When it comes to facility management, the carpet is often one of the areas that gets overlooked, or at least it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Trash is often emptied daily, and even desks and tables get wiped down fairly often. However, a full commercial carpet cleaning treatment is often not done as frequently as it should be. Your carpet is being walked on by hundreds or even thousands of times over a week, but many facility managers still see carpet cleaning as an aesthetic task. If the carpet doesn’t look dirty, it’s not needed in their minds.
However, doing commercial carpet shampooing only a few times a year can be a costly mistake. In modern businesses, carpet acts as more than just a decorative flooring option. It’s also a filter system that can impact everything from employee sick days to your long-term budget. Here at SourceONE, we understand how carpet cleaning is essential for everything from floorings lifespan to workplace health and hygiene. It can even play a part in customer satisfaction and retention. Here are some of the reasons why regular commercial carpet cleaning is critical for your team’s health and your business’s longevity.
Workplace Hygiene and Air Quality
Many people, both at the office and at home, assume that if the carpet looks clean, it is clean. If there are no stains or spills on it, it must be fine. Unfortunately, the truth is that carpeting almost always holds a large amount of indoor pollutants. Everything that was on the bottom of people’s shoes is now in the carpet. But there’s more than that—dust, allergens, small amounts of dirt, pet dander, and even dead skin cells end up in the carpet. Let’s take a deeper look:
The Carpet as an Air Filter
Your office carpet is something of an air filter. It traps various airborne particles, preventing them from circulating through the HVAC system. Like a HVAC filter, though, the carpet does have a limit to how much it can hold. Once it gets full, every time someone steps on it sends all of the dirt and debris trapped within it up into the air where they can be breathed in.
Impact on Employee Health
According to studies done by the EPA, indoor air contains anywhere from two to five times more pollutants than outdoor air. In an office building, carpet that is teaming with allergens can quickly lead to what many business owners call sick building syndrome, one of those times when it seems like there are employees out sick every day. Dust mites and fungal spores can live and even thrive in dirty carpets, affecting allergies and asthma. Dirty carpets are also breeding grounds for viruses, including the flu and the Norovirus. Research has indicated that these viruses can survive for weeks in the carpet.
Prioritizing business cleaning that includes deep carpet cleaning isn’t just a way of making your office look good, it also purifies the air and ensures your team isn’t breathing in any of these harmful allergens and viruses.
Extending Your Carpet’s Lifespan
Think about how much carpet is in your office. Now think about all the furniture you would have to move and how disruptive that would be if you had to replace all of that carpet. While high-quality commercial carpet is designed to last around a decade, that lifespan includes regular cleaning. Some businesses that don’t treat their carpet right find themselves replacing it every five years or so. That cost can add up.
Why Do You need Expert Carpet Cleaning?
Some business owners do ask why they can’t simply vacuum their carpets regularly. This will certainly help, but it doesn’t actually address the main issue behind carpet longevity. Stains affect the visual appeal of carpet, but friction and microscopic abrasions are what actually damage it. All of the dirt and debris on your carpets act like little pieces of glass, damaging the carpet every time someone walks on it. This causes the fibers in the carpet to degrade, dulling how the carpet looks and eventually causing the fibers to break down.
With regular vacuuming, you’re actually only cleaning about the top 20 to 30 percent of the fibers. Commercial carpet cleaning that uses a hot water extraction method penetrates much deeper, getting down to the base of the fibers and removing the dirt and debris that has made its way there.
The Economic Case for Professional Cleaning
Some business owners do hesitate at the cost and see it as a luxury or discretionary expense. However, you will see a return on this investment in several ways.
Without carpet cleaning:
- Carpets need replacing every 4 to 6 years
- Colors start to fade
- You can clearly see the “traffic lanes” or parts of the carpet that are walked on more often
- The air contains higher particulate counts and is lower quality
- Heavy vacuuming is required daily to keep the carpet looking good after a few years.
SourceONE maintained carpet cleaning:
- Carpet lifespan reaches 8 to 12 years
- Color remains uniform
- The texture also remains uniform, removing that worn look from high traffic areas
- Low amount of allergens kicked up from walking on the carpet; higher air quality
- Carpets need efficient, routine cleaning rather than daily vacuuming
By practically doubling the carpet lifespan through commercial care, you essentially cut your long-term flooring costs in half. On top of that, you also keep your new carpet’s warranty intact since many manufacturers require proof that you have the carpets professionally steam cleaned every year to 18 months.
First Impressions and Brand Reputation
While the budget is certainly a concern, aesthetics also matter. While it may not be as much of a factor as your products/services, marketing, or customer service, your office building is still a representation of your brand. If a client or potential recruit walks in and sees stained carpet, it’s going to affect how they view you.
A client may not consciously note your stained or dingy carpet, but unconsciously, they will begin to wonder if your business pays attention to details or cares about business cleaning practices. On the other hand, a clean environment sends the signal that you’re professional and can be trusted.
There’s also the smell factor. Older, neglected carpets can start to smell from humidity and from any spills that occurred. It’s likely your employees have simple acclimated to the smell over the months or years that it has existed, but someone walking into the building for the first time will notice it. A professional deep cleaning gets to the source of these odors and removes them.
The SourceONE Advantage: Why Professional Methods Matter
Commercial carpet cleaning isn’t just cleaning more often, it’s a carefully planned out maintenance program that makes use of specialized tools. Here at SourceONE we follow the CHAT method:
- Chemicals – we use cleaning solutions specifically designed to eliminate viruses and other allergens and debris.
- Heat – We use high-heat extraction methods that reach temperatures high enough to break down grease and oils trapped in the carpet.
- Agitation – Our equipment is designed to use scrubbing and other actions to break lose any soil that clings to the fibers of the carpet.
- Time – One key to cleaning that some people overlook is that you simply cannot apply cleaning chemicals and then wipe them up. We allow our cleaning solutions to sit on the carpet for the required amount of time to ensure they are effective.
A Healthier Bottom Line
Regular commercial carpet cleaning isn’t just about making the floors look good. It’s about workplace hygiene, your bottom line, and your reputation. By investing in professional office carpet care, you’re improving the air quality for your employees, protecting your investment, and maintaining a professional atmosphere. Don’t wait for your carpets to start looking dingy. Contact SourceONE today to discuss our professional carpet cleaning services.