Krafft Cleaning Service, Inc

Cleaning Tip for July 2018 Last July, I commented on proper vacuum cleaner use. That included keeping air flow high and setting the agitator brush to the correct height for the carpet pile. As a follow-up, let's take a moment to review the importance of actually using a vacuum cleaner. We can postpone a discussion of ideas on what vac might be best for your carpet and move to the basic concern, frequent vacuuming. Recently, I cleaned an area rug used in a bu...siness setting. By turning the rug over and running a beater vacuum over the backing, I was able to shake out a huge amount of fine sand. I ended up with an actual pile on the floor. It took probably twelve beatings to get all that abrasive material out of the pile, and likely more was still in there, locked in place by any sticky stuff from footwear and spills. Carpet is great at holding soil, especially fine, dry sand that can work its way deep into the pile if it is not vacuumed often. And in a commercial setting, I don't mean once a week! Often on a carpet in a high traffic setting, this means at least daily, and in some cases, even doing a touch-up at midday. Foot traffic will help gravity move the particles of soil down onto the pile where it can damage the fibers. And once there, it is hard to remove without turning the carpet upside down and beating the sand out of it. You can do that with an area rug, but that technique will not work for wall-to-wall, obviously. So, if you remove the soil soon after it is deposited, and before it settles into the pile, you are doing your carpet a favor. This applies to any entrance area, home or business. Now, about track-off matting near entrances... How about that for the subject next month? See more

Mid-June's Cleaning Tip of the Month In May, I wrote about the inaccurate use of the term "waxing" when referring to the refinishing of tile floors. Since true paste or liquid "wax" has not been in common use for many decades now, the continued use of the term makes one wonder if those using it are not out-of-touch with the progress of the industry. Ignoring the old-habits-die-hard excuse, how is it that cleaners who were not even born when the last "wax" job was done on a fl...oor, are using the term on a daily basis? Why is it still in the business advertising vocabulary? The answer may lie simply in the all too common belief that "cleaning is simple-minded work that requires little education and training". With that attitude, why bother with correct terminology, or even proper procedures? How hard can it be? Since the application of an acrylic finish to a dirty floor surface leaves a sealed-in mess, and we see a lot of that, maybe paying some attention to the correct terminology and floor cleaning procedures would be of value. If you don't believe you need to know anything about what you are doing, you stand a good chance of doing it wrong! Since that happens a lot in the floor maintenance field, I think that there is a conclusion to be drawn. Here it is. If you see an ad or website that uses the terms "strip and wax", keep searching until you see one that offers a "strip and refinish" service for your VCT flooring. Not only do those folks know the difference between wax and modern formulated floor finishes, but they no doubt have learned how to properly strip or, more economically, scrub the tile to leave a spotlessly clean surface on which to place fresh finish. And they know enough to avoid the now unnecessary frequent stripping that waxes used to require! Those cost you a fortune in labor, are wasteful of materials, and negate any "green" cleaning you may be doing to help the environment. In my experience, sloppy terminology and sloppy workmanship go hand in hand. If someone can't describe correctly what they are doing, they probably haven't been greatly interested in learning how to do it right. Think of a surgeon asking his assistant for a spatula when he really needs a scalpel. Do you want this guy working on you?

Cleaning tip for late May One of my pet peeves is the continued use in the cleaning industry of the term floor "waxing". I've lost count of the number of times I've seen "strip & wax" as one of the services offered by any number of janitorial service providers. The problem I have with this is that the industry has not used true wax, either paste or liquid, in well over half a century. The use of steel wool pads to apply a true paste wax product to a floor tile was discontinue...d years before most of those now working in the cleaning industry were even born! The wax products of Butcher's Wax and Johnson's Wax were, back then, based on carnauba waxes from palms grown in Brazil. The substance was pliable and, when on a floor, left a film that could be buffed out time and again to restore a glossy appearance. The floor covering was protected and looked appealing. However, there were drawbacks. Waxes would turn yellow over time, making the floor surface less attractive. Because the wax film remained soft, it could hold fine soils, requiring spray buffing occasionally to restore appearance by removing top layers of dirty wax. When the film was worn down, the yellowing apparent, and the floor looking dull, the remedy was to actually "strip and wax" the floor. Sometimes, this costly operation was done several times a year! Enter the acrylic-based metal-interlocked floor finishes in the 1950s and 60s.These modern finishes formed a true locked-down film when they dried and this resisted yellowing from exposure to light. The finish could be restored by light scrubbing and applying another layer or two of finish, burnishing, or spray buffing, but the need for the frequent wax stripping and rewaxing was eliminated. What is the big deal? Check back next month for the rest of the story.