Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid Before Hiring Residential Carpet Cleaning Services

Although many homes are showcasing a variety of durable and beautiful flooring materials such as hardwood, laminate, and/or tile, carpet is still an immensely popular floor covering that is present in many homes. There are multiple reasons that many people choose to use carpet in their living spaces. It tends to be durable. It is soft on the toes and creates a much warmer feel than harder flooring options, especially in cold climates.

In addition to the feel of carpet, it comes in a myriad of colors, piles, patterns, and styles. Almost all carpeting brands have various levels of products to meet consumers’ budget needs. Basic varieties generally have shorter warranties and are less plush. The highest-end carpets often offer purchasers extensive warranties and are created with stain repelling technologies. Some brands even go so far as to say if you cannot get a stain out of them, they will replace your carpet.

Like any product warranty, it is important to read the fine print, otherwise, you may inadvertently do something that voids your warranty. Certain makes of carpet require special cleaning that can only be done by professional residential carpet cleaning services. These requirements can include types of chemicals used, wet or dry cleaning, and temperature. If the guidelines are not followed, you may find yourself without a warranty.

NEEDING A DEEP CLEAN

Maybe you are moving into a space that has carpeting that is from prior owners. It may be dingy and stained or laden with odors. Even if it appears to be in great condition, it is always a good idea to clean your new residence thoroughly before moving in. Let’s face it…rooms are much easier to deep clean when they are empty.

Now, it may be super tempting to grab a steam carpet cleaning machine at your local big box store or rent a Rug Doctor, but doing it yourself is backbreaking work. If you have a lot of carpets to do, it can take hours upon hours and require a lot of expensive concentrated cleaning solutions. Personal use machines also just do not have the power and cleaning ability that carpet cleaning companies have with their equipment.

ON THE HUNT

When it comes to giving your carpeted surfaces a deep cleaning that refreshes them and restores them to as close to new condition as possible, we feel that it is well worth hiring a well-vetted residential carpet cleaning company. If you already employ a home cleaner, you may find that they offer carpet and floor cleaning services. Cleaning services with carpet cleaning included may be worth looking into, however, most will not have the grade of equipment and expertise that exclusive carpet cleaning companies will have.

If you are ready to begin your search for the best cleaner for your rugs and carpets we recommend that you take the time to read this guide before you go any further. We are going to talk to you about 5 major mistakes to avoid when you are on the hunt to hire for this service. Sometimes knowing what to avoid is more important than knowing what to look for. Stick with us to find out the details so that you don’t find yourself out a lot of money with subpar results, or worse yet, ruined carpets.

MISTAKE 1: A HIRE FROM THE FLYER

Many days our mailboxes are filled with junk mail…everything from quick cash loan offers and coupons to political postcards. If these flyers are not in your mailbox, they are hung on your front door or in your email spam folder. We are inundated all the time with offers promoting services that seem too good to be true. This holds true for many carpet cleaning companies.

They send out eye-catching flyers that promise a price that makes you think you are flat-out stupid if you don’t book their services. These ultra-low price points are typically deceptive for several reasons.

• This low price drives customers to make the call to book services, but once the cleaning technician arrives, they begin to list things that aren’t included in this price, quickly turning what you thought was an affordable service into an astronomical expense.
• Low-priced residential carpet cleaning generally is for the bare minimum service that is single-process cleaning. In order to get your carpets pristine, you will want to book double process cleaning in most cases.
• Rock bottom prices generally mean that the equipment that is being used to clean your carpets is also rock bottom in quality. Good cleaning equipment is not cheap for a business to purchase or maintain.

Just remember that when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Do not just hire the cleaner that is advertising the cheapest price on a flashy flyer or email. Do your research and ask for references. Look up online reviews, and make sure you are very clear on all the service inclusions and exclusions before you sign on the dotted line.

MISTAKE 2: NOT SHOPPING AROUND

When a person is diagnosed with a serious health problem, they are often encouraged to seek a second or even third opinion from qualified medical professionals before pursuing an official treatment plan. This is a good approach to also apply when hiring for any sort of service for your home, including carpet and floor cleaning services.

Hiring the first company that you come across or that advertises the lowest price will often result in you not getting the best level of cleaning. We recommend contacting at least 3 professional carpet cleaners and inviting them to come into your home to do an in-person consultation and quote. This gives you time to get to know the company and technician(s), learn about their process and equipment, as well as experience.

In our opinion, any company that is worth working with will be more than happy to take the time to assess the job in person and do everything in their power to make the client feel at ease through a transparent process. This is how we operate at Green Maids and why we continue to be invited into more and more households. Our customers are treated like we would treat our family. We believe that this is how an ethical and successful company is run.

MISTAKE 3: CHOOSING NON-GUARANTEED SERVICES

If a carpet and rug cleaning company is not offering a money-back guarantee for their services, we want to tell you to run…not walk the other way. This is one of the reddest of red flags. In our view, any company that is offering services such as cleaning services with carpet cleaning should be proud to back their work.

If you are disappointed in the quality of the work provided to you by a company that you contract with, you should not have to pay for it…End of story. Now, this doesn’t mean that we support baseless claims from consumers to get out of paying a company. However, we feel confident that companies that complete guaranteed work to the highest standards will not frequently have to face displeased customers.

MISTAKE 4: GOING WITH SUBPAR EQUIPMENT

Professional residential carpet cleaning company generally utilize hot water in their cleaning process, but we want to caution you about choosing a company that uses a portable hot water system. Although these systems work, they pale in comparison to truck-mounted hot water extraction systems. Truck-mounted systems are considered to be the top of the line, and when compared to the aforementioned portable hot water systems perform far more exceptionally with higher pressure and stronger suction.

MISTAKE 5: CHOOSING NON-CERTIFIED TECHNICIANS

Choosing a residential carpet cleaning service who isn’t certified is gambling with your money. We want to encourage you to only employ carpet cleaners who are certified through the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC). A tech who holds certification from this organization has been tested and has demonstrated that they possess a level of competency and experience that reflects the high standards of this agency. In simple terms, a certification from the IICRC is akin to having a degree in carpet cleaning.

A second certification that you should seek before hiring a carpet cleaner is membership in the Carpet and Fabricare Institute (CFI). This trade association for carpet cleaning technicians is committed to the following tenets:

• Ethical and honest business practices
• Staying up-to-date with the most current technology, trends, and business practices in carpet and upholstery care and cleaning
• The most ethical and high-quality customer service

As you can see from reading this guide, there are more considerations to make when seeking carpet and floor cleaning services than you might expect. We hope that the information that has been discussed here proves helpful. If you are in the market for general home cleaning services, we invite you to reach out to the team here at Green Maids to learn more about how we can help you today.