Why Certifications Matter for Floor Cleaning Providers
You wouldn’t allow an HVAC professional who learned his skills from YouTube to tinker with your AC unit. And you certainly wouldn’t take your sports car to a technician who had precisely one day of training. Yet plenty of facilities managers and companies willingly let uncredentialed carpet and textile cleaning providers work on their floors.
This approach is understandable from a 30,000-foot perspective. Many so-called cleaning experts will tout great results and low prices. And that’s pretty attractive, especially for someone trying to navigate a lean budget. However, it’s a serious gamble.
The risks of hiring unskilled, untested carpet cleaning services
You have two goals: protect your assets and reduce your liabilities. Carpeting is an asset, and it’s an expensive one to replace. Purchasing and installing about 90,000 square feet of quality commercial-grade carpeting is likely to run you about $350,000. So why would you let a worker with eight hours of last-minute training touch those fibers?
The answer, of course, is that the worker offered a good deal. Yet what seems like a good deal could end up costing you more in the long run. Cheap carpet cleaners tend to cut corners to save time, meaning their overall quality of work will be poor and not lasting. They may also damage carpet and fabrics by using problematic cleaning products or procedures.
For example, did you know that a highly alkaline carpet cleaning product will make your carpets sparkle and shine? You’ll love the way the fibers look — until the alkaline solutions start to cause the dyes in the carpet fiber to fade. Over time, you'll see that what you thought was a wonderful job wasn’t so wonderful after all.
What if your cleaner uses a product with a lot of solvency and doesn’t completely rinse it out? You can expect the carpet to soil at a rapid rate. Oh, and forget about entrusting your carpets to a provider that uses a “bonnet” cleaning system. Bonnet agitators can damage carpet fibers, causing the fibers to untwist, reflect light differently, and lose their sheen.
Plus, choosing the wrong carpet cleaning provider could cause you to void the manufacturer’s warranty on your new carpet. Facilities managers and business leaders usually don’t realize until it’s too late that they have shortened the life cycle of a pricey asset or lost the ability to recoup money if the carpet doesn’t perform as expected.
Which certifications to seek out in a cleaning provider
How do you avoid the challenges linked to hiring the wrong carpet cleaning technician or crew? One technique is to ask for certifications upfront. An independently given third-party certification ensures that the contractor understands and appreciates proper cleaning techniques.
At MilliCare , we proudly hold several certifications and accreditations.
1. We are an IICRC-approved school.
Having approval from the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC) assures our clients that every MilliCare technician has gone through rigorous Commercial Carpet Maintenance Technician and Upholstery and Fabric Technician classes. Technicians must pass exams to become IICRC-certified, and a certified professional must be on-site for all MilliCare jobs to supervise every process.
2. We are certified by the CRI Seal of Approval program as a Deep Cleaning System.
The Carpet and Rug Institute’s Seal of Approval indicates that we’ve sent our products and equipment to the CRI’s appointed testing lab. Therefore, our proprietary method of dry cleaning has been tested for everything from soil removal and resoiling to texture damage and residual moisture. When you see the CRI Seal of Approval, you know that you’re not playing “guinea pig.”
3. Many of our products are Green Seal certified.
A Green Seal Certified Mark on a cleaning product points to its lowered impact on health, safety, and the environment. Green Seal certification involves meeting sustainability guidelines for more than 20 categories of human and ecological safety. You’ll be pleased to know that any Green Seal MilliCare products have been checked for toxicity, skin irritation, combustibility, animal testing, and potential carcinogens.
Before you’re tempted by a fly-by-night carpet cleaner that claims to be able to return your carpets to like-new condition, remind yourself of the value of certifications. Carpet cleaning providers with them want to be your long-term partners, not short-term magicians who damage your carpet and move on.