Whether it’s in the form of snow, slush, sleet or puddles, the winter months in Lancaster, PA mean dealing with slick sidewalks and wet shoes. To add insult to injury, sand, dirt, and mud have the tendency to piggy-back along for the ride. The last thing you want on days like these is for muddy footprints to find their way onto your new, cream colored carpets, or even your old gray carpets for that matter! Carpet cleaning in the winter can quickly become a sloppy mess as the snow starts to pile up. Without regular maintenance, you can be left with permanent carpet stains after a single season! Fortunately, the carpet cleaning professionals at ServiceMaster Fire and Water Clean-Up know how to get these stains out of your carpeting, but even so, mitigation is the best first step in proper winter carpet care!
Some small remedies such as having a suspended rack for shoes at the front door may work well enough at home, but at commercial properties, asking all of your customers to remove their shoes will likely lead to other sorts of problems. Perhaps keeping an industrial-sized fan pointed at the doorway seems like a good start, but they can be noisy and more annoying than helpful, not to mention a drain on your energy bill. If you’re looking to keep mud and water off your floors, it’s a good idea to stick with a long move-able rugs, a simple, cost-effective classic method.
A long seasonally placed rug that extends a ways into your building is a great first step towards preventing carpet stains. It may seem like common sense to have a rug, but the length is the key here. Just having a little rectangle upon entering may be enough to grab some initial slush, but a rug that protects for ten additional steps will help to dry off the bottoms of shoes and shake salt loose. This comes with the added bonus of being largely unobtrusive. It may not be gorgeous, but it’s a quick and easy option for small boutiques and large commercial buildings alike.
A second important step of winter carpet care, which unlike the rug requires a little physical effort, is frequent vacuuming. After the initial mud and grit dries (if any actually made it to your carpets), often it can be vacuumed away with little resistance. This isn’t foolproof, but it can still prevent salt and sand from accumulating in high traffic areas. Depending upon the scale of your commercial setting you may not need to vacuum daily, but if you’re working out of a business that sees groups of people steadily throughout the day, then intervals of regular vacuuming (such as every few hours) won’t hurt, and don’t forgot to give some vacuuming attention to your long rug as well, keeping it clean ensures the rest of your carpeting stays cleaner for longer.
Vigilance is key when it comes to carpet cleaning. It might be hard to avoid feeling resentful toward all the feet coming in and out of your building, but with some regular attention and a few small preparations, you can go back to being happy about consistent visitors!
If you’re located in Lancaster, PA and you think you could use some more winter tips, or it’s time to revive your drab and stained carpeting with our professional, trained cleaning assistance, contact the specialists at ServiceMaster Fire and Water Clean Up. With our help, winter carpet care doesn’t have to take time out of your busy schedule. For further information, give us a call today at 800.570.4206, and feel free to review our services here at our website!
