What does a professional carpet cleaner do? Professional carpet cleaners usually have a few benefits over homeowners attempting to clean their carpets on their own: they have much more professional equipment, and much more experience. They also typically have access to resources you will never be able to rent from your local hardware store, such as special chemicals designed only for hard carpets, cleaning equipment, and other specialized tools. These special tools allow professional carpet cleaners to get into the small nooks and crannies that most homeowners aren’t capable of, as well as to clean larger areas that homeowners could barely reach with a stick or a yardstick.
But how often do you really need professional carpet cleaners? Often, some people clean their carpets on a regular basis. Perhaps they have older rugs that they want to replace, or maybe they have spilled red wine on a stain in the living room, and don’t want to throw away the entire carpeting in the house. Some homeowners also choose to clean their carpets on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, when there is little chance of dirt getting behind the carpet padding, or when a stain washes through and they are ready to replace the carpet. However, these people still may have problems with their carpeting, and it’s probably time to see a professional carpet cleaning machine.
Whether you have professional carpet cleaners come to your home to steam clean carpets, extract dirt, or perform hot water extraction (which looks like a carpet cleaning job, but doesn’t require any water), it’s important to know what the best way to go is. The most effective method involves putting the dirt inside a plastic trash bag and then placing it in a Ziploc freezer bag. After about a week, you take the bag out, put it in a hot water extraction machine, add some baking soda, mix in some vinegar, scrub, rinse, dry, and repeat. That’s one solution for getting rid of dirt and stains.
You may also be able to get a discount if you ask your professional carpet cleaning machine to perform a deep clean instead. This can reduce your professional carpet cleaning cost because it does it all – drying, extraction, and removal. Instead of spending time soaking the carpet, the deep clean will suck out the moisture and get it dried almost as quickly as possible. However, if you choose to go with this option, be sure not to do the job more than once a year, as the deep clean is a powerful cleaning solution that can damage your carpet if it isn’t done right.
Sometimes you’ll find a professional carpet cleaner who offers a carpet cleaning rental service. You might not think you could afford this, but depending on how many large items you have to cleaned, it might be a good deal for you. Just be sure to check the price ahead of time to make sure you aren’t getting charged an unreasonable price. Some companies do require a membership to use their rental services, and this will often cost more than using the machine yourself, so be aware of these costs as well.
These are just some professional carpet cleaning techniques. There are lots of others that professional carpet cleaners use, so be sure to ask questions if you don’t understand what the cleaner is doing. Ask the cleaner about his/her background, experience, tools and equipment, and what he/she recommends as a method to clean your carpets. The cleaner is only as good as the job he/she does, so be sure to give them feedback on each job so they can continue to improve their service to you. If you keep these tips in mind, you should be able to get great results from any professional carpet cleaners you decide to use.
