Cold Water Extraction: Is It Effective On Carpets? (Part 3)

The EPA advises that carpets be dried within 48 hours to prevent mold and mildew. However, LEED recommends 24 hours. What are your thoughts? How fast should carpet be dried before mold and mildew become a problem?
As you point out, there has been much debate on this topic. In fact, the Low Moisture Carpet Cleaning Association takes this even further, suggesting carpets should dry within two hours to help prevent mold and mildew from developing.

We believe carpets should dry as quickly as possible and suggest they dry in 24 hours or less.

A moisture-controlled carpet extractor can help ensure carpets dry in 24 hours or less, but cleaning professionals should know that many new wands have been developed using new “atomizing” technologies. These technologies apply and remove moisture so effectively that they can prove as effective — if not more effective — as using a low-moisture extractor.

— Jolynn Kennedy, marketing director, Tornado Industries, West Chicago, Ill.

I suspect that the EPA number is based on the science of how long it takes for mold or mildew to grow. Any good carpet extractor should be effective enough to allow a carpet to completely dry within 24 hours. However, in the event that high humidity and/or insufficient air movement in a room is prevent the carpet from drying rapidly, an air mover fan should be employed to reduce dry time.

— Scott Keller, vertical market manager–commercial buildings, Bob Abrams, product manager, Brian Simmons, product manager, Clarke, Plymouth, Minn.

Combat Dust

By: Scott Keller, Vertical Marketing Manager, Nilfisk-Advance

Protecting the health and safety of a facility and its occupants is one of the key challenges of a building services manager. This requires them to keep their building looking clean, visually appealing and, above all, improve the facility’s indoor air quality (IAQ). IAQ can be impacted from many types of dust particles, inside and out. Dust inside a building is present in a wide range of forms, from bacteria and allergens to paper dust and mold. Fine particles, such as asbestos and coal dust also add to dust generation. Dust from outside a facility, such as pollen, pesticides, fertilizers and other natural environmental toxins can also penetrate a building, which adds to poor IAQ.

Building services managers can combat dust particles with carpet cleaning equipment designed to effectively contain dust particles and remove soil while providing efficient, sustainable performance. When selecting carpet care equipment, cleaning professionals turn to the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), which rates machines on their ability to remove soil, contain dust and retain quality carpet appearance.

CRI Certification

A CRI Seal of Approval on a vacuum indicates the machine meets specific standards for operation and performance. Equipment manufacturers voluntarily submit their carpet care models for the Carpet and Rug Institute’s independent testing. An independent board of scientists reviews the test results and recommends whether to certify the machine. The CRI testing program certifies machine performance in three areas:

• Soil Removal: The combination of foot traffic and dust settlement leads to a large amount of soil buildup in carpet. To gain certification, a vacuum must make four passes over a piece of test carpet that contains one-tenth of a gram of soil per square inch of carpet.
• Dust Containment: This protocol evaluates the total amount of dust released into the air during the act of vacuuming, requiring that the vacuum release no more than 100 micrograms of dust particles per cubic meter into the surrounding air. 
• Carpet Appearance Retention: Over time, dust accumulation can wear down carpet fibers and diminish the appearance of carpet. This test is designed to assess the impact of a particular machine on carpet appearance. A cut-pile carpet is subjected to one year of simulated use, including vacuuming and walking. Researchers compare before-and-after photographs to determine the amount of wear incurred using a technique called Spectrographic analysis. The vacuum 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 are peer reviewed by experts in the field of maintenance and indoor air quality to assure their validity.