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Floor Care

Your carpet is a significant investment. It has been designed to add to the beauty, warmth and comfort of your home, and it has been carefully engineered to perform and stay beautiful for many years of use. In order to get the most out of this investment and keep your carpet looking and performing and at its best longer it must be properly cared for according to manufacturer's warranty requirements. Proper care for your carpet will ensure that it continues to add to the aesthetics, comfort and sense of well being in your home over many years of use. Proper care of your carpet will also promote environmental health within your home.

With the exception of proper specification, perhaps the most important consideration to insure for long-term appearance and performance of your carpet begins with planned preventative maintenance. Although the frequency of your maintenance schedule can vary from room to room based on the level of traffic, your planned preventative maintenance schedule must include:

Walk Off Mats

The use of walk-off mats in strategic areas such as entrances to the home is strongly encouraged since more than 80% of all soils in carpet come from tracked-on sources from outside the home. By using walk-off mats at the exterior of all entryways much of this soil can be trapped before it is tracked onto your carpet.

Walk-off mats must be constructed so they will scrape soils off shoes. And they must be kept clean and dry in order to be effective. Otherwise, soil build-up on the mat will be picked up by foot traffic and deposited on your carpet. To prevent this, walk-off mats must be vacuumed daily, periodically cleaned or replaced as needed.

Vacuum Cleaning

When it comes to soiling, preventative maintenance starts with vacuuming and must begin long before any soiling becomes apparent. Routine vacuuming is the most important aspect of your preventative maintenance program.

Because today's carpet fiber configurations are designed to hide soils it is very important to vacuum your carpet on a routine basis. This is especially true since most soil is gritty in nature. These gritty soils can abrade your carpet's face fibers, causing your carpet to become dull, delustered and matted in appearance. Remember: Soiling is an everyday and cumulative process! Because of this, regular vacuuming is absolutely essential. A good vacuum cleaner will prolong the appearance and performance of your carpet, and help significantly to refresh your indoor environment.

The following vacuuming schedule is recommended for residential end-use:

Three to five vacuum passes are recommended, changing the direction of the vacuum frequently to help lift the carpet's pile and reduce crushing and matting. More frequent vacuuming is typically required in room entrances and other high traffic areas. Don't forget to vacuum the perimeter of your rooms to remove debris that can cause filtration soiling to occur. Because of their big loop construction Berber styles tend to be prone to vacuum chatter. So too can dense cut pile carpets. To avoid vacuum chatter we recommend that you vacuum your carpet at an angle to the carpet's pile direction and use overlapping vacuuming strokes.

After vacuuming your carpet you may notice shading and vacuum cleaner marks. This visual effect is a result of temporary random reorientation of the pile yarns during vacuuming, often causing light to reflect differently from the tips of the pile fibers compared to the side of the pile fibers. This condition is an aesthetic quality of your carpet referred to as shading.

Beaulieu recommends the use of vacuums equipped with a rotating brush or beater bar and brush for use with most carpet to loosen deep embedded soils. Certain carpet constructions such as Frieze, Shag and Berber tend to be sensitive to brush agitation, which can cause the pile yarns of these carpets to burst and become fuzzy. Beaulieu recommends suction-only vacuum models or vacuum models equipped with an adjustable brush and beater bar that can be placed where it will not come in contact with the carpet's pile yarns. Vacuums should be adjusted to the correct height setting for these carpets. The easiest way to do this is to raise or lower the beater bar and brush until the contact made is only enough to slightly agitate the carpet's pile yarns. If the vacuum motor slows during vacuuming the height setting is too low and the vacuum will damage the carpet. Vacuums that have been set too low also lose air flow, which is required to obtain the lift needed to remove soils and debris from your carpet.

Vacuum cleaners are often sold based on an assortment of measurements such as airflow, amps, and horsepower. While these measurements have some value they do not necessarily determine a vacuum model's cleanability, durability or filtration efficiency. Vacuum models equipped with replaceable paper bags and vacuum models equipped with micro filtration bags are much more effective in trapping very small particles, including dust mites and other allergens, and are recommended over vacuums equipped with cloth bags. In order to ensure that your carpet is cleaned by vacuum makes and models that meet stringent standards Beaulieu requires you to use a vacuum that has been tested and certified by the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) Green Label Testing Program for Vacuums. For information and listings visit the Carpet and Rug Institute at www.carpet-rug.org.

Spot Cleaning

Your Beaulieu carpet was made from the finest materials under strict standards for quality and workmanship. Although most carpets today are stain resistant, no carpet is entirely stain proof. To prevent stains on your carpet you must act quickly, following the proven stain cleaning guidelines provided in your Beaulieu brochure The Complete Warranty & Carpet Care Guide. No other household cleaners or other ingredients should be used other than those recommend since they may contain chemicals that could damage your carpet. If you are uncertain what type spot cleaner you should use, start by gently using volatile dry cleaning solvent or spot cleaners designed specifically to remove oil, grease and tar. Never apply these products directly to the spot you are trying to clean. Instead, apply these types of spot cleaning products to a clean, white absorbent towel and blot clean. Avoid over-wetting. If you are still uncertain what to do, contact our Technical Services Dept. at 1-800-944-2840.

In general, foods and other solid and particulates should be gently scrapped off your carpet before spot cleaning using the edge of a spoon, or other dull edged toll, scrapping from the outside of the spot towards the center. Wet spills should be promptly and repeatedly blotted by pressing down on the spot using clean, dry white absorbent towels, working from the outer edge of the spot towards the center. Never rub the spot! Rubbing can alter the carpet's pile texture. Apply your spot cleaning solution to your cleaning towel. Proper spot cleaning requires time and patience. With the exception of spot cleaning using solvents, once a spot is cleaned using a detergent spot cleaner, be certain to rinse the carpet with clear water by blotting to remove soil-attracting residues from the site. Continue blotting using more absorbent towels until the spot feels almost dry to the touch. Next, apply weighted layers of clean white absorbent clothes on the spot and let them sit overnight. This is an essential process of spot cleaning that must not be overlooked.

We recommend that you read over and become familiar with the various spot cleaning recommendations in our warranty and care brochure. Always be prepared to remove spots and spills immediately. The longer spots and spills sit the more likely they can become a permanent stain. You can also obtain a list of spot cleaners that have been tested and approved by the Carpet and Rug Institute's Seal of Approval list of Certified Cleaning Solutions at www.carpet-rug.org. This includes our own Hollytex Spot Cleaner Wipes. The use of non-approved spot cleaners will invalidate your carpet's warranty.

Interim Care

Interim care includes the other steps that are recommended to help maintain the appearance of your carpet in between deep cleaning cycles. These steps include the use of floor protectors under the legs of heavy furniture to help distribute their weight and avoid indentations in your carpet. We also recommend that you move heavy furniture occasionally for this same reason. You can possibly help prevent and certainly slow down the onset of heavy furniture indentations by using denser carpet cushions.

Note: Interim care also includes keeping your carpet dry to avoid the potential for mold and mildew.

Today there are many do-it-yourself extraction-cleaning models that are suitable for interim cleaning cycles. A listing of approved interim extraction cleaning makes and models can be found by visiting the Carpet and Rug Institute at www.carpet-rug.org. Always vacuum before extraction cleaning. Beaulieu recommends at least two cleaning solution passes followed by at least three dry vacuum passes. Avoid overwetting. One additional vacuum pass for every solution pass will help insure for the highest level of residue removal. Ambient heat and humidity conditions can extend your carpets drying time. To avoid rapid re-soiling avoid using your carpet until it is dry. Interim cleaning equipment and cleaning cycles are not intended to replace the required professional cleanings by hot water extraction every 12 to 24 months to maintain your warranty rights.

Periodically replacing your home's cooling and heating air-filters will help significantly to reduce the presence of airborne particles that can settle on our carpet.

Deep Restorative Cleaning Requirements

Carpet is a very effective filter for trapping soils, dander and other contaminants. Many of these soils may not always be noticeable, building-up over time. Some of these soils are gritty and are capable of grinding and dulling carpet fibers. Other insoluble soils, such as volatilized cooking oils, grease, tar and other oils are strong soil-attractors that are not initially apparent until soil-build-up occurs, often making them more difficult to clean. Your warranty requires that your carpet be professionally cleaned by hot-water extraction every twelve (12) to twenty four (24) months. However, we recommend that you keep close watch on your carpets maintenance needs and adjust your deep restorative cleaning requirements accordingly. Don't wait to have your carpet professionally cleaned if it begins to appear soiled before the required cleaning cycle. When carpet is maintained before it becomes unsightly it is easier to clean and maintain.

Hot water extraction, often referred to as "steam cleaning", is the required method for deep, restorative cleaning of your Beaulieu carpet. This method of carpet cleaning relies on the use of a floor tool or wand that injects a solution of detergent and water through a series of jet applicators at a controlled pressure and temperature to loosen and suspend soils for immediate extraction by an attached vacuum. Extensive studies have shown that hot water extraction, which can be performed using a truck mount unit or a portable unit, is the most effective method of carpet cleaning, it will not damage carpet texture, and it removes the highest amount of residues that are often responsible for rapid re-soiling.

Professional cleaning must be performed according to the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) Carpet Cleaning Standard S001 using carpet care products that have been tested and certified by the Carpet and Rug Institute's Seal of Approval Program. Your compliance here will assure that the best available equipment and cleaning agents are used to maintain your carpet while minimizing residue. Although ambient heat and humidity influence drying time, when properly cleaned in a well ventilated room carpet drying time can occur within 4-8 hours. A list of Carpet and Rug Institute's Seal of Approval certified extractors can be obtained at www.carpet-rug.org. For listings of IICRC certified carpet cleaners contact the IICRC at www.IICRC.org or ph. 1-800-835-4624

Note: If your carpet is protected by our PermaShield topical stain and soil resistance treatment or other similar treatments it will help your carpet resist many wet, dry and oil-based soils. Although these treatments typically withstand up to three deep cleaning cycles, re-application of similar approved topical stain and soil resistance treatments after each professional carpet cleaning will help keep your carpet looking newer longer and make it easier to clean.

Before You Go

Your Beaulieu carpet is made using the finest materials and the highest quality control standards, and is intended to last for many years of use. Like all floorcovering materials, it will be subjected to significant amounts of traffic and exposed to many types of soils. It is up to you to make sure you have selected the right carpet for your needs. It is also up to you to see that your carpet is properly cared for. Routine preventative maintenance and periodic deep restorative cleaning allows you to locate, remove and dispose of unwanted substance, restore and maintain your carpet's color brightness and face fiber integrity, and control odors. When you choose the right carpet for your needs and see that it is properly maintained your carpet will appear and perform at an optimum level over many years of use.



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