Getting drink spills out of carpet Bradenton

DID YOU KNOW that the devastation of spilling something like grape juice, Kool-Aid and other fruit drinks doesn't have to be that… devastating?

So you have kids, grand kids, or some other kids come over, and they want something to drink. They surely don’t want water from the tap. That’s pretty boring stuff. They want something fruity, sweet, and with lots of color. Like deep blues, or reds. You know, the stuff that can really stain a carpet or piece of furniture. And the inevitable occurs. The kids enjoy what you give them, but after all, they are kids. So something gets spilled.

For some weird reason, this never happens on a hard, tile floor. It happens right on the carpet. What to do?

Step #1: First of all, don’t panic. Gather your senses and realize this isn’t the end of the world.

Step #2: Start blotting. You want to use white cotton or paper towels, with no print or dyes, and blot – blot – blot! Most of any spotting or staining substance will come right out because the towel you are using is more absorbent than the carpet the drink was spilled on.

Step #3: It may be appropriate, with some coaching from your carpet cleaning pro, to do some spotting. Use a spotting product, like a mild neutral detergent spotter, recommended by your carpet pro. Apply a small amount to the spot and keep blotting. Never scrub. Scrubbing can damage the carpet fibers and you can’t fix that. Keep blotting.

Step #4: Did we say keep blotting? Keep it up! You may need to apply more approved mild detergent spotter. One thing you do not want to do is apply too much moisture, as that gets into the backing of the carpet and into the padding, creating additional problems.

Step #5: Once the spot is gone, it’s time to dry the carpet. How to do this? Keep blotting, of course! But also aim a fan on the spot and let the air current remove more moisture. Is the spot still there? It may be a stain, very tough to remove. It is definitely now time to call your Bradenton carpet cleaning pro!

You can reach Overturf's Floor & Fabric Care at 941-301-9555 for help getting out these spots and spills.

Letting Workers In Your Home - How to Protect Your Family

How to Protect Your Family When Letting Workers Into Your Home -

5 Easy Steps

We work inside people's homes daily as a professional carpet cleaning company. Being known for our great reputation in the Bradenton and Sarasota communities, including being referred by the majority of the flooring stores and top real estate in the area, helps our clients to feel more comfortable. 

We primarily serve referred and repeat clients, but we realize it can be scary to have a stranger in your home. We do everything we can to make you feel comfortable, including clearly identifying ourselves by our uniforms and business cards. Being fully insured and performing a complete background check on every new employee helps us further decrease any risk when we send someone to your home. We even send an e-mail with a link to our team members pictures and a brief biography.

You may not always have a level of comfort with every worker that comes to your home. Some companies or individuals have workers that may dress slovenly, their appearance may be intimidating, or they might act unprofessionally. I once had a cable installer who couldn't keep his pants up the entire time he was in my home. Do you think I couldn't wait for him to leave? What can you do to keep you and your family safe when you invite workers into your home?

At Overturf's Cleaning, on our wall we have outlined our Mission, Values, and Purpose. Our purpose is to protect Southwest Florida from uneducated, uninformed, and even downright unscrupulous service companies. A great way to do that is to be educated on what to look for.

Employment Screening Resources (ESR) recommends five easy steps for people to protect themselves in their homes:

1. Deal only with reputable local businesses (I like word-of-mouth referrals). A business should be able to tell you what precautions they take in hiring someone they plan to send inside your house. If the company you are talking to does not know the specifics, make them find out before you let their workers into your home. If the carpet cleaning firm, plumbing company or other service business will not give you the answers you need, then call someone else. Fly by night, or here today gone tomorrow businesses are unfortunately common in the carpet cleaning industry. In doing some work for a local rental company, I discovered many of these fly by night scammers will rent the equipment to run their scam until they've gotten all they can out of an area, then they move on. Red flags are generally when they advertise extremely low, to-good-to-be true prices. Remember what dear mother said about 'when it sounds too good to be true.'

Also, don't let a small business tell you that it is too expensive or difficult to practice safe hiring. Isn't it better to pay a little more to company that has done the work to make sure they are not sending a dangerous person into your home? There are a number of steps any small business can take to make sure they are hiring safe and qualified people that cost next to nothing. It's just a matter of having a commitment to customer safety, as opposed to just hiring anyone they can find to do the job. Do you really want a company in your home that is cutting costs in important areas? Where else might they be cutting costs? 

2. If you are hiring an individual and not a firm, what do you know about them? The best protection is to do past employment checks or reference checks on people who dealt with them in a business capacity. A great question to ask their references: "If you had the opportunity, would you hire this person again?" Their answer will usually be very telling. If you know that a person has been gainfully employed for the past few years, it lessens the possibility they have been incarcerated for a serious offense. Make sure they check out. If it does not seem right, then find someone else. A professional screening firm or private investigator can also be contacted to perform a criminal check.

3. For a sensitive position such as a nanny or caregiver, spend the money it takes to do it right. Do a background check, contact a pre-employment screening firm or private investigator to check out the person. The most critical checks are past employment to verify where the person has been as well as a criminal check. The company we use typically charges less than $100 for a full background check, and can even be less depending on what states the person has lived. When the well being of loved ones are on the line, the extra investment in security is well worth the small costs involved. Background checks can be done for a very reasonable rate these days.

4. Use common sense. You may not check out everyone that comes to your home. A business for example, may come to your home just once to briefly drop something off or make a home repair. BUT use common sense. Have other people around if possible. Do not leave confidential information (such as checkbooks or credit card bills) or valuables lying around. In addition, do not tell store clerks or a person making a one-time visit anything confidential about your personal life, habits or customs that could make you a target in the future. For example, you don't need to tell a stranger if you are leaving town, or give information about your usual schedule, or if people you live with are away. And if you are uncomfortable for any reason, or something does not seem right, do not let the person in.

5. False sense of security--Be careful about do it yourself background checks on the internet. There are some Internet sites that seem to suggest that they offer a national criminal record search. Unfortunately, a person may be lulled into a completely false sense of security if the name they are searching does not appear on one of these databases. In fact, the appearance of a person's name on a database is not an indication the person is criminal any more then the absence of a name shows they are not a criminal. Why? Because these Internet services are based upon databases that are best used by professional investigators or screening firms in conjunction with a number of other tools. The databases by themselves are not an authoritative source. Many of the Internet databases are names assembled from correctional or law enforcement databases, or from court repositories that are only as accurate as the individual counties that report records. There is no way to know if the records are complete, accurate or up to date, or if the record is even about the person you are looking for. Actual court files normally must be obtained to locate identifiers. In addition, there are large holes in the geographic coverage.

A consumer is much better off contacting a professional who knows how to utilize such databases, as well as numerous other tools in order to do a legal background check.

We're not telling you this to make you paranoid about every service person that works at your home. However, it is important that you don't expose you or your family to potentially dangerous situations. We just want you to be aware of what to look for and how to identify an uneducated, uninformed, or downright unscrupulous service company.

So use caution and common sense so your next service experience can be an outstanding one! Overturf's Cleaning is not just a floor & fabric care consulting company. We work with a wide variety of local businesses, and we would be happy to refer a trustworthy company to you. Give our office a call if we can be of assistance, 941-301-9555.

Removing Ink From Carpet

School's back in session and for many of you that means it's time to reclaim your house (at least for a few hours every day).   It also means homework, tests, and lots of running errands and to school functions. Sometimes when it hasn't been that long since our carpets have been cleaned we get that pesky spot that we just want to go away. This week I will tell you how to use common household products to get rid of one spot out of your carpet that's very common, ink. Be sure to read  ALL the below instructions before you try this. It never hurts to first try in a closet or somewhere nobody will see with any spot cleaner you try.

Removing Ink (Ballpoint) From Your Carpet   Remove as much of any foreign material as possible by blotting with a white paper towel or scraping with a dull knife.   Apply isopropyl rubbing alcohol to a clean white cloth, white paper towel or cotton ball. If the spot extends deep into the pile use a blotting motion until the spot is removed or no color is transferred to the cloth. Do not allow the alcohol to penetrate into the backing as this will destroy the latex bond. If the spot is on the surface only, rub in one direction at a time. Never us a circular motion to remove spot as this may destroy the texture. Stop if spot is removed. If not, go to the next step.   Apply a small quantity of detergent solution to the spot. (To make the detergent solution mix 1/4 teaspoon of a hand dish washing detergent which does not contain lanolin or bleach with 1 quart of water; examples of safe detergents are Dawn and Joy.) Use a blotting motion to work the detergent into the affected area. If spot is being removed continue applying detergent and blotting with a white paper towel until spot is removed.   Rinse with tap water using a spray bottle, blot to remove excess moisture.   Spray lightly with water, do not blot this time; apply pad of paper towels and brick and allow to dry.   If there is still some stain on the carpet and blotting is not removing it, then moisten the tufts in the stained area with 3% hydrogen peroxide. Let stand for on (1) hour. Blot and repeat until carpet is stain free. Light will cause peroxide to change back to water so no rinsing is necessary. Apply pad of paper towels and weight down with brick. Important - ALWAYS read and follow the care instructions and any warnings provided by the carpet or upholstery manufacturer. Carpeting and upholstery with natural fibers and/or certain dyes or finishes may require special treatment. If in doubt contact Overturf's Cleaning for advice/service first. NEVER PROCEED with any stain removal instructions without knowing the exact nature of the stain involved. NEVER USE any retail products to remove stains from carpet or upholstery without seeking the advice of the manufacturer or you could void your warranty.

The Second Reason Spots Sometimes Reappear

Reason # 2: Re-soiling. Re-soiling is caused by a sticky residue that has been left behind. What causes the residue? It may be from the spot itself, the cleaner that was used (especially an over the counter cleaner, like those foam type), or both. I once had a residue issue at a job due to me not rinsing out the spot cleaner I used thoroughly enough. Once I returned and flushed the cleaner out, the carpet looked as good as new.  

Some common residue causes are over-the-counter carpet cleaners purchased at the grocery store. The sticky residue they leave behind often attracts more dirt. They are usually not rinsed out properly, since their instructions often say to let them dry on the carpet then vacuum them up.

Avoid using these cleaners all together. If you have to use one of these cleaners, or you have to use dish washing detergent, use as little as possible and rinse with water thoroughly.

  

Other residue causes would be oily spots. Duct tape residue, body oils (like from our bare feet), lotions, sticky mats or other types of adhesive, etc. If all of the oily residue is not removed, it will attract soil as the carpet is walked on. Even quality professional cleaning may not remove all oily residue the first time.

SPECIAL NOTE: Cheap carpet cleaners use cheap products that are loaded with Optical Brighteners. Optical Brighteners are most commonly used in laundry detergent. They create an illusion of clean that causes the soil or spot to appear to be removed. The spot is still there. The soil is still there. Optical Brighteners create a film that reflects light so that the carpet looks incredibly clean. It's an optical illusion.

Using optical brighteners will often void your carpet's warranty. See your warranty for details.  

An illustration of this can be seen at a flea market, home show, or a late night infomercial. Someone will be demonstrating a miracle cleaner on a small rug. The rug is saturated with motor oil. The salesman then scoops off just the foam of the miracle cleaner and then presto, the motor oil is gone! This is physically impossible. Notice that the salesman has several bright lights shining on the demo rug to create the illusion.

Quality cleaning companies use quality, professional products, and they guarantee their work. Even though we could use cheaper products without our clients knowing, we've found that using a better quality means fewer call backs and happier clients.

Why Spots on Your Carpet Keep Coming Back

Have you ever wondered why spots return after having your carpet cleaned?

There are two reasons that spots return:

Reason # 1: Wicking. Wicking is the upward migration of moisture or other substances during drying.  

Many times, the spots in your carpet have seeped into the backing of the carpet. This is common with liquids such as pet urine, beverages, and anything that is spilled in “volume”. The substance dries in the backing and the cushion (pad) of the carpet. When the spot is cleaned, only the material in the “pile” of the carpet is removed. However, moisture is introduced to into the backing of the carpet. As the spot dries, the material that is in the backing of the carpet “wicks” back into the pile of the carpet and comes to the surface much like a candle wick.

Even traffic area soil that is embedded can wick back. This is especially common in glue down carpet that is heavily impacted with soil. When the carpet is cleaned, it looks good. When it dries, the spots and traffic areas come back.

The good news is that if a spot actually wicks back, it can be removed. When spot cleaning yourself, place a folded white terry cloth towel over the spot just after you clean it while the spot is still moist. Place a heavy object on top of the cloth. Be sure to use something non porous that won’t transfer color onto the carpet (like a paper book cover). Use a brick, a planting pot, or something like that.

When you have your carpet cleaned professionally, be sure to point out spots that have wicked back in the past, so they can be treated properly.Often, getting the carpets dry quickly will help prevent wicking. Your carpet cleaner can do this by running air movers to help dry the room (one of Overturf's Cleaning's steps in our 12 step process). You can assist in your carpets dry time by running any available fans like ceiling fans, along with turning your air conditioner on to about 70 degrees. The sooner the carpet dries, the less chance for any substance on the backing of the carpet has to wick up to the surface.

We will discuss reason number 2 for spots returning in a future post.

How to Stop Dirt at the Door

Preventing dirt and grime from getting on the carpet in the first place is a great way to start keeping it clean. It helps keep those traffic paths we get in our carpet from wearing out so quickly .

The following helpful hints can stop dirt in its tracks.

Use mats - Outdoor and indoor mats or runners can reduce the amount of dirt that enters the house.

Take off your shoes - You can save wear and tear on carpet by asking everyone to take their shoes off before entering your home.

Change your air filters - Change air filters in your heating and air-conditioning systems as recommended by the manufacturer's directions. The more dust and particles removed by the filter, the fewer that fall onto the carpet.

Sick pets and your carpet

Sadly, in the life of a carpet cleaner, I run across many sick pets. Why so? Because many times an older or a sick pet has many symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, or frequent urination.

Our carpet cleaning Bradenton company is called to clean up the mess. It's important to do so quickly, before the acids in these bodily fluids dye the carpet. But more important is the health of your pet. That's why it's imperative that you find out the symptoms for dogs, what they mean, and what you can do for your dog.

Is your dog scooting on the carpet frequently, have a bloated belly, or maybe even obsessively licking its paws? If you can find out early if your dog has worms, allergies, or even if she may be pregnant, your dog has a much better chance of staying healthy. Some changes to make your dog more comfortable may be as easy as changing their type of food.

We recommend you visit symptoms for dogs to find out what could be wrong, and don't delay in visiting the vet if something serious is wrong.

You'll Get the Cleanest Carpets in Bradenton

You’ll love this exclusive deep cleaning process. The system is designed to go WAY beyond what most cleaners think of doing.

Your carpet will be cleaned by experienced, honest, IICRC certified technicians who excel at pleasing you.

GUARANTEED

If you're not happy, we'll re-clean the area for FREE. And if you're still not pleased, you don't pay for that room. 

This is Jeremy Overturf with Overturf's Cleaning. My wife Stefanie and I have built our family business on reputation. Several homeowners in Manatee County recommend our service. Call us for references.

Here's the multi-step process we go through with every standard carpet cleaning:

Step 1...Dry soil removal with commercial vacuum.

Step 2...Pre condition fibers to break down dirt and oil in traffic lanes.

Step 3...FREE spot cleaning to remove stubborn stains like gum, spills, ink, food, mud, mystery spots, etc.

Step 4...Your carpet will be as clean as possible with our deep steam cleaning truck mounted system while our special formula removes odors.

Step 5...Any remaining spots get extra treatment with specialty spotters.

Step 6...Your carpet is groomed to remove footprints and accelerate the drying process.

To see what we can do for your carpets, visit our website: Bradenton Carpet Cleaners

BONUS GIFT: For a limited time, get a FREE bottle of professional spot remover with lifetime refills.

Call 941-301-9555 for an honest, friendly phone estimate with no bait and switch. 

You’ll be glad you did.

One last thing: Trust is a big issue when hiring a carpet cleaning service. I’ve been in the carpet cleaning business for over 12 years. And in that time, I've learned that carpet cleaning can be confusing. In fact, people have so many misconceptions about carpet cleaning that I decided to offer educational information so when you select a carpet cleaning company, you can make an informed decision. It's available to read or as a free PDF download at our Bradenton Carpet Cleaning website, www.CleaningManatee.com. 
 
Thank you, 

Jeremy & Stefanie Overturf

Overturf's Cleaning