The Importance of Vacuuming

Vacuuming adds to the life and look of carpet. Learn about other benefits regular vacuuming has on carpet in your home.

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Our programs allow consumers to have the best carpet experience by picking the right products for their floor and picking the best products to maintain it.

Green Label Plus

Green Label Plus, an ANAB-accredited program, certifies carpet and carpet products as low-VOC emitting products. Recognized by organizations like USGBC, EPA, UL, and WELL, GLP continues to set the bar as one of the best indoor air quality testing programs today.

NSF/ANSI 140 Sustainability Assessment for Carpet

NSF 140 provides the information architects, designers, and other building professionals need to procure the environmentally-friendly products they need for projects. The assessment recognizes sustainable carpet products on a rating system of silver, gold, and platinum.

Seal of Approval

The Seal of Approval program identifies the best carpet cleaning products and equipment available for consumers to keep carpet looking great and lasting for its intended life. By using SOA-certified products, consumers maintain the appearance of carpet and keep warranties intact.

Through our programs, Green Label Plus, NSF 140, and Seal of Approval, the Carpet and Rug Institute is working towards designing better products for consumers, creating better buildings for work, and making better homes for families.

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Vacuuming, spot removal, and professional cleaning will enhance your carpet experience for the life of your carpet.

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This post is part of the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Beauty of Carpet campaign. Read the full post at Modern Day Moguls.

Modern Day Moguls outlines how carpet is the perfect base for designing around the holidays!

Cozy– Carpet was such an easy choice in this room because I knew it would be a central working/collaboration spot for our family. Seeing that carpet is soft, warm and cozy underfoot it  makes hanging out in here so easy. Warm and cozy is important during these cooler months. Most of the time when I am working, the girls are laying on the floor working or color and the dog is right next to them.

Noise reduction – Carpet helps reduce the pitter patter of little feet making it easier to work in here. 

Healthy living – by improving indoor air quality, carpet supports healthier spaces for living for everyone – including people with asthma and allergies.

Easy maintenance –  I did go with a pretty bright white carpet color so that I could layer my vintage turkish rugs on top to provide a pop of color. This is very important when you like to change up decor as often as I do. A lot of people thought I was crazy for going so light with kids and a dog. But maintaining and cleaning your carpet is easy. We don’t do shoes in the house so that def helps. Also the CRI recommends regularly vacuuming your carpet, spot cleaning when necessary, and having your carpets professionally cleaned once a year.

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Removing soil when it’s on the surface before it gets ingrained in the carpet fiber, is the first and most important step in carpet maintenance. Use slow, repetitive motions that overlap (about four swipes), ensuring you get right up to the edges where dust, pollen, and pet dander like to accumulate.

While vacuuming might be the most well-known way to clean carpet, knowing how often to vacuum is equally important. So, how often should you vacuum your home’s carpet?

Generally once a week with a CRI-certified vacuum is a good place to start, but depending on how frequently the area is used, you’ll likely want to do it more often. For example, high-traffic or pet areas should be vacuumed daily, medium-traffic areas require about twice a week and light-traffic areas can be done once a week. Just as you wouldn’t wear a shirt over and over again without washing it, you don’t want to go too long between vacuuming your carpets.

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This post was a part of CRI’s Beauty of Carpet campaign in November 2016. Read the full post from Modern Day Moms.

Believe it or not, carpet and rugs can act as a filter, trapping allergens and keeping them out of the air we breathe. Allergens that rest on top of hard surface flooring can easily be disturbed by every day activity such as walking, moving a chair or bouncing a ball. This is very very important for young children, who have breathing zones much closer to the floor.

Regular cleaning and maintenance – such as vacuuming and professional cleaning – help remove dust, allergens and other particulates from the carpet.

When browsing The Carpet and Rug Institute website, you can look for carpet certified by The Carpet and Rug Institute’s Green Label Plus program, which indicates a low-VOC (volatile organic compound) product for homes, schools and businesses.
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I couldn’t imagine our space without carpet and rugs to not only help keep the area fresh and trap allergens but also to help cushion her fall.

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A Guide To CRI’s Seal of Approval Program

What’s the Carpet and Rug Institute?

Headquartered in Dalton, Georgia, the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) is the national trade association representing carpet and rug manufacturers and suppliers of raw materials and services to the industry.  CRI members account for more the majority of all carpet produced in the United States. CRI is the leading source for science-based information on carpet. Its mission is to provide the carpet industry, its customers and the public with facts that enable informed flooring choices. CRI is a resource for everything from carpet selection and installation to care and cleaning.

What’s the Seal of Approval Program?

The CRI Seal of Approval program tests the effectiveness of carpet cleaning products and certifies those products that remove difficult stains or a sufficient amount of soil without damage to the carpet. Not all products clean well enough to earn this distinction. Seeing the CRI Seal of Approval logo on products helps consumers recognize that they are buying quality products.

What types of products are tested?

Under the Seal of Approval program, tests are conducted on cleaning solutions and equipment. Each product is tested at an independent laboratory against control samples to assess product performance using scientifically accredited cleaning standards.

• Spot removers, pre-spray/in-tank, and encapsulate cleaning solutions are tested for overall cleaning effectiveness, pet stain/odor removal effectiveness, rate of resoiling, pH, optical brighteners and colorfastness to light.
• Deep cleaning extractors are tested for soil removal efficacy, amount of residual moisture and appearance retention.
• Deep cleaning systems (which use a specific machine used with a particular cleaning agent, following a set procedure) are tested for soil removal efficacy, resoiling, appearance retention, residual moisture, surface appearance change with repeated cleaning, colorfastness, pH and optical brighteners.
• Vacuums are tested for soil removal, soil containment and wear to the carpet.
• Interim systems are tested for soil removal and appearance retention.

Why is the Seal of Approval program necessary?

Not all cleaning equipment and solutions achieve the same results. Independent testing has shown that some cleaning detergents and spot removers clean no better than water. Worse, they can leave a sticky residue that attracts soil at a faster rate. Also, the equipment used to clean carpet varies widely in its ability to remove soil, recover water and maintain a carpet’s appearance.

How does the Seal of Approval program benefit customers?

Effective carpet cleaning helps maintain the life and beauty of the carpet. This means customers get more enjoyment out of their carpet, and more value for their investment. Also, helping carpet maintain its life-cycle cuts down on its premature removal to landfills. And that benefits everyone. Finally, some carpet companies require the use of Seal of Approval products as part of their carpet warranties.

What are the Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze ratings?

The Seal of Approval program utilizes XRF technology to measure precisely how much soil various cleaning equipment and systems remove from carpet. Vacuums, extractors or cleaning systems which meet the strict minimum requirements for the Seal of Approval qualify for the bronze rating. Those achieving higher levels of soil removal receive silver or gold ratings. Recently, the Platinum Level was added for those extractors and cleaning systems which achieve the highest level of efficacy.

What else should people know about carpet cleaning?

Today’s carpets are more stain resistant and durable than ever, making them relatively easy to clean and maintain. However, preserving the life and beauty of carpet depends on several factors: the quality of products and equipment used to clean carpets; the frequency which carpets are cleaned; and the skill and knowledge of the people doing the cleaning.

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To learn the most, students need to be at their best. Research has shown that carpet in educational institutions can reduce asthma and allergy symptoms of their students and staff. So, not only is your educational facility a great place to learn, it also becomes a better place to breathe.

What You Should Know

• There is no scientific study linking the rise of allergy and asthma to the use of carpet. Indeed, several studies actually disprove any correlation.
• A 15-year Swedish study found no link between carpet usage and the incidence of allergy or asthma. In fact, when carpet usage in Sweden decreased by 70 percent, allergy reactions in the general population increased by 30 percent.
• Also, an 18-nation study of nearly 20,000 people found a statistical relationship between carpeted bedrooms and reduced asthma symptoms and bronchial responsiveness.
• A possible explanation: carpet acts like a filter, trapping allergens away from the breathing zone so they can be removed through proper vacuuming and deep cleaning extraction. For best results removing pollutants trapped in carpet, use CRI Seal of Approval vacuums and CRI Seal of Approval cleaning products and systems. Find out more at carpet-rug.org.
• One more point: A 2003 study of more than 4,600 school children in New Jersey found that having carpet in a child’s bedroom was associated with fewer missed school days and less need for asthma medication. If carpet is effective at home, it will be effective at school as well.

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It’s a simple idea: Take care of your carpet and it will take care of you. Not only does it look great and offer health and safety benefits, properly maintained carpet offers a host of savings opportunities. Research proves that over time, no other flooring option offers you as much chance to clean up.

What You Should Know

• Carpet is cost effective. In fact, it can be 65 percent less expensive to maintain than hard surface flooring. While buying and installing hard surface flooring appears less expensive than carpet in the short run, the true cost of labor, supplies, and equipment over an average 22-year lifespan makes carpet a more cost-effective choice.
• Hard surface floors require 2 1/2 times more cleaning than carpet annually, increasing maintenance time and impacting limited human resources. Hard surface cleaning supplies are also nearly seven times more expensive than carpet cleaning supplies.
• To preserve the life of your carpet, clean it with supplies that have the CRI Seal of Approval. CRI created the Seal of Approval program to help customers identify carpet cleaning products that clean effectively without harming the carpet. For a list of these products, click on Seal of Approval at carpet-rug.org.
• The CRI Seal of Approval is especially important because independent testing shows that many cleaning detergents and spot removers clean no better than water. Worse, they can leave a sticky residue that attracts soil at a faster rate. There are also big differences in the soil removal capability among vacuums and extractors.
• Vacuuming is the single most effective means of keeping carpet clean; 90 to 95% of all dry soil by weight can be removed from carpet by following a routine schedule. Choose vacuums that bear the CRI Seal of Approval for assurance of effective soil removal and good air quality.
• Carpet also requires periodic deep extraction cleaning. Seal of Approval deep cleaning extractors and systems (equipment and solutions) effectively remove soil and also recover most of the water or solution from the carpet.

The post A Lesson on Carpet and Fresh Air appeared first on The Carpet and Rug Institute.

It’s a simple idea: Take care of your carpet and it will take care of you. Not only does it look great and offer health and safety benefits, properly maintained carpet offers a host of savings opportunities. Research proves that over time, no other flooring option offers you as much chance to clean up.

What You Should Know

• Carpet is cost effective. In fact, it can be 65 percent less expensive to maintain than hard surface flooring. While buying and installing hard surface flooring appears less expensive than carpet in the short run, the true cost of labor, supplies, and equipment over an average 22-year lifespan makes carpet a more cost-effective choice.
• Hard surface floors require 2 1/2 times more cleaning than carpet annually, increasing maintenance time and impacting limited human resources. Hard surface cleaning supplies are also nearly seven times more expensive than carpet cleaning supplies.
• To preserve the life of your carpet, clean it with supplies that have the CRI Seal of Approval. CRI created the Seal of Approval program to help customers identify carpet cleaning products that clean effectively without harming the carpet. For a list of these products, click on Seal of Approval at carpet-rug.org.
• The CRI Seal of Approval is especially important because independent testing shows that many cleaning detergents and spot removers clean no better than water. Worse, they can leave a sticky residue that attracts soil at a faster rate. There are also big differences in the soil removal capability among vacuums and extractors.
• Vacuuming is the single most effective means of keeping carpet clean; 90 to 95% of all dry soil by weight can be removed from carpet by following a routine schedule. Choose vacuums that bear the CRI Seal of Approval for assurance of effective soil removal and good air quality.
• Carpet also requires periodic deep extraction cleaning. Seal of Approval deep cleaning extractors and systems (equipment and solutions) effectively remove soil and also recover most of the water or solution from the carpet.

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