How to Choose an Effective Carpet Cleaning Company For Your Home

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.

Jason Troy, the owner of Oops Steam Cleaning, http://www.oopssteam.com a Houston carpet cleaning company, has more than 12 years experience in the industry. He was born and raised in Houston, Texas and has been in the Houston carpet cleaning industry for more than 12 years and has learned what he believes are the inside secrets about residential carpet cleaning services. He has taken this information and used it to build his company from the ground up in order to help provide the absolute best experience possible for his clients. "Having worked with 5 of the most well known carpet cleaning companies in Houston, I was able to see the different types of carpet cleaning methods and how these companies treated their customers clients. If you are in the Houston area and would like to experience what 250 degrees of real steam can do for your carpets, we'd love to hear from you" http://www.oopssteam.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Troy Share and Enjoy: