Berber - why you shouldn't steam clean on rainy days

Wet days = wet carpets

OK, so it's raining . . we're glad for the plants and trees and streams . . . but it's 100% humidity, right?

You need to recall your high school science and especially chemistry classes when you think about carpet cleaning.  Yeah, it's been a while but this stuff is not too complicated.

So if you get your carpets steam cleaned on a rainy day, where will that moisture go - not into the air unless you turn your heat or A/C and ceiling fans on.  Typical steam cleaning dry times are 2-3 days, since they force water down into the pad and get the subfloor wet.

How carpet dries

Carpet dries by wicking water up, especially berber . . . now follow me here.  Steam cleaning forces dirt in the carpet and pad down, and then extracts or sucks it back up with a wand.  Water + dirt = Mud.  You can't get all that mud out of the pad underneath the carpet -- well, if you pull up the carpet, cut the pad into pieces and wash them maybe you can .  .  I'm just sayin'.

Then with a berber carpet the fibers will pull the moisture (and mud) up to its tips.  Voila!  Stains 3 days later where you didn't have them before, PLUS all your old stains are back.  Add a rainy day to the mix and you're looking at a water damage situation with mold growing in your pad, subfloor and on the back of your carpets.

Someone should invent a better way to clean carpets.  That someone was Robert Harris who invented the carbonated drier carpet cleaning process -- he named if Chem-Dry.  After watching steam cleaning destroy new wool carpets in an office building in California while he was a night watchman, he started experimenting in the janitor's closet.  While the carpets upstairs took 3 days to dry and then SHRANK he worked on a formula to clean effectively, yet gently . . something safe enough for a baby to crawl on, yet tough enough to get out the worst greasy dirt. 

With berber carpet, Chem Dry is working WITH it's natural wicking action, so all the dirt comes up and out with the carbonated bubbles of the Natural cleaning solution.  The stains that tend to be most stubborn are those with sugary drinks or pet urine spots.  But we can deal with those issues, using an encapsulating agent to capture the sugars, and our Pet Urine Removal Treatment to capture the urine.

My carpet is berber in the main living room, hall and master.  When I get my carpet cleaned, it's usually late afternoon after the guys are done but still have a little energy left.  So it's wet at 6 p.m., and by bedtime, it's usually dry.

How I became a Chem Dry Owner

One of the quirks of inventors are they move on to new challenges, so after a few years Harris Research began selling franchises, to spread the business around the world.  With a fairly light governing touch, they allowed business owners to market and grow their own businesses.  I bought my two franchises from a former neighbor who cleaned for me many years. 

That hands-off attitude lets us do a lot within their parameters of what's allowed.  One thing we've never done is have nationwide commercials or billboards until just recently, when The Home Depot bought Harris Research Inc.  THD barely know Chem Dry exists, but it allows us to be featured in their commercials, posters and mailing ads.  We can also go to the stores and interact with customers, give out coupons and knock ourselves out trying to let people know about Chem Dry.

Meet me at Home Depot

I meet lots of great folks there on Saturdays in Acworth, Kennesaw and Hiram.  The first Saturdays of the month are especially fun when the kids' workshops go on.   I like to give out pencils and candy appropriate for the season and tell the kids what a great job they did building their project.  The employees all know I've always got candy too.

Great Business Opportunity

Anyway, that's my story, and part of why you've maybe never heard about Chem Dry before -- but if you try it, you may become as happy as I was to have your carpets cleaned by All Star Chem Dry -- so happy you decide this is what you want to do for a business!  If you are interested in becoming a franchise owner, I'd be happy to sit own with you and tell you what's involved, warts and all.  There is no perfect business, but Chem Dry is a great opportunity for the right folks, even a single mother like me.