Carpet Maintenance

Carpet maintenance isn’t just another chore on your to-do list- it’s a powerful strategy to save your school money! While it may seem like a small effort, regular carpet care can lead to significant savings over time.  By maintaining your flooring, you not only extend its lifespan but also avoid unexpected costs that can strain your school’s budget.

In this blog, we’ll explore how schools can adopt a proactive upkeep strategy to protect their flooring investment, reduce long-term expenses, and creates a healthier, more welcoming environment for students and staff.

Replacing carpets prematurely due to wear and tear can be a major expense for schools, especially in high-traffic areas like corridors, staircases, and cafeterias. Yet, well-kept and professionally cleaned carpets can last anywhere from 10-20 years. Therefore, by keeping carpets in good condition through regular maintenance, such as vacuuming, deep cleaning, and spot treatment, schools can extend the lifespan of their carpets and avoid the expense of frequent replacements.

Regularly maintained carpets are less likely to require expensive repairs or intensive cleaning treatments. Routine cleaning helps prevent dirt and allergens from embedding into the carpet fibres, which can lead to premature damage and more costly cleaning.

Addressing issues as soon as they arise can also prevent long-term damage and save on expensive repairs. For example, spot cleaning stains immediately can prevent the need for professional stain treatments. Alternatively, schools that neglect their carpets may face higher repair costs in the future, including re-stretching or patching damaged areas.

Poor indoor air quality can lead to health issues among students and staff, resulting in increased healthcare costs and absenteeism, which in turn affects children’s education due to missed school days. However, sustaining clean carpets through regular vacuuming and cleaning helps reduces the build-up of allergens and bacteria that can pollute the environment, thereby improving overall air quality. This can lead to fewer sick days, a healthier learning environment, and lower medical and absenteeism-related costs.

In winter, when the climate is cooler, carpets act as natural insulation which help manage a consistent temperature in classrooms. This thermal insulation can also help schools save on heating bills, especially in larger schools with many classrooms.

In the summer, carpets can assist with soundproofing, reducing the need for air conditioning or noise-cancelling solutions in open classrooms. Supacord, Heckmondwike’s market-leading carpet for educational sites, is available with acoustic backing, which can further enhance its impact noise-reducing rating to 23dB. For more insights into how acoustic flooring can improve noise control in educational spaces, check out our blog on how acoustic flooring reduces noise.

Since high-traffic areas like corridors, entrances, and staircases are prone to wear and tear, targeted carpet maintenance is essential to reduce long-term damage. For instance, by using entry mats in transition areas, schools can prevent dirt and moisture from transferring into other parts of the school, such as classrooms, where carpets are more vulnerable to damage. Consequently, this minimises the need for costly repairs and replacements in these high-traffic zones.

Investing in commercial-grade carpets designed to withstand heavy foot traffic can also reduce future servicing efforts, allowing schools to focus on simple routine cleaning. At Heckmondwike, Battleship/Hippo entrance carpets are used extensively in education due to their low maintenance costs.

Dirty or damaged carpets can pose safety risks, such as tripping hazards, which could lead to accidents that are costly for the school. For example, a tripping hazard caused by a worn-out carpet could result in injury and incur costs for the school. Therefore, regular carpet inspections are necessary to prevent these issues.

Due to its anti-ravel and anti-fray properties, Supacord is an excellent choice for schools, where high foot traffic and daily use can take a toll on flooring. It helps mitigate risks and provides a safe, cost-effective solution for educational institutions.

Brampton Manor Academy outlined their goal to create a new building for Year 7 as a stand-alone resource, alongside expanding the school’s sixth form areas. Three new buildings were constructed within the existing school footprint, allowing for an additional 600 pupils.

As a result, the school required a complete carpet and entrance solution. They chose 1,900 metres of Heckmondwike’s bestselling Supacord carpet tiles, along with 140 metres of its specialist entrance matting, Battleship, to ensure a long-lasting, high-quality finish.

Don’t wait until your carpets start showing signs of wear- invest in quality, commercial grade flooring today! Explore pour wide range of carpets designed specifically for educational environments like schools, colleges, and universities, offering durability, low maintenance, and long-term savings.

Contact us now to get started on selecting the perfect carpet for your school and see the difference it can make for your budget and your students.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.