There is a lot of talk about what a green carpet cleaning solution really is. In my opinion a green cleaning solution must not harm the environment nor any living species it comes in contact with.
As an industry instructor and business owner whose main theme is green I encounter people from all walks of life who want my opinion on this subject. The main concern of the people I talk to is “is the cleaning process going to harm my children or my pets?” The talk is rarely about the environment. Although most non-toxic solutions are safe for the environment, it is not a given.
The products I feel the most comfortable using are products that have been verified safe by independent third-party groups such as: Design for the Environment (DfE), EcoLogo program, Green Seal and Envirodesic.
You must also consider that the carpet mills themselves are now insisting that you clean your carpets with a product approved by the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Seal of Approval Program (CRI SOA). The CRI SOA gives strong consideration to how green a product is.
There has been a bit of resistance by the chemical manufacturers to have their products tested by CRI SOA. When the program first started 21 of 25 products tested did not meet the CRI SOA’s stringent performance requirements. In plain English this means that they performed worse than water alone for carpet cleaning. This is all the more reason to use products with the Seal of Approval.
I like using products produced from renewable resources. There are excellent food based carpet cleaning solutions available. These products are manufactured from 100% FDA approved food ingredients. They are readily biodegradable. Readily biodegradable means that the product is 99.7% bio-degraded in 28 days.
There are several products that are botanical and many refer to these products as bio-based. There are product lines that use nanotechnology. These are typically made from extracts from plants such as soy, corn, grain, potatoes and trees. There are many other plant-based cleaners available. But you must be prudent in what you choose.
There are many people who talk about their process being green but they use products that are citrus based. The main ingredient is often d`limonene and although from a natural renewable resource is considered a terpene. This is from the same group of chemicals turpentine comes from. So be cautious of people’s claims.
To sum it up, if you want assurance that your carpet is being “cleaned green” and it won’t damage the fibers make sure you see the CRI Seal of Approval and some proof that an independent third-party has approved it.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
green cleaning is no compromise
Our green cleaning is a two part process.
We have our preconditioner–this is something that we spray on the carpet at the beginning of the process and is left to dwell on the carpet for anywhere from 5-15 minutes.
This preconditioner is made of micelle enhanced nano-surfactant. These micelles are made from corn derivitives. The neat thing about these nano-surfactants is they have the ability to attach to soils much smaller than regular surfactants. Regular surfactants attach themselves to soils in the range of 3 microns in size and larger. The micelle enhanced nano-surfactant attaches itself to soils as small as 1 micron in size. This may not mean much at first glance but in many situations up to 90% of the soil in a carpet can be smaller than 3 microns in size. The micelle enhanced nano-surfactant is new, but it is turning up everywhere and its making its mark very quickly on our industry.
The second step of our cleaning is the solution that is run through the extraction machine. this is a product made from 100% FDA approved food based ingedients. The really neat thing about this product is that it has the ability to rinse away organic materials and dries to a salt form. So, what this means is that soils (including old soapy residues) get rinsed away and the carpet is left essentially residue free so that it does not attract dirt quickly. Everyone loves a carpet that stays cleaner longer.
Now for those situations where the carpet has just been abused we still carry a variety of other cleaners. However I can safely say that we use the above process over 97% of the time.
We have our preconditioner–this is something that we spray on the carpet at the beginning of the process and is left to dwell on the carpet for anywhere from 5-15 minutes.
This preconditioner is made of micelle enhanced nano-surfactant. These micelles are made from corn derivitives. The neat thing about these nano-surfactants is they have the ability to attach to soils much smaller than regular surfactants. Regular surfactants attach themselves to soils in the range of 3 microns in size and larger. The micelle enhanced nano-surfactant attaches itself to soils as small as 1 micron in size. This may not mean much at first glance but in many situations up to 90% of the soil in a carpet can be smaller than 3 microns in size. The micelle enhanced nano-surfactant is new, but it is turning up everywhere and its making its mark very quickly on our industry.
The second step of our cleaning is the solution that is run through the extraction machine. this is a product made from 100% FDA approved food based ingedients. The really neat thing about this product is that it has the ability to rinse away organic materials and dries to a salt form. So, what this means is that soils (including old soapy residues) get rinsed away and the carpet is left essentially residue free so that it does not attract dirt quickly. Everyone loves a carpet that stays cleaner longer.
Now for those situations where the carpet has just been abused we still carry a variety of other cleaners. However I can safely say that we use the above process over 97% of the time.
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