4 Common Myths Surrounding Commercial Carpet Cleaning

Before working with our Care Team, quite a few of our clients had a much different view and opinion of commercial carpet cleaning.

The misconceptions surrounding commercial carpet cleaning could be due to several reasons, but we’re not here to discuss that. Instead, we’re here to outline some of the myths we’ve come across and debunk them with the facts:

1. New carpet doesn’t need to be cleaned regularly – just vacuuming is fine.

This myth is more common than you think! Many clients we work with are surprised when we show them the dirty water from the tank after cleaning their “clean, new carpet.”

Your carpet may be newish and look clean, but from the day it is installed, it starts collecting stuff. Just one square yard of carpet can contain up to a pound of dirt and still look clean. That’s because most dirt falls to the base of the carpet, where the fibers are connected to the matting. So, just because a carpet looks clean doesn’t mean it is.

To make matters even worse, most vacuums, especially backpack vacuums, lack the power to remove more than surface dirt and dust – leaving residue trapped at the base of the carpet fibers. These particles act like sandpaper damaging the fibers and shortening the carpet’s lifespan. The only way to truly clean your carpets is with regular professional carpet cleaning. Vacuuming alone doesn’t work.

Please don’t wait until your carpet looks dirty to have it deep cleaned. Regular deep cleaning needs to be part of your proactive maintenance.

Imagine if a commercial carpet with its heavy traffic pattern doesn’t get deep cleaned for a year. A year of wear and tear can shorten the lifespan and appearance significantly, and it may not be able to be restored to like-new condition.

Now imagine that same newly installed carpet getting a deep clean every quarter. Three months of wear and a deep clean to bring it back to like-new. Another three months of wear… you get the point.

Commercial carpets only last 5-7 years with average care and then go to the landfill. We have doubled and even tripled the useful lifespan of clients’ carpets with our maintenance plans. BTW, it takes carpet up to 100 years to decompose.

2. Having carpets cleaned is pointless because carpets get dirty again no matter what

While the second part of this myth is valid, the fact is that having your carpets cleaned is far from pointless. For example, did you know that the average carpet could contain up to four times its weight in dirt and other contaminants that fall to the ground or are tracked into the building? And that it could be up to 4,000 times dirtier than your toilet seat?

While these facts might sound unrealistic, it’s important to remember that gravity, food, liquid, shoes, and paws (if your building is pet friendly) are the main forces we are dealing with when it comes to the stuff your carpet is collecting every day.

Vacuuming can remove surface-level dust and dirt, but it can not remove ground-in dirt, oils, air pollutants, allergens, and toxins embedded deep within the carpet’s fibers, nor can it remove spots or stains. That is where regular carpet cleaning and maintenance come into play.

A build-up of dry soil particles acts like sandpaper on rug fibers, leading to accelerated wear, plus oils and soil bond to carpet fibers, making nightly vacuuming progressively less effective. So while janitorial teams do their best with the time they have, your carpet will degrade much quicker without regular deep cleaning services supporting it long-term.

Poorly maintained carpets get replaced 2-3x more often than those maintained appropriately. Why add more waste to the landfill when you can deep clean regularly to defer the expense and hassle of carpet replacement?

3. Regular deep-cleaning shortens the lifespan of commercial carpets

While we understand that commercial buildings need to extend the lifespan of their carpets as much as possible — we can confidently say that regular deep-cleaning does not shorten its lifespan… well our process doesn’t,* but others might.

*Ok, a bit of a caveat is needed here. “Our” regular deep cleaning services will not shorten the lifespan of your carpet. However, there are many ways cleaning companies can cut corners that result in carpet damage. Using improper or overly harsh cleaning methods, like Bonnet cleaning, which we affectionately call “The Grinder,” can permanently damage or change the carpet’s appearance and violate your manufacturer’s warranty.

A carpet cleaning maintenance plan will extend your commercial carpet’s useful lifespan. This plan should include regular deep cleaning from a reputable company that makes your carpet’s fibers refreshed and no longer at risk of breaking down due to harsh substances settling amongst them.

With average care, commercial carpets last 5-7 years, but in our experience, clients who utilize regular deep-cleaning services for their commercial carpets have extended that timeframe 2-3x.

Now contrast that with not having a regular maintenance plan. The damage is gradual, but the impact on the lifespan of your carpet is severe. Most carpet manufacturer claims are related to improper care and lack of maintenance.

4. The liquid and wet chemicals that commercial carpet cleaners use will trigger mildew to grow.

No, this should not happen, but it will if you hire a team that is not properly trained, doesn’t use the right equipment or cleaners, and doesn’t give a dang about your carpet.

Excessive moisture can negatively affect the lifespan of your carpet, leading to mold and mildew growth if you hire a team that doesn’t know what they are doing. For example, they use too much water or cleaning chemicals and allow a lot of the residue to remain in the carpet. In addition, excess moisture can cause bacterial growth, mainly when the cleaning solution left behind attracts and traps more dirt.

We’re calling this a myth because it shouldn’t happen, especially not in a commercial environment. Cleaning carpet isn’t rocket science, but there is a lot of nuance to designing a program that will fit the frequency needs of the surface based on fiber type, age of the floor, and traffic load.

Our IICRC®-certified carpet cleaning technicians are the best at what they do. They understand what each flooring and surface type needs (and doesn’t) to look amazing for as long as possible (all while maintaining the manufactures’ warranty).

Some final thoughts:

It takes a lot of work to manage and maintain a commercial building because of all the moving parts causing you to feel like you are herding cats all day managing the various internal and external teams.

With all that is going on, finding a commercial carpet cleaning & surface care company that is consistent, shows up on time, communicates often, and is great at what they do can be overwhelming.

Stop putting up with meh or good enough vendors when you can have a self-managed, proactive team to support your goals of improved appearance, performance, and longevity of all the surfaces in the buildings you manage.

To make testing a new company easy, we have created a series of Makeover Services that do not require a maintenance plan commitment; they are all one-off services. Reach out to learn more about our Carpet Refresh service, get a free quote, or schedule a demo.

About Corporate Care – A Nationwide Speciality Surface Care Company

We’re deep cleaning specialists who improve the appearance, performance, and longevity of every surface in the commercial buildings you manage – reducing capital expenditures, stress, and management burden on facility managers from coast to coast. As true surface care experts, we understand the unique properties and cleaning protocols every surface needs (or doesn’t) to look amazing and comply with manufacturer warranties. We’re here to support your existing janitorial crew with cadenced deep restorative cleaning and tailored maintenance protocols – performed by IICRC®-certified cleaning technicians.