality.
A document found on the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) website shows that nearly all carpet was removed from Swedish homes and facilities because of a nationwide scare of allergens.
Interesting is the fact that allergic reactions and other illnesses blamed on carpet in homes and facilities went up dramatically after carpet had been removed.
Quite the opposite of what was expected.
Sweden has become a nation consuming less and less carpet, and at the same time, suffering more and more from what was originally blamed on carpet.

When you analyze and compare all living conditions in today's world, carpet actually makes a healthier home or facility. You don't have the dust load in the air as you do with hard floors - all things being equal, of course, and cleaned accordingly.

Dust mites and pet dander are often blamed for allergic reactions. Both can build up in carpet, and both can be found on hard floors. We won't even go into tobacco smoke, pollution from automobiles, pollens, and more...

When in carpet, the proper vacuum system - used regularly - along with regular carpet cleaning, keeps allergen levels very low.

For hard floors, the proper dusting and mopping system is important. With just a small amount of air movement on a hard floor, allergens are swept up into the air and into the respiratory systems of occupants.

Potential carpet problem

Many people feel that carpet is a "dirt sink" that traps potentially dangerous contaminants.
True... but that's a good quality of carpet..

With carpet, the fibers act as a filter and hold onto contaminants until they can be vacuumed or cleaned. Hard floors do not do that.
One way to see this for yourself is to watch the air in a home or business when the sun is shining into the home. With carpeted surfaces, you see some dust in the air, but not much.

So you have two options:

Option #1: Carpet, which will hold onto dirt and contaminants until the carpet is either vacuumed or cleaned.

Option #2: Hard floors, which do not hold onto dirt and contaminants, but still perform well if cleaned regularly.

Regular cleaning makes any building or home healthier. Don't blame the product - instead, make it perform better with better maintenance.

Carpet has another great trait: There are less slip and fall accidents on carpeted surfaces.

Carpet and mold!

Can mold grow on carpet? Yes. Can mold grow on just about any surface? Yes. All it needs is an organic base - dirt, as one example.
Mold needs a food source, moisture, a warm temperature and typically a dark place to reside.
Mold does not use carpet as a food source. Today's carpet, the vast majority, are made from synthetic materials. Mold has no appetite for these materials.
Mold, however, will "eat" contaminants in carpet, so if a carpet is damaged (water damage, sewage, etc) and not remediated properly, mold can grow on it. However, it also will grow on the walls, concrete, furnishings, and hard floors.
It's not picky. It just needs certain things to exist, just like people need certain things to exist.

Carpet and off-gassing?
People who are chemically sensitive definitely have a challenge in today's world. Carpet is no more a problem for chemical reaction than any other product on the market today.

Some claim that carpet off-gasses fumes, such as formaldehyde. Formaldehyde isn't used in the manufacturing of carpet.
Any odors from a new carpet is simply a "new carpet odor", just as you might find in a new car or other manufactured product.
Then people blame the latex in carpet, saying they have an allergic reaction to the natural glues.
Problem is, latex in today's carpet is also synthetic, which studies show does not contribute to allergic reactions.
The best thing to do when it comes to deciding which type of flooring to install is to think about how it is going to be used. If you want a comfortable, quiet atmosphere - and a healthy one, too - then carpet is a great choice.

Does God Fight Against Us?

God will fight against us for our good. He permits us to experience defeat so that we will listen to Him when He says, Rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness”

Spots B' Gone

Spots B’ Gone

There is a cleaning firm in California that actually goes by this name. I actually met Bruce the owner of Spots B’ Gone on a job that I was doing. You see the homeowner had scheduled a cleaning appointment with Bruce’s company the same time that my company was scheduled. Sometimes people will schedule multiple appointments with different service companies to get them to drive to their homes and get them to compete for the lowest price. I assume that we were the lowest price because we got the job, which is not always a good thing. The following day the homeowner called and said they were placing a stop payment on the check because we didn’t get out the spots.
After several trips to court and winning a judgment of over six-hundred dollars we found out the customer was a former carpet cleaner that had lost the business due to mismanagement. We never did collect any money on the judgment. Hmmm, I wonder if Bruce is still in business?

Listed below are conditions which are the most commonly encountered for which we disclaim liability and for which the customer agrees not to hold us responsible.
The nature of some spots makes it impossible to restore original color or texture. At times a spot will appear to be even more visual after a general cleaning of the material. Spotting work on rust, liquor, cosmetics, ink, coffee, lipstick stains, is performed at the customer’s risk because
REMOVAL OF SPOTS IS NOT GUARANTEED.
There are not many customers that actually turnover the back of the agreement they have just signed to read this disclaimer. On top of that how many do you think actually believe this is true or even want to?
Unfortunately this is a true fact of life. Removal of Spots is Not Guaranteed.

In doing research for these blogs for “Carpet Cleaning Scams” the name Barry Minkow always came up in the top ten results on every search engine. Who is Barry Minkow? The carpet cleaning boy wonder that started ZZZZ Best carpet cleaning who is now a minister in San Diego, California.

ZZZZ Best Inc., 1986 - Barry Minkow, the owner of this business, posited that this carpet cleaning company of the 1980s would become "The General Motors of carpet cleaning". Minkow appeared to be building a multi-million dollar corporation, but he did so through forgery and theft. He created over 10,000 phony documents and sales receipts without anybody suspecting anything. Although his business was a complete fraud designed to deceive auditors and investors, Minkow shelled out over $4 million to lease and renovate an office building in San Diego.
ZZZZ Best went public in December of 1986, eventually reaching a market capitalization of over $200 million. Amazingly, Barry Minkow was only a teenager at the time! He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Minkow who served 71/2 years in prison for defrauding investors is now helping put away scammers by working with the government and has started the Fraud Discovery Institute, which is dedicated to investigating scams.
“Money has a way of blinding objectivity, even for we who are believers,” Minkow says.

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away. Isaiah 64.6

“But those who reject me are like the restless sea. It is never still but continually churns up mire and dirt,” There is no peace for the wicked, says my God. Isaiah 57:20-21

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Romans 5:1

Good, Fast Cheap

Good, Fast Cheap.

I recently saw a show on television (Bernie Mac) where the homeowner was having a room added on to his home. When the contractor entered the home he stated to the homeowner, “If you want it Good and Fast, it won’t be Cheap, If you want it Fast and Cheap it won’t be Good”
Most homeowner’s are faced with this dilemma “How much money do I need to spend?”
There was a young couple I recently met that was faced with that question with regards to carpet cleaning for their home.
The wife had called for a professional cleaning service because her folks were coming into town in a few days and her father is considered by the husband to be a very tidy person.
Now the wife is very budget minded and decides they need to have only the family room professionally cleaned because the carpet cleaning machine they bought two years ago doesn’t seem to be doing the job they expected.
Now the day the professional cleaner arrives he becomes very concerned because the wife is only concerned with cleaning the one room and she had been quoted a 3 room minimum price so he offers an alternative solution. (What most customers don’t realize is that it takes the same effort to set–up the equipment to do one room as it does the whole house.)
The alternative solution; he offers to clean the entire house for the price she had been quoted for the 3 room minimum service if she agreed to purchase carpet protector that was already at a reduced price. Plus the cleaner offered to clean her sofa at no extra charge.
Now what do you think the homeowner decided? Yes
This now became a win-win situation for everyone.

Fact #1: Many people waste time on the phone going through the yellow pages to find out who’s giving the best deal. Fast and Cheap.
Fact #2: People only do business with people that they Like and Trust.

Remember businesses only stay in business when they are profitable and are giving back to the communities they serve.

Sometimes the Christian life boils down to the uncommon expression of common virtues. What a difference practicing that virtue would make in society
Tim Sanders, in his book Likeability Factor, says a person who provides others with “a sense of joy, happiness, relaxation, or rejuvenation” is more likely to be hired or promoted. Let us all work together on increasing our “L-Factor”


“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48

As we have opportunity, let us do good to all. Galatians 6:10