For over a year now our country has suffered under ever-changing lifestyle restrictions in reaction to an extremely infectious new virus called SARS-CoV-2. We all have been told by government agencies what we must do to prevent the spread of this virus. “Isolate for two weeks to flatten the curve” quickly became “stay at home and do not associate with others unless absolutely necessary.” As a result, many businesses ceased operations and closed forever.

The fire wasn't serious, maybe just a little cosmetic damage to the stove and cabinets in the kitchen. But the whole house has a layer of soot in it. Clothes in the closet have little black specks on them, even though the closet doors were closed at the time of the fire. The whole house has an unpleasant burned odor. You don't want to live in a house like this. What can you do to begin cleaning? Or should you just wait until the insurance adjuster can come out and look at everything, which could be a week from now? Many people have found themselves in this situation, not knowing what to do. Sometimes the person they talked with at the insurance company has been of little help. What would you do?

From time to time new carpet cleaning companies advertise things like,

"We do not leave a shampoo residue in your carpet!" or

"We use only mythical water on your carpet, so no residue!" or similar claims. These gimmicks use a half-truth to try to get your business. They are correct that detergent residues in a carpet can cause dirt to bind to carpet fibers and resist removal by vacuuming. However, the other half of the truth is important.