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Everything you wanted to know about Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning but didn’t know who to ask!
Avoid suffering from bad workmanship. There are horror stories about unethical cleaning operatives causing problems as a result of their cleaning. Perhaps your own friends or family have had unfortunate experiences in this respect. The cleaning industry, along with most other industries, has its own share of the unethical who will always try to take advantage of others in the search for easy money. Luckily, people like this are in a minority. We, along with other professional carpet and upholstery cleaners are working hard to improve standards of work in cleaning. We are helping to raise standards. The information in this Guide is provided to help raise standards within the cleaning industry and to help give you useful information to help you guard against the unethical. If there are any aspects you would like to discuss, please feel free to contact us. If you would like to arrange for a FREE quotation with NO OBLIGATION we would welcome your call. Unlike some other carpet and upholstery cleaners, we pride ourselves on the quality of our workmanship. There are six main misconceptions about carpet and upholstery cleaning. In keeping with recommendations from various Trading Standard Officers, we suggest that you bear these points in mind when selecting someone to clean your carpets and upholstery.
A carpet should be left as long as possible before having it cleaned. This is not true: The dirt and grit in your carpet acts like sandpaper. Each time it is walked upon the grit cuts into the fibres and causes premature wearing. Vacuuming helps. But vacuuming on its own is not enough. Test have shown that regularly cleaned carpets and fabrics last longer. Carpets are cleaned to remove the dirt only. Again, no: Carpets and fabrics actually absorb contaminants such as Pollens, air pollution, cigarette smoke, bacteria, fungus, car exhaust fumes etc. Whenever you, your family or visitors are in an outdoor environment the clothes and shoes being worn absorb these contaminants, which can then be brought into your home. Breathing difficulties such as allergies, emphysema and asthma etc, can often be exaggerated by these same contaminants. Cigarette smoke also affects a lot of people. It contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, over 40 of which can cause cancer. These compounds, like the other contaminants, settle onto your clothes and shoes, get walked into your home and are deposited onto your carpet. People who are sensitive to smoke often find they breathe more easily after having their carpets professionally cleaned. Cleaning your carpets and furnishings remove the above mentioned contaminants. This factor alone provides a strong reason for having carpets cleaned on a regular basis besides the normal one of removing dirt! If I am having my carpet cleaned, any system is just as good as any other This is not true: They are many Cleaning Systems available. They divide into :
However, it should be realized that ALL carpet cleaning systems use water. There are NONE which are actually are "Dry". There are three dry cleaning systems : The dry chemical method uses a liquid (water) which is applied to the carpet. A soft cloth known as a bonnet is then rotated over the surface of the carpet. This is similar to trying to clean your carpet by rubbing it with a big towel! It is not very effective. In the industry this system is normally used as a cosmetic maintenance system only. The dry foam method has a shampoo applied to the carpet which is then allowed to dry before being vacuumed off. This is similar to shampooing your hair, allowing it to dry, and then trying to remove the dirty shampoo from your hair by vacuuming. Unfortunately this system tends to leave residue in the carpet. It is normally used as a cosmetic maintenance clean only. The dry compound method has a water treatment applied to the heavily soiled areas. The compound is then sprinkled onto the carpet and is then brushed in. The compound absorbs the soiling and then it is vacuumed away. Of the three dry cleaning systems this is the most thorough, but again, in the industry this is normally used as a maintenance cleaning system only. There is only ONE water based cleaning
system. It is known as Hot Water Extraction : This system has a pre-treatment applied to the heavily soiled areas where needed. Hot water is then carefully sprayed onto the carpet, which absorbs the dirt. A strong vacuum then extracts the dirt leaving a carpet without harmful residues. This system is the most effective by far and is designed to remove the bacteria, smoke residues, pollens and other pollutants referred to above. This water based method of cleaning is the only one recommended by the largest carpet manufacturer in the world, Shaw Industries. It is also the system we recommend. As long as a carpet and upholstery
cleaner has the right equipment, he or she is bound to do a good job. Again. this is far from true. A good result can only be obtained by a skilled operator having the correct equipment and using top quality detergents and treatments. Needless to say we pride ourselves on using the best quality detergents, highly efficient equipment and last but not least, skill and experience. If a carpet cleaner has nothing to hide,
he or she should be able to give an exact price over the phone. To be fair to our customers, we try to let our price reflect the amount of work involved. After all, it would not be right to charge two people the same price, even for the same sized carpet. One could be just a few months old and hardly walked upon, and the other years old and heavily soiled. The second carpet would obviously take longer. There are other factors such as type of fibre, loop or cut pile, fitted or loose, type of dye which also affect the cleanability of a carpet. To be accurate in giving a price to a customer, we would need to inspect the carpet and test it first. This cannot be done over the phone. Your best choice of cleaning company will
be the one who offers the lowest price. If only this was so. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we usually get what we pay for. A cheap price usually means a cheap job ................. half price offers often mean only a half cleaned. We take the view that people want value for money in their cleaning, and most importantly, people want the job “done right”. Not to cause any damage whatsoever. Having carried out the necessary tests before commencing cleaning we will let you know if there are any risks involved in fulfilling YOUR job. If there are any risks they will be explained in full. And your authorization and agreement will be obtained before cleaning commences. Our aim is to be able to guarantee your satisfaction. I guarantee the cleaned item will look better and stay looking better long term. Once cleaned by our system, your carpet or fabric WILL NOT attract dirt. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, We guarantee you will be pleased with the result. A large proportion of our work comes from recommendation. We want YOU to recommend us and we know that you will only do this if you are happy with our service, and with our results. We guarantee your satisfaction Wanting you to become a trusted long term customer and come back to us again and again, is perhaps a selfish reason for doing the job for you. I realise that. But I want you to know that I do pride myself on getting good results and guaranteeing your satisfaction. Thank you for reading this guide. I hope it has answered questions that are important to you. Carpet Cleaning Upholstery Cleaning Oriental Rug Cleaning Spot & Stain Removal Odor Removal Anti-microbial Treatments Scotchgard or Dupont Teflon Stain & Soil Protector |