Just The Facts: Carpet Maintenance

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Professionals in the carpet industry know that, for their hospitality customer, the right carpet is often a defining factor when it comes to creating a distinct atmosphere and memorable impression for the customer’s clientele. But carpeting has had to do more than simply look good when it is new. Beyond leaving people with an enjoyably vivid visual experience initially, carpeting has always had to be functional, properly maintained, and capable of demonstrating a high degree of appearance retention in its use.

For years hotel/casino properties have been plagued by needlessly high costs associated with premature carpet replacement due to the unnecessary wear and tear that results from improper maintenance of the carpet fibers. I can remember a telling event that happened roughly ten years ago when Boyd Gaming was putting on a cleaning seminar for all their properties. They had invited multiple flooring manufacturers (I was one of four manufacturers in the carpet sector) as well as various distributors of maintenance equipment and supplies. During the seminar, I was speaking to the head of housekeeping from one hotel and explaining the effect of a particularly poor type of cleaning machine. When I finished, she walked across an aisle of no more than 12 feet to where the largest distributor of cleaning equipment at the time in Las Vegas was. The sells rep started telling the client about the virtues of this horrible machine saying it was a quick, low cost way to clean the surface of the carpet. What he didn’t say or know was this machine also tears the carpet fibers apart quite quickly on any cut-pile carpet. After she left, I walked over to the distributor and suggested that we try to work with each other on educating maintenance staffs in Las Vegas. They wanted no part of that offer. This type of scenario is still quite common today.

Another problem that commercial customers are faced with is the presence of hazards resulting from poor maintenance. Hazards stemming from carpet deterioration can lead to lawsuits that could have been avoided if staff members were armed with better information when they chose their carpet or began the maintenance of that newly purchased product. An even costlier problem can arise through improper maintenance. Delamination or the “bubbling” of the carpet due to improper maintenance techniques also can become a very serious problem for businesses open to the public because the very integrity of the carpeting has been affected and this can result in a safety hazard. Delaminated carpet can become a major cause of accidental falls that expose the casino to costly and avoidable lawsuits.

These problems have led to a maddening cycle of extra costs that have eaten into their bottom line. That is the all-too-familiar bad news that often surrounds the purchase of carpet for the gaming industry. But there is good news and a way out of this dilemma for gaming properties. Today, a knowledgeable carpet professional can end the customer’s nightmare by taking the time to evaluate, advise, educate and train hotel staffs on how the many recurring problems involving poor carpet performance can be eliminated. This should be hands-on, as seminars don’t quite cut it.

It’s easy to put the blame for premature deterioration of carpeting on housekeeping staffs that don’t take the necessary pains to care for the product properly, but, if we think along those lines, we are missing the real point about improper carpet maintenance. In many cases, the housekeeping staff isn’t negligent in their care of the carpet. Generally, they don’t maintain the product properly because they are ill informed. In actuality, the problem of faulty maintenance can be traced to one fact—the training housekeeping has been given typically has come from the wrong source.

When it comes to carpet maintenance, who has housekeeping historically gone to for its training? They go to manufacturers of cleaning equipment whose sales rep sells them the machines they rely on for cleaning. Housekeeping is taught how to use the equipment, not how to maintain the fibers properly. And where do the equipment salespeople go for their training? Do they go to the carpet mills to learn how different carpet fibers are best maintained? No, carpet mills are not part of the training cycle for the cleaning equipment sales personnel. Instead, these sales people get their training from the manufacturers of their cleaning products and machines.

Once we consider this training cycle, the real problem becomes clear. The carpet is given its warranty protection by the carpet manufacturer, not by the cleaning equipment manufacturer. But, it’s the cleaning equipment manufacturer that has become responsible for training the maintenance personnel that play such an important role in safeguarding the carpet’s integrity. In many instances, inferior cleaning equipment is being purchased and used solely because it can save time and labor, and it is destroying the carpet’s original appearance in a very short period of time.

This is the cycle of inadequate maintenance that leads to unnecessary replacement costs. In this competitive hotel/casino market, hospitality users can’t afford to keep a carpet in place that no longer offers that vivid visual appeal they desired.

As professionals in the carpet industry, we have the solution to these dilemmas at our fingertips. The solution is simple: housekeeping managers have to be informed of the kind of training services our industry can offer them and to realize that their staffs need to learn more about carpet fiber itself and carpet construction. They need to learn more about the potentially harmful affects various types of cleaning equipment have on the carpet. If they have a knowledge of the fibers our carpets are made of --wool, nylon, polypropylene or a blend of these materials, the various types of construction (woven, tufted, CYP, hand rugs, made in cut-pile, loop or cut-loop styles) used in conjunction with the dying processes (piece, skein, dye injection or solution dyed), they can maintain these products much more effectively. This will keep the carpet’s performance and appearance retention at its peak much longer, thus saving substantial dollars in replacement costs and eliminating the problem of having to live with a dull appearance until future budgets are approved.

Maintenance/Housekeeping managers need to understand that the costs of replacement can far exceed the savings in time and labor when using quick but low performance cleaning equipment that some manufacturers suggest. Specialized training can only come from the real source of information about the carpet itself—the carpet mills.

There are several important facts you need to keep in mind:

• Equipment manufacturers and distributors don’t warrant the carpet; the carpet mills do!
• The use of improper equipment will result in a much quicker loss of color!
• Over cleaning, as well as using excess water, causes delamination of the carpet!
• High speed equipment destroys tip definition of cut-pile carpet quickly!
• Worthless equipment gets only surface dirt off and grinds in the rest!
• Improper use decreases performance and increases replacement time significantly!
• Poor maintenance voids every manufacturer’s warranty!

Hospitality industry executives need to take a more proactive approach to making their managers aware of the kind of training needed to maintain the carpets properly. By offering and meeting the training needs of maintenance/housekeeping staffs, they can guarantee a much more satisfied customer, save on labor costs, improve appearance retention and add years of service to newly installed carpet. If this is done, there is a guarantee available that ensures gaming properties can improve their bottom line.