A thoughtfully designed and imple­mented maintenance program that features effective, routine vacuuming procedures performed by qualified personnel properly equipped and trained is essential for optimal long-term performance of carpet.

Whenever possible, the Carpet and Rug Institute advises facilities man­agers to plan a carpet maintenance pro­gram before installing carpet so such features as budget, personnel and areas of special consideration can be taken into account.

To help with this stage of planning, maintenance personnel are advised to:

1. Obtain a detailed floor plan of facility;

2. Identify areas of heavy soiling:

Track-off Regions: Areas where car­pet collects tracked-in soil from the out­doors or from hard-surface floors. Track off regions average 90 square feet (6 x 15) at building entrances, 10 square feet (2 x 5) at internal doorways, and 40 square feet (5 x 8) in corridors 6 feet wide.

Congested Channels: A concentrated channel of foot traffic, such as a doorway, stairwell or drinking fountain area. A con­gested channel averages three feet around a doorway to 10 feet around elevators.

Traffic Lanes: Areas with the largest amount of foot traffic.

Understanding carpet maintenance guidelines

A complete and effective program should include three maintenance cate­gories: preventive, daily and periodic.

Preventive maintenance: Preemptive measures to reduce the effects of soil include:

• Color selections — Select a color appropriate to traffic areas and local soil conditions;

• Soil containment — Prevent dirt and soil from entering the building using mats at entrances and near elevators.

Daily maintenance: Interim measures include vacuuming and spot cleaning for all traffic areas.

• Vacuuming is the most important and most cost-effective element of an ef­ficient maintenance program. Vacu­uming can remove more than 80 percent of dry soil on a daily basis. Vacuuming should be scheduled ac­cording to the amount of potential soil buildup of a particular area, and Seal of Approval/ Green Label Plus certi­fied vacuums should be specified for use.

• Daily removal of spots and spills helps maintain the carpet’s appearance. Immediate action against spots and spills also reduces the probability of a permanent stain. Seal of Approval certified carpet-cleaning solutions should be specified.

Restorative cleaning: Periodically scheduled deep extraction cleaning will remove accumulated soil not removed by regular vacuuming and spot removal.

• CRI suggests a monthly or as-needed cleaning of transition areas, track-off regions and congested channels.

Effective, routine vacuuming is a must for good commercial carpet per­formance, so a proper vacuuming pro­gram is essential in a well designed maintenance program. The most impor­tant features of your vacuuming mainte­nance program will be identifying high, medium, and low traffic areas by con­tinually monitoring carpet performance and making any necessary adjustments to the schedule.

Rather than selecting equipment based solely on cost, look for durability in a vacuum cleaner to reduce long-term cost of maintaining or replacing the equipment.

Poor quality vacuum cleaners may continue to operate, but cleaning effi­ciency can deteriorate quickly, and equipment maintenance or replacement costs are high.

Consider efficient filtration. A vac­uum cleaner that has an extremely high air flow (suction) has very little value if dust and other contaminants pass through the vacuum bag and become airborne. Efficient vac­uum cleaners offer high airflow, high efficiency filtration, and an adjustable rotating brush agitation for more effective soil removal.

Always use the manufacturer’s rec­ommended bags and accessories. Due to wear on the brush rollers and belts, these should be changed on a regular basis.

Because equipment choice is so im­portant, CRI identifies vacuum cleaners that meet strict standards for soil re­moval, dust containment within the vac­uum filter, and carpet appearance retention with an IAQ “green label.”

Once the equipment has been se­lected, set a schedule for frequency of vacuuming. Using the facility diagram, classify carpet areas into high traffic, moderate traffic, and light traffic areas. Vacuum high traffic areas daily, or more frequently as the need arises.

Vacuum moderate traffic areas as needed, but at least two or three days each week. Vacuum light traffic areas as needed, but at least once or twice a week.

Some vacuum styles are more appropriate to perform a specific function. For example, use a back pack vacuum to remove soil from a textured or grated entrance mat instead of a beater brush vacuum.

• High traffic areas include: entrances, hallways, break rooms, cafeterias, cor­ridors, elevator lobbies, stairways, main aisles, and waiting areas.

• Moderate traffic areas include: sec­ondary aisles, research areas, confer­ence rooms, classrooms, and atriums.

• Light traffic areas include: offices, cubicles, storage rooms, and executive areas. Cubicles are sometimes consid­ered a low traffic area; however, chair mats should be used to protect against chair rollers and food spills which can decrease the performance of the carpet.

Basic Scientific Principles of Effective Restorative Cleaning

The basic scientific principles of ef­fective restorative cleaning can be di­vided into five major steps: Dry soil re­moval, soil suspension, soil extraction, pile setting (finishing or grooming), and drying.

Dry Soil Removal (Dry Vacuuming) — Dry soil removal is accomplished in phases:

• Pile preparation (using grooming tools) is employed to untangle the fiber of high-pile carpet, and must precede dry vacuuming;

• Overall vacuuming with a CRI “Green Label” vacuum cleaner;

• Concentrated entry area vacuuming (removal of the destructive build-up of abrasive soil);

• Vacuuming the perimeter of the room to remove fine dust and soils that can settle in the crevices around the room, causing filtration soiling. ❑

Source: The Carpet and Rug Insti­tutes’ Carpet Maintenance Guidelines for Commercial Applications.