Monday, February 27, 2012

The Advantages of CRI Certified Extractors: Longer Lasting Carpet

We have discussed how CRI-certified carpet extractors can help to improve a facility's indoor air quality and lower cleaning costs. Today, we finish our blog post series by discussing how these extractors can help facilities achieve Longer Lasting Carpet.

The soil in carpet is not only unsightly and unhealthy, it is also destructive. Carpet soil includes sharp and abrasive microscopic particles, which when walked on, cut into carpet fibers and abrade them. This ultimately causes the carpet to continuously appear dirty. Over time, the wear caused by soil will require replacement of the carpet sooner than would otherwise be necessary. Having CRI’s certification means an extractor is both able to effectively remove dust particles, as well as not adversely affect the carpet’s overall appearance. Additionally, a certified machine will effectively remove the water from the carpet, thus greatly reducing mold and bacteria growth. All this translates to a longer life for your carpet.

To learn more about Advance's CRI-certified carpet extractor solutions, visit: www.advance-us.com.


Monday, February 20, 2012

The Advantages of CRI Certified Extractors: Lowered Costs

This week's blog post continues our series on the advantages of CRI-certified carpet extractors for your facility and cleaning procedures. While last week touched on the benefits of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), this week we will discuss how these extractors result in Lowered Costs.

According to industry-sponsored studies, as much as 95 percent of total cleaning costs are in labor. CRI-certified extractors are more effective at removing soil, dust and other compounds, which translates to greater cleaning efficiency and less time spent extracting. In addition, other studies have shown that improved IAQ helps reduce employee absenteeism and liability issues, which in turn contributes to cost reduction.

Next week, our blog post series will finish with how CRI-certified extractors result in Longer Lasting Carpet.

Monday, February 13, 2012

The Advantages of CRI Certified Extractors: Improved Indoor Air Quality

Our last few posts have discussed the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) Carpet Extractor Certification in detail, analyzing machine performance certification in various areas. Our next round of posts will look at what CRI certification really means for your facility and cleaning procedures. There are many ways an extractor with the CRI Seal of Approval can positively affect your company’s cleaning program, including: Improved Indoor Air Quality, Lowered Costs and Longer Lasting Carpet.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a measure of the quality of the air in an indoor environment. Good IAQ depends on many factors, including effective building design, up-to-date maintenance and the selection and use of “green” cleaning products. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that improving IAQ can reduce health problems, improve worker productivity and improve the efficiency of cooling and ventilation systems. Dust, residual cleaning products and poor ventilation are all enemies of good IAQ. Commonly thought of solely as a nuisance, dust frequently contains pollen, fungal spores, dust mites and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be harmful to health. A certified extractor will effectively improve IAQ by extracting the most soil during cleaning as possible. In addition, better removal of dust by extracting, reduces the amount of cleaning solutions needed.

Stay tuned for next week's segment discussing Lowered Costs!



Monday, February 6, 2012

CRI Testing Program – Carpet Appearance Retention


Thus far, we’ve discussed CRI carpet extractor certification for soil removal and water containment. This week we will look at carpet appearance retention.

Over time, accumulating dust can wear down carpet fibers and diminish the appearance of a carpet. This test is designed to assess the impact of a particular machine design on carpet appearance. A cut-pile carpet is subjected to one year of simulated use, including extracting and walking.

Researchers compare before-and-after photographs to determine the amount of wear incurred using a technique called Spectrographic analysis. The extractor receives a passing grade if the degree of wear is judged to be equal to or less than one year of standard use.

Results from all three tests—soil removal, water containment and carpet appearance retention—are peer reviewed by experts in the field of maintenance and indoor air quality to assure their validity. If an extractor model passes all three tests, it receives the CRI Seal of Approval.