Carpets can look lovely inside a restaurant, but often, they are one of the quickest things to get dirty. Carpets trap grease, dirt, food and other debris fairly easily, and it can be a pain to deal with dirty carpets all the time.
In addition, a carpet that isn’t well cared for can worry customers and make them think that your establishment isn’t clean.
You want to avoid that at all costs, so it’s very important to keep a good handle on your rugs. Here are our seven tips for effective carpet care.
- Before all else, learn about what carpet you have and if there is anything specific about it that requires certain care. For example, long-haired carpets are harder to clean (which is why so few restaurants have them) so if you have a long-haired carpet, you’re going to need to do more nightly work than if you had a short-haired carpet. Does your carpet stain more easily than others? Understand what you have in your restaurant and any special care it might need.
- Install walk-off mats at all the entrances leading in from outside and the doorway in between the kitchen and front house. You want to prevent outside dirt from coming in and prevent grease getting tracked in from the kitchen.
- Whenever food is spilled onto your carpet, make sure that you not only remove the food, but also neutralize the leftover bacteria from the spilled food. You can do this by steam cleaning your carpet and/or cleaning the area with an antibacterial cleaner.
- This is one of the most important tips – make sure you have access to a powerful grease removal system. One of the reasons carpets get so dirty is because they collect so much grease from airborne particles and the particles get trapped in the carpet, which makes the carpet very greasy. Regularly using a system that effectively deep cleans grease from the carpet is going to make your carpet last much longer and stay much fresher. Because you are cleaning a whole carpet, not spot cleaning stains, you will want a system that can clean quickly and efficiently with no scrubbing. Make sure to do research into systems that also work with your type of carpet.
- If you really fear grease, there are certain sprays or “carpet finishes” that make is much more difficult for grease and outside materials to stick to your carpet. If that interests you, look into it! Just remember that while it helps, you will still need to regularly clean your carpet.
- Regularly deep clean your carpet. It is very important to do this at least twice a month in order to keep your carpet from accumulating lots of dirt and grease, keep it looking and smelling fresh and handsome, and general proper care. You can check out our other post, The Four Most Common Carpet Cleaning Methods, to read about the various deep cleaning methods and see what works for you.
- Come up with a nightly cleaning routine for your carpet. This will at least include vacuuming and possible bacteria removal. Often, nighttime is also when you will deep clean your carpet. Create a workable schedule for carpet cleaning that fits into your other carpet cleaning and stick to it.
Carpets can be high materience, but a beautiful pattern in a beautiful restaurant that makes your dining area look well-done and polished is worth it.
Also remember to discuss your carpet with whom you purchased it from so you will have any small additional details that might exist. Keeping documentation of these important details for your janitorial service provider isn’t a bad idea either. Happy cleaning!
