Monthly Archives: January 2011

Although there are several carpet cleaning methods that you can do on your own, calling in professional carpet cleaners at least once in six months is not such a bad idea. There will also be situations where we end up making stains worse than before and the only recourse is professional cleaning.     This section of Melbourne Carpet Cleaning brings to you a few informative and very useful articles on when you need to call in professionals to clean your carpet and, more importantly, what to look for while choosing an efficient carpet cleaning company. Professional Carpet Cleaning: How Often Should Carpet Be Cleaned By Shannon Sullivan When was the last time you had your carpets professionally cleaned? If you’re like the average American household, it was probably some time in the last year – and you will probably wait at least another year to get them cleaned again. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends carpets in residential homes are cleaned every 6-12 months if 2 or fewer people live in the home who is non smokers. For larger families with both kids and pets, the EPA recommends a professional carpet cleaning every 3 months [U.S. EPA letter, January 1989]. Recommendations like this are based on the indoor air quality in homes. Dust, dander and a multitude of soils collect on carpet, which acts as filter as air circulates through vent systems in a home. For persons with allergies, asthma, and even pregnant women and the elderly, having clean carpets can make a big difference in their quality of life indoors. Having your carpet cleaned every 3 months can be very expensive. A market check of professional carpet cleaning prices showed that among both national brand names and smaller local carpet cleaning companies, the average cost for a 3 room, two hallway carpets cleaning at about $125 after coupons and specials were applied. If a homeowner has a carpet cleaner visit 3 times a year, the total cost of carpet cleanings can really add up. Some families are choosing the do-it-yourself route to cleaning their carpets. Depending on where you live, grocery stores are offering cleaning machines and a multitude of carpet cleaning solutions for purchase. This may be another good way to keep your carpets cleaned. The drawback is that homeowners must do all then tough work themselves – lugging the machine to their cars and moving their own furniture. There are also some inherent risks with do-it-yourself methods that include: – Over saturation of the carpet. If too much water or solution is applied, the glue that holds carpet fibers together can separate and ruin carpet – Misapplication of cleaners. The incorrect cleaning solution applied to certain stains can permanently bleach or discolor carpet. One thing is clear, indoor air quality is affected by the frequency with which your home’s carpets are cleaned, so professional carpet cleaning companies are finding unique ways of providing less expensive cleanings. Some offer new and improved package pricing to their customers. Customers who combine carpet cleaning with other services like Oriental rug cleaning can sometimes save upwards of 60% off their total bill. This allows homeowners to save some money and gets both carpet cleaning and rug cleaning taken care of in one visit. Other carpet cleaning companies are selling professional-grade carpet cleaning sprays and solvents, so that customers wanting to take care of their carpets themselves can do so without some of the risks associated with over-the-counter products. Another unique approach by professional carpet cleaning companies is to offer a stain removal only service. Here, customers pay only for the stain removal and not an entire carpet cleaning. Kiwi Carpet Cleaning offers this with a One Year Carpet Cleaning Warranty, where entire rooms are cleaned at a low price throughout the year. While you might have to move furniture yourself and vacuum before the carpet cleaning technician arrives, the low price may offset any minor hassles. With all the dust, dander, dirt and soot collecting on the surfaces in your home, it is important to remind yourself that what you collect on a dust towel is just a small fraction of what ends up in your carpet. Take inventory of how often your carpets are walked on in your home and make carpet cleaning decisions that help you and your family breathe easier this year. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shannon_Sullivan How to Choose an Effective Carpet Cleaning Company For Your Home By Jason Troy The carpet cleaning industry is super competitive. You only have to look in all of the direct mail pieces that you receive every day to realize how cut-throat this market can be. So how do you, as a consumer make sense of all of these offers? How do you pick a company which is reputable, isn’t going to rip you off and most importantly, is actually going to do what they are supposed to: CLEAN your carpets! First, it is worth taking a look at the different methods that companies will use to clean your carpets. The 3 best known types of carpet cleaning are: • dry cleaning • hot water extraction • steam cleaning Dry Cleaning Dry cleaning has a bad rap all over the internet for carpet cleaning. The process involves spraying down the dry cleaning solution and then take a floor buffer (like the ones you see janitors use) with their preference of pad on the bottom and buff your carpet. The rotary motion of this method will fray the tips of your woven or braided carpet fibers. It will also remove some of the dirt or spots on your carpet but what the pad won’t pick up will only smear the dirt over a greater area creating what we call leveling. Many of the companies providing this service frequently need to offer a 1 year warranty on carpet cleaning touch ups, in order to give confidence to the consumer. Hot Water Extraction Hot water extraction is a more effective way of cleaning carpet but it has its downfalls. The first problem is the misrepresentation of the word “steam” by these companies. Steam is created when the temperature exceeds 212 degrees and anything below this is only hot water. These companies will advertise steam cleaning or even have it implemented into their company name. Unfortunately the only way to truly know is to flat out ask: “how hot does your water get?” The second problem is not only do they use sub par temperatures they also run a soap “known to professionals as alkaline but its the same thing” through the hot water. If you clean with soap water then there is soap being left behind which causes spots to reappear and cause the entire carpet to get dirty faster due to the dirt attracting power of soap. This also causes their customers to call much more frequently. So the more they clean your carpet then the more soap that is being accumulated into the fibers. Imagine skipping the rinse cycle on your washing machine or not rinsing off your dishes! Also the design of the carpet cleaning machines using this method loses precious vacuum due to the foaming in the tanks. Less vacuum means more soap and dirt being left behind. Steam Cleaning Now we get to the best method of cleaning carpet, Steam cleaning. Instead of using dry cleaning solution or soap to help break down the oils and stubborn spots, the best companies will use an orange extract. The cleaning agent in this is landolin and the citrus acid in it also neutralizes the natural alkalinity of water. For those who didn’t know tap water does have a slight bit of alkaline in it. The water should be run through a water softener to remove hard water minerals so that the water used to clean with, is often cleaner than the tap water (some people have reverse osmosis water systems installed into their home). The contractor then sprays all the carpet about to be cleaned with the orange peel extract then steams it and everything else back out with 250 degrees of steam. 250 degrees is the optimum temperature due to the temperature drop from the machine to your carpet (when steam travels though the hoses it cools down). It usually fluctuates 20-30 degrees by the time the steam reaches your carpet (depending on weather). This leaves nothing behind but the cleanest carpet possible. This procedure is safe for elderly, babies, puppies/kittens and people with allergies. Also note that since there is no foaming of the machine due to soap, it allows them to hold a constant maximum vacuum lift. Another big problem that consumers frequently have with the industry is how companies charge for their services. Due to the competitive nature of the market, there are lots of misleading offers to tempt you. With most companies you will find that they will tell you the cheapest price possible so that you will schedule them, only to be surprised once they arrive at your home that they nickel and dime you. For instance some companies will charge for “deep cleaning”, the company apparently decides that your carpet is dirtier than normal? Or they’ll tell you that each and every spot needs some sort of special spot remover. All of these extras can add considerably to your final bill! The only additional costs that could arise should be bio hazardous material removal, excessive soap removal, water extraction (i.e. flood damage), filtration (soot caused by smoke), moving of furniture, or stain guarding the carpet. Like anything, you get what you pay for and you will usually find that companies that are charging seemingly low prices: 1. are not using REAL STEAM 2. are dry cleaning 3. have few vans that can actually create steam 4. are not insured 5. use contract labor. (No background checking or drug testing. You don’t know who or what is going to be in you home basically.) Hopefully this article will help homeowners to see the difference between the different carpet cleaning companies and importance of fully understanding exactly what you are going to get when you bring one into your home. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Troy