Successful & effective commercial carpet deep clean

Posted on July 20, 2022August 5, 2022 by Linsey Morris

On a warm & sunny Saturday, two of our technicians were hard at work at a commercial studio in Bath. The bright & contemporary office requested a deep clean of their carpets throughout to remove some visible stains as well as ensuring they were clean & sanitised.

It was great to return to a office space where we have cleaned the carpets on a yearly basis over the past 3 years. Giving the carpets a thorough deep clean once a year keeps them looking better for longer.

This office & studio had a mixture of carpets including some nice bright & bold designs which were a little grubby in places. High traffic areas such as reception, walkways & under desks are prone to dirt building up & benefit from a yearly deep clean.

There are many steps involved in our process of giving your carpets a successful deep clean, one of those is to treat any stains, as necessary. As you can see in the left hand picture above, there was some heavy staining in this area due to a recent flood, however successfully pre-treating this meant that the finished result left it looking as good as new. Both of the pictures shown above demonstrate how effective each step of the process is, including the final task of traditional rinse extraction which produces very satisfying results & is successful in restoring the carpet to it’s original brightness.

If you are thinking about having your commercial flooring cleaned, we are happy to come out & conduct a full survey so that we can tailor each clean to match the individual needs of you & your business. We can also offer out of hours & weekend cleans in-order to keep your business operating as normal.

As well as flooring, we also offer a range of other services which may benefit your business. More about what we have on offer, can be found on our website or by following this link – Commercial & Office Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning In Bath & Bristol Area (greenmancleaning.co.uk)

If you would like to enquire about our commercial services or to book a survey, please use the button below to get in touch.

How to keep your carpets looking great for longer.

Posted on June 7, 2022July 9, 2022 by Linsey Morris

When thinking about maintaining the upkeep of your home, we often think about decorating, garden makeovers, possibly a kitchen or bathroom renovation but the flooring, specifically the carpets are often overlooked.

The life expectancy of a carpet varies hugely based on the usage & care shown to it over the first few years following installation. Allowing soiling & stains to go untreated cuts their life-span down significantly.

Should you vacuum every day? Yes, nearly 85% of dirt found in carpets is bought in on peoples footwear. This dirt then sinks into the fibers of the carpet where it accumulates & therefore becomes more difficult to remove. The best way to beat this is to vacuum every day, preferably using a high quality vacuum cleaner.

Vacuuming carpets can also release any allergens that are embedded within the fibres into the air where they are then inhaled & potentially cause allergy symptoms. Choosing a machine that has a air (HEPA) filter will also effectively remove allergens & a fully sealed system to prevent them from purposely being released.

Deep clean of wool carpet in childs nursery in the Cotswolds 1

Conducting an annually or bi-annually professional carpet clean is also recommended. This involves a much more thorough deep clean & will ensure any remaining soiling is removed.

Always use a certified company for a hot water extraction to ensure that it is done properly.

If you have a spillage on your carpet, it will most likely stain the carpet if not treated straight away. Applying a good stain protector can significantly reduce the likelihood of spillages causing permanent staining, as long as you are able to address the issue fairly soon.

A stain protector can be applied after a professional clean has been performed or once you have bought a new carpet. Either way, a quality stain protector will help protect your carpets for longer.

Carpet stain protection in Bath and Bristol

Carpet repairs are something that doesn’t often cross peoples minds. However if you have damage to your carpet such as a burn, hole or permanent stain, this can potentially be repaired.

A successful repair depends on their being a donor piece of the same carpet available. This can either be an off-cut or taken from a cupboard or an out of the way area. Ideally there should be more donor carpet than the area that needs repairing.

After picture of a successful carpet repair in Bristol.

If you would like to enquire about any of the services we have mentioned in this article, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

Thank you for reading!

Specialist velvet upholstery cleaning

Posted on September 5, 2021December 9, 2021 by GrrenManCleaning

Pure cotton velvet requires careful attention & is easy to damage through rinse extraction cleaning. Because it is a “cut pile”, the individual cotton threads will tend to compact when wet.

It is for this reason that many upholstery cleaning companies will either refuse to clean velvet, or insist on using large quantities of volatile solvents to do the job. Dry cleaning solvent has its place in the arsenal of a professional fabric cleaner, but will not yield particularly good results for a general clean.

The owner of this particular velvet sofa had informed us that their cat had urinated on the fabric multiple times & that the visible damage & odour needed professional attention.

Avoiding damage

This image & the (very dull!) video below demonstrate how wetting affects a velvet pile and- importantly- how using a velvet “boffin” brush can reset the pile & reduce the risk of damage.

Removing pet urine from velvet

Urine will always leave uric salts within fabric, which need neutralising & removing. This creates an interesting problem when the fabric is velvet, as we will usually be looking to use as little moisture as possible to avoid potential damage.

In this case, our technician applied a specific urine neutralising solution to the velvet in minimal quantities using a sponge, rather than spraying it directly onto the fabric. This reduced the chance of the pile collapsing & ensured that we were able to remove the cat pee odour.

Our team are IICRC approved in Odour Control & have a range of solutions & equipment to tackle most issues.

Conclusion: The final result (which, alas, we forgot to photograph) was an odourless, sanitised & visually clean velvet sofa which our client was delighted with. This type of work tends to take a little longer than standard upholstery cleaning, but we find it very satisfying when we can bring this luxury fabric back to its true potential condition.

If you have any questions about our professional velvet cleaning process, please get in touch.

Thank you for reading!

Cleaning & sealing a Victorian tiled hallway

Posted on January 20, 2021December 9, 2021 by GrrenManCleaning

Many homes from the Victorian/Edwardian era contain skillfully laid tiled hallways. When they were originally installed, they would have then been cleaned & oiled at least once a week. In the more recent modern era, mopping is the main method of cleaning and brings with it a few issues.

“What has this floor been cleaned with?”

The chances are that most tiled floors are cleaned with a general detergent based solution. Over time, the sticky residues left by mopping with detergent accumulate in the grout lines and flaws in the tiles, attracting further dirt. If this is combined with insufficient rinsing, then you will find that entrance tiles can soon lose their vibrant colours beneath layers of soil.

This image shows a typical example. The floor is actually quite recent, but a regime of heavy footfall & standard mopping has lead to a dull, faded appearance.

After an initial survey to determine the quality of the installation & integrity of the tiles, our technician performed a simple test of the seal (this is done by pouring a small amount of water onto the surface of a section of tiles to see if the water is absorbed).

Any absorption indicates that the seal has failed & will require new applications of a sealant.

The Clean

Stage One:

First of all, we conduct a thorough sweep & dry extraction of all debris & loose material on the floor.

Stage Two:

Next, we apply an eco-friendly tile specific alkali cleaning solution to break down historic deposits of soil, grease and layers of ingrained detergent residues. We do this in stages, using either a rotary machine or a more specialist agitating device (example video below) to ensure the floor is scubbed as thoroughly as possible.

How we deep-clean & re-seal Victorian tiles

Stage 3:

After the cleaning solution has broken down the layers of dirt in the tiles, we extract the resulting slurry using a rinse extraction machine or a “wet pick-up”. We then clean & rinse the floor again using pure water only. This tends to be the last stage of Day 1.

Stage 4:

On Day 2, only after the floor is completely dry, we begin applying the new layers of seal. The type of seal depends on the preferred finish type of the homeowner – in this case, we were instructed to put down a satin finish. After the initial layer has been applied, we allow the seal to dry or “cure” before applying further coats.

“A completely reinvigorating facelift”

After 3 layers of sealant have been applied, the job is complete.

You can see in the image opposite that not only have these tiles been deeply cleaned, but that their colours are now enhanced.

This is the beauty of applying the right type of seal – you are protecting your floor from scuffs & spills, as well as giving the very first area of your home that people see a completely reinvigorating facelift.

If you have any questions regarding the cleaning, sealing or general maintenance of your floor tiles, or any type of stone or laminate flooring, please do get in touch using either our CONTACT page, or by calling your local branch of Green Man using the number at the top of the page.

Thank you for reading.

TV series upholstery cleaning under Covid!

Posted on November 20, 2020December 9, 2021 by GrrenManCleaning

Yesterday, our senior technician Rodney Gray attended a TV location to conduct a commercial upholstery clean.

The situation

The modern looking suite had sat on a shelf in one of the large London prop-houses and had become dusty and probably a little damp. The shoot was imminent & the upholstery needed a professional deep clean to a high standard.

The need for a quick response was clear & we despatched our most experienced technician within 24 hours.

A professional deep-clean of props that have been hired presents an interesting situation. The items do not belong to the tv production team, so if these sofas & armchairs were damaged, the production company (and then us!) become liable. Every upholstery clean we conduct begins with a careful pre-test. There are endless combinations of fabric types that are used by furniture manufactures. Some of these (such as Haitian cotton, viscose, velvet etc.) can be challenging to clean without damage.

The clean

Because of Covid-19 restrictions and, quite probably, the franticness of work on-set, an area outside had been prepared for us. This was ideal as it was a lovely day for drying – some late Autumn sun & a light breeze.

Professional commercial upholstery cleaning in Bristol

After the initial tests were done, we confirmed the fabric was suitable for a deep clean.

Our eco-friendly process follows the full professional specification to ensure all dry soil is recovered prior to stain treatments, rinse extraction (“steam cleaning”) and post-clean checks.

Professional commercial upholstery cleaning on a film set

The image above demonstrates the poor condition of the fabric. Our technician has applied our eco-sanitising pre-spray and is about to brush this in to work the solution evenly throughout. Once wet, fabrics often reveal their true condition. This also means that it can be difficult to determine the success of a clean until the item is fully dry.

The image also displays the Sapphire upholstery tool. This remarkable piece of kit enables us to rinse extract upholstery without actually “firing” the rinse solution into the fabric. The video below demonstrates the principle (see 1:10) :

The work went well and a large amount of soiling was recovered. Our cleaning methodology sanitises as part of the process. On an extremely Covid sensitive site, this was an additional bonus for the production team.

Thank you for reading!

Eco-friendly whole house clean in a Cotswold country home

Posted on July 19, 2020December 11, 2021 by GrrenManCleaning

Professional wood floor refinishing

Green Man provide a mid-point between maintenance & sanding for home owners with wooden flooring. This property had a large amount of wood flooring with a heavy varnish & significant marking throughout.

We discussed with the client the pros & cons of refinishing compared to sanding in this instance. As the floors needed to be ready in a short amount of time within a pre-determined budget, refinishing was chosen.

The process involves:

Dry extraction/vacuuming
Application of linseed oil based bio-cleaning solution
Agitation using oscillating pad machine
Rinse extraction
Accelerated drying using air-movers
Application of two coats of industry standard wood refinisher (which refreshes the varnish, as well as in-filling micro-abrasions on the varnish)

Sisal hallway eco friendly cleaning in the Cotswolds 480×640 1
Sisal staircase cleaning 480×640 1

Professional sisal carpet cleaning

Sisal flooring is beautiful & resilient to heavy use, but very difficult to clean once dirty or stained. Because it is a dry, cellulosic fibre any excess of water will cause it to deteriorate. For this reason, we use a dry compound to clean sisal. It’s a fairly laborious, time-consuming process but, as you can see, these carpets responded very well-

Deep clean of wool carpet in childs nursery in the Cotswolds 1
Start of tenancy carpet cleaning in the Cotswolds

Last month, the whole Green Man team worked together to deep-clean & decontaminate a large country home in the Cotswolds within just three days. This brought together our teams from Bath, Bristol, Cheltenham, Frome & Gloucester in close co-ordination amidst strict social distancing and involved the following professional cleaning services:

Wool carpet cleaning
Sisal carpet cleaning
Wood flooring cleaning & refinishing
Limestone floor cleaning
Linen upholstery cleaning
Full decontamination of the large 6 bedroom property

We were delighted to also be contracting with local providers Clean as a Jem for:

Start of tenancy deep-cleaning
Window Cleaning

The Brief

Our client contacted us on behalf of the buyer to initially conduct a full survey of the property. The brief was demanding, but simple,

“Deep-clean, restore & decontaminate every aspect of the property in order to bring it as close to ‘as new’ as possible.”

The work was also specified to be carried out within three days, alongside multiple other contractors engaged in decorating, installing electrical systems & landscaping.

Eco friendly hard floor cleaning in the Cotswolds 1

Professional wool carpet cleaning

The property had been purchased part-furnished and was fitted with a large amount of white, pure wool carpeting. In order to bring the carpets to their best potential condition, we specified a deep-clean with our most powerful, eco-solution that not only sanitises the wool, but conditions it.

Our process for cleaning carpets includes:

Pre-testing
Industrial vacuuming with Sebo BS36/46
Spot/stain treatments
Application of eco-sanitising solution
Agitation (mechanical or manual with a pile brush)
Traditional rinse extraction
Pile grooming
Accelerated drying using air-movers

Wood floor after refinishing in the Cotswolds
Application of wood floor refinishing in the Cotswolds 480×640 1
Eco friendly wood floor restoration in the Cotswolds scaled e1612469390514
Eco friendly wood floor refinishing in the Cotswolds

Professional limestone floor cleaning

The entrance hall, downstairs corridors, kitchen & multiple en suite bathrooms had limestone flooring. The flooring was quite heavily soiled and would need a full deep-clean using our hard-floor cleaning machinery & solutions. The survey indicated that although the limestone would benefit from a top-up coat of impregnating seal, the logistics of multiple trades moving throughout the property meant that there would not be any opportunity to do this.

Limestone flooring is porous & textured, meaning plenty of imperfections in which soil can accumulate. Our method is to use a combination of rotary brush & oscillating pad, followed by rinse extraction to remove the soil and bring the limestone back to its original brightness.

Deep clean of limestone kitchen floor in the Cotswolds 480×640 1
After a deep clean of limestone tiles in a hallway 480×640 1
Limestone floor cleaning in the Cotswolds 480×640 1

Professional linen upholstery cleaning

One of the first things noted in the initial survey was a huge amount of linen furniture. As well as the largest corner sofa I’d ever seen (in the cinema room), there were also 2x three piece suites, an array of dining chairs & multiple chaise longues in the bedrooms & bathrooms.

Linen is a natural fibre from the flax plant. For this reason, it needs to be treated with care as it can suffer cellulosic browning if overwet, or rinsed with a solution at the incorrect ph. Obviously, when faced with such a large quantity of fabric, it is critical to maintain attention to detail…

Eco friendly upholstery cleaning in the Cotswolds 1
Linen sofa after professional upholstery clean

The Verdict

The team knew from the outset that our client had specified the work to be of the highest standard. At the end of Day 3, I conducted a full walk-through with our client & housekeeping. It was with a real sense of satisfaction & relief that we were told that our work had fulfilled the new owner’s specifications.

If you have an enquiry regarding deep-cleaning, start of tenancy, end of tenancy or decontamination services in the Cotswolds area, feel free to get in touch to arrange a no obligation survey.

Thank you for reading.

Contamination Control Certification

Posted on May 11, 2020December 21, 2021 by GrrenManCleaning

Here is my certificate from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) for the excellent & informative training course for cleaning professionals.

This course was to prepare for, respond to and recover from biohazards in the workplace. By completing the course, I revised infection and contamination control measures for infectious disease outbreak situations such as the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

Kimberly Clark award scholarship to Green Man

Posted on April 27, 2020December 21, 2021 by GrrenManCleaning

Kimberly-Clark award Green Man a scholarship to the ISSA Biohazard training course.

We are delighted to announce that we have received confirmation that we have been accepted onto the ISSA’s GBAC Fundamentals Online Course: Microbial Warrior Workshop, courtesy of
Kimberly-Clark Professional.
This course teaches cleaning professionals to prepare for, respond to and recover from biohazards in the workplace. Participants will learn infection and contamination control measures for infectious disease outbreak situations such as the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

This course will be an invaluable resource to the team at this time. Whilst we have a variety of decontamination training as a team, the ISSA course will be another opportunity to consolidate our learning at a time when we are receiving increased demand for this service.
Kimberly-Clark will fund the training as part of their outreach programme to workers in our sector on the front line of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Thank you, Kimberly-Clark!

Decontamination cleaning in Bradford on Avon

Posted on April 13, 2020December 21, 2021 by GrrenManCleaning

Eco-friendly decontamination cleaning in Bradford on Avon

As a provider of professional cleaning services, we are receiving an increased volume of enquiries relating to decontamination cleaning. The current Covid-19 crisis has affected everyone, both at home and at work. It has heightened the public perception of how contamination can be spread and therefore increased the demand for this type of work.

What we offer

Green Man carry a range of solutions specifically designed to deal with pathogens and have the training in place to ensure a professional deep-clean can be conducted to a high standard. While few products in our sector have been accredited as being “Covid-19” specific, the solution we use is effective against Coronoviruses, as well as being entirely eco-friendly. For this reason, we are confident in stating that we can conduct a decontamination clean with a solution tested to kill a range of Coronaviruses.

“Green Man can conduct a decontamination clean with a solution tested to kill a range of Coronaviruses.”

Specifically relating to the current situation, here are the anti-viral services we offer our customers in and near Bath:

Eco-friendly anti-viral carpet cleaning in Bradford on Avon
Eco-friendly anti-viral hard floor cleaning in Bradford on Avon
Eco-friendly anti-viral upholstery cleaning in Bradford on Avon
Eco-friendly anti-viral rug cleaning in Bradford on Avon
Eco-friendly decontamination fogging/fumigation treatment in Bradford on Avon

Category: Bradford on Avon