soft-surfaces.com blog

There once was a time when cleaning your grout and tile meant having to get on your hands and knees with a brush and bucket. With today’s technology and our expertise, those days are over!

Marble, travertine, granite, and natural stone notwithstanding, tile isn’t usually a problem to clean. It’s usually dirty grout that’s the problem. Porcelain and ceramic tiles have a glaze that is baked in at the tile manufacturer, which makes the surface of the tile hard and non-absorbent. Grout, however, doesn’t afford the same luxury.

There are 2 types of grout – sanded and unsanded.

Unsanded grout

Usually made of epoxy or some other hard, plasticized material. With improper maintenance, unsanded grout gets scratched and can oxidize to a different color (usually yellowish) over time. When it gets scratched it will take on a dull appearance. The only cure to scratched and dull unsanded grout is replacement.

Sanded grout

Similar to mortar, but with finer sand. Think of sanded grout as rough concrete. It’s very porous and stains easily. Once stained it’s difficult to get unsanded grout back to like-new appearance. Sanded grout also can be damaged by strong acid cleaners. While sanded grout usually looks nicer after an acid wash, the top layer of the grout is etched off causing it to become thinner and more likely to fail.

Tile and Grout Cleaning Maintenance Tips

• Most important of all cleaning tips is to ensure the products you’re using don’t damage the grout and tile. Stay away from strong acid cleaners.
• Don’t wait until the grout is completely soiled before cleaning. There is a myth circulating that once grout is cleaned it will get dirtier faster. If the tile and grout is cleaned correctly this myth is false. However, it could resoil if the cleaner is not removed all the way or the product is not neutralized. If using an acid or alkaline cleaner, be sure the cleaning agent is the type that returns to neutral pH (self-neutralizing) or give it a final rinse with a neutral cleaner.
• Don’t use dirty mop water. This is a common problem that we see almost daily. As you mop the mop head and water become dirty, which is natural. If you apply dirty water back on the floor the grout lines will fill up with dirty water, causing a “squeegee effect”. That means the soil is squeegeed into the grout lines where it dries and looks dingy. Change out mop water and clean the mop head often. Better yet, use only clean water and vacuum up the dirty water.
• Agitate ONLY with a plastic brush. Using a metal bristle brush will mechanically etch away grout, causing it to become thinner and possibly fail.
• Use HOT water. The hotter the better.

Have your grout professionally cleaned

We use a system that is far superior to the consumer tile and grout cleaning methods. We start with dry soil removal – by way of a vacuum and dust mop. Next we apply a tile and grout cleaner that is safe and effective. Our next step is to agitate well with a tile brush and let the product soak into the grout lines. The last cleaning step is the most important and effective step – we use a self-contained high pressure, high heat pressure washing device to jet out the soil from your tile and grout, leaving it shiny and bright once again!

Don’t forget to seal it

Once the grout is clean and dried it needs to be sealed. There are 2 types of sealer: Color and Clear.

• Clear Sealer – used after cleaning if the color of the grout isn’t to be changed. Clear sealer usually lasts about 3-5 years before requiring re-sealing.
• Color Sealer – also used after cleaning, but adds color to the grout. This method produces perfect, even-colored grout even if the underlying grout is stained. Expect color seal to last between 1-2 years before requiring re-sealing.

In conclusion – tile and grout cleaning in Toronto just got a whole lot easier! If you’re tired of ugly grout, or your knees and back are sore from scrubbing your tile and grout, give the Nicest Cleaners You’ll Ever Meet a call (that’s us!) at 416-283-3512.

There is no shortage of choices of carpet cleaners out there. Consumers are bombarded daily with carpet cleaning offers; many of them riddled with ridiculously cheap offers (I’ve seen $9.95/room offered recently) and guarantees that won’t be fulfilled.

In our trade we call these bad apples “splash –n- dash”, “fly-by-nighters”, or “soak-n-suck” operators and they make all truly professional cleaners look bad in the eyes of the carpet cleaning consumer. With so many choices you might be asking yourself how you can truly know if the company is right for you.

In this post I’m going to show you how to choose the right Toronto carpet cleaner.

• Check out their website Most honest carpet cleaners have at least a basic website. If they’re fly-by-nighters they don’t want you to know much about them so oftentimes they’ll use other market mediums like flyers, postcards, or even door-to-door sales.

• What makes them different? Check to see what they do differently from other carpet cleaners. If the ad is all about low prices and offers no differentiation, chances are you’ve found a company who is brand new and doesn’t know what they’re doing, they’re out to upsell you to death, or something in between.

• Affiliations Honest companies tend to have local and national affiliations like the Chamber of Commerce, belong to local business groups, carry membership with the Institute for Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC), and/or have a list of satisfied local customers. If in doubt ask for some references. If they hesitate, keep looking. If they’re happy to provide references, call and ask.

• Methods Don’t be fooled by Method Marketing. That’s where a company claims to have some sort of cleaning process that nobody else has. Some franchises have patents and trademarks to protect their marketing terms, but carpet cleaning is not rocket science. Anyone with proper experience, knowledge, training and tools will perform as well as (or even better than) a company that advertises proprietary cleaning methods.

• Be aware of “Green Cleaning” and other hysteria marketing About a decade ago consumers got their first taste of the terms “Green Cleaning”. What does it really mean to be a “Green” cleaner, though? That they use products that are safe for people, pets, and the environment? Just safe for people and pets? Or just the environment? The truth is most professional cleaning products produced today are safe for all 3 categories – people, pets, and the environment; it’s just that some cleaners use the term “Green Cleaning” as a marketing tool.

Another hype marketing term that is often bandied about by marketers (not professional cleaners) is “black mold”. I saw one recent advertisement attempt to scare the consumer into using their particular cleaning process “to significantly reduce the threat of black mold”. To any professional in the cleaning industry that is marketing jargon for “we use a low-moisture cleaning method” (please see “Methods” above) and smacks at the consumer’s intelligence. Any professional, regardless of method they choose, accomplishes 2 basic tasks:

1. Get the carpet cleaned safely
2. Get the carpet dried quickly

Mold needs 3 things to grow – a food source, water, and time. Without one of those 3 things mold simply cannot grow. Your carpet is made of synthetic materials – mostly plastic. Plastic is not an organic food source and mold will not naturally grow on it. If the carpet is soaked for days, then yes – it’s time to worry! However, truly professional cleaners are inherently concerned about dry times, not because of the potential for mold growth, but because they want you to be able to use your carpet as soon as possible. Typical dry times range from a couple of hours up to 24 hours. Anything beyond 24 hours is unacceptable.

• Ask around Ask your friends, family, and neighbors for Toronto carpet cleaner recommendations. What others say about a company carries more weight than what the company says about itself.

• Interview the company Finally, call the company and have them answer the following questions.

1. Do they guarantee their work?
2. Do they follow IICRC guidelines?
3. What will they do to protect my home from your equipment? (i.e. do they use corner guards, door guards, stair hooks, wood floor sheets, and walk off mats as a bare minimum?)
4. How long will it take? (for reference a residence with average amount of carpet soil should take about 1 hour per 300-500 square feet.)
5. Ask them for a few references of a similar type of job to your own.
6. Ask them for their affiliations and certifications.
7. Do they seem friendly, knowledgeable, and courteous?

In summary
You can find an honest and caring carpet cleaner in Toronto by following this easy guide – or you could simply pick up the phone and call Soft-Surfaces Maintenance Services at 416-283-3512 with the peace of mind knowing our company does all of the above – and more!

Synthetic carpet is made up of a blend of plastic fibres that are extruded through a “spinneret” that resembles a shower head. When the fibres are first extruded they are shiny and reflect light back to our eyes easily. After the fibres are made into carpet, installed, and walked on – over time the fibres become scratched and look dull if not properly maintained.

These scratched fibres appear most often as dirty traffic lanes and are permanent; that’s why it’s important to clean your carpet before it looks dirty. Most carpet mills recommend that you get your carpets cleaned on a routine of 6-18 months.

Here is a short video demonstration on dirty traffic lane fibres.

Call Soft Surfaces for all of your floor and upholstery cleaning needs! 416-283-3512

Note: Soft Surfaces is an authorized licensee of this video

Installed carpeting is one of the largest home improvement  investments you’ll make. To ensure years and perhaps decades of life it’s important to properly care for it.

Carpet of today is not like your grandmother’s carpet. Yesteryear’s carpet fibres were round, but fibres made today are actually tri-lobial. Because there is much more surface area, the tri-lobe fibre reflects much more light back to our eyes than fibres that are round. Today’s carpet fibres are actually designed to hide soil much better than carpeting made many years ago.

But there’s a problem lurking with cleaner “looking” carpet. Although carpet appears to be clean doesn’t necessarily mean that it is.

In the 1950’s, Hoover vacuum conducted a study to find out how much soil could be hidden in a 30cm x 30cm carpet square. The results were as much amazing as they were confounding. The lab workers were able to hide nearly 1/2 kilogram of soil in that small square of carpet!

It would seem that the soil-hiding characteristics of today’s carpeting would result in nothing but benefits; unfortunately, though, because potentially 1/2 kilo. of soil can be residing in 90 square cm of carpeting without even seeing it, bad things can occur if the soil is not removed.

Synthetic carpeting is essentially made of  a blend of plastic. As soil is worked into the plastic carpet fibres through simple usage (i.e. walking on the carpet) the fibres can become etched. When that occurs the fibres don’t reflect light back to our eyes the way new carpeting does. The result: worn and scratched fibres that appear to be soiled – even after professional cleaning. Worse – scratched and worn fibres are irreversible.

An easy way to demonstrate this etching is by taking a clear nylon tube and looking through it. Scuff up one of the surfaces with steel wool and look through it again and it will look very dull. Wash the tube in water and dry it. It will still appear dull because the surface of the nylon is no longer smooth like it was before roughing it up. The same thing happens to your carpet fibres!

Vacuuming your carpet with a CRI Green Label approved vacuum is the best maintenance practice that you can perform. Blotting up and cleaning spills is another practice that every carpet owner should be familiar with. We carry an excellent spotter called Soft N Safe Carpet Spotter that is designed to remove most spills and accidents from carpeting. It’s safe, highly effective, and does not leave a sticky residue that attracts more soil like many other spot cleaners do.

Beyond vacuuming and spotting you should get on a regular deep-cleaning carpet routine every 6-18 months. Our process removes the hidden soil that etches carpeting and significantly extends its life. We maintain some well cared-for carpeting that is in excess of 30 years old and aside from some slight traffic lane patterns still looks nearly as new as it did when it was first rolled for shipping from the mill.

Save your carpet life by hiring us today!

Fred Alleyne
Soft Surfaces Maintenance Services, Inc.
416.283.3512

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARCH 3, 2011

SCARBOROUGH, ON

For the 3rd year in a row, Soft Surfaces Maintenance Services has been awarded Homestars prestigious “Best of Toronto” honors. This is the 2nd year that Soft Surfaces won the award in the Fire and Water Damage category.

The winner of each category is determined by the number of thrilled client testimonials given to the company over the previous 12 months.

Fred Alleyne, owner of both Soft Surfaces Maintenance Services – a commercial and residential carpet and upholstery cleaning company, and Speedy Dry – a water damage restoration business, said of the award:

“I’m honored that many of our clients took time away from their busy lives to say some very nice things about us. It gives me chills thinking about how we are viewed as ‘heroes’ when we restore a water damage or fire in a home or business.“

Alleyne continued, “But I don’t think we’re heroes at all. We’re just doing our jobs as professionally and empathetically as possible. We mentally place ourselves in our clients’ shoes and the rest falls into place.”

Soft Surfaces Maintenance Services and Speedy Dry can be reached via the web:

Soft-Surfaces.com
SpeedyDry.ca

or by phone at 416-283-3512

Automatic washing machines have been around since the early 1900s and have been constantly updated ever since.

Vast improvements have been made in lowering water and soap usage, quality of clothes cleaning, and even reducing water damages by way of drain sensors over the past decade.

However, there are 2 places on a washing machine configuration which could cause a potential water damage for the homeowner. These 2 areas are the water supply system and the drain system. The majority of water damages caused from a washing machine leans towards the discharge/drain side in our experience, but the supply lines can cause problems too.

Water damages can originate either inside or outside of a washing machine. If you see any water outside of the machine, the source needs to be located and corrected before a major catastrophe occurs.

Tips to limit water damage from your washing machine:

1) Be sure the discharge/waste line is secured to the drain. There are clips you can purchase and install to the drain line if your washer install kit didn’t come with one.

2) Inspect the drain line from time-to-time for cracks or splits.

3) Always use stainless braided supply lines. If you have plastic supply lines it’s well worth the small investment to change to the stainless braided type.

4) Inspect supply lines for bubbles. If you see any replace the line(s) immediately.

5) If you notice water on the floor anywhere around the washer, disconnect power before approaching the area or touching the machine.

5) If the water leakage is extensive (beyond a simple mopping), call us immediately at 416-283-3512

We’re deep into winter now and despite our best efforts of prevention, sometimes pipes freeze and thaw which causes a water damage.

Soft-Surfaces specializes in drying out and restoring flooded basements, roof leaks from ice dams, sewage backflows, or any water damage scenario.

Our experts are trained to work with all insurance companies to ensure that your home or business is returned to pre-loss condition QUICKLY. And even though we work with insurance companies, we work for YOU, not the insurance company. Unlike some contractors where it feels as though they don’t have your best interests at heart – you have our assurance that Soft-Surfaces does.

We don’t cut corners to save the insurance company a couple of bucks at the detriment of our customers. That’s just not the way we operate. If you have a flood or fire, by law you are entitled to get your home or business restored to pre-loss condition using like, kind, and quality (LKQ) materials.

Since we work for you, YOU are our boss and we’ll get you back on track quickly and with no hassle. Water is the most destructive force on earth and time is critical, so if you have a water damage give Soft-Surfaces a call right away at 416.283.3512. We’ll walk you through every step of the way and get your life back in order as fast as possible!

Stepped on, tracked on, spilled on, scooted on, scuffled on, danced on, trampled on, crawled on, and sometimes urinated and pooped on. That’s the day in the life of your carpet and it’s not too pretty!

But let’s be honest – when it was new, or the last time you had it professionally cleaned – it looked darn good didn’t it? It glittered and shined, and was comforting and warm. It smelled good and it probably even made you smile.

Carpet is made up of fibers – just like clothes. These carpet fibers provide cushion, warmth, and positive aesthetic qualities to your room. With use, though, over time the fibers scratch and dull. When carpet fibers are scratched they don’t reflect light back to our eyes the way they did when the carpet was just out of the mill and installed in your home or business. Scratched fibers are most often found in high traffic patterns of the carpeting.

When scratched fibers are dirty, the carpeting looks REALLY dirty. With professional cleaning the soil is released and helps the light reflect back to our eyes better than when soiled; however, scratched fibers are permanent and will always be a little more dull looking than carpet fibers that aren’t scratched.

Many years ago Hoover vacuum did some soil testing and determined that modern carpet can hide up to 1 pound of sand per square foot. As a curious type, I recreated the test in my shop and have found the test to be very accurate. I took it a step further and used potting soil. Much to my amazement I was able to mostly hide 1 pound of potting soil in a 12”x12” scrap piece of white saxony carpet. Seeing is believing!

Most dry soil can be vacuumed out so vacuuming often with a high quality vacuum w/beater bar is the best thing you can do for your carpeting. Vacuuming frequency is determined by use. The more carpet is used, the more it should be vacuumed.

Vacuuming once or twice a week is average for most residences and businesses; however, if your carpet gets more than average traffic, it doesn’t hurt to err on the side of safety and vacuum more often.

If you are looking for a new vacuum, The Carpet and Rug Institute conducted a series of tests on many vacuum cleaners to determine effectiveness, safety to the carpet (believe it or not a popular model that is regularly advertised on TV failed miserably and actually caused 2 years of wear just by 10 strokes from the vacuum!), and indoor air quality. Click here to check out vacuums approved by the CRI Green Label Seal of Approval for Vacuums.

Aside from vacuuming, spot cleaning is important to keep soil from sticking to carpeting and causing wear and/or permanent staining. We carry an amazing carpet spot cleaner that also wears the Carpet and Rug Institute Seal of Approval for Spot Cleaners because it passed their rigorous testing for effectiveness, safeness, and lack of residue. Our spotter is called Soft N Safe Carpet Spotter and is available exclusively by Soft Surfaces Maintenance Services.

Finally, having your carpet professionally cleaned by Soft Surfaces on a regular basis will greatly extend your carpet life, so call us today! 416.283.3512

Unfortunately it’s that time of year when pipes freeze. When water in copper pipes freezes, the water expands and oftentimes forces the copper to stretch, bulge and ultimately crack. When it thaws, water finds the path of least resistance which is the crack caused by the frozen expanding water, and floods the surrounding area.

You can prevent most pipes from freezing by turning off water lines that go outdoors (or using heat tape on them) or using a winterizing antifreeze if the building is unoccupied.

But sometimes even the most prepared consumer finds themselves with squishy carpet, wet drywall, and buckled floors and cabinets from a broken water pipe. If this happens to you here’s what you should do:

1) Turn off the water source

2) Turn off the electricity in the vicinity

3) Protect furniture legs by placing plastic sandwich bags, plastic containers, or aluminum foil under them. (WARNING – be sure the electricity is turned off before you enter a flooded area!)

4) Call Soft-Surfaces at 416-283-3512. Whether you’ve had a broken pipe, backed up sump, or sewage backup, we’ll help you every step of the way.

Next to, “my kid just barfed on my carpet, can you get it out?”, the question most often asked by our clients is, “how often should I get my carpet cleaned?”

There are a couple of factors to consider; but first one thing you should NOT do is hold off as long as you think possible. A common rumor is that carpet gets dirtier faster after cleaning so some homeowners hold off for years thinking they’re doing the right thing.

By the way that rumor can be true – IF you clean your own carpeting and use a detergent that isn’t fully extracted, or you hire a cleaner who doesn’t know what he’s doing. The way we clean is with using a prespray that breaks down the soil followed by a full rinse of extremely hot water (about 260-280 degrees) and high-powered vacuum truck-mounted extraction to remove it all.

The first consideration is to determine how much use the carpet gets, as well as the types of soil. Simple vacuuming with a good vacuum with a beater bar removes about 89% of loose, dry dirt like sand, vegetation matter (leaves), dried mud, skin flakes, etc.

However, sticky soil like oils from cooking, asphalt, bare feet, pets, food and drink spills and so forth cause soil to attract and collect. Vacuuming can’t remove these sticky soils, and over time cause even more soiling from tracking.

Also the amount of traffic should be evaluated as well. Generally speaking the more usage, the more often the carpet should be cleaned.

Finally, most carpet mills recommend, and we’ve found in our own experience, that cleaning your carpeting once every 6 to 18 months is about right, with 12 months being the most popular choice.