Have you found carpet burns in your apartment block? Singed floors in your clubhouse from a dropped candle or a naughty customer? It’s not the end of the world. While you may think it’s time to overhaul your entire flooring completely, we’re here to walk you through fixing burns in your carpet.

I’ve spotted a burn: What do I do?

Don’t be afraid, accidents happen. You don’t need to give up on carpets altogether and start grabbing the hardwood planks. Carpets are actually fixable and sections can be easily replaced, meaning that you can refresh your look for a fraction of the price of replacing the entire floor.

 

The first step is don’t panic! The next is to identify the type of burn.

Big Carpet Burns

For large carpet burns (for example, straighteners knocked on the floor or irons put down before they’ve cooled), you’ll need to patch the area. If you haven’t kept the scraps from your carpet installation, don’t fret. One option at your disposal is ordering a sample of carpet, or purchasing a small amount of the same carpet or one in a similar colour.

 

Cut a shape, just larger than your burned area. To match best you’ll want the patch to be the same pattern as your carpet and the pile to run in the same direction. Top tip: a square patch will always be easier to hide than a circle patch!

 

Once you have your spare carpet ready, you’ll need to carefully cut out the burnt area. A sharp utility knife is your best bet for this as you can be very precise. Place the patch over your carpet, press firmly, and cut around it. Then simply glue the area, place the patch, and lay something heavy on top for a few hours so it can fully dry. Brush the carpet out and it should be as good as new.

 

If you’ve used carpet tiles, then you’re in luck. Approaching your carpet manufacturer to ask for a new carpet tile is an option, and then all you’d need to do is use adhesive to lay the tile down. Voila, good as new.

Tackling the Real Big Issues

For very large burns or complex carpet patterns then it may be time to call in the experts. They can use their years of experience to make sure that it looks like your carpet was never touched, and most fixes take only a day or two maximum, meaning you can open your doors to customers, clients, and students as quickly as possible. Carpet repair experts are available across the country, oftentimes at a low cost too.

 

Obviously, the DIY approach is the cheapest, but there’s no shame in hiring professionals when the problem becomes too big for you to tackle alone.

Avoiding Carpet Burns

It’s not always possible to avoid burns and spills. They’re a part of life. That’s why it’s important to know how to tackle them afterwards. However, there are steps that can be taken to reduce their frequency. Implementing no-smoking policies indoors not only helps make sure your furnishings don’t smell of nicotine but also that you won’t be left with cigarette burns on your carpets. Instructing your residents how to properly take care of their hot tools and candles can help reduce accidents too.

 

Choosing high-quality, durable carpets for your retail and commercial spaces will help you avoid serious damage too, meaning that you’re less likely to have to replace your carpets if accidents like carpet burns do happen. If you’re looking to fit carpet into your commercial space or overhaul your current floor, take a look at our most hard-wearing carpet options like Hobnail or Supacord.

 

So you see, a full replacement of your Heckmondwike carpet isn’t necessary when you know how to fix burn marks.

 

You can find more of our maintenance tips and our products through our webpage, or get in touch today to chat about our fabulous range of products.

Hard Wearing Carpet - Supacord

Cleaning your carpets has endless benefits. From extending the life of your carpets to maintaining a healthy environment, there are an array of reasons to keep your carpet tiles spotless. In this blog, we’ll be sharing how to clean your commercial carpet.

Clean up carpet spills 

Forget the 5-second rule! If you spill something, you need to clean it up as fast as you can. If you spill anything on your carpet, make sure that you clean it up immediately. You should blot any liquid-based stains with absorbent towels or tissues. If you get something trickier stuck in your carpet like blu tack, read our blog.

CLAYGO initiatives

Although this sounds similar to playdough (which can also get stuck in your carpet), CLAYGO couldn’t be more different. CLAYGO is a ‘Clean As You Go’ initiative, which can be used to encourage space users to make sure their area is left clean. This way, everyone has a collective responsibility to make sure that the carpet is always in good shape.

Get the hoover out

How often do you clean your carpet tiles? Matthew Lee, a senior research scientist at Dyson says, “Vacuuming high-traffic areas twice a week and the rest of your carpeted spaces once a week is enough to keep dust and dirt at bay.” Commercial carpets should therefore be hoovered regularly. For help on how to choose your vacuum cleaner, visit this guide.

Deep clean

Sometimes, vacuuming just isn’t enough! Especially in high-traffic areas. Therefore, you should have a deep-cleaning schedule in place for your commercial carpet. Professional carpet cleaners can get into the places where hoovers can’t, and leave your carpet tiles feeling fresh. Read our blog for our deep cleaning recommendations.

Install entrance matting

Always keep the outside, out. Put specialist entrance matting in your doorways to prevent dirt from trailing into your building or space. Aside from carpets, there are also health and safety benefits because, according to the Health & Safety Executive, 90% of slip accidents in public buildings occur on wet floors. Online carpets in our Entrance and Transition Area Range are a great solution.

We hope that this blog has helped you to learn how to clean your commercial carpet. 

Our commercial carpet designs are perfect for giving a fresh new look to your flooring. For more information about how we can help, get in touch today.

Blu Tack is an essential product throughout schools, with classrooms all over the UK using it to put up wall displays and showcase work. But, it can be a nightmare if it gets stuck in your commercial carpet – especially if it’s been trodden in by the children’s feet! Our blog will help explain what you can do if the dreaded event happens and you get Blu Tack stuck in your classroom carpet.

Does anything dissolve Blu Tack?

There are quite a few different things which have the ability to dissolve Blu Tack. However, it’s important to know that these things won’t dissolve it completely, but will instead soften it enough to aid removal. Here is a list of the different liquids which can dissolve Blu Tack:

4 ways to remove Blu Tack from carpet

Now you know what dissolves Blu Tack, let’s talk about some of the tried and tested ways you can remove it from your carpet.

Use heat

Applying heat is often one of the best methods for removing Blu Tack that’s dried into the carpet and hardened over time. Using heat will soften it and bring the elasticity back, making it much easier to get rid of.

Hold a hairdryer to the blob in 15-second bursts. Take care not to hold it too close to your carpet as you don’t want to damage the fibres. When you see that the Blu Tack is starting to peel away, try collecting as much of it as you can. You’ll need to repeat the process as many times as you can until it’s nearly all been removed.

If you don’t have a hairdryer handy, then an iron will work the same way. You just need to pop a cloth or tea towel over the Blu Tack, then hold the iron over it in short bursts.

The last step in this method is to mix a mild detergent, like washing up liquid, together with some water and give the patch some good, old-fashioned, elbow grease! Once you’re satisfied that you’ve removed all remnants of Blu Tack, you can leave it to dry.

Vegetable oil

As mentioned previously, oils such as vegetable, olive or eucalyptus can be used to help soften the Blu Tack, and reduce any stickiness. For this method, you just need to apply your oil to the Blu Tack using a cloth and let it soak in for a couple of minutes. Then, using a blunt knife, you can try to scrape as much of it off as you can.

Once the Blue Tack has been removed, it’s important to thoroughly clean the carpet area where the oil has been. This is because oil can leave a residue which can easily stain the carpet fibres if not thoroughly removed. For this, you can just use a mild soap or detergent.

White vinegar

Another common method for removing Blu Tack is white vinegar. This is one of the things which will dissolve it, and therefore make it easier to remove. The first thing to do is to gently heat the vinegar, if you can, by popping it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Then, apply the vinegar to a damp cloth and let it soak into the Blu Tack for approximately 15 minutes, or until you see the blob starting to peel away. Using a blunt knife, you can then scrape it off the carpet.

Don’t worry about washing the vinegar with soap once you’re done, simply some warm water and a cloth will rinse away any remaining vinegar.

More Blu Tack

This method may seem counterproductive, but we assure you it’s not. Using a blob of spare Blu Tack, you can attempt to stick it to the Blu Tack which is in the carpet to pull it off. Keep repeating this process until it’s all been lifted out.

Does Blu Tack leave a stain?

It’s likely that Blu Tack will stain if you have lighter-coloured carpets. But, how easily the stain will come out all depends on how long it has been there. The best way to remove stains from your carpet is to use a detergent or carpet cleaner and blot the stain rather than rub. When you rub a carpet stain, the colour can easily seep into the fibres making it difficult to remove completely.

How can you prevent it from happening again?

Although you can remove Blu Tack using the methods above, ensuring that it doesn’t get stuck to your carpet again would save you a lot of hassle. One way would be to not let any children in the classroom use the Blu Tack, as they may be more careless with it. Another alternative would be to use sellotape where possible, as it’s much less likely to cause damage.

We hope that you’ve found this blog useful and that it’s given you some tips and tricks on how to keep your classroom carpets free from Blu Tack.

Our commercial carpet designs are perfect for giving a fresh new look to your school flooring. For more information about how we can help, get in touch today.