Carpet Care and the Guest Experience
The appearance of a property’s carpets can affect a guest’s experience and impression of the hotel or casino. I have seen occasions where carpet appearance has impacted guest satisfaction survey ratings. Carpets throughout the building are exposed daily to high traffic, heavy soils and spills, and chewing gum, and are many times, the first areas of a hotel, resort or casino to show signs of wear and tear. At The Service Companies, we have spent years evaluating different types of carpet care processes for both carpet deep cleaning and interim maintenance to keep our customers’ properties’ carpets in excellent condition. We have furthered that by partnering with Ecolab and Kärcher for our chemical and equipment needs at all of our customer properties.
The Importance of Daily Carpet Vacuuming
Customers normally bring soil, dirt and other types of debris into buildings. A daily vacuuming regimen with a strong suction vacuum cleaner is our best tip to maintain the cleanliness of the carpets. This will pick up the debris and soil, leaving the carpets fresh for the next day. It is also the best chemical-free carpet cleaning method for those who want to avoid using chemicals.
If this daily carpet maintenance is done correctly, then, when the time to shampoo the carpets comes, only a mild shampoo and water is required to clean the fibers. Because of the daily vacuuming, there will be no soil remaining in the carpet fibers to turn to mud.
The Process of Interim Maintenance
Of course, interim maintenance is required on occasion to keep carpets in good condition. The two processes I detail – encapsulation shampoo and dry carpet cleaning (HOST) – are quick and do not use water, which allow the carpets to be open for traffic immediately after the process is complete. They normally clean the top fiber of the carpets and can be applied frequently.
Encapsulation shampoo: Polymers are used to encapsulate and crystalize particles into dry residue, which is then vacuumed from the carpets right after the process is completed.
Dry carpet cleaning (HOST): This involves a dry cleaning compound with mild soap.
The HOST carpet cleaning equipment has brushes which agitate the compound, clean the fibers, and vacuum them.
The Carpet Deep Cleaning Process 
When it comes time to deep clean your carpets, we prefer hot water extraction and steam cleaning.
Hot water extraction: This is the most common method of carpet deep cleaning, and is recommended by many carpet manufacturers.
Steam cleaning: In the dry carpet cleaning vs. steam cleaning debate, it’s important to clear up the myth that steam is actually used to clean your carpets. While home and commercial machines use hot water, which gives off steam, the steam itself does not clean carpet.
To inquire about our carpet cleaning services, visit http://theservicecompanies.com/contact/.
Victor Vargas, Regional Vice President of Operations, launched his career at The Service Companies as a Third Shift Kitchen Cleaner in 2002. With dedication and mastery of his craft, he has advanced through the company into his current role as Regional Vice President. Victor is The Service Companies’ resident expert on all types of floor care and kitchen cleaning.
Great Blog! Thanks for sharing this awesome knowledge with us.