January, 2020 | BCS Cleaning Specialists

Winter in the Salt Lake Valley, Park City, Heber and Utah in general is a glorious time. The Wasatch Front mountains come into their own with glittering snow-frosted vistas just begging to be played on. But while the snow and ice look like a fairytale outside, come winter your carpets start telling a different story. Tracked in snow, mud, salt and pet hair wreak havoc under your feet. 

So how can you keep your carpets plush and plump and pleasing during a season that threatens the cosy integrity of your carpet?

First, let’s focus on getting rid of pesky pet stains.

Pets.  We love ‘em.  But the mess they make…. eh, not so much.  Here’s our simple, 4-step process for removing salt stains from your carpets.

1 – Pour 3 percent hydrogen peroxide directly onto the stain (check an inconspicuous corner first for color fastness) and cover with a white towel.

2 – Hold a hot steam iron on the towel for 15 to 20 seconds to transfer the stain to the towel. 

3 – Repeat until no more stain is transferred. 

4 – Cover area with a clean white towel and something heavy. Leave overnight to dry. 

If the marks refuse to listen to reason, it’s time to call in the big guns at BCS. We’ll have your carpets spit spot (minus the spots) in a jiffy.  Give us a call today at 801 561 1730.

Although at BCS Cleaning Utah we feel like cleaning anything is always a job worth doing, this is a question particularly worth considering. After all, solar panels are specifically DESIGNED to spend their entire lives outside under the elements, contending constantly with beating sun, driving rain, aggressive hail, salt-laden snow and the rest. So does cleaning solar panels actually make any difference to their performance and durability?

The short answer is yes, it really does. And for some reasons that will make total sense as we explain.

Solar panels can get quite dirty, which is logical when you think about it. They are exposed to many external influences that can make dirty the panel, including dust, grime and salt kicked up from nearby roads, bird or bat droppings, and minerals (the main culprits in watermarks) left behind by evaporated rain and snow.

It may seem obvious, but a photovoltaic (PV) system works best if it has completely unobstructed access to the sun’s rays for most or all of the day. Even something as seemingly inconsequential as waterspouts left from rain or snow can have a big impact on the performance of your panels, while bigger spots, obstructions or (heaven forbid) damage can have a much greater effect that may be entirely disproportionate to their size.

Worse than simply being dirty and obscured, if a solar panel actually becomes damaged – either dinged, cracked or worse yet, shattered, by falling or blowing debris, it’s not just its immediate performance that can be impacted: it may need repair or even total panel replacement. 

All these issues are fairly easily avoidable with a regular inspection and maintenance schedule. At BCS Cleaning Utah, we have been clambering over roofs and inspecting solar panels with magnifying glasses and cleaning equipment since last decade. If you want the hassle of solar panel maintenance and inspection taken care of for you, give the professionals at BCS a call today at 801 561 1730 to schedule your FREE solar panel inspection. 

BCS will take care of, not just the inspections and maintenance themselves, but also the schedule for when each are needed – we will let you know with reminders before coming out to care for your solar panels. This takes all the stress, uncertainty and hassle out of their maintenance for you, and makes sure your solar panels constantly operate at tip-top capacity. 

If you’re anything like me, the condition of my solar panels is generally the furthest thought from my mind. But in reality, it is worth thinking about your solar panels every few months or so because even a thin layer of residue can make a big difference to their performance. 

Solar panels can get quite dirty, which is logical when you think about it. They are exposed to many external influences that can make dirty the panel, including dust, grime and salt kicked up from nearby roads, bird or bat droppings, and minerals (the main culprits in watermarks) left behind by evaporated rain and snow.

It may seem obvious, but a photovoltaic (PV) system works best if it has completely unobstructed access to the sun’s rays for most or all of the day. Even something as seemingly inconsequential as waterspouts left from rain or snow can have a big impact on the performance of your panels, while bigger spots, obstructions or (heaven forbid) damage can have a much greater effect that may be entirely disproportionate to their size.

Another hazard to a solar panel’s performance may seem surprising. The structure of a house, with its felt or shale roof shingles and tough outer sidings, is built to withstand the most common natural forces, including hail, wind and the resultant flying detritus (tree branches, twigs, and other assorted assaults). But solar panels are fairly delicate creatures, their dark petals designed to spend their life passively sunbathing, soaking up the sun’s rays and internally converting them into energy for you to use. 

Enter the dark forces of nature, and a solar panel’s surface can without too much effort be cracked, chipped or otherwise broken. This situation can go entirely unknown by you for months, until you realize there is a problem with your energy production and usage. 

Of course, nobody really wants to spend their days fretting about solar panels. Part of the purpose of their existence is to eliminate stress from the planet-wide impact of burning fossil fuels – so who wants to replace that stress with worry about their solar panels getting an owie? The easiest way to avoid that stress is to schedule a solar panel checkup at least every six months. You can use your trusty phone’s calendar app to remind you and then clamber onto the roof to do a manual inspection. Or better yet, you can leave it to the professionals at BCS Cleaning Utah to keep track of when your solar panels need a checkup and then take care of any cleaning and repairs that need doing at the same time, all without falling off the roof (we all have Masters degrees in gymnastics and the high-wire).

Give BCS a call today at 801 561 1730 to schedule your solar panels’ regular maintenance checkup. We’ll have you saving the planet again at your full potential in no time!

Winter in Park City, Heber and Utah in general is a glorious time. The mountains entice all with their glittering snow-frosted vistas to come out and play. But while the snow and ice look like a fairytale, come winter your carpets start telling a different story. Tracked in snow, mud, salt and pet hair wreak havoc under your feet. 

So what to do? In our four-part Park City special series, we’ll show you how to deal with Winter’s worst…..and keep your carpets plush and plump and pleasing.

This week, we’ll help you get rid of pesky mud stains.

Mud is never beautiful. Except possibly when they use it to make those fancy mud tshirts in Hawaii. Here’s our simple, 5-step process for removing mud stains from your carpets.

1. Gently vacuum up any dry surface mud with the hose of a vacuum, as to not grind it into the carpet.

2. Sprinkle baking soda, cornstarch, baby powder or other absorbent onto the stain and let stand at least an hour before vacuuming again

3. Apply a dry-cleaning solvent, such as rubbing alcohol, acetone, mineral spirits or a commercial cleaner to the back of a clean cloth and blot gently, working from the edges of the stain to the center until stain disappears

4. Blot the carpet with a dry sponge or cloth until the liquid is absorbed,

5. Make sure the area is well ventilated until the carpet is fully dry

If the marks refuse to listen to reason, it’s time to call in the big guns at BCS. We’ll have your carpets spit spot (without the spots) in a jiffy.  Give us a call today at 801 561 1730.

Winter in Park City, Heber and Utah in general is a glorious time. The mountains come into their own with glittering snow-frosted vistas just begging to be played on. But while the snow and ice look like a fairytale outside, come winter your carpets start telling a different story. Tracked in snow, mud, salt and pet hair wreak havoc under your feet.

So what to do? In our four-part Park City special series, we’ll show you how to deal with Winter’s worst…..and keep your carpets plush and plump and pleasing.

This week, the number one culprit – snow.

Snow is beautiful while it’s still snow. And outside. Once it’s inside the house, it quickly turns from frosty white stuff into dirty wet stuff, gumming up your entranceway and leaving your carpets streaked and dirty. Here’s our simple, 4-step process for removing slush stains from your carpets.

•If the slush or snow is still frozen, remove any excess from your carpet with a dry cloth.

•Mix soap and hot water and apply to a clean cloth; press the carpet to remove the stain, working from the outside to the center until the stain is gone.

•Rinse the carpet with a little bit of cold water and use a clean, dry towel to pat dry.

•Once the carpet is fully dry, vacuum up any dirt that remains.

If the marks refuse to listen to reason, it’s time to call in the big guns at BCS. We’ll have your carpets spit spot (without the spots) in a jiffy. Give us a call today at 801 561 1730.