Get the Best Advice from your Local Carpet Cleaner
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by Jason Neale
What should you get for your money when hiring the services of a carpet cleaning company? All carpet cleaners should do a pre stain treatment first, this is something that is very misunderstood within the carpet cleaning industry. A lot of cleaners will charge extra for this basic service and that is wrong. If a pre spray isn’t put down before the cleaning starts, all you are getting is water sprayed over the carpet and that will do absolutely nothing. It won’t even start to remove the surface dirt and will definitely do nothing for the in ground dirt in the base of the carpet. So when hiring a carpet cleaning company, make sure that you are getting what you pay for, and don’t be afraid to ask some questions.
Walkthrough with the Cleaner
One thing that customers do wrong when hiring a carpet cleaner is they don’t do the walk through with the cleaner. This is a must for all customers, as they should point out any stains or problem areas to the cleaner at the start. This will give the cleaner a heads up on the problem areas. Don’t forget – you as the customer live in the house so you know where the stains are, and you can also point out areas where maybe a cat or dog has urinated. Knowing where these types of stains are makes it much easier for the cleaner to be able to deal with them.
Know What to Expect
Having an idea of what to expect from a carpet clean is very important. This means that a fast talking sales person can’t pull the wool over your eyes. The steps for a proper steam or dry clean are firstly to do a pre vacuum; this will have to be done for the best results. The vacuum lifts the loose dirt particulate and dust from the carpet. Using a power headed vacuum cleaner is the best way to do the pre vacuum as it vibrates over the surface of the carpet, shaking the dirt to the surface. After the vacuum, a spot clean should be done to areas of concern, the longer the spot treatment is left on the carpet for the better the results, a professional carpet cleaning service would know how long to leave the spotter for before removing it.
After this comes the pre stain treatment; this is done to the whole carpet including the edges. This is what most customers know as a shampoo. It’s this shampoo that does the cleaning; it breaks down the in ground dirt and allows it to be easily removed when doing the cleaning process.
Once the pre spray has been down for about 10-20 minutes, depending on how dirty the carpets are, the cleaning will start. The actual cleaning process should take about 30 minutes to thoroughly clean 5 medium sized rooms. This time frame will vary depending on how dirty the carpet is. From start to finish, the clean time would be around one and a half hours. This is from set up to break down. The time will also depend on the types of set up the cleaner has. A truck mounted steam cleaning machine would be much faster than a portable machine.
Why You Should Avoid Cheap Carpet Cleaners
With a cheap carpet clean, key parts of the process are being missed and that means that the dirt is still in the carpet. So it pays to use a company that does the job right from start to finish and that pays attention to stains and doesn’t charge extra for the pre spray or shampoo. If a cleaner tries to charge for this on top of what they have quoted, tell them to leave and call a professional carpet cleaning company. Don’t be fooled if it’s sounds too good to be true; it usually is.
When calling a carpet cleaning company, make sure you ask the right questions on the phone and get the best information over the phone. This way you can make your mind up on who you choose and you don’t have to go through the headache of having a bad carpet cleaning job done.
Using a professional carpet cleaning company when vacating your rental property is a must or you face the chance of losing some or part of your bond. At the same time as having the carpets cleaned, you could also have the tiles professionally steam cleaned. The real estate agent will want to see a receipt from a professional company before they have your bond released from the RTA, and may also require a pest control treatment to be done at the same time. Before moving out of your rental at the end of lease, have a good look through your bond agreement and know exactly what you need to get done before you hand the keys back.
