Just as the skin is the biggest organ to a body, carpets can be the biggest investment to a house or facility. Well-maintained carpets can easily last for more than two decades and can contribute to good health of the tenants or residents.
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RECOMMENDED CLEANING FREQUENCY GUIDELINE FROM THE EPA*
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Day Care Center |
Nursing Homes |
Residence |
Office Building |
Food Service |
Commercial |
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Environment |
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2 persons, non smoking |
2 persons with smoking |
young children |
young children w/ pets |
ground floor |
higher floors |
Establishments |
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Normal
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2 wks
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1 mo.
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6-12 mos.
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4 mos.
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6 mos.
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3-6 mos.
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3-6 mos.
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6-12 mos.
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1 mo.
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3-6 mos.
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Contaminated Outside Dusty
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1 wk.
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1 mo.
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2 mos.
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2 mos.
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1 mo.
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1 mo.
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1-4 mos.
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2-6 mos.
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1 wk.
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1 mo.
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Extreme Cold Weather Climates
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2 wks.
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1 mo.
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4-6 mos.
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3 mos.
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3 mos.
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2 mos.
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2-6 mos.
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3-9 mos.
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2 wks.
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2 mos.
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High Humidity Biogenic
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1 wk.
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1 wk.
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4-6 mos.
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4 mos.
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3 mos.
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2 mos.
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2-6 mos.
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3-9 mos.
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2 wks.
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2 mos. |
This table is intended to serve as a guideline for recommended cleaning frequencies from a public health perspective. Originally published in a letter from the U.S. EPA, this schedule has been adopted as part of the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification's (IICRC) Carpet Cleaning Standard S001-1991. Complete copies of the IICRC Carpet Cleaning Standard can be obtained by calling the Institute at 360-693-5675.
- Almost 5 billion pounds or over 690 million square feet of carpet are sent to landfill each year (Source: US EPA)
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Billions of liters of fresh water is used for carpet cleaning each year
- Millions of kilowatt hours of electricity is used to dry carpet that is wet cleaned through the HVAC system and fans
- Wet carpet cleaning contributes to millions of dollars of mold remediation because of improper drying procedures
- A hard surface floor does not trap and hold dirt
- A soft surface floor/carpet does trap and hold the dirt.
- A carpet can hold its own weight in dirt and still look good, i.e. 2 pounds of dirt in a 30 oz./sq.yd.
- A carpet can hold 2 times its weight in dirt before people begin to notice, i.e. 4 pounds of dirt in a 30 oz./sq.yd.
- 90% of the dirt that gets on a carpet in a building is tracked on by people's shoes, from inside or outside hard surfaces. Airborne dirt and dust makes up the other 10%, coming in through windows, doors, airborne cooking grease and the HVAC system
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1 micron is a millionth of a meter or 1 inch divided into 25,400 parts
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An average size of most bacteria is 2 microns
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GreenDry Carpet Cleaning uses eVAC with a 6-stage filtration system that traps particles as small as 1 micron in size at 99% efficiency (optional: add a HEPA media filter can trap particles as small as 0.3 micron at 99.97% efficiency)
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Common Items and their respective particle sizes |
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Postage Stamp, 1 inch high |
25,400 microns |
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Eye of a Needle |
1,230 microns |
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Human Hair |
40 to 300 microns |
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Oil Smoke |
0.03 to 1 micron |
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Tobacco Smoke |
0.01 to 1 micron |
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Beach Sand |
100 to 2000 microns |
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Pollens |
10 to 1000 microns |
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Talc Powder |
10 microns |
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Typical Atmospheric Dust |
0.001 to 30 microns |
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A Grain of Salt |
100 microns |
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Mold Spores |
10 to 30 microns |
Spot, Spill, Stain
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Spot (removable stain) - a substance that is on the fiber or yarn surface and can beremoved using correct spot removal procedures.
- Spill - a wet substance that is on the fiber or yarn surface and can be removed using correct spot removal procedures.
- Stain - a substance that has permanently damaged or changed the color of the fiber. It cannot be removed.
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Sterilize - to kill all living bacteria and fungi and their spores via
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Steam under pressure for at least 12 minutes
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Ethylene oxide gas for 1-2 minutes
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Chemical sporicide for 3 or more hours
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It is not possible to sterilize carpet.
- Disinfect - to kill all living bacteria but not their spores via
- Immerse in boiling water for at least 2 minutes
- Immerse in a chemical germicide (e.g. alcohol, chlorine) or bactericide for at least 10 minutes
- It is not possible to disinfect carpet.
- Sanitize - does not kill microbes but to reduce the total number of microbes by cleaning, e.g.
- Taking out the garbage
- Washing the dishes
- Wiping an area with a soapy cloth
- HOST cleaning the carpet
- When you clean a carpet with GreenDry Carpet Cleaning, you sanitize it.