rug Maintenance Checklist

1. IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS ALL SOURCES OF SOILING

• Parking lots/ Entrances: By maintaining a clean exterior, dirt coming in the building will be minimized.

• Transition areas (hard surface to carpet): Clean frequently to prevent soil from tracking to carpet.

• Food service areas/Restrooms/Water coolers: Matting may be required in areas where moisture, oil and grease are present.

2. USE ENTRY MATS (KEEP DIRT OUTSIDE)

• Two mat categories

  • Soil Removal — used at exterior entrances to remove soil from shoes

  • Absorbent mats — used inside to prevent moisture trom getting on the carpet

• Mats should cover at least 6 footsteps to capture soil transferring from shoes. Additional matting may be necessary during inclement weather.

• Keep mats clean (mats must be properly placed throughout the facility and maintained on a regular basis).

3. preventive care

• Avoid direct sunlight to prevent fading of rug.

• ​Use of Rug Pad - Use Durogen or PVC rug pad when placing rugs over all hard surface flooring products.

4. VACUUM (THE MOST IMPORTANT PROCESS IN YOUR MAINTENANCE PROGRAM)

• 80 to 85 % of dry soil can be removed by proper vacuuming. Daily vacuuming is recommended.

• Commercial, dual motor upright, top loading vacuums are recommended for commercial settings. For residential settings, select vacuum cleaners certified in the Carpet and Rug lnstitute’s Seal of Approval (SOA) / Green Label Vacuum Cleaner Program (www.carpet-rug.org)

• Maintain working condition of vacuums with special attention to the bag (empty when half full).

• Take caution when vacuuming the edges of the rug.  To prevent possible damage to the edge finish, slowly pull the vacuum in the reverse direction over the edge finish and off the rug.

5. PROMPTLY ADDRESS SPOTS AND SPILLS

• Spot removers with a pH between 6 and 8 are preferred for print products.

• ​Use General Soil Spot Removers, like Shaw‘s TOTALCARE® products for most common spots and spills. (For ordering information call 800.241.4014 or contact your representative.) Additional cleaning agents are listed in the Carpet and Rug lnstitute's Seal of Approval (SOA) Program (www.carpet-rug.org)

• Use solvent spotters for oil/grease (petroleum—based spots). Solvent gels preferred. Follow manufacturer’s recommendations when using solvents. Rinsing may be necessary.

• Use specialty products (www.proschoice.com) for set stains where color has been added or altered.

  • CTI Pro’s Choice Red Relief (acid dye stains — colored soft drinks, medicines. etc.)

                    CTI Pro’s Choice Stain Magic (organic dye stains — coffee, tea, mustard, etc.)

• Some disinfectants contain chemicals that can stain, discolor and cause general harm to your flooring product.  Quaternary Ammonium Salts are among those that have been found to be harmful to your flooring when used over time.  Take care to choose pH neutral products only.

6. USE INTERIM SYSTEMS TO MANAGE APPEARANCE

• Encapsulation — process using CRI SOA cleaning agents and a dual—cylindrical counter—rotating brush machine for agitation.

  • Always pre—vacuum.

  • Hot water extraction recommended alter every third (3rd) encapsulation.

• Walk Behind Extractors — use CRI approved cleaning agents, be sure to operate at lowest speed.

• NOTE: Bonnet cleaning is NOT recommended!

7. FOLLOW DEEP CLEANING PROCESS

• Hot Water Extraction Process:

  • Always pre—vacuum.

  • Apply an approved pre—spray cleaning agent in the CRI (SOA) Program.

  • Agitate with mechanical brush and allow 10 minutes dwell time.

  • Extract with hot water or use a low pH rinse agent in the machine. We recommend CRI Gold Rated Equipment.

• Examples of Equipment:

  • Truck mount units maintain higher pressure and temperature

  • High Flow Extractors

  • Portable box and wand — minimum 200 psi and approximalely 1 gallon of water flow per minute.

• To prevent wicking use air movers to expedite drying. Be sure facility HVAC is on during cleaning and remains on for at least 12 hours afterward.
  
  Note: Remove rugs from wood flooring while cleaning and rugs must be thoroughly dry before replacement. 

8. Wool rugs

• Wool is a natural  fiber, some shedding may initially occur as fibers work their way out of the rug until loose. Loose fibers can easily be trimmed even with the pile.

• Indentions from furniture can be easily steamed out of wool rugs.

• Recommended use of indoor rug pad (see preventive care).

• Vacuum regularly without the use of beater bar.

• Blot (do not rub) spills with moist white cloth using cold water. Cleaning agents (wool safe products) are listed in the Carpet and Rug lnstitute's Seal of Approval (SOA) Program (www.carpet-rug.org)

• Professional dry cleaning recommended. 

9. RESOURCES

• Shaw‘s Technical Support web—based training program is available at http://technicalsupport.shawinc.com/

• For Technical assistance or maintenance related questions contact USFloors at 800.241.4014.

  Note: Shaw recommends using a Duragon or PVC non skid rug pad. When using an additional non-skid pad over resilient flooring, please be aware that any rubber pads have potential to discolor the resilient flooring.