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I’ve heard both sides of this argument, so what is the consensus? Steam cleaners will tell you that HWE doesn’t cause mold. Is this something that regularly happens or is it rare; mold that is?
It is pretty rare in my experience Ron. Where I do see it is in basements and in a few apartments. In each case I don’t have enough history to say it is from HWE, however, in some of the apartments I know the tenants have used a rug doctor in the past. One of the side effects of HWE that no one talks about but that I see here in Montana is during the cold months when you can’t open windows is the amount of moisture in the air. A customer told me recently that one tenant moved out, had the carpets HWE, left the apt. closed, heat set at 55 and 48 hrs later the carpet was wet, there was water pooled in the windows and the humidity in there was almost unbearable.
The carpet has to be wet for over 72 hours before mold will usually start growing. A HWE guy has to really soak the joint for that to happen, but it can definitely happen, especially if you live in an area that is already really humid or a house is locked up for an extended period of time. I think most customers will raise a red flag with their HWE guy if their carpet is still wet 48 hrs after cleaning. It’s when the property is vacant, or the HWE guy soaks a room not used that you would probably be most likely to see mold appear. My area is a pretty dry area, so somebody has to really try to get carpet wet for that long.
I met a gentleman a couple of weeks ago that use to be a carpet analyst for Mowhawk Carpet manufacturer. When a damaged carpet claim came in he would analyze the damaged carpet through a number of tests to see what caused the damage prior to them paying any claims. He said that in many cases the carpets(or backing) had been damaged to exsessive moisture from cleaning.
He is a big proponent of our system feels that as a whole it is much better for the carpets than steam cleaning…
I have been in many homes where there had been a steam cleaner a year or so before…with the tabs still in place, meaning the furniture had never been moved.
No mold or mildew was visible on the surface, but it kind of got my attention.
The biggest thing I have noticed on carpets previously steam cleaned is pronounced filtration marks – particularly along the baseboards. Almost always when I’ve seen this, I ask if the carpets have been steam cleaned, and the answer is yes. I think the moisture and residue settles along the edges and then sits and collects dirt! Thankfully our cleaners and the dirt napper can really do a lot in these situations!
Not to get off the mold subject, but in my opinion, I don’t believe filtration soil is caused by steam cleaners. In my experience, most of the time when you see filtration soil along the baseboards there is also a large gap between the baseboards and the actual floor itself, many times large enough to stick your finger in. Carpet is one large air filter and air is lazy and likes to move from warm (room) to cold (in walls) and vice versa. The carpet is just doing the same job in these situations as the person’s furnace filter. If a steam cleaner is leaving a residue, than that could probably speed up the filtration accumulating, but I don’t think most steam cleaners clean that close to the baseboards for fear of scratching the wood with their wands. Once again, all just my opinion.
Jeff,
Have you used the dirt napper on regular nylon carpets in order to remove the filtration line? Just wondering, I have not tried this…
Dan
I have had pretty good success with the dirt napper along the edges – especially as I’ve gotten more confidence running it along the baseboard! ha! Sometimes it all comes up! I’ve seen these filtration lines also without the separation from the baseboard as posted above. While some of it is occurring naturally – I still find it interesting that in almost every case the customer has had previous steam cleaning, or has operated their own Hoover/Bissell steam cleaner.
Oh yeah – I forgot I was going to add that I use the dirt napper on 99% of all jobs now! It adds additional time, but wow – the results are superior!!
Now this has changed to a filtration line topic.
Try using the filtration line on the spots and let sit for at least 15 minutes. Longer would be better. I’ve used it and every time it has come up. I have had to hit a area twice though. Make sure you charge for it. One guy said that her charges $2.00 for each linear foot I charge $.75.to take this back to the original question. I have seen the start of mold spores in a carpet that was cleaned with HWE 24 hours before I was there. the owner had said the carpets felt dry the following evening but there was a pet odor. that’s why I was called in. I peeled the carpet back to pull the pad and do a “pet contamination restoration”( feel free to use the phrase) and discovered the spore throughout-not just in the pet affected area. This carpet had never been cleaned before and the home was relatively new. the pad held the moisture in. My point is that mold can occur quicker than you think. And a HWE guy is never going to admit to that. That would be the death of his company. Oh by the way the company responsible for the mold-STANLEY STEAMER-they don’t get carpets cleaner.
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