Level one is designated for smaller areas of contamination of only 10 square feet.  This means you might find mold on a ceiling tile, a corner of a room, or a spot on a wall.  Generally you don’t have to call a professional for this level of mold contamination. The typical cleaning staff of most businesses should be trained in proper clean up procedures as well as what to look for as potential hazards.

While taking care of the problem, there should not be anyone but those with adequate protection to clean up the mold.  Any non-essential personnel should be relocated until cleaning is completed.  Any contaminated items that need to be removed should first be sealed up so as not to spread mold spores through the building.

Level 2

When the area affected is between 10 and 30 square feet and is an isolated occurrence, it falls under the category of a level two contamination.  This extends the space affected and requires more care.  Dust suppression is recommended to be used prior to treatment of the affected area.  In regards to cleaning protocols, it is similar to those in level one contamination’s.

Level 3

Dealing with isolated areas of 30 to 100 square feet is when professionals should at least be consulted.  Environmental health professionals would be able to provide insight into needs to be done for the specific incident.

With this level of contamination it is important to limit the mold’s spread to other potential surfaces to grow on.  Before clean up, be sure all ventilation surrounding the affected area is sealed and the nearby areas are properly covered with plastic sheeting.  Make sure the area is vacuumed, mopped, cleaned, and left dry.

Level 4

Once the mold contamination has reached level four it is time to have personnel who are fully trained in the handling of hazardous materials.  Once the area of contamination extends past 100 square feet it is deemed necessary for level 4 protection which is the highest level.

A level 4 designation requires those personnel handling the cleanup to be full covered in protective clothing, which includes your head, hands, and feet.  Full face respirators with HEPA would also be needed in order to maintain safety.  Before cleanup takes place, isolate the affected area with plastic sheeting.  This includes taping off air ducts, fixtures, outlets, and any other openings you come across.

Once the area is sufficiently cleaned, look it over and be sure that all surfaces are visibly clean and dry before removing the plastic and any protective clothing.

So, in order to help you make you carpet live a long life, here are some tips and suggestions you can easy implement in your home.

• Move your furniture around to shift the wear on the most common walking areas.
• Vacuum frequently, once a day in the high trafficked areas.
• Leave shoes by the door.
• Don’t eat food on the carpet.
• Clean spills up as soon as you can, the sooner the better.
• Get your carpet cleaned professionally at least once a year.

Take care of your carpets and they will last longer than otherwise expected. With the proper maintenance and care you will be spending less on your carpets overall.

While not all water extraction equipment is mounted on trucks, the ones that are portable do not carry the same heft or force of effectiveness as the truck mounted machines do. The major difference between truck mounted and portable equipment is the vacuum suction; truck mounted machines have the ability to produce a higher level of suction power.

It takes alot of water pressure, hot water, and suction to produce really clean carpets. To give you an idea of what is required think of this: a portable hot water extractor is capable of producing anywhere from 125 to 150 PSI or Pounds per Square Inch whereas the truck mounted option can produce power as low as 300 PSI while the new models can reach up to 3000 PSI. Those higher numbers, such as 3000 PSI, is reserved for hard surfaces. In order to effective clean out the cleaning solution and rinse it thoroughly, the machine needs to be at 300 to 400 PSI.

While the truck mounted system is better in many ways, in regards to water pressure, heat, rinsing, and better vacuum suction, don’t automatically assume that any company with one knows how to get the job done best. Know the company you are choosing to clean your carpets; check out Thomas Cleaning and Restoration. You carpets will be clean and dry with 6 hours or less.

By keeping your oriental rug clean you can increase the life of your rug and make it more durable.  And remember, it is most definitely cheaper to spend a few extra minutes thoroughly vacuuming your rug than to go in and get it repaired.

Potential Water Damage
The bottom part of the rug is of a type of cotton foundation that keeps the rug together and sturdy.  There are times that this foundation can be completely ruined by by water.  If an oriental rug gets wet consistently and not thoroughly dried, the cotton foundation will rot and become weak.  One of the more common causes of water damage though is from potted plants that are placed directly on the rug.  You never see the water and so it doesn’t even occur to anyone that there might be a problem.

When you put a potted plant directly on your oriental rug you are setting up your rug’s own destruction.  When you water your potted plant the water makes its way down through the pot and dirt and into your rug, where it doesn’t dry.  Do this every day and soon you won’t ever be able to move that plant because of the water damage underneath it. To prevent this, simply place the plant on a stool or make sure there is some sort of air circulation between the plant and your rug and you’ll be fine.

Vacuuming Do’s and Don’ts
Best way to keep your rug clean and lasting longer is by vacuuming it.  If possible, this should be a weekly task.  Also a few times a year remember to vacuum the underside of the rug as well as the floor underneath it.  This will only add a few minutes to the vacuuming process but will keep the dirt from making a permanent home in your rug.  A dirt-filled rug wears down faster than a clean one.

A side note, that is still very important to remember: If your vacuum is one with a power brush be careful how often or how hard you use it on your oriental rug.  The power brush not only batters your rug and also pounds most of the dirt deeper into the carpet.  If this is the only vacuum option you have, try staying with the nozzle attachment that comes with the vacuum.

Stains and Spills
A simple spill can easily and rapidly turn into the stain you were trying so hard to prevent.  Don’t just start scrubbing away, furiously trying to will the liquid from the rug.  Instead blot.  Get as much of the moisture out as possible.  Start on the outside of the spill and work your way towards the middle.  Rubbing a spill will only make it spread, and scrubbing or brushing it could possibly damage the rug’s structural integrity.

Time for Thomas?
An oriental rug is not something you want to have professionally cleaned every year.  Instead, you can wait for up to 5 years before you really need to look for a professional oriental rug cleaner.  So, to see if your rug is dirty enough to require professional attention grab a corner and lift it up.  Then, while holding it up, kick the back of the rug.  If dirt comes billowing out of the bottom of your rug its time for it to be deep cleaned by a professional.

When looking for someone to clean your rug, do not go to a carpet cleaning company unless they specifically note that they clean oriental rugs.  If they don’t, stay away.  Normal carpets and rugs are cleaned and handled differently than oriental rugs.  Don’t just assume that they should know what to do with an oriental rug just because they clean carpets.  Don’t settle for less than the best for your fine oriental rugs.

Eventually the vacuum will no longer clean it good enough for it to look like it isn’t a ragged old couch or chair.  Kids and pets take their share of the blame with all the dirt/mud, crayons, pet hair, food, spills, and more.  When your house is filled with younger kids you don’t even see the point of trying to clean it all off because you know it will take more time then you are willing to spend and will just end up dirty again.

Shoes on the couch, juice spills from clumsy missteps, and more.  They all are contributing factors to how fast your furniture gets dirty.

But there comes a day when those kids grow up.  You don’t find more time but those kids do grow up enough that they aren’t spilling things all over the couch or running and jumping on the couch with mud all over them. This is when you start to realize just how messy your furniture has really become.

So, now comes the time when you have choose between inflicting this menacing task upon yourself or letting the professionals tackle it with their equipment.  This should be an easy choice and yet there are some who insist that they can get it done cheaper without the professional equipment.  With all the self help guides on the Internet, the ability to clean your own furniture does seem cheaper than hiring someone else to do it.  But are you sure that the guide you go to will be able to cater to the specific needs of your furniture as a professional can?  So many little things could go wrong and easily turn into a big problem.  Why take that risk when there are affordable professionals who can: get the job done right the first time, won’t take up any of your times, and will give your furniture the utmost care it needs.

Save your time, energy, and money by getting your furniture cleaned the right way the first time.

With truck mounted hot water extraction equipment, there is only one answer to your problem–Thomas Cleaning and Restoration.  Throughout Pocatello, Idaho Falls, and Rexburg they are known for their quality work and professionalism.  With IICRC trained and certified technicians there’s no doubt where you should go to for the perfect solution to your furniture cleaning needs.

Thomas Cleaning and Restoration can pick up your upholstery, take it in to their plant to be thoroughly cleaned, before they deliver it straight back to your home.

Area rugs are different than the carpet in many ways.  The biggest difference is that an area rug has cleaning specifications and is removed to the company’s plant in order to be cleaned properly and effectively.  Another, rather obvious but vital distinction is that carpet is fixed to the floor while rugs are movable and are simply covering the floor as a decoration.  These distinctions are not limited to the Idaho Falls area, in fact it is more of a nationwide phenomenon at the very least.

While there is some hassle with the fact that you will have to pay a professional more than you would pay yourself to clean your carpet they will also be able to make sure your carpet has been cleaned according to the manufacturers cleaning specifications as well as making sure that there is no damage or extra dirt hiding anywhere. The good news is that you only need to have your rugs cleaned every other year.  Too many times being sent into the cleaners is almost as bad as never being sent in.

Now, you aren’t helpless when it comes to keeping your rugs clean.  Just because it needs to be sent in to a professional cleaner every once in a while doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do.  In fact, here are three ways to lessen how dirty your carpets get, so that you don’t feel like you are wading in dirt every time you step on your rug.

First off, when you vacuum the rug, vacuum both sides.  Regular vacuums are good at picking up the things that are near the surface but they don’t have enough power to pull everything out that’s not supposed to be there.  By vacuuming both sides, you are allowing your vacuum to get some of the dirt that has settled down towards the bottom of your rug.  This will prolong the lifespan of your rug remarkably because the dirt won’t be able to be in your carpet long enough to cause any damage.

The second thing you can do is regarding shoes, find a place near the front door or garage to keep your shoes.  We wear shoes outside to protect our feet and to make sure they don’t get dirty. Inside your house, shoes just wear your carpets and rugs down faster and spread dirt throughout your house.  By having a place to put your shoes, like near a door, you will save your area rugs from an overabundance of dirt that would cause their lifespan to diminish rapidly.  The rugs you put by the doors are there for the sole purpose of catching dirt from shoes so it isn’t transported all over the house. Yet one little rug at the door is not going to be sufficient to stop all the dirt that your shoes are covered with from getting further into the house.  Simply taking off your shoes by the door will significantly decrease the amount of dirt that is spread throughout the carpets and rugs of your house.

Lastly, the third tip to keeping your rug in the best shape possible is to rotate it.  Rotating your rug doesn’t mean that you have to move it to a different part of the house, or even a different part of the room.  Instead you simply need to flip it around so that your rug isn’t constantly being walked on in the exact same place. By rotating your rug you will be able to prevent “paths” from being semi-permanently pressed into the rug by constant foot traffic.  It’s simple and easy enough to tweak your rug enough that people are walking on a less used portion of the rug.  This will also give the other part of the rug a break, allowing it to breathe and recover from its constant use.

All these tips for keeping your carpet clean doesn’t mean you no longer need to get it professionally cleaned.  The professionals will guarantee that your rug will live a long and healthy life by cleaning it every other year, while you maintain it in between visits, as if you were giving your area rug vitamins to stay healthy while the doctors visit is still in the far distance.

• How often do I clean my carpet?
• What happens if I don’t clean my carpet all that often?
• How much does carpet cleaning take out of my paycheck?

These are all important questions to find the answers to for peace of mind and effective reasoning to justify spending money.  Here are some answers from a professional carpet cleaning company:

How Often?

Normally a carpet should be cleaned twice a year.  Knowing that, Spring and Fall are the best seasons to consider because winter is in between.

The cold winters cause people to close up their houses to keep in the warmth and keep out the cold.  In doing so, the carpet starts to gather all sorts of particles that somehow find their way into the house, with no choice but to settle down for the winter.  This causes all those particles to filter into the carpet, creating a less than healthy environment.

Thus Spring is the best way to clear out all the junk in the carpet after letting it gather during the shuttered winter months. Now for the opposite reason of Spring, Fall is a good time to get out all the pesky particles before the cold comes.  By cleaning carpets in the Fall you can clean up the dirt of summer as well as starting the winter off right–clean and clear.

There are special circumstances that require more frequent visits, such as a pet or an abundance of dirt-wielding kids running around the house.  If you have one or both of these, you may want to look into cleaning maybe a time or two more than twice a year.

What Happens if I Don’t Clean It?

When you don’t have your carpet cleaned often enough dust and pollen start building up.   Carpet cleaning not only cleans out all the pesky little allergy-causing residents but also is for the everyday stains and spills of life.  Stain-resistant carpets need less care and attention, right?  Not quite.  While the carpet says stain resistant it doesn’t say stain proof.

A stain-resistant carpet is designed to slow down the staining agent from causing permanent damage while someone runs to grab a rag and cleaner.  While a stain resistant carpet is less likely to leave a jarringly obvious stain, it still needs to be taken care of.

How Much Would it Cost Me?

There are many factors that come into play when determining cost.

• Type of Carpet
• How Dirty the Carpet is
• Square Footage

Before any of these affect the overall cost, there is a base price. Then depending on square feet, type of carpet, and the level of dirtiness the price goes up. Professionals have the awesome ability to take your dirty, tired carpet and allow it to breathe again. Not only that but those beautifully clean carpets also enable the environment in your home and those around you to breathe in fresh and clean air, untainted by the allergens caught in your carpets. When addressing the factors like the type of carpet and how dirty it is, the easiest way to see how it’ll affect your carpet is easy.  The dirtier it is the more it’ll cost.

With a stain resistant carpet the price is affected because there are manufacture specifications as to what it takes to bring that carpet back to its original clean, stain-resistant state.  On a positive note, getting your stain-resistant carpet professionally cleaned means the pros will reapply that resistant coating that was there when you bought the carpet.  Overall the cost generally turns out being 20 cents to 65 cents per square foot.

Call Thomas Cleaning & Restoration now and be sure and mention this internet special!  524-2737