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.

How You Can Stop the Recession

Really.

It may be as simple as everyone working together.  Telling friends about job openings, and creating job openings. 

How can you create a job for someone? By acting normal.  Maybe I'm not a serious economist, but the power of the group is having a tremendous effect on small businesses.  Many have had to cut back staff, cut hours or pay, or simply fold and go on welfare. 

It may be as simple as calling your local service providers and asking them to do the normal repairs, painting, cleaning that you would be doing anyway.  You'll probably get a good deal (but please don't beat them up over pricing -- that doesn't help you get a better job and hurts their ability to give you the best service). 

And you'll know that you did a small part in helping kick-start this recovery period.  I like to look at it this way -- it's a great time to go shopping for houses, cars, carpet cleaning or clothes!  There are deals everywhere.

Shopping -- it's the answer!

Cleaning after the Flu

My mother called me "The Princess and the Pea," after the children's fairy tale about the princess who could feel a pea through a stack of mattresses. She was that delicate.

I was the child who got a rash with plums, hives for unknown reasons, stomach aches at the least provocation. Sick, or a headache around perfumes or smells.

It's more than a catch phrase, green cleaning means doing things in a healthy way.

No one wants to get sick from moldy wet carpets. So using a healthy, certified green way of cleaning like All-Star Chem-Dry keeps your family healthier.

That's the whole reason I got interested in using Chem-Dry myself. It didn't cause headaches, rashes or allergic symptoms for me or my children. For some reason, I'm the one that always has the problem!


It's not worth it to get sick from your carpet cleaning! So use a proven, certified green cleaner like All Star Chem-Dry to make sure your cleaning leaves you healthier.

Clean carpets mean a cleaner breathing environment in your home or office. With 90% less water than a steam type cleaning, and a safety rating of 1 on a scale of 1-5 for toxicity by the FDA, you can be assured that it's not just hype, it's real.

And think about your pets too! If they walk on carpets cleaned with harsh chemicals and then lick their paws, they can become ill. Leaving you nasty little presents on your rugs!

We can help clean up after pets, children and the flu -- sanitize your rugs and carpets to make sure viruses are not festering in your carpets. It's inexpensive insurance against spreading the flu around. We want you and your family to be safe and healthy all winter!

Now take $45 off a cleaning job of $250 or more by mentioning this blog.
Happy New Year!

Marietta carpet cleaning - All-Star Chem-Dry

In my continuing quest for learning how to link up on the internet, I wanted to share some pictures.

Here are some pictures from my business.

How Does Dry Carpet Cleaning Compare?

What is the difference between Chem-Dry and Steam Cleaning?

1. Chem-Dry is guaranteed to clean better and be 90% drier than a steam-type cleaning.

2. Chem-Dry is guaranteed not to void your warranty on your stain-resistant carpet (steam or self-cleaning does void your warranty)

3. Chem-Dry is healthier -- safe for children, pets, people with asthma or allergies. It is rated by the FDA as a 1 on its toxicity scale of 1-5: Edible. (Though you might not want to taste it--I've actually seen one of our trainers take a sip!)

4. We do not get your pad wet. We clean the carpet. You cannot clean the pad under the carpet. With steam cleaning getting the pad wet, they are making mud in the pad. Then when someone steps on the carpet, the dirty water will squish back up into the carpet. Voila! Your stains are back. So with Chem-Dry, you can walk on the carpet right away because nothing is going to squish up.

5. Chem-Dry uses only trained technicians, no subcontractors. We have a 5-star training program which takes 2 years minimum to complete.

6. Our cleaning solutions are unique and protected secrets -- we do not use laundry detergent or harsh chemicals designed for other purposes. The Natural (r) is our patented carbonating cleaner which uses the power of chemistry and carbonated gas bubbles to gently lift the dirt from your carpet without using gallons of water or soap.

7. There is no sticky residue left behind to attract dirt again -- so you don't need to clean as often.

8. We offer the absolute best pet urine removal with our patented Pet Urine Removal Treatment. We find the spots with a black light (think CSI) and then can apply the treatment to the exact spots it is needed. It begins to work immediately, awakening and then killing the urine bacteria. Within 24-48 hours, the urine smell is gone.

9. We adhere to the highest standards in our business practices. No bait and switch, no fly-by-night rip-offs.

See for yourself what some of those low-priced coupons really entail: http://www.cbs2.com/video.

Then call us for a real quote for excellent service with a company that stands behind its service.

Saving Money with Coupons

Coupons and Saving Money
love to save money with coupons. The other day I was at Publix and with the help of a great blogs like The Coupon Mom and Common Sense With Money, I saved HALF off!

I was so excited I left my purse at the checkout ledge - even the bagger and checker were like WOW! You can really save if you take the time to check out coupons and sales.

One thing I don't compromise on is food quality -- or the quality of the services I need. For instance, my tree guy, Stanley Tree and Landscape in Cartersville, does a great job and is properly insured and had all the equipment and people necessary to get a huge limb hanging over my house without damaging the home or yard.

Could I have saved by using some guy in a pickup or (shudder) trying to do it myself? NO! Because it would have crushed the house if it fell. I needed a real professional for that job. I feel that carpet cleaning is another area where sometimes a real insured, trained professional can achieve the great results you want and actually save money.

If it's just a little spot, buy some of our Chem-Dry World Famous spotter at Home Depot for $4.99. If it's a major mess - call us! What's the cost of replacing your carpet? An average 300 sq. ft. room costs between $540 (very cheap quality) and $1200 (better than average quality) to completely replace it. Or $35-40 per room to clean it once a year -- and adding $20 to protect it will make it last up to twice as long.

Many of our customers have 20 year old carpet that they keep cleaned, vacuumed, and protected and it still looks great. So if you like coupons, take a look at mine here on Merchant Circle, call me and we'll find the best deal for you. You'll definitely save money both now and in the long run by not needing premature replacement of your carpets.

Pet Urine--what to do about it!

When your pet has an "accident" in the house, it's time for action. First, mop up as much as you can with paper towels. If possible, rinse with clear water and use a wet vac to pull it up (not your regular vacuum cleaner!). If you can't do that, call your local Chem-Dry (find them at www.chem-dry.net) and ask for help.

Chem-Dry has the best urine remover product in the industry. So many former steam cleaner techs have told me that the products they were given really didn't work. They would be called back out because the carpets stunk. There was nothing they could do. But Chem-Dry's own product, PURT -- Pet Urine Removal Treatment-- really works.

It will awaken and then kill the urine in the pad and carpet. The tech can do a black light inspection to find all the spots. Then he will apply the PURT to each area to thoroughly dampen it. It takes 24-48 hours to completely work -- and usually it smells a little worse immediately. That means it's working! Then it quickly begins to smell better.

If you have light colored, or old carpet, it's a high chance that the carpet will be stained. But the quicker you get the urine out, and have the carpet cleaned, the better it will be. Another huge help is having the carpet stain protectant renewed frequently.

I used to never go for stain protection--we were renting, or the carpet was so old it wasn't worth it. But now that I know what it actually does, I tell John "You better protect this carpet every time!" It's 11 years old now and still looks great when he cleans it.

When we replaced the carpet in Parker's room this last year, John first went over it all with a good protectant coating. We knew an 11 year old could very likely spill things or make messes in his room. And has he ever! Muddy foot prints, orange energy drink, what's next!? But it cleans right up because we had it protected.

Ask for the Stain Master protectant--it's not a water soluble like Scotchguard. It will last longer and give you much better results. You'll be glad you spent $20 to save recarpeting your home way too soon.