A little preparation will help us to get right to work on what we do best. This should clear up most of the most frequently asked questions.
Clear the Area
Generally pick up and remove anything you want us to clean under. Definitely remove trash cans, lamps, piles of books, trash, clothing, small chairs, coins, paper clips, etc. Many customers prefer to leave large pieces of furniture in place, such as beds, couches, tables. We can reach underneath tables and desks and about four inches underneath beds, couches and other items that are on legs. If you want us to remove any furniture, let us know ahead of time so we can come prepared. There is an additional charge for furniture moving. We don’t move beds or dressers, or anything with fragile items on or in them (ex. china cabinets).
Vacuuming? You don’t need to vacuum before our visit. We’ll do that.
When we arrive, show us what needs to be done and point out any areas of special concern, especially pet stains. You may want to mark them ahead of time with a post-it note.
We love your pets. We’re happy to greet your dog if that helps the dog relax. Please secure your pets when we’re working.
We bring our own water, but may need to refill a sprayer tank with a few gallons of warm water. We will need access to an electrical outlet.
Provide a place to park that is close to the building so we can unload and load equipment. A driveway space is preferable, but a spot in front of your house will work.
COVID-19 Precautions
We are fully vaccinated and happy to wear masks throughout our visit. Just let us know if you would prefer that.
Give us room to work. We can’t work if pets, children or adults are walking through the room where we’re working.
We’re often asked that. Of course, the carpet above should be replaced and the pad as well. But, that’s costly. Many homeowners and tenants hope to get a little more use out of their carpet before springing for new. We did our best deep cleaning. Here’s the work in progress.
Carpet restoration work in progress
Here’s a close-up Before and After picture of the entry area of the room shown above.
How about this one? Restore or Replace Carpet?
Can you clean this? Restore or Replace Carpet?
Yeah, we can restore this carpet.
Restored carpet. Clean, sanitized and deodorized. Maybe not “good as new” but serviceable. We saved the owner a lot of money.
Did you know you save 40-70 gallons of water on carpet cleaning?
Customers love us for the way carpet stays cleaner, longer when we use our unique Teri-Towel system for carpet cleaning. But, very low moisture (VLM) carpet cleaning has become essential as we’re in our worst drought in recent history. Santa Rosa residents have been asked to cut back on water usage by 20%.
Nearly all of Sonoma County and large portions of neighboring counties are now classified by the U.S. Drought Monitor as “exceptional,” the worst of five categories for intensifying drought and a sign of deteriorating conditions in California’s North Bay region. The new classification comes as reservoir levels continue their decline and domestic and agricultural users along the upper Russian River brace for notices expected next week curtailing their rights to divert water.
Not a drop of water in Lake Laguna, Marin County. Photo taken from my bike ride, July 4, 2021.
Sonoma County residents are cutting back on water use in several ways: letting lawns go brown, converting drought-resistant plants, shortening showers and stopping water leaks. Many are even changing the way they brush their teeth. But, many don’t know they can also save a significant amount of water by choosing Advanced Dry for their rug and carpet cleaning needs. Where conventional carpet cleaners use 40-70 gallons of water (your water) to clean carpet in a typical home or small office, we use 2-3 gallons with our unique Teri-Towel System. We use less water, less chemicals and send less waste water down the drain and into our creeks and rivers. You also have less down time; you can get back on your carpets and rugs 2-3 hours after we’ve finished cleaning your carpet.
The days of using water as though there is a free and endless supply are over. Water is a valuable and expensive resource. Water is essential; everyone needs it. But, we don’t need as much as we’ve been using and that goes for cleaning. We can save water on carpet cleaning. It’s time to try dry.
Celebrating Earth Day with Green Cleaning Solutions
Earth Day is good reminder that this beautiful planet we call home is not indestructible. The conditions needed for life to exist are even more fragile. It is vitally important that we make lifestyle choices that will benefit our planet and those we leave behind. Fortunately, we have come a long way in discovering and implementing green cleaning solutions that have a low impact on our water and air.
At Advanced Dry Carpet Care, green is more than a trendy marketing claim. It is a sacred commitment to creating a healthy indoor environment without harming our outdoor environment.
Our green claims may actually cost us business because many assume that green cleaning methods are more expensive and less effective. One potential customer told me, “I don’t care about the green thing; I want you to use your strongest weapons to kill the germs in my home.”
I challenged her by suggesting that the eco-friendly chemicals and methods we use for carpet cleaning not only benefit the rivers, but her two-year-old child as well. If it’s harmful for fish, cleaning chemicals are probably dangerous for our children too. I assured her our cleaning is effective and our prices are competitive with cleaners whose chemicals and methods are less eco-friendly.
Green Cleaning Solutions Save Water
I asked a local Stanley Steemer representative how much cleaning solution they use in an average home. He told me they use approximately thirty gallons (that’s probably a low estimate. Another truck-mount operator told me he uses about 60 gallons in a home). Imagine your bathtub filled with water. All that goes into the carpets of those using hot water extraction methods (aka truck-mount systems, steam cleaning).
I asked a follow-up question, “How many gallons do you extract?” He assured me they pull up more than half. That means ten-fifteen gallons of water may be left behind in your carpet. If you’re lucky, it dries within twenty-four hours. If you’re not so lucky, some of it remains in your carpet and your carpet pad longer than twenty-four hours, risking the growth of mold and mildew. Mold and mildew cause health problems for children, adults and pets. Mold is organic life. It eats up carpet, leaving your carpet stained, smelly and brittle.
A Chem Dry representative I talked with told me they use much less cleaning solution than water extraction cleaners. Where Stanley Steemer might use thirty gallons of solution in a typical house, Chem Dry would use about twelve gallons. She told me carpet cleaned the Chem Dry way is dry in six to eight hours. So, there’s less risk of mold and mildew, but there is still the risk.
At Advanced Dry Carpet Care, we have two green cleaning solutions.Our HOST Dry Carpet cleaning system, uses no solution at all – zero gallons. Our Teri-Towel carpet cleaning system uses no more than three gallons in a typical home. We blot the solution and soil up with thick towels and our oscillating machine. So, very little water is left in your carpet. In most cases, carpet is dry in two hours. So, there is very little possibility of mold and mildew growing as a result of our cleaning.
There’s another important way in which we’re good for the environment. If you’ve used a traditional truck-mount style carpet cleaner, you may have noticed that a gasoline internal combustion engine is running the whole time, heating and pumping water into your home. Our cleaning machines are all electric (clean energy). There’s much less impact on the environment with our cleaning methods.
Call Advanced Dry Carpet Care to put green cleaning solutions to work in your home
Let us prove that green cleaning solutions can be effective and affordable.
Call or text 707-575-0114 or go to our Contact Us page for other methods.
Called to clean the carpet in a modular home east of Petaluma, I found myself on the historic homestead of Rev. Lorenzo Waugh. People throughout California called him “Father” Waugh. The tenant gave me permission to take pictures of these historic buildings.
Lorenzo Waugh Homestead, Dec. 2020 (Click to enlarge)
I knew the name because of the Waugh School District (Meadow School and Corona Creek School) which my children attended and the original Waugh School building which is now a private residence on the corner of Adobe Road and Corona Road, east of Petaluma. I knew Father Waugh was a Methodist minister and a Petaluma pioneer during the gold rush years. Waugh had no interest in gold. Instead he found treasure in the people, animals and natural surroundings of the Petaluma Valley.
The Homestead of Rev. Lorenzo Waugh, Dec. 2020 (Click to enlarge)
About this home, Waugh wrote in his memoirs:
On the homestead he gave me,
I still have a most lovely little home, and which I expect
to enjoy, with God's blessing, until, as I humbly trust, I
shall be called to enter that building of God — "an house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." And
may General Vallejo and I be near enough in the new
country and the eternal habitation, to often hold a communion season together.
This home, next to the original home, was probably built by the Waugh family after Lorenzo Waugh’s death. (Click to enlarge)
Lorenzo Waugh was born on August 28, 1808, near Greenbrier River, West Virginia, in what is now Pocahontas County. His parents must have loved football because they made a team: six girls and six boys. “Ranzy” as he was called by family and friends, was the oldest son. At age 16, he became a teacher in Harrison County. In 1831, he taught school in West Virginia, Ohio and Missouri. In Missouri he taught in a school for Native American children. He also became a circuit riding preacher. Waugh married Clarissa Jane Edsel in 1841. “I married a wife, Miss Clarissa Jane Edsall, who has proved to be a quiet, industrious, faithful woman, a good housekeeper, and a kind, affectionate mother to our children,” he wrote in his memoirs. When the health of both failed, they made an adventurous journey over the plains in 1852 to California with ox teams.
The Waughs settled five miles north of what would later be Petaluma and built a small house with lumber from nearby Redwood forests. He then set about to find out who owned the property (good idea) and how he might take ownership of the land, which led him to General Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (1807 – 1890). Waugh regaled Vallejo with stories of ministry with Native American children and Vallejo assured him he could have the land if a survey showed that Vallejo owned it. Titles were not very specific in those days and there were numerous disputes that had to be settled in court. Long story short, the land was sold when Gen. Vallejo was out of the area and the new owner evicted Waugh. After another meeting between the two, the general granted Waugh a half section of land – 320 acres – at the intersection of Adobe Road and Corona Road. That’s where Waugh built a second home, pictured above. “Land is plenty. and it for us, and I have plenty of it yet,” said the general. Since no church had been built, their new home was made available for preaching, social and religious gatherings for all in the region.
The Waughs brought three children with them to California and had two more in California.
John Waugh
William Waugh
Henry Clay Waugh
Elizabeth D Waugh, born in Petaluma in 1852, who married Capt. George A Allen.
Franklin Carpenter Waugh, born in Petaluma, died at age 10.
Having regained his health, Waugh considered a return to teaching and preaching, but decided it was not a good idea, considering his age (he was about 40) his family and “the old fact of being a little below the present needful grade in education)”. For his next career, Waugh settled on preventing youth from falling victim to the vices of the day, particularly tobacco, strong drink and foul language.
But soon I did see the thing I should do, and my
way perfectly clear and plain; namely, to go out and
talk, and work, and be a proper example among the
children and youth... I saw, too, the
dreadful moral dwarfage, sin, and shame prevailing
almost everywhere, induced by vicious habits begun
among the children by the practice and example of those who should know better, and act otherwise, the
poisonous, filthy use of tobacco, drunkenness, and profanity, with all their legitimate train of sin and misery.
Father Waugh headed the Petaluma temperance movement for many years. He helped organize the California Youth Association in 1859. He also built the first Methodist Church in Petaluma. I wrote about the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the drinking fountain, 1891, that still stands on Western Ave at Petaluma Blvd HERE.
Father Waugh would take pride knowing that smoking (and drinking) is absolutely prohibited in or near the two schools that are part of the Waugh School District. He would be greatly concerned, however, to hear the foul language of children at recess.
Rev. Waugh died at the Williams CA train depot, September 5, 1900 at the age of 92. He was on his way to visit his daughter-in-law in the hope that the climate would be better for his health. His body was taken to Petaluma. A gravestone in Cypress Hill Cemetery marks his burial (see below).
Waugh gravestone at Cypress Hill Memorial Park, Petaluma. (click to enlarge)
Lorenzo Waugh’s wife, Clarissa Jane, 1826-1887. There is another inscription on the opposite side but it is unreadable.
You can read Rev. Waugh’s autobiographyHERE for a glimpse of life on the western frontier – interactions with pioneers of the North Bay, camping trips, confrontations with bears, mountain lions and coyotes, teaching Native American children and church planting in Petaluma. His 32-chapter autobiography is a delightful read, even though he wrote primarily for his children and grandchildren. It includes many of the poems he wrote. He particularly loved acrostics. The book was published in 1883 and had five printings. Waugh felt that he found his own Eden in the North Bay and his love of the area shows throughout the book.
Camping and Hunting in the North Bay, pages 247-249
A well-arranged camp-out in California is really a
rational and delightful thing...
We will start out with one of 1870. Here we are with
two well-fitted-out spring wagons, a span of good horses
to each. In these are two tents, plenty of blankets,
change of raiment, the substantials of provisions — flour,
crackers, bacon", hams, canned meats, pickles, dried fruits,
sugar, coffee, tea, salt, pepper, mustard, etc. — with cook-
ing and eating utensils just enough...
Well, all in readiness — guns, ammunition, fishing- tackle, all and everything — the first night out we camped on the beautiful timbered ridge over-looking Russian River. Supper over in good time, all were soon sound asleep in tent, as from the little extra exertion in starting, and the day's travel, to rest and sleep were delightful.
Along in the night, the voice of Mrs. Hittell was heard : " Theodore, Theodore, there is a California lion out there ; get your gun."
" O," says the Senator, " never mind the lions, I am so sleepy."
" You get your gun ; I tell you that lion will jump in here and take Katie."
" O," says the Senator, " Lew is lying here next the door. If the lion comes in, it will take Lew."
" No," said Mrs. Hittell, " it will not do that Lew is old and tough, and Katie is young and tender. Get your gun, I tell you." Then by this time all were wide awake, and the idea of Lew being safe because he was old and tough convulsed all into a roar of laughter — Lew joining' in most heartily.
We moved the next day beyond the Russian River into the great redwood grove which then stood there, almost untouched by the cruel axe-men, covering the bottom and hill-side lands along the Austin Creek. Some, soon after stopping, were seen measuring around the base of some of those redwood trees, some of the trees requiring a twine over thirty feet to reach around...
On his spiritual beginnings (age 15) pages 54-55
In this condition of mind I went to church, to the
same place where I had heard Elder Morgan preach — a
kind of protracted revival meeting. There. I saw some
who professed to .be converted, and made happy. And
there I felt the clear conviction of mind that it was my
duty, and without any further delay, to seek God and to
obtain, if possible, a release from the guilt of sin, and
the renewal of my fallen, corrupt nature. God had
blessed others, could he, would he not also help me?
I knew the blessed invitation of the Saviour as he had
said, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest." I believed he had
saved others, even the thief on' the cross, and would
he not save me — have me from the guilt and power of sin and from the fear of death and hell? And then and
there I wrestled and pleaded for power to yield, and for
power to lay hold of the atoning, risen, living, interced-
ing Saviour. And I shall always believe I did then
obtain the blessing the Christian people call the "new
birth." I was surely " born again," born into a new life.
My whole .being seemed to be changed. I was happy,
and all the people looked to me as though they were
happy. My happiness, too, was such as I had never
experienced before.
Sometime after this, however, I received another bless-
ing, or holy baptism of the spirit, still more wonderful
and powerful than the first. I still remember its blessed
and glorious effects upon me, yet I have no means to
describe it to you. It was clear, sensible and powerful.
I knew that I was indeed in Christ Jesus a new creature,
old things being passed away and all things become
new.
These blessings, allow me to say, children, I never have
yet lost, though I have at times wandered some and had
some " backslidings," as the Christian people used to say;
still I have kept hold of the same Almighty help, and so
amidst all the changes and vicissitudes falling to my lot
in this checkered life so far, I am this day still happy,
and God in Christ Jesus is my trust and Heaven my
intended and unwaveringly hopeful home.
Read about another Methodist minister, whiskey-barrel preacher and church-planter, Rev. William Taylor of San Francisco in my blog post for Grace Community Church San Francisco. Revs. Taylor and Waugh were contemporaries and likely knew each other. Each planted the first Methodist church in their respective areas.
Earth Day is good reminder that this beautiful planet we call home is not indestructible. The conditions needed for life to exist are even more fragile. It is vitally important that we make lifestyle choices that will benefit our planet and those we leave behind. Fortunately, we have come a long way in discovering and implementing green cleaning solutions that have a low impact on our water and air.
