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This article contains instructions or advice. (November 2018)
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Floor cleaning is a major occupation throughout the world. The main job of most cleaners is to clean floors.
The principal reasons for floor cleaning are:
The treatment needed for different types of floors is very different.[4]
Slipping is a common safety hazard for cleaning methods that involve water or other liquids, especially if the floor is left wet.[5]
Sawdust is used on some floors to absorb any liquids that fall rather than trying to prevent them being spilt. The sawdust is swept up and replaced each day. This was common in the past in pubs and is still used in some butchers and fishmongers.[6]
It used to be common to use tea leaves to collect dirt from carpets and remove odours.[7]
There are also a wide variety of floor cleaning machines available today such as floor buffers, automatic floor scrubbers and sweepers, and carpet extractors that can deep clean almost any type of hard floor or carpeted flooring surface in much less time than it would take using a traditional cleaning method.
Different types of wood flooring may require completely different care depending on whether they are waxed, oiled or have a polyurethane coating. It is important to determine the type of finish of a wood floor and always treat it in the proper manner, for instance it is difficult to clear wood floor wax from a floor coated with polyurethane. Simple cleaning instructions:[8]
Tile and stone flooring is common in kitchens, stairs, and bathrooms. Its cleaning process can be divided into three steps:
Vinyl composition tile or VCT is a common commercial floor type. Cleaning this type of floor is done with either a mop and bucket or with a floor scrubber.
VCT requires a polymer coating or floor finish to protect it. This needs to be kept clean with dust mopping and wet cleaning (i.e. wet mopping or floor scrubber).
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This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2022)
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For cleaning floors, when a type of floor wiper is used, a liquid of (Cleaning agents) is usually added to the water that is used with it. The product used may also depend on the floor-type such as parquet or tiles as some products can damage the floor.
Floor cleaners whose formulation includes certain fragants (certain monoterpenes) can cause indoor air pollution equivalent or exceeding the harm to respiratory tracts when the time is spent near a busy road according to a study.[9][10]
A well-maintained entrance matting can dramatically reduce the need for cleaning. For public and office buildings, about 80 to 90% of the dirt is tracked in from outside. Installing a total of 15 feet of matting consisting of both indoor and outdoor sections will remove about 80% of this.[11] Thus, about two-thirds of the dirt can be removed at the entrance.
Carpet cleaner or rug cleaner may refer to:
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This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage. (February 2015)
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Dry carpet cleaning involves the use of specialized machines to clean carpets with recently developed chemical technologies that permit no-moisture or "very low moisture" (VLM) cleaning, resulting in carpet beautification, and removal of stains, dirt, grit, sand, and allergens. Clean carpets are recognized by manufacturers as being more visually pleasing, potentially longer-lasting and probably healthier than poorly maintained carpets.[1]
Carpet cleaning is reportedly widely misunderstood, and chemical developers have only within recent decades created new carpet care technologies. Particularly, encapsulation and other green technologies work better, are easier to use, require less training, save more time and money, and lead to less re-soiling than prior methods.[2] Dry carpet cleaning can also aid in achieving U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Design (LEED) certification.[3]
Dry carpet cleaning systems are more accurately known as "very low moisture" (VLM) systems, relying on dry compounds complemented by application cleaning solutions, and are growing significantly in market share due in part to their very rapid drying time,[4] a significant factor for 24-hour commercial installations. Dry-cleaning and "very low moisture" systems are also often faster and less labor-intensive than wet-extraction systems.[1]
Pre-treatments, pre-conditioners, or "traffic-lane cleaners", which are detergents or emulsifiers that break the binding of soils to carpet fibers over a short period of time, are commonly sprayed onto carpet prior to the primary use of the dry-cleaning system. One chemical dissolves the greasy films that bind soils and prevent effective soil removal by vacuuming. The solution may add a solvent like d-limonene, petroleum byproducts, glycol ethers, or butyl agents. The amount of time the pretreatment "dwells" in the carpet should be less than 15 minutes, due to the thorough carpet brushing common to these "very low moisture" systems, which provides added agitation to ensure the pretreatment works fully through the carpet.[5]
An absorbent, 98% biodegradable cleaning compound may be spread evenly over carpet and brushed or scrubbed in. For small areas, a household hand brush can work such a compound into carpet pile; dirt and grime is attracted to the compound, which is then vacuumed off, leaving carpet immediately clean and dry. For commercial applications, a specially designed cylindrical counter-rotating brushing system is used, without a vacuum cleaner. Machine scrubbing is more typical, in that hand scrubbing generally cleans only the top third of carpet.[6]
In the 1990s, new polymers began literally encapsulating (crystallizing) soil particles into dry residues on contact, in a process now regarded by the industry as a growing, up-and-coming technology;[2] working like "tiny sponges", the deep-cleaning compound crystals dissolve and absorb dirt prior to its removal from the carpet. Cleaning solution is applied by rotary machine, "CRB" counter rotating brush, brush applicator, or compression sprayer. Dry residue is vacuumable immediately, either separately or from a built-in unit of the cleaning system machine. According to ICS Cleaning Specialist, evidence suggests encapsulation improves carpet appearance, compared to other systems; and it is favorable in terms of high-traffic needs, operator training, equipment expense, and lack of wet residue. Encapsulation carpet cleaning also keeps carpets cleaner for longer periods of time compared to other methods. [7] Encapsulation also avoids the drying time of carpet shampoos, making the carpet immediately available for use.[6]
The use of encapsulation to create a crystalline residue that can be immediately vacuumed (as opposed to the dry powder residue of wet-cleaning systems, which generally requires an additional day before vacuuming) is a newer technology that has recently become an accepted method for commercial and residential carpet deep cleaning.[8]
After cleaning product in solution is deposited onto the surface as mist, a round buffer or "bonnet" scrubs the mixture with rotating motion. This industry machine resembles a floor buffer, with an absorbent spin pad that attracts soil and is rinsed or replaced repeatedly. The bonnet method is not strictly dry-cleaning and involves short drying time, making it a solution for a deep cleaning of dirt or odor as considered suitable for valuable carpet.[9] To reduce pile distortion, the absorbent pad should be kept well-lubricated with cleaning solution.
A d-limonene based cleaner is pre-sprayed upon the carpet to be cleaned. The product is given a dwell time of 5–10 minutes. The carpet is then extracted using an acid rinse solution through a hot water extraction machine. Triple dry strokes are then performed to ensure a low dry time. While this process is not strictly dry cleaning and involves a 1-4 hour dry time, it cleans deep into the fibers.
Steam cleaning involves using steam for cleaning. Its uses include domestic applications in cleaning flooring and household dirt removal, and industrial uses in removing grease and dirt from engines.
Steam cleaning is not suited for all materials, such as materials which are vapor-sensitive or sensitive for high temperatures. Some examples include silk, some types of plastic, leather, paper, wallpaper and water-based paint.[1]
When used without soap, detergents, or other cleaning products, steam cleaning is an eco-friendly way of cleaning.[citation needed]
Steam cleaning is effective in eliminating 99.9% of bacteria, and is considered a modern way to clean home air-conditioners.[2]
In ovens, steam cleaning is an alternative to catalysis and pyrolysis for making a self-cleaning oven, and uses a lower temperature (approximately 100 Celsius) compared to catalysis (approx. 200 Celsius) and pyrolysis (approx. 500 Celsius).[3]