Chossing a Carpet Cleaning Service

There are a few things you should know about choosing a carpet cleaning service in your local area. Many people may think that all carpet cleaners perform the same service, so choosing one is just as simple as calling the first number in the phone book. People don't consider that someone they generally don't know is about to come in to there house and perform a cleaning on what is probably there largest investment! Well, it sounds easy enough, come in, spray some chemicals on the carpet and suck them up! No! Thers is more to it than that. Here are a few questions you should think about before hiring someone.

What kind of chemicals are they spraying on my largest investment? While most carpet cleaners do use the recommended chemicals for carpet cleaning there are some cases where they may have just went to the closest grocery store and bought some cleaning agents right off the shelf. While most of theses cleaning agents may work fine for cleaning some things, they may not be suitable for carpets. For example, I don't know how many times I've gone to a carpet cleaning job to see large white circles in the carpet where another cleaning company put bleach on a stain. Also, not using the proper chemicals can end up leaving your carpets looking worse then before you had them cleaned because they left a sticky residue behind, Just attracting more soil to the carpet fiber. This is also generally what happens when people either have there own carpet cleaner or they rent one and do it themselves. It just makes it worse 2 weeks later and even harder for a professional carpet cleaner to get the residue and stains out. In short, ask where they get the chemical? It should be from a chemical supply store of some sort.

Do they have proper licencing? You wouldn't believe how many so called "cleaning companies" out there do not have any kind of licence. Usually it's hard to track and most advertising companies such as the phonebook, do not require any of this information to run an ad. In some states, a state licence is not required for this type of work but usually counties and cities require them. While I'm on this subject, you could also check with the state to see if the company has been incorporated. If they have, they should have the proper licences.

Do they have proper insurance? Some cleaners would say they had insurance but they never used it so they dropped it to keep there cost down. Makes since right? No! Insurance for most cleaning companies is under $100 a month. So how much can he really save costumers by not carring it? Also remember that this is your largest investment if they damage it do you want to pay to get it fixed? Most professional cleaning companies usually do not use anything on carpets that would do harm, but there human and can still make mistakes. Ask them to see a certified document of insurance and check the dates!

Do they use the proper method recommenced buy the carpet manufactures? There are a few types of carpet cleaning methods out there such as Shampooing, Dry foam Bonnet (Dry Cleaning), Dry Powder, and Hot Water Extraction (Steam Cleaning). Hot water extraction is the only one recommenced by most carpet manufactures. Wouldn't it make since to go with the method they recommend. There may be a few instances where another method will need to be used .For residential, you should stick with what is recommenced, HOT WATER EXTRACTION!

Do they have proper equipment? If someone shows up to your door with a rental machine from the local store or a machine they bought at a local store its probably not a good sign! There are many types of equipment out there ranging from portables to truck mount cleaning systems, at the vary least they should at least have a professional portable unit that has 100 psi of water pressure. A rotary extraction tool does a great job too but some cleaners can do a decent job without one.

Should I go with the lowest price? Remember that old sang "You get what you pay for". Well in carpet cleaning business this couldn't be more true. While prices may vary in some areas a cleaner that prices a whole house job at $60 or $9.99 a room less than likely cut corners somewhere or likes carpet cleaning so much he is doing it for free! Which one do you think? Can $75 per job carry all the expenses including gas, equipment, insurance, chemicals, and gas. Yes, I said gas twice because that is the biggest expense! Also, watch out for the bait and switch they may have said $9.99 a room but they hit you with a bill for $250 for 5 rooms. Just make sure that you have all the money calculations added up before they start the job!

Does this company mainly handle floor cleaning or are they just contractors that do any type of cleaning? While most of the carpet cleaning companies out there usually do handle only floor cleaning or they specialize in it there are some general contractors that do any type of cleaning or garbage removal. Not to say there aren't good contractor out there, you should just ask all the above questions before hiring one.

I hope this helps you choose a suitable carpet cleaning company for the work they are about to perform on your largest investment. Remember saving a couple dollars now on a carpet cleaning could cost you a couple thousand later if you don't hire the right company!