In the carpet cleaning field, we have seen our fair share of dirty carpets and tile floors, some being worse than others.  Of the tile, there has been cases where the grout has turned to a pitch black color, with years of dirt and debris caught up in it.  While this may seem like a daunting image to the homeowner, simple maintenance can be done regularly on your tile to make sure that your grout is looking good all year round.  Enjoy as we share these grout-cleaning tips with you!

To take care of your grout, you should be cleaning it weekly, with a deep clean every month or so.  What we mean by that, is that at the very least, you should be sweeping and vacuuming your grout once a week.  By doing so, you will break up and take away all of the loose dirt and dust that can build up and turn your grout to a dark black color.

When it is time for a deep clean, it’s time to break out the mop and the detergent, and give your grout a good scrubbing!  However, be careful with how much detergent you are using on your floor, as grout loves to suck things up, including excess detergent.  Leaving detergent in the grout will attract more dirt into it, speeding up the process of acquiring black grout.  Just be sure to keep the mop water fresh when cleaning–a cloudy bucket can lead to more dirt clumping up in your grout.

In a high-active household, you may have to increase your sweeping and vacuuming frequency, along with incorporating a rinse-mopping in-between deep cleans.

So long as you keep up on your grout, you will keep its natural pearly white shine for years to come.  Should you need a thorough grout-cleaning, however, just know that Bayside Carpet Cleaning is here to help!

Area rugs can be a nice accent in many rooms, but they can be a pain to keep in one place.  Often, one simple movement will shift the rug over, or one person walking over it will dishevel the rug, leaving it a wrinkly mess for all to see.  So as to stop this unnecessary shifting, we have a few tips on how to keep your rug in place.

Area rugs may seem like they don’t slip on carpet, but they do, and the consequences of a unsuspecting slip can be devastating, causing injury to people and property.  By using rug hooks to anchor the rug down, you eliminate the threat of a slip, keeping you and your guests safe from harm.  Rug pins can be picked up at any hardware store, generally go for less than $10, and come in packages of four.  Putting one hook in each corner will keep your rug in place and looking sharp.

Rug pins are more attractive than other anchoring techniques because you can easily remove the rug when it needs to be cleaned.  Using carpet-tape or caulking the underside will definitely keep the rug in place, but will become an unnecessary hassle to deal with when it comes time to clean.

Speaking of cleaning, in addition to offering a thorough cleaning for standard carpet, we also offer area rug cleaning.  Our comprehensive area and oriental rug cleaning involves a intricate multi-staged approach, much like our standard cleaning, that is sure to get even the toughest dirt and stains out.  To schedule your area rug consultation and cleaning, give us a call today!

It has been a wet one for the past few days around the Jersey Shore, with even more rain on the way.  Although this is a dreary picture for most, life doesn’t stop for the weather, so you trudge on.  However, every time you enter your house from the outside, you are tracking in dirt and water that can end up on your carpet.  So, we have a few tips for you on rain defense, and how to keep your carpets looking great even when there is a monsoon outside.

Despite what others may believe, carpets are a lot like people: they don’t like getting wet.  A wet carpet can lead to a multitude of problems, such as decay, mold growth, and staining.  The best way to avoid these problems is simply to keep water off of your carpet.  Yes, we know this sounds redundant, but by prioritizing shoe removal upon entry to your home, and asking your guests to hang up their coats and put away their umbrellas before stepping foot on your carpet, you will minimize the chance for water to seep into your carpet.

In spite of your best interests though, water and mud can still end up on your carpet, especially if you have a furry friend with four legs and a tail.  Should Fido come barreling in, leaving his muddy paw-prints over your carpet, there’s no need to panic.  Simply dab the area with a clean cloth when the mud is still wet, and use a damp cloth to remove any excess mud still left behind.  Just be sure not to wait too long, as the stain will set!

Keeping your carpet high and dry in the rain is a simple task, so long as you take preventative measures for it.  If you find the odds have been stacked against you, and your carpet has been muddied over, don’t fret, as a single call to us will make those stains disappear!  So, while it may be raining, enjoy your time inside and outside, and be sure to keep your carpet in mind!

You’ve given us a call, and scheduled a carpet cleaning for next week.  So, now what?  While you may be holding your breath in anticipation for our arrival, there are a few things that we ask you to take care of before our visit, as to make our carpet-cleaning process as efficient and speedy as possible.

As a general rule, we will ask you to remove any non-essential or easy-to-move furniture from your floors.  This includes all plants, chairs, magazine racks, musical instruments, and anything else that can be moved with ease.  For those big, heavy items, like china cabinets and couches, don’t worry about moving them, as we can clean the carpet underneath without disturbing it, or we can just clean around the base depending on your discretion.  In addition, we ask you to pin up any drapery or furniture skirts from the floor, so they are not in contact with the carpet when we go in for the cleaning.

While you’re doing all of this, make sure to take notes of any particular nasty carpet spots, and let us know about them when we arrive.  By keying us in to this information, we will spend extra time on that spot to ensure total eradication of the stain.

Finally, the last thing we will ask of you is to leave us a parking spot close to the door.  Since we utilize truck-mounted hot water extraction systems, the closer we are to the door, the more efficient we can be when cleaning your carpet.

Once you have done these extremely simple things, feel free to kick back and relax until our arrival; you deserve it after all the work you did preparing!  Once we get to the scene, all the work you did preparing for us will allow for an efficient and speedy cleaning service, leaving your carpet noticeably cleaner in only half the time!

At Bayside Carpet Cleaning, we take pride in taking care of our customers, whether that be in returning that sparkling shine to their tile, or giving their carpet a thorough and dazzling clean.  However, there is another way in which we take care of our valued clients, by paying it forward.  Our Referral Rewards Program is a program that expresses our thanks to you, every time you send a new customer our way.  Let us explain just how easy this works:

For turning a friend or a family member to the Bayside Carpet Cleaning experience, we will reward you with either cash or a free cleaning of your choosing.  Each referral grants you a 10% referral reward, which will be presented in a certificate that can be put towards a cleaning or cold, hard cash!  Say your friend hires us to do a $500 cleaning job; so long as they said you referred them to us, we’ll grant you a $50 certificate, that can be presented at the time of next cleaning, or mailed in to our office and exchanged for cash.

Not only that, but we provide ways to help you make money, for free.  The next time we come over for a cleaning, ask us to bring some brochures, or a few Free Trial Offer Cards, which will all be free of charge to you!  Then, just hand them out to people you know, and watch the money come flying in.

The quality of customer service, in our opinion, is the pinnacle of what a model carpet cleaning company should focus on.  The customer always comes first, a notion that we hold dearly, and one that we exemplify in our Referral Rewards Program.  Give us a call today to see how you can be earning cash or a free cleaning, with essentially no effort!

Tile is beautiful almost anywhere in a home, but the dirt and debris that can cake up on it can diminish the appearance of such wonderful flooring.  So, in conjunction with our latest upholstery blog, we’re here to provide you with a few tips on tile floor care, to keep that floor always shining like new.

When it comes to dirt and debris, tile is like a magnet, especially the grout in between—it takes in all the dirt it can find.  So to reduce this build up, a perfect solution would be to encourage guests to remove their shoes when stepping onto the tile, especially in high-traffic areas such as by a door.  This will help reduce a large chunk of the dirt that will cake up on the floor, but there is still bound to be some appearing here and there.

To reduce build up of dirt, make a point to vacuum and damp-mop every week.  If you read our upholstery blog, you can align this with the same time you flip the cushions on your sofa (if you haven’t read it yet, we highly encourage you to do so!).  A simple vacuum and damp-mop will do, you don’t have to go overboard with it.  If you have glazed tile, you can take it a step further and use an all-purpose cleaner to clean the grout joints.  On the other hand, if you have unglazed tile, opt for a concentrated tile cleaner that has a neutral pH for regular cleaning.

However, despite your best efforts, caked up dirt and debris may find its way onto your tile, and entrench itself into the grout.  There’s no need to panic though, as Bayside Carpet can make short work of the dirt by using state-of-the-art cleaning tools and techniques to make your tile shine like new.  To schedule your tile cleaning appoint, give us a quick call at 1-609-290-2691.  In no time, we’ll wipe that grime away, and give a new life to that tile you love oh-so much.

In any home, having the right type of upholstery can be an amazing addition to any room.  However, over time, upholstery starts to diminish, and a lack of simple upkeep can exacerbate this process.  To keep your upholstery looking like new for years to come, take our advice and heed these few simple tips; they won’t take too long to do, and they can preserve the look of your upholstery for years to come.

Every week or so, make sure you take time to give your cushions a simple fluffing.  Since your cushions are made of soft material, you are going to want to move that filling around every so often to prevent buildups and maintain the original shape of the cushion.

In addition to fluffing your cushions, you are going to want to flip your cushions at least every 2 weeks.  By flipping the cushions, you will even out the wear upon them, and therefore extend the life of your cushions.  A simple flip to the backside will do, but you can take it one step further and rearrange the position of each cushion.  If you have a sofa with three cushions on it, people will tend to avoid the middle cushion like the plague, and therefore put more wear and tear on the outer ones.  If this is the case with you, change over the middle cushion to the outside edge upon every rotation to make sure no cushion is being worn out more than the rest.

Finally, you’ll want to keep your upholstery clean, preferably on a regular schedule.  Whenever you are vacuuming your floors, do yourself a favor and grab that handheld vacuum and run it over your upholstery.  By doing so, you will eliminate built-up dirt and dust, and will keep your sofa looking nice.  Also be sure to spot clean whenever there is a spill immediately after the spill happens, as to eliminate the chances of staining.

Upholstery upkeep is nothing fancy; it’s just a few simple tips that you can do weekly to keep your upholstery clean and looking great.  However, just know that we are always here to help with the heavy duty jobs, should the going get tough.  With an advanced truck-mounted upholstery cleaning system, we’ll have your upholstery looking like new in just one visit, regardless of the condition it was in.  A quick call to us is all you need to make your upholstery great again!

Spring is a wonderful time of year, isn’t it?  The weather gets warmer, the flowers come to life, and it’s finally warm enough to start spending time outdoors.  While all of these activities are great, they are catalysts for carpet dirt and stains to build up.  So, we are here to offer you a few tips on how you can keep your carpet clean this spring.

The golden rule to remember with carpet cleaning is that prevention is the best method.  Therefore, encourage any guests to take their shoes off before they step foot on your carpet, or at the very least, make sure they wipe their feet on your doormat.  Dirt can cake up on their shoes, which will transfer onto your carpet should they walk on it.

If you have pets, make sure that they too take care to wipe their paws after being outside.  A wet paper towels will do wonders on a muddy paw, and you’ll be able to stop the stain before it starts.

However, even with prevention, make sure that you vacuum regularly; people can carry in pollen and dust particles that may end up on your carpet.  At the very least, do a pass once per week, but feel free to do as many as you see fit, especially if you have an active family.

Spring carpet cleaning, at the end of it, is all about prevention and upkeep.  These tips may seem incredibly simple, but these simple steps are all you need to prevent a carpet catastrophe.  On the rare chance that there is a carpet catastrophe, though, just know that Bayside Carpet Cleaning is here to save the day!

So there you are, sitting in your living room, enjoying what is on the tv with a cold beverage in your hand.  Suddenly, a family member comes into the room and accidentally bumps into you, sending your drink face-first into the carpet!  While your first thought is to panic, there’s no need, as there are several ways to treat a spot stain on the spot.

When it comes to something simple like a spill, your first action should be to immediately grab a paper towel and soak up as much as you can.  If a stain still persists (say you spilled soda or wine), then there are still ways to clean it up.  Simply head on over to the kitchen, grab the vinegar and baking soda, and go back to the scene of the crime.  Pour a little vinegar directly on the spot, then follow up with a little baking soda, and wait.  The mixture will bubble up and eat at the stain.  After a few minutes, you are free to wipe up the foamy concoction, taking the stain with you.

See, with something small like a spill, there is no need to worry about your carpet staining.  However, if the stain still persists, no matter the amount of the vinegar-baking soda detergent you put on, just know that we are always here to get even the toughest stains out.  Just give us a quick call, and we’ll get the nastiest stains out of your carpet, guaranteed.

We finally got a touch of snow and a true blast of winter a few days ago – after which many of us used salt or ice melt to clear the path from our front doors to our driveways and beyond.

But, did you know that salt and ice melts can cause serious damage to your carpeting and floors? Yes, they absolutely can.

Therefore, today, we wanted to provide you all with a few easy steps to follow that can save you some time (and money) down the road – and hopefully prolong the life of your flooring in the meantime:

• Remove your shoes before stepping foot inside. The salt, dirt and ice melt that can be trapped in the crevices of your shoes can wreak havoc on your floors, as well as potentially cause harm to your pets’ paws as well as the soles of your own feet. Rock salt is also considered very toxic to pets.
• Keep your pets away from the salt crystals that you may have tracked inside. Despite you being very mindful not to, accidents do happen and if you happen to have tracked some of the ice melt inside, these crystals can stick to your pets’ paws and the heat from them causes a potential burn hazard.

Salt crystals will act like sandpaper against your flooring, scratching them up. It can also strip the coating from your floors, which can potentially leave them open to damage from dirt and moisture. Additionally, your carpet fibers can become clouded and loose from lingering salt residue.

If you say any salt crystals, vacuum them up as quickly as possibly, or use a damp cloth to remove them.

If you suspect further damage, call our expert team at Bayside Carpet right away!

It may seem inconvenient, but a simple step such as removing your shoes can really save you a myriad of headaches down the road.

Happy Winter!