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How to Eliminate Pet Odors There is nothing inherently smelly about the urine from your cat or dog (unless it has a kidney problem). It is the bacteria that feeds on urea crystals within the urine that has a distinctive stench. You need a professional cleaner to eliminate pet odors, even as you do regular vacuuming, proper house training, and daily cleaning of the litter box. So, what does odor removal from carpets, upholstery, and other areas entail? Treatment with enzymatic cleaner: At EcoClean, our experienced team will begin by treating the area with enzymes to break down the urea crystals. If the bacteria can’t eat, they cannot cause the smell. The enzymatic cleaner is left to work for between 10 and 15 minutes. Note we do not use cleaning chemicals that have ammonia or vinegar since the strong chemical odors from these chemicals will attract the pet to reinforce its urine scent mark. Deep scrub: We will do a deep scrub to ensure we get all the urine/odor. This is then followed by rinsing the surface with pH balanced hot water. Using a deodorizing agent: After the enzymes have broken down the urea crystals, we will then use a high-quality deodorizing agent to remove the odor. Stain removal: If the area also has a stain, we will use stain removal after the extraction and neutralizing. We do not use steam cleaners because the heat can permanently set the stain and the odor through bonding of the protein into the fabric. Brushing and smoothing the surface: To restore the carpet or upholstery, we will brush and smooth the surface. We will then apply a fabric protector (on request). We use fans to dry carpets and upholstery to ensure you can continue using your home as normal from the moment we exit the door. Micah and the team at EcoClean have dealt with many pet accidents on different surfaces and we have the training, experience, equipment, and cleaning products for the job. You can reach us via 406-698-3677 and micah@ecocleanmt.com for any questions you may have on our company or our pet odor removal service.
Why You Shouldn’t Skip Your Annual Mattress Cleaning Sleep, alongside good nutrition and exercise, is an important contributor to good health. Poor quality sleep and insomnia are associated with high blood pressure, depression, heart disease, and poor concentration. A good mattress contributes to good sleep, but do you know that there is a multitude of contaminants that could be ruining your sleep? Here are common contaminants that make the annual mattress cleaning a necessity. Bacteria: Oral, skin, fecal/intestinal, and genital bacteria can sink into the mattress. Some of the most common of these are staphylococcus, streptococcus, and lactobacillus and they can cause bacterial infections. Fungal spores: Up to 17 different species of fungus ranging from penicillium to Alternaria and from aspergillus to Cladosporium are associated with synthetic bedding and feathers. You should particularly get rid of fungi if you have asthma and allergies. Sweat: Did you know you produce up to 26 gallons of sweat in your bed every year? Sweat, combined with body heat, form the ideal environment for bacteria and fungi growth. Allergens: An allergen is any substance that causes an allergic reaction. Fecal pellets and body fragments from dust mites and dead skin from roaches and pets are the most common allergens on mattresses. Allergens are associated with asthma and allergies. Cosmetics: Cosmetics are made of chemicals that you should not be breathing in every night. Creams, makeup, lotions, hair products, and other cosmetics can bleed from your skin or hair into the mattress. Make a habit of removing all makeup before going to bed. Food: Do you have the habit of eating on your bed? Food crumbs and spills provide the perfect fodder for microorganisms like bacteria to thrive. Skin cells: Your body sheds about 500 million skin cells every day. These skin cells are fodder for microbes. Chemicals: Finishing agents from mattresses and other bedding sometimes include isocyanates, plasticizers, and flame retardants which can harm your health. The annual mattress cleaning should include vacuuming with a HEPA rated vacuum, application of detergents, and extraction using hot water. This should be followed by the application of an EPA registered sanitizer. At EcoClean , we do this and more. Call us on 406-698-3677 or email us at micah@ecocleanmt.com for your mattress and other cleaning needs.
How to Fix Bleach Stains with Carpet Dyeing Bleach is a color-stripping solvent that causes a carpet to lose color when it spills on it, leaving a white, yellow, or a much lighter version of the original dye on the spot. Most people panic and start scrubbing in an up-and-down and side-to-side motion, but this will only exacerbate the problem and you risk ripping the carpet out and leaving a giant hole. At EcoClean , we have the training and experience necessary to deal with bleach stains. We know what to do to neutralize the bleach to prevent further damage. We then do carpet dyeing to restore color on the affected spot. Carpet dyeing is cheaper than replacing the entire carpet and it is a better solution than what some people opt for – patching the affected spot. Patching gives inconsistent results and is not ideal for a sculptured carpet, or one made of high-end wool. We use a dye color that matches your carpet’s color. We will prepare the dye in accordance with the manufacturer’s directions. We know the best dyes from experience and we have the right equipment to prepare the dye. Once the dye is ready, we will test it on a hidden area of the carpet to ensure that there is a good color match. Once we are satisfied that there is a good color match, we will use a clean, white rag to expertly apply dye on the carpet. This requires a skilled hand because the amount of pressure and the number of repeat presses affects the intensity of the color. We layer the color to build its depth, which is not possible if the dye is applied too quickly. Note fabric dye works best on natural-fiber carpets. We use dyes designed for synthetics for carpets that are not made from natural fibers. You particularly need to hire a pro for the job for carpets with multiple colors or designs. We are committed to customer satisfaction and we will leave your carpets looking as good as new such that no one will ever know that there was a bleach spot. If you would like to learn more about EcoClean and our carpet dyeing service, call us on 406-698-3677.
One of the first things that is noticed when you walk into a new home is how clean everything looks. Everything from the light fixtures, on down to the carpet you are walking on. Over time, however, those light fixtures begin to gather dust, and things start to look dirty. Most people would not let unsightly dust accumulate on their fixtures, but they seem to be ok with dirt and dust accumulating in their carpet. Instead of properly maintaining their carpets by vacuuming properly, too many people let their flooring go un-cared for until it gets so dirty they have to call for a professional cleaning. This does not need to happen. Keeping Carpets Clean Just like any other product, the dirtier carpet becomes the faster it will wear out. And any time you walk on your carpet, dirt is being transferred from your shoes, socks, or bare feet into the carpet fibers. The more traffic your carpet sees allows the dirt to get ground down even deeper. Instead of letting the dirt find its way into the pad, keep your carpet clean with regular vacuuming. Over at Shaw Industries Group , one of the world’s largest flooring companies, they know what it takes to prolong the life of your carpet. Contrary to many people’s beliefs, vacuuming does not damage the carpet; instead it makes it last longer. They recommend that between professional cleanings, vacuum twice per week in areas that get light traffic, and as much as once daily in areas that get heavy traffic. But that’s not all you can do. Which Vacuum to Buy The best way to make sure your carpet lasts a long time is to buy a high quality vacuum cleaner. Sure you can pick something up for $50 or $100, but your carpet is an investment worth thousands of dollars. Buying a higher quality vacuum could as much as double the life of your carpet. That means spending $500 could save you $5,000 down the road . But just getting a high quality piece of equipment is not enough. There are many different types of carpet out there, from high impact, low pile carpets, to soft and cushiony shag carpets. A denser carpet will do better with a vacuum with a rotating brush that agitates the pile to loosen the dirt. Whereas a softer carpet may become damaged by this vacuum, and a suction only machine should be used. By keeping your carpets maintained through properly vacuuming them, you can be assured that they will last for years to come. However, it is still important that you get EcoClean to come in and professionally clean your carpets every 12 to 18 months. In fact, some carpet manufacturers will require a professional cleaning in order to keep the warranty in good standing. EcoClean Can Help Any vacuum you buy for residential use will leave behind some dirt. They simply are not large and powerful enough to extract every little bit of dirt. Aside from that, vacuums cannot take out stains, oils, and other items that are literally stuck to the carpet fibers. This is why you need to have a professional cleaning done by Billings’ own EcoClean. Hiring them once per year will help keep your carpet looking and feeling new for years to come.
You would be hard pressed to find someone that does not like the feeling of clean carpet beneath their feet. While it does feel good to walk on carpet that has been freshly vacuumed, a good, deep, professional carpet cleaning is the only way to restore the carpet (nearly) back to its show-room like quality. But is it worth the money? Professional Cleaning Services By properly vacuuming regularly (usually twice per week is necessary for most homes) you can remove a bulk of the dry dirt that gets into your carpets. However, regular use of carpet transfers more than just dry dirt and dust to the carpet. Your shoes carry oil and grime, and your bare skin has body oils that transfer onto the carpets. The only way to get these off is with a professional carpet cleaning service. Professional carpet cleaning can be done with a do-it-yourself home machine. However, these machines are often not up to the IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification) standards, and the user generally does not understand what needs to be done to thoroughly clean the carpets. Instead, finding a carpet cleaning professional, such as EcoClean of Billings, is the best course of action. EcoClean follows all of the IICRC standards, including the use of hot water extraction. This method, often called steam cleaning (although no steam is actually produced) uses the forces of hot water, as well as eco-friendly detergents, to loosen and remove the soil from the carpet fibers. When you use an at-home machine, you often do not know what you are getting. When you hire an EcoClean professional, you get years of experience, properly maintained equipment that is right for your style of carpet, and the guarantee that a professional that knows what he is doing is cleaning your carpets. Maintenance Between Cleanings There will be times that you hire a professional carpet cleaner to come and make your carpets look like new. Then, within a matter of weeks, you spill something and cause an unsightly stain. Instead of breaking down and paying the professional to come back, there is an alternative. EcoClean Spot and Stain out is available to you at no extra charge. Even better, this bottle of spot remove comes with free lifetime refills. Now don’t go spilling wine all over the place, because nobody wants to spend every evening scrubbing their carpets, but don’t worry if it happens every now and then. Along with spot treatment, be sure to vacuum with a high quality vacuum cleaner. Yearly professional carpet cleanings will help to maintain the look and feel of your carpet, but twice weekly maintenance will be the real key to keeping them lasting (nearly) forever. If it has been over a year since your last carpet cleaning, get in touch with EcoClean. We know carpets, and we know how to care for them. Feel free to browse through the services page and learn all about the process, or just give us a call. Your toes will be happy you did.
In every industry, there are long-held myths that are hard to kill. For instance, there is the myth in the carpet industry that if you suffer from allergies, then you should avoid carpets at all costs. The truth is, a proper carpet cleaning will actually improve the air quality, and lessen the amount of allergens found in the home. Shaw Industries Shaw Industries Group is a flooring giant. With nearly 70 years of experience, they know how to make a floor covering, and they have the finances to do the right research to make sure their products are superb (they have over $4 billion in annual sales). This flooring company recently commissioned a study to look at how carpets affect air quality. The Study The results are almost the opposite as what many people would think: homes with carpeting actually have a higher air quality than those without. When you stop to think about the conclusion, the results are not all that surprising. Consider this scenario. You introduce dust into two homes. One home has all hardwood floors, the other has carpet. The dust settles into everything. Then you turn on a fan and disturb the air. Which home would have more airborne dust? The hardwood home would since they carpeted home helps to trap all that dust in the carpet fibers. What actually is surprising, is that even before cleaning, the researchers would disturb the carpet and repeat their tests. Carpets help to trap the particulates, and the air is still cleaner than the air found in a home with all hard floorings. Carpet cleaning with a high quality vacuum will then remove that dirt. Check out the full study on this site . The Conclusion Now this is not to say that you can throw down a few carpets and consider your air to be pure and clean. When you have hard floors, you can see the dirt. The dirt is easily disturbed and most people will clean their hard floors regularly. With carpet, the dirt sinks in and is hidden from view. If left dirty, the carpet will deteriorate, the dirt will accumulate, and the air quality will actually worsen. What you need to do is make sure that you are doing your own carpet cleaning by vacuuming regularly. Think of them as a filter. If you stop cleaning your filter (whether it is a vacuum, furnace, water, or any kind of filter) eventually it will stop working. The same is true with your carpet, it will stop trapping those dust particles, micro-organisms, and allergens, and your air quality will be all the worse. EcoClean Can Help EcoClean knows carpet cleaning. Regular maintenance (vacuuming) is important to make sure your carpet lasts, but a deep professional cleaning is needed about once per year to make sure the dirt is thoroughly removed. Nearly every residential vacuum cleaner out there will get out a lot of dirt. But there is some that will stay trapped in your carpet, and you need professional equipment to get it out. EcoClean not only has that equipment, but they have the training and expertise to really clean your carpet (and basically any other flooring you may have in your house). When is the last time your carpets were professionally cleaned? Your health is worth it to get them clean once per year.