Professional Carpet Cleaners – What to ask

1) Prep

What do they do before the clean, or ask you to do before they come?

If they say ‘nothing’, then it’s a bit like painting and decorating – poor preparation means poor results. Under normal circumstances a professional carpet cleaner would always vacuum first (and right into the corners up to the skirting boards with the right attachment – we use a twin motor hoover to ensure the prep work is done properly). However, at time of publishing, due to Covid-19 restrictions, a professional carpet cleaner may ask you to do the hoovering. If the property is empty, the carpet cleaner may be willing to hoover before they clean, so do make sure you check.

2) Stain removal

Do they ask you if you’ve treated any stains any yourself?

If you’ve used products like Vanish, 1001 or an off-the-shelf Supermarket product to treat stains yourself, your carpet cleaner will need to know. Residues from your attempt to remove the stain could be left in the carpet fibres and will need to be cold water extracted before anyone can start the cleaning/stain removal process. Our technicians will always check if you’ve treated any stains yourself and with what.

Do they guarantee stain removal?

If they do, think again. Due to many factors, no professional carpet cleaner can guarantee stain removal. Factors such as how long the stain has been there and the type of carpet fibre e.g. urine stains on a wool carpet.

3) Things that affect the dry time

Do they only use hot water extraction, or do they have a low moisture system?

A low moisture system will enable a 30-minute dry time rather than hours. Other systems may mean your carpets will take longer to dry, so always ask which one they use. We use the pro-cleaning kit from Texatherm which is Low Moisture, so we can confidently say your carpets will be dry half an hour after being cleaned.

4) Application

Do they explain how they apply the products and why they do it that way?

80% of the dirt in your carpet fibres is acidic. For deep cleaning, the best way is to apply an alkaline cleaning solution directly to the carpet followed by rinsing out the dirt and cleaning agent with a stabilising acidic rinse. This leaves your carpet clean and PH neutral, exactly how it was when it was first fitted. This is how we do it, but if they don’t do it this way, you may not get the best results.

5) British standards

Do they talk you through the products they use and their impact on the environment?

Are they using biocidal disinfectant cleaning solutions that meet British Standard EN 10 40 that will deal with pathogens and viral streams? We are a planet loving company and have picked the products we use very carefully. Please ask for more details, if this is of interest.

6) Quoting

Do they come and see you, or just speak over the phone?

You’re more likely to get an accurate quote if the technician comes to your premises and undertakes a visual inspection first. If they are reluctant to come and see you, and want to quote on the phone, you could get a nasty surprise when they turn up and decide the job’s going to cost more than they originally thought. This is called ‘bait and switch’. The way to protect yourself from these companies is to insist they come and see the job in person. This way your expectations are managed and you’ll have an opportunity to ask them some of these questions raised here, and address any specific areas of concern.