Green Cleaning
CRI Seal of Approval Products at The Full Service Clean Crew
Only the best pass the test
Carpet cleaning products, methods and equipment are improving all the time, but not all cleaning products clean equally well. CRI tested an assortment of carpet cleaning solutions and equipment and found a wide variance in how well these products work — and discovered that some even damage carpet!
The CRI Seal of Approval program identifies effective carpet cleaning solutions and equipment. The simple truth is that you can easily maintain carpet when the right cleaning products are used. Not all products clean well enough to earn this distinction, so look for the blue and green CRI Seal of Approval as proof that you are purchasing or using a quality product.
Clean and Green
Seal of Approval products not only clean well but they are friendly to both the indoor and outdoor environments. Seal of Approval/Green Label vacuums help improve indoor air quality because they keep dirt and dust that is suctioned up within the machines.
The Seal of Approval program sets test methods and performance criteria for:
- Cleaning solutions, spot removers & pre-spray
- Vacuum cleaners
- Deep cleaning extractors and systems
In addition, cleaning professionals who utilize CRI-approved carpet cleaning products as part of their cleaning process are recognized as Seal of Approval service providers. Using Seal of Approval service providers is an easy way to make sure that your carpets are being professionally cleaned with quality products that will help maintain your carpet’s life and beauty.
Cleaning agents receive Green Chemical Certification under the Seal of Approval program after their manufacturers attest to meeting environmental friendliness from a list of nationally accredited green product certifiers.
To identify which cleaning solutions work best, CRI and an independent laboratory use scientifically accredited cleaning evaluation standards. To earn the Seal of Approval, spot removers, pet stain and odor removal, and pre-spray/in-tank cleaning solutions are tested on the following criteria:
- Overall cleaning effectiveness – This ensures that the product removes soil and spots better than plain water.
- Rate of resoiling – This ensures that the product does not attract dirt to the cleaned areas faster than the rest of the carpet.
- pH – A more neutral pH ensures that carpet dyes and fibers are not adversely affected.
- Surface texture change – The product must leave the carpet pile minimally changed after repeated cleanings.
- Optical brighteners – None is allowed, as optical brighteners can leave some patches of carpet lighter than the rest and also can add a yellow cast to lighter colored carpets over time.
- Colorfastness – Products must not be so aggressive that they cause a color change in the carpet.
Deep Cleaning Extractors and Systems
Professionally clean your carpet for superior results
Regular professional cleaning is as important to your carpet as having a trained mechanic perform routine maintenance on your car. What vacuuming and spot cleaning miss, extraction cleaning should fix. CRI tests deep cleaning extractors and deep cleaning systems: the ones professionals use. The extractor is the machine, while the deep cleaning system is the combination of that machine and a particular cleaning solution, following a set procedure.
Careful Measurement Leads to Superior Performance
The CRI Seal of Approval program tests the effectiveness of deep cleaning extractors and systems. To qualify for the Seal, extractors must meet stringent standards in all three test categories:
- Soil removal – CRI uses NASA-enhanced x-ray fluorescence technology to measure the precise amount of soil removed from the carpet, and soil removal efficiency is rated on four levels. Extractors that exceed average soil removal levels receive a Bronze Seal rating. Those achieving higher levels of soil removal receive a Silver or Gold rating. Extractors that remove the highest level of soil earn the CRI Platinum Seal of Approval.
- Water Removal – The extractor or system must remove most of the moisture resulting from a wet cleaning process. Dirty water that remains in the carpet could be a source of fungal growth and could prolong the drying process.
- Texture retention – The extractor must not harm the carpet pile. If a system is being tested, additional test criteria are included and mirror those from the Cleaning Solutions protocol. These include the following:
- Rate of resoiling – This ensures that the product does not attract dirt to the cleaned areas faster than the rest of the carpet.
- pH – A more neutral pH ensures that carpet dyes and fibers are not adversely affected.
- Optical brighteners – None is allowed, as they can leave some patches of carpet lighter than the rest.
- Colorfastness – Products must not be so aggressive that they cause a color change in the carpet.
Additional technical testing information
- Testing for soil removal: To test for soil removal performance, the independent laboratory uses a “designer” soil that has properties similar to soil found in carpet across the United States. A significant new element to this testing protocol is the use of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology, which was developed by private industry and enhanced by NASA for the Space Shuttle program. XRF enables the laboratory to identify and quantify the various compounds found in the soil. Using the XRF analyzer, laboratory staff measure the starting concentration of each compound applied to the carpet sample (following ASTM protocols) and, following cleaning with an extractor, then quantify the precise amount of soil removed.
- Testing for residual water: To measure how well an extractor recovers water, the test carpet sample is weighed before and after the standardized process to determine how much water remains.
- Testing for texture retention: Finally, surface appearance change in the carpet pile, as a result of extraction cleaning, is measured using CRI’s Texture Appearance Retention Reference Grading Scales, which provide a visual aid in assessing appearance change in carpet.
The Clean Crew’s Equipment Provides Superior Performance
Our cleaning equipment is carefully selected from dozens offered in the cleaning industry to ensure that your carpets are cleaner and healthier after we visit your home.
