“You say vacuuming is so important. Which vacuum should I buy?”

“Why do spots sometimes return after I spot-clean them myself?”

“Sometimes a ring appears after spot cleaning my carpet. How can I prevent this from occurring?”

Whether you’re a collector of fine Orientals or your Aunt Edna’s old Persian rug is rolled up in the corner of your garage, I think you’ll find this column of interest. Orientals require more care and routine maintenance than wall-to-wall carpeting and of course, they’re often irreplaceable.

Every year I go to a big carpet cleaner’s convention to keep up with the latest advances in our field. The top carpet makers are always there along with the folks selling carpet cleaning chemicals and equipment. After renewing old friendships with some fellow carpet cleaners, our talk always gets around to the same thing; our toughest stains and how we got ’em out! We have a great time trying to tell the best story. Honestly, I’ve learned more in those brag sessions than you can imagine. I thought you might like to know what makes carpet cleaners lay awake at night staring at the ceiling (after looking at floors all day long).

Even though Santa Barbara is one of the most beautiful outdoor environments in the world, the experts say most of us still spend almost 90% of our time indoors! That’s why the following numbers from the EPA worried me a little bit. Indoor levels of many pollutants can be two to five times higher and up to 100 times higher than outdoor levels.

I can remember sitting in a UCSB Chemistry Lab years ago, staring out the window toward the blue Pacific and thinking, “When will I ever use this stuff?”

Did you know that one out of five of us is allergic to something (besides our jobs)? Of course allergies can make your eyes itch and your nose run, but they’re also the leading cause of asthma, a miserable disease that can even be fatal?