Carpet Cleaning Archives | Carpet Cleaning and Damage Restoration

Top 7 reasons it’s important to have regular upholstery cleaning

You read your favorite book on it, take naps after a long day’s work on it, have the kids’ friends over for a sleepover on it, and gather around it to watch that one show everyone in the family likes. What are we talking about? Your furniture, and your furniture upholstery, to be more precise. Because you do so much life on and around your furniture, regular upholstery cleaning is just as important as regular carpet cleaning. That’s right: your couches, chairs, sectionals, ottomans, and anything else with fabric needs to be deep cleaned just like your carpets.

Here are the top 7 reasons it’s important to have regular upholstery cleaning:

Air Quality

Every time you sit, lie, plop, or move around on your upholstered furniture, you’re unknowingly releasing dust, dirt, grime, mold spores, dead skin, and bacteria into the air of your home. Of course, having your upholstery full of dust, allergens, mold, mildew, or old stains can negatively affect the quality of the air in your home.

While good air filters and household plants help filter out those allergens, removing them completely from the upholstery means they aren’t there to be picked up by the filter, to begin with. And, complete removal of allergens and dust is always ideal for a clean home with clean air.

Health

Did you know that the allergens, dust mites, fleas, mold, and bacteria can get into the fibers of your upholstery, and left too long, they all could cause a wide range of allergies and illness? Also, if you have anyone with sensitivities to dust or mold, this will only impact them more. Keeping up on regular upholstery cleaning drastically reduces the presence of these irritants, and in turn, helps to keep your home and family healthy.

Odors

The family couch or sectional is where a lot of life happens. You’ve engaged in countless movie nights, eaten dozens of TV dinners, fought off illnesses, and watched hundreds of TV shows and cartoons. If you have a baby or toddler, the couch has been a changing table and feeding station. For most families, the living room furniture becomes the favorite spot for homework or running an at-home business, and you can bet it is your pet’s favorite spot to wait for you to come home.

Clearly, a lot happens on your furniture, and sometimes it’s all too obvious because of the odor. Plus, cooking odors from the kitchen have a way of staying on your upholstery, which also contributes to an unpleasant smell. Upholstery cleaning helps remove those odors by removing the source.

A Longer Life for Your Furniture

Your furniture is an investment, and oftentimes an expensive one. Whether it’s just regular wear and tear, or spilled milk, body oil and grease, cleaning your furniture regularly can extend the life of your investment.

Appearance

You know those stains couches collect that you’ve tried covering up with a blanket or pillow, and when company comes over you feel embarrassed? Of course, we all do!

Whether they’re from kids and animals, or just being old and experiencing normal wear and tear, we use our furniture on a daily basis. And no matter how clean your house and carpets might be, if the upholstery on your furniture looks dirty and grimy, the rest of the house isn’t going to feel clean.

The easy solution is to have your carpet cleaning professional add-in upholstery cleaning while also cleaning your carpets.

Your House Experienced Water or Smoke Damage

Accidents happen and are sometimes out of our control. A roof leak or a minor stove fire can cause water or smoke damage. Part of that damage is done to the upholstery of your furniture. While you might be inclined to just throw out the furniture and start over, you would be surprised what a good upholstery cleaning can do.

Our technicians are IICRC certified and ready to help you clean up the water/smoke damage your home and furniture experienced.

Durability

You know that faded, thinning look your furniture upholstery can get? That’s caused by dust and dirt, which act like bits of sandpaper rubbing on the fabric. Regular upholstery cleaning removes this dust and improves the durability of the upholstery, making sure your furniture lasts a long time.

Avoid DIY Upholstery Cleaning

Tip: While many people are tempted to clean their own upholstery, we encourage you not to. One of the reasons professional carpet and upholstery cleaning is so effective is because we know what issues can arise and we work to prevent those issues from damaging your furniture and rugs. Also, we are able to fully extract moisture from your furnishings. Leftover water and moisture can be a significant problem causing:

Mold
Mildew
Further staining

Many of the cleaning machines you can buy from a store do not have the power that truck-mounted water extraction equipment has. Because of this, even though you might feel like you’ve gotten all the moisture out of the upholstery, there still could be more hiding that hasn’t yet come to the surface.

You Can Trust Wiz Team To Handle Your Upholstery with Care

One of the first things we do when we come to clean upholstery is to check the upholstery condition to guard against any problems. These include:

Cushion shrinkage
Texture damage
Color fading
Dye bleeding

At Wiz Team, Inc. Cleaning & Restoration, we use the hot water extraction method to carefully clean your upholstery, helping it look like new and last longer (where applicable). Some finer textiles are manufactured as dry cleaning only, which we are more than able to handle. As always, we do recommend that after each cleaning, we apply Kleenguard Protective Finish to help protect against any future spills or stains. Contact us today to schedule your cleaning.

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5 Reasons It’s More Fun to Clean in December

Whether you like to clean or not, you have to admit that there’s something magical about making your home sparkle this time of year. Maybe it’s all the wine? Or maybe it really is just more fun?

Keep reading for five good arguments on why it’s better to clean in December.

It’ll warm you up.

Baby, it’s cold outside (and probably inside, too!). A little vacuuming, dusting, or cabinet organizing is a good way to get that blood flowing and increase your body temp.

I am notoriously always cold (I complain so much all winter that people who don’t know me think I’m from Florida … and then I tell them I’m from New Jersey!). I can never seem to warm up and will never say it’s too hot — even in August. But after any cleaning session this time of year, you can find me overheating, stripped down to a tank top and shorts with my hair piled in a messy bun on the top of my head.

Try it. If your place is tidy to your liking and you’re still cold, you can crank up the heat or light a fire. But I’m guessing it won’t come to that.

You can listen to Christmas songs the entire time.

I highly recommend the “Today’s Christmas” station on Pandora. I turn that on, crank up the volume, and get to cleaning my own little winter wonderland. It’s certainly not as educational as a podcast, but I think it’s okay to zone out for a few hours. Plus, this station gets me in the mood for some serious holiday-ing.

1. Your soap smells like pine trees. Or cranberries. Or peppermint. The holiday season is a short one, so there’s a limited amount of time that it’s technically acceptable to surround yourself with these festive scents. I fully support getting as much of it as humanly possible while you can. I can clean with basil-scented soap 11 other months out of the year. For now, I’m going with something that smells like a forest of trees and freshly fallen snow.

You can do it under the twinkle of string lights.

Yes, I know you’re technically supposed to clean when it’s sunny, so you can see all the dust. (Although you’re supposed to clean windows when it’s overcast. So many rules!) But I’d rather do it at night with all my Christmas lights on to set the mood. It just makes it all feel so much more special. Like I’m a Christmas elf and I’m on a mission. Besides, that’s the setting my guests are going to see, anyway. So I may as well clean from their perspective.

You’re getting ready for guests.

Guests, I say! It’s not like you’re cleaning for no reason (you know, aside from having a clean home). You’re organizing because your coworkers are coming over. You’re vacuuming because your baby nephew will be scooting around on your floor. You’re scrubbing your countertops because you’re about to prepare a major feast in that kitchen. Those impending plans just make it all worth it. I know I’m going to have fun and people might even shower me with compliments when they see how clean I keep my home.

What do you help cleaning this time of year? Your professional cleaning and restoration specialists are here to make your holidays go right. Give us a call to set-up your free in-home consultation today at 847.526.6060.

From all of us at Wiz Team, Inc. we wish you a happy and safe holiday season!

WiizTeam

Thanksgiving Notice of Hours

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Avoidable Holiday Home Malfunctions

Dear Homeowners,

There are many preparations that need to be completed in the run-up to the festive period: cards need to be mailed, gifts need to be purchased and dinners need to be planned. But amidst all the mayhem, don’t forget to prep your home too.

With all the extra guests arriving for Holiday parties, that means extra strain on your appliances… you don’t want your heating to malfunction on Christmas day and be left in the cold! Here’s our guide to preparing your home for the Holidays if you’re expecting guests.

Winterize Your House

If it gets cold or wet where you live, you need to prepare now before the really bad weather arrives. Avoidable holiday home malfunctions are easier to deal with if you get ahead of the ball! So let us get started. Check or change your air filters to keep your inside air fresh and your system in peak condition. If you want to avoid unnecessary filter changes or clogs, install new filters and be sure to check your system – it is time to act. Also, check window and door seals for air leakage and seal them up. Lastly, ensure the exterior is prepared by maintaining clean gutters – have salt on hand for walkways and stairs to prevent slips and falls. Remember that before winter fully sets in, it might be a good occasion to have your air duct system professionally cleaned before you are couped up all winter long in a stuffy allergy-ridden household!

Inspect Your Heating

Festive parties should be warm and cozy, so make sure your heating unit is in great working order. As well as timely air filter replacement, duct cleaning is an important step to take. To clean your ducts, contact Wiz Team, Inc. for a free in-home consultation. During our consultations we take a look at your system, ensure it is performing at its peak, as well as, assess the time, access, and cost of cleaning your system. A well-tuned, clean heating system operates much more efficiently, is better for the environment and will save you money this Holiday season. That’s more dollars for eggnog and pecan pie!

Check Your Plumbing

Though it might not be polite to mention, more guests means your bathroom gets some extra use…Avoid embarrassing situations with timely preventative maintenance and repairs. Drains should be checked to ensure they are clear – try plunging some water through. For most, minor blockages and a plumber’s snake will do the job. If you can’t seem to get the water flowing right, it may be time to call a plumber. Wiz Team, Inc. only works with the most respectable, timely, and honest plumbing companies. If you need assistance finding a dependable plumber, contact us – we are happy to provide referrals for great home services.

Prep Your Garbage Disposal

Another unit that’s going to get some extra use this Holiday is your garbage disposal. As with all things, prevention is the best cure so give everyone in your household a refresher on what doesn’t go in there. The worst offenders for blocking the garbage disposal are bones, grease, fruit pits, and even potato peel! Be careful if you are going to try and clear a blockage yourself – never put your hand in there! Make sure the unit is switched off and then use a wooden spoon or tongs to loosen or extract the offending item. Remember this article is about avoidable holiday home malfunctions – we want to help you avoid them before they ruin holiday plans.

Post Holiday Clean-Up

If the in-laws and all the extended family have left your beautiful home in somewhat of a disarray – it might be time to call for back-up. Wiz Team, Inc. offers a wide array of home care services such as; 7Ph Carpet Cleaning, Hardwood Floor Cleaning, Upholstery Cleaning, among many other services that you may benefit from. Give our office a call and let us help you take care of the carpet full of crumbs, or perhaps let’s clean those area rugs that had a little too much wine during dinner, or maybe its the hardwood floors that need a bit of TLC after being trampled by all the guests. Whatever your home care cleaning needs may be – we are here to help keep your home beautiful and lovely. Remember, all of our in-home consultations are completely free!

From all of us here at Wiz Team, Inc, we wish you have a Happy and Malfunction Free Holiday Season!

WiizTeam

Hazards Hiding Inside Your Carpet

Most people know that a clean environment is better for your health. While you can’t always control the cleanliness of public spaces you interact with, you can make sure that your home is fostering the healthiest environment possible.

Especially before cold and flu season is back in full swing, take the time to protect your family by making sure your carpet isn’t making you sick. Although your carpets appear clean, they can be a host for bacteria, microbes, and other irritants. Below you will find the common list of health issues that could be coming from or made worse by dirty carpet.

Respiratory Issues

Mold, pet hair, old skin, dust, and dirt can all get trapped in your carpets. Daily activity such as walking or vacuuming can free these particles from the carpet and spread them into the air. Can dirty carpets make you sick? This movement of pollutants can lead to respiratory issues such as coughing or difficulty breathing. Individuals who suffer from asthma can feel these symptoms even more intensely, as they’re more vulnerable to such airborne toxins. The American Lung Association advises that pets, as well as children who spend more time on the floor and touch their hands to their mouths, are more at risk of being affected by toxic particles in your carpet. Only proper maintenance and professional cleaning methods can successfully remove these toxic particulates which lay dormant in your carpeting.

Allergies

The same mold and dust mites that can inflame your lungs can also give you red eyes or a runny nose if you suffer from allergies. The buildup in your carpet can easily trigger an allergy attack or make your day-to-day life just a little more unpleasant. If you frequently wake up with drainage or allergy-like symptoms, your carpets should be one of the first places you look to eliminate bacteria and dust mites. (Pro-Tip: The second place is to check your air duct system and if it needs to be cleaned.) Now that fall is here, you might be experiencing sneezing and skin irritation thanks to ragweed and mold. The American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology warns that these irritants can build up in your carpet and that your symptoms can flare up in the immediate hours after vacuuming. This buildup can occur due to the fact that we keep our homes more closed up during the colder months which allows irritants to settle in the carpeting and consistently recirculate in the air when the heating systems kick in.

Skin Irritation

Itchy skin, rashes, athlete’s foot, and eczema are all dirty carpet dangers that can be triggered or made worse by dust mites in the unclean carpet. Even if you maintain a regular cleaning schedule, dust mites are small enough to evade the most diligent home cleaners. Utilizing technologies such as home humidifiers and having the carpeting cleaned on a regular schedule can help in significantly reducing presence of dust mites.

Weakened Immune System

Your body works hard to keep you healthy! Whether you’re at home or at the office, your immune system is constantly fighting off germs and toxins. When you live in an unclean environment, your body is working overtime to fight against bacteria and keep you healthy. It makes sense that your immune system can start to get tired when you’re living in a home where there’s a buildup of germs and toxins in dirty carpets. Babies have developing immunes systems and are frequently in contact with floors, which puts them at a greater risk of getting sick from your carpet. If you have a home with toddlers and small children, frequent vacuuming and professional cleaning are important for keeping your kids healthy.

Pet Germs

If you have animals, keeping your carpets clean is even more important for disease prevention. Animal urine and feces can cause a host of issues in your carpet. From carrying bacteria to creating smells like ammonia that can cause nose and lung irritation, pet waste can be particularly dangerous for small children who are in frequent contact with dirty carpet. The dampness can also increase the risk of mold growth, so immediately treating affected areas is crucial. Especially with cats and dogs that spend time inside and outside of the house, diseases and germs can be easily spread. Fleas and ticks can find their way into your home if you’re not regularly cleaning your pets and your carpets. These pests often cannot be eliminated by cleaning alone, often extreme heat or chemical treatments are required to free your home of these unwanted visitors. As much as we love our pets ensuring we take every necessary precaution to have a clean environment should be at the top of our list.

Stomach Illness

Nothing good comes from wet carpet. But you may not realize just how bad damp carpet can be for your health. The presence of mold can cause a variety of health issues, but the presence of mycotoxins cause severe stomach irritation and infection. According to the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, mold can go unseen and is even more common in basement carpeting. Your carpet could even be a host for salmonella. While you may think of salmonella as a foodborne disease, this pathogen can be tracked into your home, putting your household, especially children, at risk.

Mental Anguish

Along with the host of physical illnesses that can result from dirty carpet, your mental health can also be affected. Ridding your home of a flea infestation or taking care of sick child is a lot of stress. The American Psychological Association has confirmed that stress produces physical symptoms and leads to a weakened and immune system. So clean carpets won’t just help you stay healthy. They’ll help you stay happy, too. So how do you protect yourself and your family against the health risks of dirty carpet? Regular vacuuming and cleaning does help. However, dirty carpets can also mean a dirty vacuum. To prevent spreading any carpet problems, make sure you are using a vacuum with a true HEPA filter that’s frequently cleaned and regularly change full bags.

Basic cleaning measures alone aren’t enough to ensure that your carpets aren’t a host to pollutants and toxins. It is recommended to have your carpets cleaned professionally every 12 to 18 months to protect against allergens and bacteria. This will ensure that your home is as clean and healthy as possible! Learn more about our Wiz Team, Inc. Cleaning & Restoration Specialists.

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Master Certifications: Is it important?

Master Certification: Carpet cleaning (basic) IICRC Certification is just the start. Think of Master Certifications as the “graduate degrees” of our industry. With the additional requirement of experience, beyond classroom learning, Master Certifications communicate a higher level of experience, expertise, efficiency and credibility, not to mention the confidence.

Master Certified Technicians exhibit higher productivity, increased technical competency, lower error rate and higher level of client satisfaction.

IICRC Certified Firms: Certification of a firm provides concrete evidence to clients that the company is staffed with people who know what they are doing and that the firm conducts business to an IICRC-prescribed set of ethical business practices and standards. IICRC stands for the highest standard of excellence in certification.

Although a lot of technicians become IICRC certified in basic techniques and stop there, three master certification paths – textile cleaning, fire and smoke restoration and water restoration – journeyman and master designations are reserved for those who truly developed their skills.

Master Water Restorer, Master Textile Cleaner and Master Fire & Smoke Restorer are highest “graduate degrees” in our industry.

All master certifications must be achieved over a minimum of three years so classroom learning and certification is combined with real-world work. The IICRC Master status is the highest technical certification in the cleaning industry.

Certification: Why It Matters

Just as certified accountants, electricians, plumbers and mechanics project a higher level of competency in their fields, and just as members of the American Medical Association and American Bar Association set themselves apart through training, experience and comprehensive examination, IICRC certification helps to immediately identify the cleaning, restoration and inspection industries’ most skilled and dedicated technicians and businesses.

However, unlike electricians, plumbers, accountants, doctors and lawyers, the cleaning, restoration and inspection industry does not require a technician or the firm to be certified in order to perform these services. Certification matters because outstanding service means consecutively correct service, every time.

Being certified is voluntarily, therefore it is important to check if you’re cleaning and restoration service provider is in fact certified.

Wiz Team, Inc. is keeping up with the latest education and training, techniques and technologies. We are staffed with experienced and educated, well-trained, satisfied employees who are the key to our satisfied clients.

The history of cleaning and restoration certification is long, but for us it all started from – a deceptively simple question: What works best for our clients?

It has driven us to research chemistry, extraction techniques, fiber identification, airflow and many other subjects.

Thanks to the strength of the schools and instructors, our technicians have knowledge and skills to achieve education on cleaning and restoration – improving their skills and serving our clients with best practices.

In the end, certification matters because we all work in service industry – and outstanding service means consecutively correct service, every time.

We obtain science-based information for best practices and build technical and scientific knowledge in the restoration and cleaning industry in order to provide the most outstanding service experience ever to our clients.

Wiz Team, Inc. is the ONLY cleaning and restoration firm in Chicagoland holding quadruplet Master Certifications designations.

We are certified as: Master Water Restorer, Master Textile Cleaner, Master Fire & Smoke Restorer and Master Rug Cleaner. So, before you call a company whose technicians have only basic or worse yet have no certification, call the Wiz Team, Inc. – true Cleaning and Restoration Specialists – best in the industry.

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Building Cleaning Carpet Cleaning Home Cleaning Home Maintenance Maintenance Service
28.08.2019

Carpet Cleaning: Making Better Decisions

Imagine…

You are shopping for new carpet, perhaps just a few rooms. Two of the rooms are bedrooms, which don’t get as much foot traffic as the entryway, living room and hallway you also need to replace. It’s been nearly 10 years since you had new carpet.

You go to a local carpet retail store. The carpet salesman has a great deal for you: A virtually stain-proof carpet with vibrant colors and also soft to the touch. You put your fingers into the carpet pile and love how it feels. You order the carpet for all the rooms you need to replace.

In a week or two, on the scheduled installation day, you remove all the furniture from the rooms and the installation pros show up and remove the old carpet and pad and put in the new.

It looks great!

A year later, when you decide it’s time to have the carpet cleaned, your carpet cleaning pros show up and do a great job removing the dirt. Even the spots come right out! However, there is a “worn” area in the living room and down the hallway, but not in the bedrooms. You ask your carpet cleaning pro why that is. He performs a fiber identification test and informs you that you purchased polyester carpet, which tends to matt down and look somewhat soiled just because of wear. He then kindly informs you that if you had purchased nylon, a more durable carpet fiber, this likely wouldn’t have happened.

You are upset. Don’t you hate it when you purchase something and it doesn’t perform as promised? Keep in mind – carpet salespeople may not be your best consultant when it comes to fibers.

So before you go looking for new carpet or furniture, give your carpet and furniture cleaning pro a call. Ask which fiber is best for each application in your home. Yes, polyester may be soft and colorful, but it may be best to keep it in the bedrooms and use durable fibers, like nylon and wool (which is expensive), in the high trafficked areas of your home. The point of our write up is to inform you how, even though, carpeting can all seem the same – they are not all constructed the same and do not wear and tear similarly over time. When choosing your next carpeting, be sure to give us a call, we are always here to help, assist, and consult you on all your in home textile needs! Choose the right fabrics for your lifestyle and not based on what a well-spoken sales person may recommend.

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The Myth of the Vacuuming

You would be hard pressed not to find this noisy, electrical and often-underused mechanical device in any home, apartment or business.

What is it? The vacuum cleaner. You know, that silent sentinel in your closet that comes to life when you plug it in and push the power button, and it buzzes all over the carpet as you chase it around the house.

Vacuuming gets all the dirt?

The problem with the vacuum cleaner is we trust it too much. No, we’re not saying you shouldn’t vacuum your carpet. You should vacuum once per week per occupant, on average, for the main areas. You might vacuum the bedrooms less frequently. We all know that proper vacuuming is important in caring for the carpet.

But some feel that vacuuming the carpet is equal to carpet cleaning. That’s a myth and it is simply not true. Professional carpet cleaning removes so much more than a vacuum can remove. Yet it has been reported that consumers feel that frequent vacuuming removes the dust and grime from their floors and they can either skip or prolong regular carpet cleaning.

That’s not the case.

A good vacuum, no matter how powerful or advanced, removes only dry soil. The stuff that is tracked in every day and should be removed every day, as well. Vacuums don’t remove the sticky, greasy soil stuck to the carpet fibers. You need professional cleaning to remove those soils.

Compare this to washing your car with a dry rag… or brushing your hair and skipping the shower and shampoo… or — well, you get the point. You need quality cleaning, deep carpet cleaning, to get your carpet thoroughly cleaned.

Do yourself a favor. Keep that vacuum cleaner working, use it all the time, but also use your professional carpet cleaning pro. We know what it takes to remove ALL the dirt!

WiizTeam

Carpet Cleaning Home Cleaning Home Maintenance
11.07.2019
Carpet Cleaning, cleaning service, rug cleaner, rug cleaning services

Carpet Cleaning: It’s Just Good for You

Nowadays we are all concerned about better health. We take vitamins and shop for healthy foods. Visit our doctor on a regular basis, we drink filtered water… What we might not appreciate is the value of filtered air.

Carpets are Filters

How can you effectively filter the air in your home? You do it by changing the filters in your HVAC furnace system on a regular, scheduled basis. If you wait too long, you know the filter is going to be dirty. So you should change it often, and maybe you want to even put it on your smartphone or wall calendar so you don’t forget. You might even want to pick up a better quality filter.

But what about the biggest filter in your home? Are you wonder what it is? Just look down… if you have carpet, that’s the filter that often gets ignored. If you don’t have much carpet, odds are you have area rugs covering those hard floors. Those area rugs are filters, too.

Remember, allergens are very light and float in the air, and are respiratory concerns, especially for allergy and asthma sufferers. Carpet helps to keep those particulates to a minimum.

Cleaning is Important

Carpet in a home is a protection for you, because it traps all kinds of allergens that can be the bane of asthma sufferers. Carpet is a filter and, like all filters, has to be either changed or cleaned. It’s not practical to change your carpet every year or so (heck, no one could afford that!) but you can – and should – have it cleaned.

There are many documented studies about how homes and facilities, such as schools, are healthier because of carpet and regular cleaning schedules.

So enjoy your carpet and clean air in your home – have it cleaned by your favorite carpet cleaning pro!

If you prefer we can put it into our calendar and remind you so you don’t forget it. Call Wiz Team, Inc. to schedule your carpet cleaning (847) 526-6060

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Rugs and Floods – Rugs during a Water Damage Loss

Water Damage Loss Lake Forest, IL: When a home floods and mitigation company is called out to save your home, it is extremely rare that team’s expertise is oriental and area rugs.

In the midst of all of that chaos (usually in the middle of the night) your rugs are most likely the last concern of the mitigation team trying to saving your home.

Usually they are not trained to recognize the difference and understand the value of your rugs.

The wet rug in the family room may be worth a hundred dollars or a hundred thousand dollars, to them won’t make a difference. That rug might be an easy-to-replace contemporary piece or a rare and antique piece of textile art; if they are not trained properly they will not know that.

We know that. We are ONLY Master Certified Rug Cleaners in Chicagoland!

We know how valuable a rug can be when a memory from a past trip or an heirloom is handed down through family generations.

In the middle of water damage disaster saving that rug may be the one bright spot. We know who to do it!

Here are simple guidelines that help us save rugs value (monetary and sentimental) when dealing with water damaged rugs.

First thing first, we identify fibers.

Rule of thumb is natural fiber (silk, wool, and cotton) rugs have a higher value than synthetic fibers. Natural fibers absorb water more readily than synthetic fibers, and these will be the fibers most prone to dye migration and mold. The longer natural fiber rugs stay wet, the more damage and contamination will result.

During the triage our focus is first on the rugs that are wool, silk, and cotton. Synthetic fiber (nylon, olefin/polypropylene, and polyester) rugs are usually machine made and will have a label on the back corner which shows fiber content but we are skilled in fiber identification.

When a homeowner is not present to inform us which rugs have a higher value to them, then we focus on whether rugs are woven or tufted.

We will identify if woven rugs have been woven by hand or woven by machine, and we focus on saving first the rug that is hand woven.

Tufted rugs have a backing material. Usually these rugs have a cloth covering on the rug, or a glue or rubber backing. A tufted rug that is from Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, West Elm, or another similar or online stores, is usually a commodity rug and often costs less to replace than to attempt to save.

Because of their structure, tufted rugs left wet too long tend to fall apart, and the adhesive and backing materials are extremely susceptible to mold growth. Therefore, these rugs often are considered a total loss when exposed to a flood. In those instances we suggest to homeowners to replace this types of rugs, rather than spending money on saving them.

As in all aspects of water damage – Time is of essence!

Extraction and drying as quickly as possible is a must for all rugs. If extracted and dried quickly, further damage to natural fiber rugs will be halted and the rugs can be fully wash and disinfected so that it can be return to pre-loss condition, as much as possible. The quicker the water-damaged rugs are dried out, the greater the chance to save them.

Never, never, never do it yourself or allow your restoration team to hang wet rugs to drip dry. This can cause more dye migration throughout the rug and, depending on the weight of the rug, it also can cause structural damage that may be irreversible.

There are précised steps that have to be taken on what is the best way to extract and dry rugs after a water loss. Extraction needs to be performed within a certain direction of the pile, so pile damage does not occur. This is especially true in extracting silk or artificial silk fibers, which can help lessen damage to delicate fibers.

Proper extraction of a woven rug is essential in removing moisture from the foundation fibers, and speeded drying process.

Water damage rugs will have to be taken to a professional drying chamber for a proper quick dry out, so that moisture doesn’t affect the face side of the rug.

The longer a rug is wet, the higher the chance of dye damage.

Transporting of a wet rug is critical too.

If you decide you want to drop off your wet rug at our rugs studio, here a few tips on who to minimize the damage to your rug in transit.

When transporting a wet or damp natural fiber rug, do not roll up without a barrier to prevent dye bleeding from the face to the back side. Also never stack them on top of one another without a barrier between. Best way to do it is to roll them in cotton sheets or towels (after extraction) to help absorb dyes that are released and prevent them from spreading into other areas of that rug.

An ideal scenario, for water-damaged rugs would be to immediately call us, so we can properly extract, transport, wash and decontaminate and then thoroughly dry them. But if your restoration company is not Wiz Team, Inc. and they do not have a facility with a complete rug-washing system in place, then have them extract the rugs as quickly as possible, which will allow you to take these rugs to our rug studio with minimal damage and a much higher likelihood of us saving them.

Most natural fiber rugs have cotton interior warps and wefts, which are prone to mold growth from a flood. So main concerns with rugs getting wet from floods is the risk of mold in the interior fibers.

All synthetic fiber rugs have interior jute and cotton fibers, which also are extremely prone to mold growth from flooding. Therefore, extraction and speedy dry out is the first step to stop contamination risks and permanent damage.

All rugs exposed to flood water must be thoroughly washed and treated with the appropriate disinfectant or sanitizing solution to return them to pre-loss condition.

At Wiz Team, Inc. we perform a throughout wash process, and then the proper disinfectant or sanitizing solution is applied. There is a strict guideline that we follow for effective decontamination based on the source of water and the category of the flood.

Per guidelines water damage rug may require a 20-minute dwell time, or perhaps multiple cycles of disinfecting soaks, which cannot be performed in home or by water damage restoration team that is not trained who to do it properly. This can (on a rug with dyes that are not colorfast) present a dye-bleed risk and permanent damage.

Sometimes pre-existing conditions may magnify the risks of this salvage attempt. A rug with heavy pet urine contamination that has already created a mold and dry rot problem within the foundation of the rug may create a contamination scenario in which the rug needs to be handled as Category 2 or 3, even though the water sours was a clean-water pipe break.

Water Mitigation Companies (unless also certified as master rug cleaners), do not have knowledge nor training how to properly treat and handle water-damaged rugs.

As ONLY Certified Master Rugs Cleaners in Chicagoland, our role is to identify which rugs can be saved and take all appropriate and necessary steps necessary to minimize the damage to the rugs by properly decontaminating and professional washing your rugs.

With our rug triage process for water damaged rugs, especially on woven and natural fiber rugs, will increase the chances of saving the most valuable rugs in a flooded home.

If you suffer water damage to your home and you have rugs that have been affected by flood water – Immediately call Wiz Team, Inc. (847) 526-6060 – ONLY Certified Rug Experts to help you save your rugs!

At Wiz Team, Inc. we are proud to be IICRC Certified as Master Textile Cleaner, Master Water Damage Restorer, Master Fire & Smoke Restorer and Master Rug Cleaner.

We hold over 20 different certifications.

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Category : Carpet Cleaning