Recommended care and maintenance

Aircraft Carpets from BIC Carpets make a statement about your sense of style and value. And whether you choose a carpet for its quality, durability or design, you can maintain its hard-wearing, long lasting good looks by providing good maintenance & cleaning.

We’d like to offer you some guidelines to help you with this.

Please download the carpet care brochure for all information on aircraft carpet care.

Keys to effective maintenance:

Dirt is everywhere. Keeping it out of the aircraft is easier and less expensive than removing it.

Regular vacuuming is the most important part of any maintenance program. 

  • Thoroughly vacuum the carpet removing all loose/dry soil.
  • A slow pass against the carpet pile is more effective than several quick strokes.
  • Heavy traffic areas may require multiple passes (forward and backward) to sufficiently extract embedded soil.
  • A vacuum brush will open up the tufts.
  • Agitation will loosen the soil.
  • Slow movement allows time for air to circulate through the face yarn and extract soil.

Spots are inevitable, but they don’t have to be permanent. Remove a spill quickly and there is less chance it will become a stain.

  • Inspect the carpet for spots such as gum, tar, grease, lipstick and other oily spots.
  • Apply a Carpet Spot Remover.
  • Do not overuse and follow up with a full carpet cleaning of the area.

No matter how conscientiously you work at it, daily mainte-nance will still leave some soil behind. Regularly scheduled deep cleaning, using hot water extraction, is most effective at removing embedded abrasive soil.

  • Use a detergent free extraction cleaner specially formulated for the hot water extraction process.
  • Truck mounted extraction cleaners have higher heat, water pressure, and vacuum than portable units and will help the carpet clean faster and dry quicker. Truck mounts also allows spots such as gum to release easi-er from the carpet with less work. As with most things more is not better. While a truck mount has much higher capabilities for water pressure, 300 psi will flush carpet well without over wetting the backing and extending dry time.  The ease of set up and tear down of a truck mount will cut production time in half.
  • Portable extraction units can be used as well. Take a look at www.steambrite.com

Care of Wool carpet

  • The most important elements of maintaining your wool carpet investment includes the steps of thorough vacuuming, interim dry cleaning in high traffic areas and deep cleaning with warm (not hot) wa-ter.
  • Vacuuming of wool loop pile constructions, a suction only vacuum should be used to prevent fuzzing.
  • Vacuuming of wool cut pile carpets is most effective with the use of a rotary beater bar/brush.
  • Periodic deep cleaning is necessary to remove imbedded soils. There are many cleaning agents, both dry and wet, that are suitable for use on wool carpet, make sure to use a detergent free extraction cleaner ap-proved by the Woolsafe Organization (www.woolsafe.org) as safe for wool carpeting.
  • Do not apply stain repellent treatments that contain silicone because they will significantly accelerate soil-ing.
  • Care must be taken to not over-wet wool carpet.
  • Immediate attention to spills will prevent the development of a stain. Remove the solid spill and use a white absorbent cloth/towel to absorb all of the spilled substance. Apply spot cleaning agent sparingly as defined in the spot removal section of this maintenance guide. Work from the edge towards the center of the spill. Never rub, as it may spread the stain.
  • Test all spot and cleaning agents in an inconspicuous area to be sure it will not remove the carpet color.

Additional maintenance factors

Many factors govern a carpet’s lifespan and appearance; from the fiber and construction to the way the carpet is installed. However, none pay more dividends than proper care. The small amount of time that it takes to implement a well-planned maintenance program can dramatically extends the life of your carpet.

And remember…the longer it lasts, the less it costs.

Color, pattern and construction

Color, pattern and construction all help determine how well your aircraft carpeting stands up to daily use. The best carpet selection takes both performance and aesthetics into ac-count. No maintenance program can overcome a poor carpet choice. Improper color selection could increase your maintenance costs. Observe the appearance of the carpet for a period of time. If soiling is apparent, increase the frequency of vacuum cleaning in that area.