Toronto Carpet Inspector

I am surprised how it appears that no  one in Canada is aware that there has been a new standard for carpet installation released in the past year by the Carpet and Rug Institute.

Most carpet mills expect the carpet installers to install according to this standard.

If you haven’t seen it or reviewed it then please follow the following link:

http://www.carpet-rug.org/pdf_word_docs/CRI_Carpet_Installation_Standard_2011.pdf

Last week I saw another case of a carpet not being covered by a warranty where in fact I believe there was a problem. Again this was a case where the carpet was not cleaned within the carpet mill’s care recommendations of between 12-18 months. Now lets remeber if the carpet looks visibly soiled it must be cleaned immediately-NO WAITING. By the criteria  laid out by any carpet warranty A CARPET MUST BE CLEANED WHEN IT BECOMES VISIBLY SOILED.

Most soil in a carpet is dry particulate matter and can be vacuumed out. The majority of the rest of the soil in a carpet is either food or oily soils like-tars, oils, gums, greases, resins and fats. Most residential carpets come with a flurochemical treatment like Scotchgard, Teflon or a proprietary product of the carpet mills’. This flurochemical treatment resists oily soils and typically the oily soil will adhere to the dust etc in the carpet and be vacuumed out. Once the flurochemical treatment is worn off the carpet can become soiled very quickly. It is always a good idea to top up the “Scotchgard” on the traffic lanes of your carpet after they have been cleaned. Some carpets have a strong affinity for oily soils. Polyester and Olefin face fibers in particular attarct oily soils to themselves. It is important to know what kind of carpet face fiber you have and to use a carpet cleaner who knows the characteristics of this face fiber. One way to find an educated carpet cleaner is to go the the IICRC website at www.iicrc.org.

I know a lot of people feel that carpets should not have to be cleaned that often. However there are a couple of very interesting facts that may not have been considered by those people who share that opinion. First off most carpet fibers have been engineered to be made in shapes that actually hide soil in the face of the carpet by the way light is reflected by the fiber. Secondly most of the soil in a carpet is gritty and abrasive yet still too small to be seen by the human eye.

I had to fail a polyester frieze carpet the other day because it had been 22 months since she had bought it to the time of the first cleaning. The traffick lanes were munched up, probably by a combination of soil and the agressiveness of her Dyson vacuum. However if I thought it was just the Dyson had caused the damage then I would have failed the carpet. In this case I could not do it, she had failed to keep up with the care recommendations it was plain and simple.

If any body has any questions about how to keep their carpets clean or how to have them cleaned feel free to email me at info@TorontoCarpetInspector.com

I met a gentleman a week or two ago who had a 94% olefin and 6% nylon face fiber berber style carpet. The traffic lanes were turning brown. The carpet had been laid down in Jan 2007. The carpet was ready to be cleaned within a year but the lady of the house decided to wait till spring.  A very short time after saying this the woman in question became sick. She died a year later.

So its two years after the carpet has been installed, the man of the house has the carpet cleaned in the living/dining area but omits the attached bedroom from the work order. The carpet gets cleaned again in early 2010. The traffic lanes are not coming clean.

The problem — because the customer waited for two years to get the carpet cleaned they voided their warranty.

Now do I feel its fair? No. However the carpet mill in question was firm and denied the claim.

Its very important for people to read the care recommendations of their carpet. There is usually a timetable for cleaning included in their recommendations.

Also take note–if your carpet is visbly soiled then its time to clean it. A carpet should never be allowed to accummulate soil to the point that it looks visibly soied.