Protection?
From WHAT?!?
Protecting Your Investment
Perhaps the best care you can give to your carpet is a carpet protectant.
This is best applied at the time your carpet is cleaned, when all the dirt and contaminants are out. It can be applied later, but all this may do is seal in any new contaminants.
A protectant works by placing a very thin yet durable "shield" of spill and stain-resistant material over your carpet fibers. It actually works by filling in the microscopic dye-accepting sites on your carpet fibers BEFORE a spilled dye (any type of colorant) can, and keeps soils, and spills away from the fiber itself. Instead, they stick to the protectant, making it much easier to remove the offending material later with Hot Water Extraction.
We use what we feel is the very best protectant available. It's certainly one of the costliest, however it does protect the carpet against normal household soils, spills, oils and stains. It's concentrated fluorochemical formula (as with DuPont Teflon(tm) or 3M ScotchGard(tm) )is designed to boost and preserve the factory-applied stain resistance, which eventually wears away with time. Normal traffic and periodic cleaning WILL REMOVE both protectants as well (along with the soils, spills and stains that have attached to them) so it should also be replaced if you have had your carpet professionally cleaned since it was last applied.
PROTECTANT GUARANTEE: (Always ask to see the CURRENT WARRANTY in case of change.)
If we applied protectant to an entire room in your home within the
past year and it has not been professionally cleaned since
protection: When you have a spill and you have proceeded as we
instructed using a neutral spotting agent, but still cannot
completely remove the spill, give us a call as soon as possible.
Cover the affected area with plastic to keep the spilled material
from drying. We will EXTRACT the spill using our professional
equipment and chemistry. We will then re-clean AND RE-PROTECT the
affected area, at absolutely no additional charge to you.
If for some reason we are unable to completely remove the spill,
we will refund you in full for the price you paid to protect the
entire room.
This
guarantee only covers you when we have applied protectant to an
entire room (under our Gold or Platinum service levels). On occasion, for a client's convenience, we will protect
(a) partial area(s) of a room or hallway. Because furniture layouts
can change, we cannot pinpoint exactly which areas were protected and
which were not, unless we can document the entire room was protected.
Therefore, this warranty does NOT extend to partially protected areas.
This warranty does not apply to catastrophic spills which would normally be expected to cause damage, such as leaking or broken fish tanks, flood, mud slides and similar acts of nature, nor does it apply to spills involving large quantities of paints or finishes;
Or any
quantities of corrosive acids or bases such as drain cleaners, mildew
cleaners, acne medications (most contain bleach), household bleach
and similar materials that are normally expected to destroy or
greatly deteriorate a carpet.
Check your
Homeowner's Insurance Policy for more appropriate coverage.
This warranty does not apply if the protected area was used to repair automotive parts of any kind, for example, carburetors, engine components, motorcycles, motor scooters, to include the cleaning of such parts. Except for trace amounts normally encountered in most households, it is normally expected that such parts will contain sufficient amounts of cleaners, chemicals or petroleum products, including gasoline, motor oils and by-products, as well as corrosives such as brake fluid, engine cleaner, etc., so that protectant breakdown, carpet damage and/or deterioration would normally be expected.
A CASE IN POINT:
When I was new in this business and working for someone else, I noticed that we sold a lot of protectant. I have to admit I was just as skeptical as some of our customers as to how good it could really be.
One day my trainer and I arrived at a Salem home with 3 very young
children - toddlers. The work order showed that the home had been
protected a year earlier. When we entered, both of us were appalled
at what we saw. The dining room was covered with every conceivable
type of food stain. The family room and living room had obvious soft
drink spills, coffee spills, what looked like egg yolk, and also
numerous spots of fluorescent-colored blue, pink and red candy or
bubble gum in various stages of decay. All of it was stuck fast to
the carpet.
The carpet was matted down like a junkyard dog's dirty, greasy coat.
There were greasy footprints from the garage inside the garage door, and obvious mud skids throughout the house from the patio door to all points of interest.
The sad young mom apologized at the appearance of the floor. She conceded beforehand that she would totally understand if we simply couldn't get it completely clean. She'd be happy if just the dirt was removed.
We went outside to start unloading the equipment. My trainer was very stressed-out looking and all I could do was let out a long "Whew!". All he said was, "This one is going to be real tough.".
We went ahead and started. We pre-sprayed the entire home and began to clean. To our amazement, as we got to the "living" area of the home, the dirt came out like we expected. Then the food spills lifted right out. We were especially amazed as the bright candy dyes also disappeared as we cleaned - as if by magic! We thought we would surely have to resort to an unpleasant, time-consuming and expensive "heat transfer" process to remove them. Probably 10-12 of "them". The grease tracks, too, disappeared from view.
In the end, using nothing more than our regular cleaning regimen, with no unusual or excessive spotting work, we looked back and saw what looked like a brand new carpet. Every single splotch and spill came out. What we thought might be permanent stains were totally gone. This carpet was about 3-4 years old, yet it looked brand new.
We brought the mom over for the post-cleaning inspection. Her eyes opened wide and all she could say was , "Wow!". She wanted to know what we used and we had to admit that we used nothing unusual, except that she'd had it protected about a year before by us.
When I asked her if she wanted to protect it again, she never hesitated, "DO IT!". She didn't even ask how much it would be. She only knew that it saved her from an expensive and time-consuming carpet replacement.
From that day on, I recommend protectant to EVERY client I have, and without reservation. Think of it as preventive maintenance for your carpet - as essential to maintaining carpet condition as oil to your car's engine. If you can't afford it for all of your home, at the very least, consider it for the living / family / dining /hall areas. It's a lot cheaper than replacing the carpet.
Even though you may now have stain-resistant carpet, common household carpet cleaning products may not be safe for them. They may remove the factory-applied protection. Heavy dirt abrasion will also remove it with time, as will heavy foot traffic, or wheeled traffic. Many factory-applied protectants are only expected to last for about 5 years. Our protectant will help to replenish and restore that stain-resistant protection that was originally applied and will make remaining factory finish last much longer, keeping your investment in better shape.
Think of it as being a lot like a clearcoat or hard-shell wax job for your car. As long as you keep the outer shell in good shape by proper cleaning and re-waxing, the underlying paint (or carpet in our case) will be beautiful for years. Now, think of that unwaxed rust-bucket a few doors down the street! Would it have been cheaper to keep it waxed, or will it be cheaper to repaint it?
You decide, once again.
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©1997-2007,
Frank Nihei, TACH Cleaning Co.