Pamela

Professional Carpet Cleaning Questions

Well, my carpet is a year old. I take good care of it—vacuum it regularly, spot clean it with a Bissel (Cat with furball problems. Need I say more?).

I would like to get it professionally cleaned. First, how do you pick the company? Go with a known name like Sears, or Stanley Steemer? Or go with the smaller companies that advertise in places like The PenneySaver? I have no idea. I do know enough to refuse all those little extra services they offer, like stain protection.

Also, how long before you can walk on the carpet. Does it take forever and a day to dry? I can't stay off of it for long, and neither can the cat.

Or, do I skip the professional cleaning and just get a carpet steamer? I read here, among other places, that they aren't as good as professional cleaning.

Any and all information/experience would be greatly appreciated.

A big thank you!

Nathan Stohler

We had our carpets cleaned by Sears a couple weekends ago, and I'm satisfied. It cost $90 for the family room, living room, stairs and hallway. My only complaint is that on the stairs, the guy left some marks on the wall that I had to touch up, but I can imagine it might be hard to maneuver the vacuum in a narrow stairway.

When they were done cleaning (it took less than half an hour), we went out to run some errands, go out to lunch, etc. When we came back after 3 or 4 hours, the carpet was dry for the most part (there were still a few wet spots). It's ok to walk on it when it's wet, but I really hate having wet socks.

I think buying your own steam cleaner would be a good investment, but I've never used one.

We also removed as much of the furniture we could from the rooms, so the Sears guys wouldn't have to. They moved our couches and futon that we left in the rooms, but understandably, they didn't move our heavy entertainment stands (nor did I ask them to!).

--Nathan

GaryP

You may want to consider using someone who has a chem-dry system. It uses use a rotary floor buffer and a cotton bonnet. I cleaned carpets this way for about 4 years when I was in college and this is such a better method than steam cleaning. It's alot easier on the carpet and it'll be dry in about 45 minutes, where a steam cleaning usually takes 5+ hours or more depending on humidity and such. Cost should be in the same neighborhood if not a little cheaper. Just another possibility to mull over .

EDIT: About the whole furniture moving thing. We rarely moved anything big because of the liability. Honestly, wherever the heavy furniture sits (entertainment center, beds, etc...) the carpet is usually cleaner there than anywhere in the house because there's no traffic on it.

One more edit: I was never a big believer in Scotch Guard or other spray on stain protectors as I never saw any benefit to them. YMMV

Gary

\"You can\'t bring that weak ass stuff up in this humpy bumpy\"
-Terry Tate:Office Linebacker

Elinor

Most carpet warranties are voided by most "do it yourself" and most so-called professional cleaning methods.

My carpet manufacturer recommends agents using the Bane-Clean method, and all other methods void the warranty.

It is not cheap. But it is good. You get what you pay for.

Brandon_T

Everything that Gary said is true, chemdry is the way to go. And remember, if a "steam" cleaner doesn't do a good job, there can be issues down the road. It really isn't steam cleaning anymore, more of hot water extraction.

I only have my carpets cleaned by a chem dry guy, and they look great everytime. Also, like mentioned, they are dry under an hour.


Brandon

Shane Martin

We use a company who uses Chem dry which works wonders.

We currently own a good quality Bissell with heat and even though it does a stellar job, it doesn't do as good as the professionals.

Pamela

Thanks for the info! Never heard of ChemDry, but I think I will try it. Called for an estimate, and it's going to be around $100. Should this be done yearly?

Chris Hovanic

We get ours done every year... (2 dogs and a cat) The company that does our carpets at work is who I use and the owner just happens to live in my same neighborhood.

Its a small private company and they take great pride in making sure im happy. They put all my heavy furniture on slider blocks that allow them to move it easily and keeps it off the carpet till its dry. They also offer a grout cleaning service for my tile floors (makes the grout look like new) Total cost for my complete hose is around 4-5 bills (that includes cleaning my couch too).



Thats funny because we make sure they clean under our bed. My 40lb Austrilian Sheppard for some reason loves to sleep under the bed. Needless to say it really needs a cleaning when the carpet guy comes a cleaning.

Chris Hovanic
\"Go away or I\'ll replace you with a very small shell script!\" :wink:

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